Amber felt as if a jolt of electricity shoot through her body. “I don’t believe it. It must have been a mistake,” she insisted.
“I just assumed you were busy, and were not able to attend.” Celeste was talking about Drew’s pool party last Saturday evening. Drew’s family had the best home in the neighborhood. The enormous back yard surrounded a beautiful in-ground pool with a diving board and slide. Activities the evening of the party included pool volley ball, tag, and a diving game that the neighborhood kids invented. After pizza was served, the night ended with video games.
“Why wasn’t I invited?” Amber asked. “Did Drew say why he didn’t include me?”
Celeste shrugged. “I asked him why you weren’t at the party. He said something about you not wanting to be there.”
“Why would he say that?” A rush of anger flowed through Amber’s body. Drew and she had been friends since the second grade. They shared a love of music, and of all things science.
“It doesn’t add up” Celeste shrugged. “I know you two are good friends. That odd kid, Greg, was there, which didn’t make sense, because Drew said he didn’t like Greg that much.
“Well, I’m going to get to the bottom of this,” said Amber.
Later that day, Drew jumped up to see who was at the front door. He opened the door to find Amber standing on the porch wearing a stern look on her face.
“Oh, hi,” said Drew.
Amber skipped the greeting, and jumped right to the point. “I heard you had a pool party last Saturday.”
“Yes, that’s right,” Drew responded.
“Who was there?” Amber continued.
“Just some friends.”
“Celeste told me that you didn’t want me there. Is that true?” said Amber.
Drew paused for a moment. He already knew this wasn’t going to go well. “Last week, you were with three of your friends in the school cafeteria. I said hi, as I walked by, but you ignored me. It seemed that you didn’t want to admit you knew me.”
“I did? I really don’t remember it,” Amber said. She pictured the cafeteria in her mind, but couldn’t recall seeing Drew there.
There was an awkward silence as the two friends waited for the other to say something.
Amber continued. “That’s ridiculous. You should have talked to me about it. I really didn’t ignore you. I probably just didn’t hear you.”
Immediately Drew felt a hint of guilt. He knew she was right. He should have said something instead of assuming she had ignored him, and then using that as a reason to exclude her from his party.
“I guess you’re right,” Drew admitted.
Amber studied his face and waited for an apology, but Drew offered nothing else. “That’s it! That’s all you can say is ‘I guess you’re right’? Well, fine. If that’s the way it’s going to be, I don’t need friends like that!” She spun around and stormed down the walkway to the street. Driven by shear anger, she marched home.
The next two days were a roller coster of emotion. Every time the memory came to mind, a burning anger followed immediately afterward. Amber’s temper grew short with her family and friends. Because of the outrage that she harbored, the people around her suffered.
At the end of the second day, she sat alone in her room, emotionally drained and exhausted. Amber looked back on the situation and the way she acted. The memory of Drew’s expression came to mind, along with the look in his eyes. Ever since they became friends, she knew Drew to be a boy of few words. Deep down she had to admit that Drew had been sorry, but he just wasn’t good a saying so.
At the previous Sunday service, the pastor spoke about a man being forgiven a debt. Amber thought about the sermon, and about the hurt that Drew caused her by not inviting her to the party. Even though Drew could not undo the hurt, Amber could forgive him, and cancel the debt that he owed her. That meant putting the whole thing behind her and never holding it against Drew. That could be difficult, and she might be tempted to throw it back in his face the next time they had a disagreement. No, she made up her mind that she would forgive him.
As Amber hung up the phone, she felt as if a weight had been lifted off her. During the short conversation with Drew, Amber made it clear that she forgave him, and they were still friends. The debt was cancelled.
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For Discussion:
Read Matt 18:21 – 35
How much money did the servant owe the king (master)? Check your Bible’s footnotes if available.
How much money did the fellow servant owe?
Think of a time when someone sinned against you. Does if feel like they owe you something?
How big is the sin “debt” that we owe God?
Who paid the debt for us?
What did it cost Jesus?