Lectionary 24A (Pr 19)
Grace Lutheran Church
Lakeland, FL
September 13, 2020
Exodus 14:19-31
Psalms 114
Romans 14:1-12
Matthew 18:21-35
Grace and peace to you and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
There was that time in my life and there was that person in my life and it was like oil and water. For months, we were locked in a web of disagreement and discord and irritation and wounded feelings and accumulated wrongs. On both of our parts. It was eating at my craw. And it seemed that every time there was any kind of interaction between us, it descended into yet one more exchange in which each of us walked away knowing that we had been wronged – and if we looked deep enough into our very selves – we would have known that we too had been one who had brought wrong to the other. It was very complicated.
That is the stuff of life, isn’t it? Complicated relationships in which feelings are hurt, toes are stepped on, spirits are quenched, lives are damaged.
And then along comes Peter. You gotta love Peter. Jesus said, “you are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church.” Yes, Denying Peter, ear slicing Peter, bumbling Peter, walking on water Peter, sinking like a rock Peter. This Peter, doing his best to figure it all out. Peter, this Peter with whom each of us can identify because we too have proclaimed, denied, bumbled, walked, and sunk like a rock. And we too have held on to the saving and redeeming hand of Jesus extended to us to save us. This Peter comes to Jesus after Jesus had just done a bit of a crash course about how things are to go in the community of faith when one follower has a complaint with another. We heard about this last week – Jesus said that we are to go to that one and work it out and he promised that he will be in the midst of it all. The promise of presence.
So, inquisitive Peter wants to talk. “Yes, Jesus, I think I’ve got it. We need to forgive and the Law of our forebears say that we should forgive even seven times – is that it, Jesus? Shall we be like the two kids on the playground fighting with each other and the teacher comes over and says, ‘Say you’re sorry. Shake hands. And then go play.’ Is that how it is to go, Jesus? And even seven times?” And as simple as that, the forgiveness box is checked off.
And then Jesus, once again, rocks Peter’s world and says essentially, “Oh Peter, my beloved Peter. No, not seven times. Seventy times seven times.”
I can only imagine Peter’s furrowed brow and his unspoken question and confusion – what??? That doesn’t make any sense. No, it does not make any sense. Forgiveness does not make sense.
In the parable that Jesus told his disciples in today’s Gospel reading, we miss a lot because of our lack of familiarity with the currency of the time. So, let me tell you a bit about the exchange rates. Remember that servant owed the master 10,000 talents. One talent was equivalent to 130 pounds of silver or over 15 years’ wages at our current minimum wage. And 10,000 talents – the amount of the debt – was roughly equivalent to more than 150,000 years’ wage. It was an amount that could never be repaid by the servant to the master. Yet, the servant pleaded with the master. “Don’t condemn me; be patient with me and I will repay it all to you.” Really? Impossible. The master’s forgiveness here does not make sense.
Perhaps like me, you too have wrestled with what it means to forgive. How do I do this anyhow? How do I know if I truly have forgiven? What if I can’t forget? Does that mean I haven’t forgiven? And, if I can’t forgive, does that mean that God will not forgive me? Let me offer you this. First, forgiveness may be a process rather than a singular decision. When there has been a massive wrong, we may need to take some time with God and a pastor or spiritual friend or a counselor to talk this through from a variety of angles. And engaging in that process is laudable. Sometimes, forgiveness, like any important journey, starts with small steps and sometimes it is three steps forward and two steps back. What is most significant is working on it and taking it seriously.
It has been said that we are to “forgive and forget.” Well, respectfully, there may be some wrongs that simply cannot be erased from our memories and their effects cannot be purged from our lives. But still we are called to forgive. I’ve heard forgiveness described as “when one gives up their right to get even,” when we no longer are keeping account of the offender’s wrongs toward us.
I have heard “forgiveness” described this way by theologian, Frederick Buechner: “While I make no guarantees that I will be able to forget what you’ve done and though we may both carry the scars for life, I refuse to let it stand between us. I still want you for my friend.” And to accept forgiveness means to admit that you’ve done something unspeakable that needs to be forgiven, and thus both parties must swallow the same thing – their pride.1
We pray in the Lord’s Prayer that God will forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And we may worry that God’s forgiveness of us is conditioned upon our forgiving others. It is not. Conditional forgiveness is no forgiveness at all. Dr. Buechner says this: The pride which keeps us from forgiving is the same pride which keeps us from accepting forgiveness, and will God please help us do something about it.
When we consider who God is, when we consider the very nature of God – we see an abundance of love and grace. The Psalmists sang, “The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” And this steadfast love is shown forth so clearly in the promise of God’s presence with us eternally. Love and grace that shows itself to us in the very promise of God to us – I am with you.
I am in the midst of all that is causing you pain
I am in the midst of all that makes you grit your teeth
I am in the midst of all that you may regret
I am in the midst of all that you are working to set right
I will take the mess and work so that good somehow someway comes from it.
I am merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
God’s mercy endures forever. No matter who you are, no matter what you have done, no matter what you have suffered, no matter what you have endured – the Lord our God, the Lord who gave you life, the Lord who created all that is, this Lord reaches out to you with words of welcome despite anything that is behind you – The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
And it is this steadfast love that enables us to forgive one another, to be forgiven by another, to live in peace with one another.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
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1 Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC, Frederick Buechner, Copyright 1973.
