Today, the year 4 children led KS2 worship in the hall. The theme was peace and forgiveness, looking at The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant taken from Matthew 18:21-35.
Sometimes people do and say things to hurt us on purpose. Sometimes they don’t mean it, but it hurts anyway. Forgiveness is hard.
The children dissolved a tablet into a jug of water, turning the water a different colour. It reminds us that our actions often have consequences and that the consequences may go on even after the person has been forgiven. Forgiveness may need to be an ongoing, conscious process. However, forgiving and being forgiven is an important part of feeling at peace in body, mind and spirit.
We watched a short video about the unforgiving servant.
The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, if my brother keeps on sinning against me, how many times do I have to forgive him? Seven times?”
22 “No, not seven times,” answered Jesus, “but seventy times seven, 23 because the Kingdom of heaven is like this. Once there was a king who decided to check on his servants’ accounts. 24 He had just begun to do so when one of them was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. 25 The servant did not have enough to pay his debt, so the king ordered him to be sold as a slave, with his wife and his children and all that he had, in order to pay the debt. 26 The servant fell on his knees before the king. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay you everything!’ 27 The king felt sorry for him, so he forgave him the debt and let him go.
28 “Then the man went out and met one of his fellow servants who owed him a few dollars. He grabbed him and started choking him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he said. 29 His fellow servant fell down and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back!’ 30 But he refused; instead, he had him thrown into jail until he should pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were very upset and went to the king and told him everything. 32 So he called the servant in. ‘You worthless slave!’ he said. ‘I forgave you the whole amount you owed me, just because you asked me to. 33 You should have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you.’ 34 The king was very angry, and he sent the servant to jail to be punished until he should pay back the whole amount.”
35 And Jesus concluded, “That is how my Father in heaven will treat every one of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”
Reflection
I wonder how it feels when people forgive us for something we did that hurt or upset them?
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