Are We Not All Beggars?
“Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.”
Please, I’m begging you. I have a wife. Kids. And they need me as much as I need them. I just need a little more time.
Please?
—
There once was a man who had a family.
They weren’t perfect, but they were nonetheless a family, trying to make ends meet, and trying as best they could, to be happy.
But while in their pursuit of happiness, an unexpected notice arrives.
The head of the household - the husband - is summoned to see the king at once.
With the journey being a day’s worth on foot, the husband makes his way towards the kingdom.
The sound of every foot step causes the man to be anxious.
He knows why the summon has come.
A deal was made - one that he and his wife willingly agreed on.
They wanted to start their own business, but it hadn’t taken off like they had planned.
They had success, but the debt still owed was far more than they could bare at this time.
With a heavy heart and anguish in his soul, the man soldiers on - heading to what appears to be his last chance.
There is no way the king is going to give me more time. He’s going to take my family. My kids. My wife. Life will be over as I know it. As we know it.
The negative self talk rages on... to the point where he believes every word he thinks.
You should just run away. The king won’t know. You’ll be safe.
Although tempted, he chooses not to. He thinks of those back home that love him.
—
The hour final arrives - the hour to meet the king.
Time to settle the accounts.
“Where is he?” questions the King.
“Here he is” the servant replies.
Held by guards, the man is tossed at the feet of the King.
“Where’s my money?”
Looking up, the morning light coming through the windows is almost blinding.
“I don’t have it,” replied the man.
“YOU DON’T HAVE IT?!”
“What have you done with my money?” demanded the King.
Without time to reply, the King commands the man to be sold, along with his wife and children and everything that he has.
“Take him away!”
And with the flick of his wrist, the guards come to seize the man.
As a final effort, the man throws himself at the King’s feet, worshipping him.
With tears in his eyes, the man says, “Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all (Matthew 18:26).”
Perhaps in that moment, the King recalls a similar experience that happened to him.
Nevertheless, the King was moved with compassion.
Standing the man on his feet, the guards grab him and present him before the King.
Unlike the last flick of his wrist, this time the guards let him go.
“I am moved with compassion towards thee and thy family.”
Go thy way.
Thy debt is forgiven.”
The man is awestruck.
Never has there been such mercy shown in all the kingdom.
Not wanting to waste this moment of opportunity and fortune, the man decides he is going to try his luck and seize someone he knows who owes him money.
Forget that he had just been forgiven. Forget the great lesson he had just learned.
Rather than going home with a humbled heart, rejoicing, greed ensues.
Upon finding the individual who owed him money, the man - unlike moments prior - grabs the individual by the throat.
“Pay me that thou owest (Matthew 18:28)” he demands.
Mind you, the debt owed between these two is 100 pence compared to what the man owed the King (10,000 talents).
“And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all (Matthew 18:29).”
Sound familiar?
“Have patience with me.
“I will pay thee all.”
“I just need more time.”
The same man who fell at the feet of the King was now on his own throne, watching as someone he knew, beg for more time.
Feels good, doesn’t it? To be in control? To have power?
Such historical lies delivered by the adversary are what may have caused this ungrateful man to act out against his acquaintance.
Metaphorically speaking, with the flick of his wrist, the acquaintance owing 100 pence is summoned, much like the man was.
“And he would not [the man have patience with his acquaintance]: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt (Matthew 18:30).”
Unknown to the bickering men, listening ears in the distance tuned in to the man’s conversation.
Hey... isn’t that the same man whom the King forgave?
Yeah... I think so!
Wait until the King hears about this.
It’s a shame really.
You would think such mercy would change him.
“So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done (Matthew 18:31).”
Oh how the King must have felt when he heard the news.
To some degree, we do know.
The king, in his fury and with the flick of his wrist, summons the man.
Bring him to ME!
Now this part of the story is perhaps the most difficult to bare because I can only imagine what happens next.
Seeing his fellow servant taken away, the man wipes his hands clean from their argument in the street.
That will teach him. I’ll get my money. Time to go home now. Can’t wait to tell my wife and kids what happened today.
After cleaning himself up, the man looks up and sees a group of guards running towards him.
I hope they aren’t coming for me.
With a large lump in his throat, the man is told to stop.
He is surrounded.
“You are coming with us!” yells one of the guards.
“Why? What did I do?” cries the man.
The guards don’t reply, but rather pick up the pace as they bring him with gripped arms before the King.
“O thou wicked servant...” the King begins.
“I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me (Matthew 18:32).”
The man is silent. His heart sinks and his palms begin to sweat.
Before losing his temper, the King slows down so that the ungrateful man can understand.
“Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?”
The man’s eyes are open wide. There is no escape. Not this time. Not amount of begging will change the King’s mind.
His fate is sealed.
“TAKE HIM AWAY!” shouts the King.
“And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him (Matthew 18:34).”
The use of the word tormentor is intentional.
An ugly fate awaits him, and one without a happy ending.
How easy it would have been to rejoice and sing a happy tune rather than feel empowered to persecute.
How easy it would have been to have simply gone home?
