Forgiveness is Dei -- On A Day When Forgiving Is Extra Difficult
This is the manuscript I wrote on Saturday to create an outline from which to preach from on Sunday, September 11, 2011. I didn't stick to it. (I never do.) I've added in some of what I remember saying at the two services. Some of this I used, some I didn't but it all went into the stew, and each congregation got a different mix of veggies and meat in service today.
Peter asks Jesus how often you must forgive someone who has sinned against you. This comes from the passage just before this, last week’s Gospel lesson, about what you are to do if someone sins against you. For those of you who weren’t here, let me recap:
You are to talk to the person face to face so they understand what they did and how it affected you.
If that doesn’t work, then you are to take a couple of friends with you and talk to the person again, again so they understand how what they did has wronged you.
Should that not work, then bring the matter, and the person, before the congregation, again presenting how their actions have been detrimental to you.
If the person should still not realize and admit what they did was wrong, then treat them like a Gentile, a tax collector or a Chicago Bear (you should’ve been here).
BUT, when you look at how Jesus treated Gentiles and tax collectors, (he didn’t deal with Bears) you see that he reached out to them and ministered to them. He lifted them up as examples of those who had great faith and healed those they asked him to heal. All of this followed Jesus telling about the shepherd who had one of 100 sheep wander off and left the 99 alone to search for the lost one. Jesus said it was not his father’s will that anyone be lost.
Peter realizes that when you have been sinned against that you can’t just try once with the transgressor. So he wants to set a limit on how much trying you have to do. Now, I don’t know if Peter knew what the rabbinic recommendation was, but I do. It was three times. You were to forgive three times. If that wasn’t sufficient, tough. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Done.
Let’s say Peter knew that Jewish tradition. He also knew Jesus usually raised the bar (as well as the dead), went the extra mile and turned the other cheek. So if three times was the norm, well seven is more than twice three, and it was considered a perfect number, so he went with seven. Forgive someone seven times.
BUZZZZZZZ! I’m sorry, that’s wrong, thanks for playing. Not only was Jesus not accepting 7, but Peter wasn’t close. Now depending upon which translation of the Bible you prefer, the correct answer is either 77 times or 7 TIMES 70. The exact number really doesn’t matter. The answer to how many times you are to forgive someone who sins against you is that you keep forgiving. If you are counting, you are not forgiving. If you are keeping track of how many times you have forgiven someone, you are still keeping track of what they did. The Greek word for forgiveness is literally to “let go.” If you forgive someone, you let go of what happened. So if you keep score, you are still sore about being wronged.
Now, Jesus knows the disciples, and knows that they do not understand what he is getting at, so he tells them a parable. The other disciples probably look at Peter, going, “Great. A parable. Now we’ll NEVER understand.” The disciples are always asking Jesus to explain the parable he just used to describe what the reign of God, the kingdom of God, is like.
But this one is pretty straightforward. We just may not like it.
A king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. [Mt 18.23b-24] What is a talent? Not ability, like singing. A talent is a measure of silver. One talent was equal to what a laborer would make in fifteen years. So think of how much you make in a year, and multiply it by fifteen. Sorry about the math. Then put four zeroes at the end of that. That is the amount that this slave owes his king. He owes what it would take him 150,000 years to pay back. Not surprisingly, the slave tells the king that he can’t pay that amount. So the king is going to have the slave, the slave’s wife, their children and everything they own sold to pay off the debt. But the slave begs the king not to do that, and to be patient and give him the chance to pay it off. So what does the king do? He is SO moved by the slave that he forgives the entire debt. The whole thing. Wiped out. Zeroed. Net balance, nada, zip, zero, zilch. That is some quality groveling.
But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii. [Mt 18.28] What is a denarii? A denarii is not an automobile. It is a silver coin and what a laborer would make for working one day. If you work at a job where you are paid hourly, or are on salary, you can figure out what your daily wages are. Take that and put two zeroes at the end, and that is what slave #2 owes slave #1. In case you want to compare the levels of indebtedness, it took about 5,475 denarii to equal one talent. If you worked every day for 15 years, saving each denarii
Then slave #1 seized slave #2 by the throat and demanded payment on what he was owed. Slave #2 begged and pleaded for patience and the opportunity to repay what was owed. Slave #1 refused and had slave #2 thrown in prison. The other slaves saw what happened and told the king. The king was NOT happy and summoned slave #1, chewed him out and handed him over to be tortured until he paid his original debt.
