Gracing & Disgracing Grace: Forgiveness and Reconciliation

A Sermon on Matthew 18

Preaching on Jesus’ famous parable of forgiveness, Rev. Ralph West warns us against Disgracing Grace, in a manner similar to the Unforgiving Servant. This doesn’t mean that forgiveness is easy. It wasn’t easy for Jesus, and it isn’t easy for us.  Whenever evil is put on a face, someone that looks a whole lot like us, we all become nervous. Yet, when our debt in relation to God is put in perspective–following Jesus arithmetic, a difference of $50,000,000 to $34–to not forgive is to disgrace grace. As with the parable, when the role is reversed, and we are not debtors but creditors, how will we respond? Will we grace grace or will we disgrace grace?

Biography

Ralph Douglas West (DMin, Beason Divinity School) serves as founder and senior pastor of The Church Without Walls (Brookhollow Baptist Church, Houston, Texas). He first preached as a sixteen year old in his native Houston. The church began with 32 members and now embraces 24,000 families meeting in three locations and conducting six services each Sunday.

Photo by Daniel Rodrigues-Martin