We’ve all said that after we make a mistake.
I’ve said that.
How easy would it have been to just walk away while being tempted?
In hindsight, easy, but in the moment?
It is hard.
The point of this parable - much like all the other parables Christ taught - isn’t about two bickering men, it’s about us.
The fallen human family.
It’s about the relationship with our one and only King - even Jesus Christ - and the relationships we form with others.
We - in some way, shape or form - are like this man asking for forgiveness from someone who is perfect, even Jesus Christ.
To put into perspective, “if the smaller, unforgiven 100-pence debt were, say, $100 in current times, then the 10,000-talent debt so freely forgiven would have approached $1 billion—or more (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Be Ye Therefore Perfect - Eventually, October 2017)!”
How then was it possible to extent so much forgiveness - without hesitation - to someone who owed so much?
Why would the King do that?
Why would He forgiven such an unfathomable debt?
Because the account had already been settled some 2000 years ago in a lonely garden and on a public hill.
Jesus Christ paid our debt in full, and all He asks is that we give Him a 100 pence worth of effort.
It is of no wonder that this parable was preceded by the question, “How oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times (Matthew 18:21)?”
God uses an unfathomable scale to show us the grandeur of His mercy and the infinity of His love towards us who are - at times - broken and unwilling to forgive.
We may not be able to forgive the 10,000 talents worth like the King, but we can at least give those who wrong us, a 100 pence worth.
And if not a 100 pence worth, then surely we can give Him and those around us, a mustard seeds worth of effort.
Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee?”
Should we not also extend the same love and compassion towards our family members, friends, co-workers, and even ourselves?
If God is so merciful with us, shouldn’t we feel obligated- at least to some degree - the need to reciprocate that same mercy?
“For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same eBeing, even God, for all the substance which w have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches we have of every kind (Mosiah 4:19)?”
Surely such mercy and forgiveness has changed our lives, so imagine how it would change the lives of those who receive such compassion from us?
God does not ask for perfection - yet.
But He does ask that we try.
He asks us to withhold our anger and to be merciful towards those around us, including ourselves.
Because more often times than not, the most important - yet difficult person to forgive - is the individual we must confront on a daily basis; us.
If at times you feel like you are failing or can’t seem to let go of something, remember there is a reason why the rear view mirror is smaller than the front windshield.
It’s smaller because it’s not meant for us to stare through, but to look back at - to glance.
Faith is pointed towards the future, and it always will be.
—
Like all parables, there are inherent lessons to be learned, and perhaps the lesson that goes unnoticed is that of walking away once we have been blessed.
After the man was forgiven of such a tremendous debt, he should have gone home rejoicing, but he didn’t.
But why?
Rather than going home to see his loved ones, he chose to walk down a road that only leads to torment.
He wanted to try his luck.
If I am lucky once, I can get lucky again.
And so the man tried.
It didn’t work, and he was thrown in jail because of it.
When such blessings come in our lives - say that of forgiveness from sin - it is best to walk away rejoicing, rather than the dog who turned to his own vomit, again (see 2 Peter 2:22).
If you have felt the song of redeeming love and been made whole by the Master, go thy way rejoicing rather than turning back because I promise you, that road only leads to torment and sleepless nights.
Imagine how that man must have felt sitting in his jail cell - that night - wondering if he would ever get another chance again.
Wondering, “Did I lose everything?”
Wondering if he would ever see such mercy in his life again.
Wondering if his wife and children would forgive him, let alone come to visit him.
Wondering if he would spend the rest of his days in solitude, being tormented by the very person he has to confront on an hourly basis - himself.
The list goes on an on.
Now we don’t know what happens to this man because the parable ends there, however, the point is this: no matter how many chances you think you may missed, we worship a God of second, third chances and even 100 chances.
Mercy, forgiveness and peace can and will be restored, however, it comes with a price.
It will require work. It will require time.
And at times, it may even require a few restless nights.
If you feel if you have lost every opportunity and wished you would have gone home rejoicing, but didn’t, please know “there is nothing in either case that you have done that cannot be undone. There is no problem which you cannot overcome. There is no dream that in the unfolding of time and eternity cannot yet be realized. Even if you feel you are the lost and last laborer of the eleventh hour, the Lord of the vineyard still stands beckoning (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, The Laborers in the Vineyard, April 2012).”
Negative self-talk will only lead to more self-loathing and disappointment, so don’t do it. It is a miserable way to live.
“But as oft as they repented and sought forgiveness, with real intent, they were forgiven (Moroni 6:8).”
They were forgiven, and eventually the man in his tormented jail cell was forgiven.
“I promise those blessings and that joy are real and within reach for those who keep all the commandments and “him that seeketh so to do.” When you feel like you have failed too many times to keep trying, remember Christ’s Atonement and the grace it makes possible are real. “[His] arm of mercy is extended towards you.” You are loved—today, in 20 years, and forever (Elder Bradley R. Wilcox, Worthiness Is Not Flawlessness, October 2021).”
I know this to be true, and I know God is never displeased with us as long as we keep trying, again, and again, and again and again.