Now, this is where the parable gets a little tricky. I mean, this is a parable that I understand, and kind of agree with. Slave #1 is a … well, my best description of him would be a word I don’t want to use in front of kids, nor when all dressed up in the sanctuary. Let’s go with jerk. That the king decides to go after him and punish him makes me feel good; he got what he had coming.
You would expect that if you owed a life crushing debt, owed more than you could make in around 3,000 lifetimes, and it was forgiven, don’t you think that might put you in a generous mood? Slave #1 got a free pass, one he did NOT deserve, but then puts the hammer to Slave #2 for a debt that really could be repaid. There was NO way that Slave #1 could pay his debt. But Slave #2 had a chance. It’s 100 days wages. But Slave #1 didn’t give him a chance. Because of his actions, the king unforgave the debt that the jerk, I mean slave #1, owed to him. You can’t do that, can you? Can you take back forgiveness? And more importantly, since Jesus is using this parable to describe the kingdom of heaven that would mean the king is representing God the Father. So, can God take back forgiveness? If so, what does that mean?
It gets worse. So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart. [Mt 18.35]
If we do not forgive others from our hearts, God the Father will hand us over to be tortured until we pay off what we owe? This appearing in Matthew’s Gospel shouldn’t be a surprise. Each of the four gospels has its own unique perspectives, its own voice. It is as if there were four eyewitnesses to an accident. Each will tell a slightly different version of what happened, based upon their perspective. In Matthew’s gospel, many parables have an “or else” component. Weeds are separated from wheat and thrown into the fire. The worker who complained about his wages is fired. The son who didn’t go into the fields is banished from the kingdom, and those who did not see Jesus in the hungry, thirsty, naked or imprisoned were sent to eternal punishment.
Some Biblical scholars think Jesus is engaging in hyperbole, exaggerating to make a point. No one could accumulate the amount of debt that Slave #1 does. The amount he owes, 10,000 talents, is the same amount the Roman Empire demanded in tribute from all of Israel when they conquered Israel. The king does not act in a forgiving way, at least the second time. Nor did the rest of the slaves. While that is true, not forgiving someone can be considered to be a sin, because it is not acting out of love toward that person. But specifically because this teaching is hard; because forgiving is difficult, I think this teaching is true and important.
All of this talk of forgiving debts reminds me of something. Does anyone remember learning a version of the Lord’s Prayer that talked of “forgiving our debts as we forgave our debtors.”? Anyone else recall that? Would it surprise you to know that version comes from Matthew’s Gospel? The one we use in worship, with “forgive our sins,” or “forgive our trespasses,” comes from Luke’s gospel.
But Matthew’s version of the prayer Jesus taught his disciples uses debts. We ask God to let go of what we owe. That’s not the only difference, and here is where the grammar lesson comes in. Matthew’s version of that petition is: “forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” “As we HAVE FORGIVEN our debtors.” Aorist, or past tense. Completed action. We are asking God to follow our example and let go of what we owe, because we have already let go of what we are owed.
Wait, it gets worse. After teaching his disciples how to pray, in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus adds: For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. [Mt 6.14-15] How would our lives be different if we use Matthew’s version of the Lord’s Prayer rather than Luke’s?
This seems to be too tough. And the characters in the parable don't seem to be too forgiving. The king forgives once, then takes it back. Where are the other 76 or 489 times? And the other slaves, well, they're just a bunch of tattle tails. Where is their mercy and forgiveness. Then there is this king, who, if this parable is supposed to be about the kingdom of heaven, the king must represent God, the Father. Well, he sure gets angry. He's not at all like God is depicted in today's Psalm:
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always accuse,nor will he keep his anger for ever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. [Psalm 103:8-10]
Well. At least Matthew’s consistent. He reports Jesus saying that we ill be judged as we judge others [7.1-2] and we’ve heard twice since I’ve been here that whatever we loose on earth will be loosed in heaven, and whatever we bind on earth will be bound on heaven. So if we forgive someone, if we let it go, it will be let go in heaven. But not for their account, but for ours. If we let go of a wrong, or a bunch of wrongs, done against us, we will have our wrongs let go of in heaven.
If we forgive, if we let go of the denarii worth of wrongs done against us, our heavenly king will let go of the talents load of wrongs we have done. It seems like a great deal. But letting go of those wrongs are hard. Because each of those wrongs, each of those sins against us, have left a scar. That scar may be mental, emotional or physical. Each of those wrongs has caused us pain. When we forgive, what are we to do with that pain and rage? Let it go.
We know we are sinners. We know we have sinned. We know what we have done has hurt people. And we beg for mercy and forgiveness. It may be from those we wronged. It may not. But we hope that God will forgive us. Even when we can’t forgive ourselves.
