God’s grace, peace
and mercy be with you. … The title of my sermon is Question, Answer and Church.
My focus is on Matthew 18:21-35. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist
wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”[1] Now that our feet are
within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit
enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we
pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.
Did you know that
there are more than three dozen songs by popular singers with the word ‘forgive’
in the title? There is an online list of these songs, and I have never heard
any of them. In fact, I have never even heard of most of the artists on that
list except for Pat Boone, Donna Summer, Paul Simon and Carly Simon. When it
comes to movies, one person posted a question on an internet chat board asking
for suggestions for movies about forgiveness because the best he could come up
with is Angels with Dirty Faces starring Jimmy Cagney. Finally, when I
looked at Goodreads for books on forgiveness, the only ones I recognized were East
of Eden by John Steinbeck and Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. My
point is that as a culture, we rarely sing about or write about forgiveness. We
lack forgiveness.
That said, the
best teaching on forgiveness is our passage today. First, we have Peter’s
question, followed by Jesus’ answer. Finally, we need to place that within the
context of Church and focus on how we practice forgiveness.
First, Peter’s
question. Matthew wrote that Peter came up and said to Jesus, “Lord, how
often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven
times?” (18:21).
Now, there is
nothing particularly Christian about the practice of forgiveness. Whatever
one’s religion or nonreligion, people request and grant forgiveness almost
every day.[2] A personal example. When
we take Travis outside and he’s off leash, we always make him wear an
electronic recall collar. The vibration of the collar’s two prongs when pressed
on the remote gets his attention faster than cooked bacon. So, last Thursday,
we took Travis to the groomer. He was picture perfect and no longer smelled,
well, like a dirty dog. On Friday, after the builders left the site of our new
home construction, Cindy and I went out to look at the progress and take some
pictures. Because it had rained for several days earlier that week, we were
careful to watch our footing. There is a lot of muddy clay puddles. Of course,
we let Travis come with us. I put his recall collar on his neck and put the
remote in my pocket. We had finished our inspection and photographs and started
to walk away from the site. My back was turned and Cindy started yelling ‘No!’
at Travis and for me to ‘Hit the remote!’ Freshly bathed and groomed Travis
found the muddiest puddle on our property and he wasn’t going to be denied some
fun. He took a mud bath.
Later, after we
hosed the mud and stink off Travis, Cindy apologized to me for yelling,
explaining that she wasn’t mad at me but at Travis. This had to be at least the
seventh time he’s done something like this. This type of forgiveness involved a
trivial and unintentional matter – a Golden Retriever doing what he loves.
Forgiveness, however, becomes problematic only when the trespasses are more
serious, when they are intentional, and especially when they are repeated.[3]
So, why did Peter
ask his question and why did Matthew record it? Well, within the greater
context of last week’s passage, we see that Jesus called his disciples to be
different than the rest of the world and in particular to be gracious and
humble. Here, the question of forgiveness raised by Peter – as a spokesperson
for all disciples – shows the smallness of his faith and understanding. The
topic of a Christian brother or sister forgiving another disciple of Jesus who
has sinned against him or her applies generally to all who follow Christ.
Although it is clear that Peter’s understanding of the scope of forgiveness is
inadequate, note that by normal human standards, his offer to forgive a brother
who sins against him up to seven times is not a trivial one.[4] Peter is willing to forgive
up to seven times. Seven is the traditional number of perfection. Nevertheless,
he is acting like a rabbi. While acknowledging Jesus’ ‘law’ of forgiveness, he
wants that law, like every human law, to have clearly delineated limits.[5] Whatever normal standard
is guiding Peter’s question is dwarfed and then swallowed up by Jesus’
response.
Second, Jesus’
answer. Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but
seventy-seven times” (18:22). Jesus declares that forgiveness has
nothing to do with moral arithmetic or record keeping. By playing with the
number seven and turning it into a symbolic number, Jesus emphasized that true
Christian forgiveness knows no limits.[6] As in the case of the
Sermon on the Mount (5:21-48), here too does Jesus impart sweeping divine
revelation: be ever and always willing to forgive! The specifics remain to be
worked out in the tug and pull of Christian existence.
Jesus then spoke
the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (18:23-35) which contains three scenes:
the master’s compassion for the hopelessly indebted slave (24-27); that
forgiven slave’s refusal to show mercy to his fellow slave who had far less
debt (28-30); and the master’s angry retraction of his forgiveness and the
subsequent punishment of the unforgiving slave (31-34).
There are
parallels between the first two scenes.[7] Both begin by presenting
the figure of one who is indebted to another. The first slave is indebted to
his master, and the fellow slave owes the first slave. Both are initially
treated mercilessly. Both are ordered to be sold along with family to repay the
debt. Each falls to the ground begging for mercy.
