Do Not Let a Bitter Root Grow Up
Pastor Tan Thai · Sep 15, 2019
This sermon, based on Hebrews 12:15, warns about the danger of bitterness taking root in the hearts of believers who have been hurt but refuse to forgive. The pastor uses multiple illustrations and the teaching of Jesus Christ in Matthew 18 to urge the congregation to forgive because God has first forgiven them.
The sermon opens with the image of a tree's root system from Hebrews 12:15 to illustrate the hidden, spreading nature of bitterness in the human heart. Just as roots are invisible yet grow deeper and wider over time, bitterness arising from hurt, loss, betrayal, or offense silently expands within a person. The pastor uses the historical account of Vietnamese King Câu Tiễn tasting bitter gall to keep his hatred alive as a vivid illustration of deliberately nurtured bitterness.
The pastor recounts five concrete stories of suffering and forgiveness to illuminate the central theme. The story of Elizabeth Elliot returning to live among the Aucas tribe that killed her husband, of missionary Robert Thomas pressing his Bible into the hands of those killing him, of Amy Federic's family forgiving the man who shot her on a New York subway, and of Holocaust survivor Simon Wiesenthal confronting a dying German soldier begging forgiveness for burning 300 Jewish men, women, and children, all point to the same question: can and should a believer forgive? These five accounts are placed alongside the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant in Matthew 18:21-35.
The expository section focuses on Jesus Christ's parable in Matthew 18. A servant owed the king ten thousand talents — equivalent to hundreds of billions of dollars in modern terms — and was completely forgiven, yet immediately seized a fellow servant who owed him a few hundred denarii and had him thrown into prison. This contrast vividly portrays the enormous debt God has forgiven every believer versus the comparatively smaller offenses others commit against us.
The pastor presents three reasons why believers must forgive: because God has already forgiven them, because Scripture clearly commands forgiveness, and because refusing to forgive prevents prayers from being heard by God, as taught in Matthew 6:14-15 and Mark 11:25. He also cites medical and psychological research confirming that bitterness and hatred harm physical and mental health, while forgiveness brings peace and healthier relationships.
The sermon concludes with the story of Tsarina Maria Fedorovna moving a comma in Tsar Alexander III's order to transform a sentence of exile into a pardon, then connects this to Romans 8:1 and 8:33-35: in Jesus Christ, God has moved that comma for us, declaring there is no condemnation. The message calls the congregation to receive that forgiveness and let it overflow into forgiveness toward others, rather than allowing a bitter root to grow deeper and defile many.