A few days ago I encountered a Garfield comic strip. In it Garfield's owner Jon discovered that his chicken dinner was eaten by Garfield. In response to his discovery he said, "My chicken…you ate my chicken!!! As long as you ate my chicken, Garfield, why don't you EAT MY MASHED POTATOES! And my peas! And my radishes! And My celery!" while hurling away all of the abovementioned food onto Garfield direction. As Garfield was covered with mashed potatoes, peas, and radishes, he responded to Jon's action by saying, "I think Jon's upset."

One of the hardest tasks any of us has is to forgive someone who has hurt us, or wronged us. That the normal response is to strike back much like what our character Jon did when he discovered that his cat Garfield ate all of his chicken dinner.

We think of ways we could get even. Sometimes we just want to write the person off and ignore them as if they no longer exist. It is difficult to forgive. And yet the one thing we all have in common is that we have all been hurt by someone else. It may have been intentionally or accidentally, but we have all been there.

I can remember two years ago. We were all coming home from supper-Joy, Jasmine, Joy's parents, and myself. We were traveling on this two-way country road in Iowa. We were closing in on this four way stop when all of a sudden a car coming out of that four way stop suddenly went on our lane and hit the left front end of our car. Apparently, the motorist was trying to overtake the car in front of him while fiddling with his car radio. As his car hit us our vehicle spun out of control and was totaled. Joy's mom and dad suffered numerous wounds and bruises. Not to mention, the fact that Joy and I faced a situation in which Jasmine could have been killed or seriously hurt. It is not a good thing to experience.

Simon Peter had a question for Jesus, "Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive?" It seems logical, well thought question. Don't you think?

Perhaps someone had done something to hurt Peter. Maybe Peter's inquiry was simply in response to Jesus' teachings. For whatever reason, Peter wanted to know how many times he should forgive.

This reminds me of another Garfield comic strip in which Garfield the cat was asked through a letter, "Dear Garfield, My dog chases my cat all over the house. How can I make them get along?"

In response, Garfield said, "There's only one sure way to improve their relationship. Shoot the dog!"

But before Jesus has a chance to answer, Peter suggests, "As many as seven times?" Seven seemed like a good number. Indeed, seven was regarded as the perfect number. Seven was a biblical number; the world was created in seven days. Peter thought he gave an exceptional answer.

The rabbis instructed persons to forgive someone only three times, and if there was a fourth time (offense) then God would take care of the person. Peter was more generous; he doubled the amount and added one more for good measure. As many as seven times?" Peter might have thought that he finally had the right answer.

To forgive someone who has wronged you or has hurt you seven times is a lot. The average person finds it extremely difficult to forgive even once. To forgive someone seven times was more than twice the amount required by Jewish law.

Jesus answered Peter, "Not seven times, but I tell you, seventy times seven." The old standard of forgiveness was inadequate. Jesus offered a new teaching on forgiveness.

Jesus wants us to understand that forgiveness is an attitude. In answering Peter's question Jesus taught that there is no limit on forgiveness. We don't reach a certain number, three or seven or seventy-seven, and say to the other person, "I can't forgive you anymore-I've reached my limit.

For the follower of Jesus forgiveness is a way of life.

Jesus told a parable. A certain king wanted to settle accounts with his servants, so he summoned them in one by one. There was a servant who owed the king ten thousand talents-a huge sum of money. It would be impossible for the servant to ever pay off his debt. He would have to work 150,000 years to earn ten thousand talents. The average person could not even comprehend such a gigantic sum, comparable to our national debt. But Jesus exaggerates the figure deliberately. He want us to see that the servant could never pay the debt no matter how hard he worked, no matter how much overtime he put in, no matter how much how many weekends he worked. It was downright impossible.

The king was ready to throw the servant along with his wife and children in prison because he could not pay his debt. The servant fell on his knees and pleaded with his king.

"Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything." Out of pity, Jesus said, the king forgave the entire amount of the debt. The servant was free. The only thing he owed the king was a big thank you. What a relief! He would not be sent to prison, his family would not be sold off as slaves. He was free. Thanks to the goodness of the king he did not owe a cent.

We don't run into such a generous attitude very often, don't we? When we do, it makes our day.

A story was told of a grandmother who was celebrating her golden wedding anniversary, who told the secret of her long happy marriage. She said, "On my wedding day, I decided to make a list of ten of my husbands faults which, for the sake of marriage, I would overlook."

A guest asked the woman what some of those faults she had chosen to overlook were. The grandmother replied, "To tell you the truth, I never did get around to making that list. But whenever my husband did something that made me hopping mad, I would say to myself, 'Lucky for him that's one of the ten.'"

That's the kind of attitude Jesus would have loved. How many times should we forgive someone who has done wrong or hurt us? Seven seems like a good answer. Not so, Jesus says. "Not seven times, but seventy times seven?

The Christian life is not comprised of arithmetic or just good intentions but is filled with practical, everyday acts of compassion. As difficult as it may seem, there is no limit to the amount of forgiveness we are to offer to another person. We are to keep on forgiving.

When we are able to forgive another person, healing takes place. The king forgave the servant a colossal debt. You would think this act of forgiveness would change his entire outlook on life. Not so.

The forgiven servant ran into a fellow servant who owed him one denarii. Note the contrast. It would take an army to transport ten thousand talents, but one denarii could easily be carried in a pocket. The average worker could earn one hundred denarii in only a couple of months. In contrast to the substantial amount the servant owed the king, the denarii was nothing.

Yet the servant whose debt was forgiven was enraged. He grabbed his fellow servant by the throat, and started choking him. Notice that the fellow servant said the exact same words the servants told the king. "Have patience with me, and I will pay you."

The servant was unmoved by his words. He had the fellow thrown into prison. Even more important, see what an opportunity he missed. He could have experienced the joy of forgiving.

When I my father died in 1991 his death was caused by a sever stroke as a result of a band of robbers who decided to steal from our home. I can remember my first three months as my heart was filled with rage and hatred toward these faceless individuals. I can remember not being able to concentrate on my seminary studies because of these negative feelings that I carried. It wasn't until I released my anger and my hatred and left everything to God that I felt much better and more able to tackle my seminary education. When we harbor negative feelings, when we are unable to forgive another person for what they have done to us, we are the ones who suffer the most. It takes a toll on us emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Healing takes place when we are willing to let go and are able to forgive.

The servant refused to forgive his fellow servant. When the other servants heard what had happened they were shocked. It didn't take long with all the servants talking about what had happened for the king to hear about it.

The king was enraged and called once again for the servant. The king scolded the servant, "You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?"

Because he was unwilling to forgive his fellow servant, he was thrown into prison where he would spend the rest of his life in hard labor.

The point is obvious. We forgive others because God has forgiven us. This is what empowers us to forgive. We have been forgiven.

A story was told of a pastor's son and his mom who had been to a shopping mall and the boy had acted badly. As they were driving home, he could sense his mother's displeasure. He said, "When we ask God to forgive us when we are bad. He does, doesn't he?"

His mother replied, "Yes, that's what the Bible says."

The boy was silent for a while and then he said, "I've asked God to forgive me, but I bet when we get home, you're going to go fishing for those sins aren't you?"

I guess too often, we do go fishing for other people's sins That God has already buried.

Have you ever been given a second chance? If you have, be careful if you say you cannot forgive someone else. There is healing in forgiveness-healing of relationship and healing within for the person who forgives.

A servant was forgiven an enormous debt. But he could not forgive another who owed him.

How many times are we to forgive another person? There is no limit. Forgiveness is a way of life. It is an acknowledgement that we have been forgiven. Therefore we are able to forgive. Amen