To highlight the
contrasts, we see in the first scene that the relationship is between the
master and the slave, and in the second, between two slaves. The more obvious
contrast is the amount owed. The first slave owed so much money that it would
have taken him 60 million days to repay the full amount or 1,000 years
imprisonment. The ratio of his debt to that of his fellow slave was 600,000 to
one, for the latter owed 100 denarii.[8] Some have surmised that
the former must have been a provincial governor for no one else could have
access to so much money except a government official.
The third contrast
is the response after the appeal for patience to repay the debt. Unexpectedly
the master feels compassion for his slave and releases him, forgiving the
catastrophically enormous debt. Shockingly, that slave released from the
unthinkable burden, imprisons his fellow man until the debt is repaid.
Unaffected by his
master’s generosity, the first slave is now summoned to him. The master’s
speech reminds us that he was originally motivated because he felt compassion.
Now, he is motivated to enact justice because he feels anger, and the
once-forgiven slave will be imprisoned until all is repaid.
The parable
strikes home because it pins the hearers to the wall with the truth of Jesus’
words. Yet, this is not a new teaching. He had already taught his disciples his
own prayer adding this: “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your
heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their
trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses”
(6:14-15).
The wicked slave
should forgive because it is the right thing to do, and there is no wiggle room
in Jesus’ words. But, how is it possible to act with necessary justice? That,
folks, brings me to my third point, Church. How and why do we live as people
who can and will forgive one another?
To help answer
that we look at the framework of the parable.[9] In the framework of the
mind of the wicked slave, he did not see himself as someone who internalized
his master’s generosity and forgiveness. Instead, he saw himself as someone who
was experiencing a loss and saw his fellow slave as a man who owed him a lot of
money: in today’s world, five months wages. Framed that way, it seems logical
that one who owed us five months wages should be punished. In our world, it is
logical, rational and understandable. But in the framework of a man who had
just been pardoned for crime greater than that of Bernie Madoff, does it?
What other way
could the wicked slave have viewed these matters? What framework should he have
had – and to a greater degree – should members of the Church have? Obviously,
he could have seen himself as someone who had just been rescued and released
from an unfathomable, crushing debt that would have condemned him and his
entire family to spend ten lifetimes in prison. He could have seen himself as
someone to whom a stunning grace and generosity had come by way of his master’s
compassion. He could have viewed his fellow slave’s debt as trivial in
comparison to his own forgiven debt.
To adopt such a
framework occurs only through faith. To view Jesus’ call to forgive begins by
standing in the flow of forgiveness that begins with God in Christ and comes to
me. Then, the second step, only through the power of the Gospel, is to allow
that same forgiveness to flow from me to another who needs my mercy. The
sequence of events in this parable corresponds to how the reign of God comes
into the world through Jesus (4:17) and brings blessings to those who are poor
in spirit and those weary for rest.[10] The gift of understanding
and faith in Jesus opens up those needy ones to desire and receive the flow of
forgiveness. With forgiveness received and standing in the flow of that
forgiveness, disciples are able to give one another a similar gift. However, forgiveness
that does not flow out from God through Christ to me and then to another is
forgiveness that God has offered to me but that I have despised. Forgiveness
that has been despised is forgiveness that will be withdrawn.[11]
So, how does this
forgiveness work its way out in our relationships with God and one another in
Christ? First, God takes the initiative in Christ. Forgiveness is never earned,
elicited or merited. Second, we should distinguish between the decision to forgive
another and the internal emotions that one may or may not experience in
relation to another.
To forgive is to
release someone else from the retribution and retaliation that they may deserve
to receive. Forgiveness is a Spirit-led choice. The emotions may follow slowly
or may need to be dragged out kicking and screaming into the new situation. In
some situations, we may distress because of the anger or hurt that lasts for a
long time. Emotions sometimes last longer than we might expect. But we should
not doubt the fact of God’s unlimited forgiveness for us in Christ Jesus, nor
the effectiveness of the past act of declaring the other person forgiven.
Emotions may cloud the mind and heart, but they cannot trump the promises of
God.
We may need to
forgive others more than once for the same sin. Healing may involve repeated
mutual confessions and absolutions because there is a struggle within Jesus’
disciples between the ways of the old age or the ways of the modern world and
the new time of salvation into which we have been called and baptized.
And so, my
friends, I ask you, is there room in your lives, hearts and minds for
forgiveness? While some in our world value revenge and ruin, we make room for
reconciliation and respect in and through Christ. While some raise their fists
and evoke fear through lawlessness, we raise our hearts and call for
forgiveness and faithfulness to Law and Gospel.
Friends, beginning
today, as Christians, make room for the mercy God pours into your hearts in
Christ through Word and Sacrament. As faithful spouses, loving parents and
disciplined children, make room for forgiveness. When you do that, may the peace of God
that surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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