Another theme running through Matthew is Jesus telling the disciples that the kingdom of heaven does not work as this world does, but it works in its own ways. One of the ways that it works is that we are to live in forgiveness, live in letting it go.
Jesus is telling us, commanding us, to let it go. For our sins to be forgiven, we must already forgive those who have sinned against us. And that is hard, hard work. Those wrongs done against us, done to us are personal. Those insults and assaults have been against us. They were done to us. They have hurt our pride, our bodies and our very souls.
The key to this parable, and this whole section of Matthew is in showing mercy. The king showed mercy, until it was thrown back at him. Jesus said, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” [Mt 12.7] The mercy we give should reflect the mercy we get. Or to quote the Beatles, “The love you take is equal to the love you make.” Jesus tells us to let it go. It is not easy. Forgiveness is hard. Forgiveness is a challenge. Forgiveness is a challenge that we must take on. Earlier I quoted Jesus saying, it was not his father’s will that anyone be lost. (Actually didn't use the Beatles quote -- but I love the Beatles, so I left it in here.)
By forgiving others, it allows them to be reconciled and brought back into the community. By forgiving others, it allows us to be reconciled to others and be in community with them. Forgiveness is not for the sake of the other, but for our own sake. Holding on to the pain and shame, the bruise and the blues effects me, not the one who wounded me. Letting go helps me heal. Forgiveness is hard. But if you recall our vocabulary lesson from a couple of weeks ago, forgiveness is dei … it is necessary.
That brings me to the number that casts a shadow over this lesson … 9/11. Ten years later, watching those pictures still hurt.
Before coming to church this morning, I turned on TV and watched a bit of the Memorial Service from where the Twin Towers were. There was a young man who read his father's name; his father was a stock broker in one of the towers. The young man said he was trying to teach his younger brother about their father, and he hopes that he's doing a good job.
What if Peter asked, “If someone, a person or a group, kills innocent people, why do I have to forgive, even once?” Why does that young man, or anyone who lost a loved one on 9/11 have to forgive even once? Why does anyone who lost a loved one in the wars we fought after 9/11 have to forgive, even once? Why does anyone who has suffered through the ethnic cleansings in Africa, the Balkans, and the Middle East have to forgive even once? Why does anyone who has suffered through genocide have to forgive? Why does anyone who has suffered through the holocaust of the Nazi concentration camps have to forgive even once? Why do those who have survived individual attacks of domestic abuse, of child abuse and neglect have to forgive? Why does anyone suffering with prejudice and bullying have to forgive?
Because it is the right thing to do. This is a hard lesson. If we hold onto that pain, hurt and shame, with our fist clenched around it, with our knuckles turning white from that grip, with our fingernails cutting into our palms, if we hold on, we are tied to the past. We claim that pain as ours and forget who has claimed us as theirs. We keep that hurt and wrong as the focus of our life and our identity and forget the identity we were given at the font. We hang onto that wrong with our heart and mind and body and our soul, and forget what we are to use those for.
Forgiveness allows us to move beyond the spiral of escalating recriminations. If they did this to me, then I can- I must- do that to them. Then they have to “even the score.” And so on. Forgiveness moves from a cycle of violence to a cycle of love. Forgiving the sin, letting go of a debt is refusing to let the past control the future. When we let go of how we were wronged, we let go of our feelings of being a victim, of bitterness and of revenge.
Forgiveness is letting go of our own justification. We justify our actions, of holding onto that pain, rather than trust in our being justified through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Where can we attain this forgiveness for those who have sinned against us?
The parable in this lesson speaks of how one person, Slave #1, has an unpayable debt. He owes 10,000 talents, an amount that you could not pay off in 150,000 years. That debt is not forgiven. But he who was forgiven much does not extend forgiveness to someone who owed him comparatively little. And so his initial debt, all of those talents, while not forgiven, was satisfied, at the cost of his life; he spent the rest of his life imprisoned and tortured.
Our debt to God, what we – collectively all of the people of all of the world in all time – is so vast that it could only be paid by the life of one person; the life of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Our debt has been forgiven. We have been let go, let go so that we can forgive and let others go.
This version of my sermon has a LOT of materials drawn from other resources. I wish I could claim that I came up with a lot of it. It is an amalgam of influences and resources. Some of which, most of which I list below:
Working Preacher - Karl Jacobson, David Lose, and the Sermon Brainwave podcast.
I'm sorry if I borrowed from someone without credit.
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