Pentecost 18 Year A

Pentecost 18 Year A Matthew 18:21-25 The Rev. Benton Quest

If you were to listen to what most “Christians” have to say (and I use the quotes because I sometimes have problems calling their message Christian) the only thing that the Bible talks about is homosexuality and abortion. It seems like these two things are lifted up as the litmus test as to whether one is a good Christian or not. And the thing that is even more intriguing is that most of the arguments and proof texts that are used as to why these subjects are important don’t even come from the mouth of Jesus or even the New Testament. Most of the “proof” comes from the writers of the Old Testament.

When we look at the words of Jesus, we encounter what I like to refer to as the “Preacher’s Nightmare.” What Jesus likes to talk about is not the things that make for nice, comforting, sermons. The things that Jesus talks about tend to make people feel a bit uncomfortable. So, unfortunately, when preachers preach about them, we preachers tend to get accused of having an agenda. Well, I have to tell you, it is not me that has the agenda, it is Jesus who has an agenda.

One of the biggies of Jesus is, thankfully, not the subject of today’s gospel lesson. That biggie is the use of money. Jesus speaks of money and how we handle our money over 400 times in the Bible. That is a lot! No wonder it is often the subject of sermons. But another of the biggies is the subject of today’s gospel. That would be forgiveness.

Forgiveness is of major importance to Jesus. We discussed last week about how we forgive and how forgiveness can help to end the chain of hate. And today, we continue to learn more about how we, as Christians, are supposed to live when it comes to forgiveness.

Now when I was in college, one thing that my professors made clear to us is that it helps a discussion if we can all agree on what we mean by the terms. So I guess I want to start with what I would consider a working definition of “forgive.” To forgive means to give up our perceived “right” to restitution and revenge. I will say that again: To forgive means that we give up our perceived “right” to restitution and revenge.

Now, this perceived right can take many forms. I remember my nephews fighting. My sister told Eric to forgive Luke. Eric says he does forgive Luck but as soon as my sister’s back is turned, Eric runs up and punches Luke. When I asked Eric why he did that after forgiving Luke, his response was, “Well, Luke punched me first!” When we forgive, we give up that right to revenge. Another example I can think of comes from the movie, Dead Man Walking. Here we find a man talking about his Christian faith but then wants to see the murderer of his daughter killed. The man says he has forgiven the murderer; he just wants the sentence of capital punishment so he can find “closure.” Whether we call it “closure” or whatever, when we seek revenge, we have not yet forgiven. We may say we forgive, but when we have to make sure the person knows we have forgiven them, and that person knows what they did wrong, well, in that situation, we really haven’t forgiven. Forgiveness is something that is given by the forgiver, regardless of the response of the one forgiven.

In today’s gospel, we learn more about forgiveness. Today we learn what it means to truly forgive. In the reading, we have Peter asking a simple question of Jesus, “How many times should I forgive?” Simple enough. And I think Peter probably though he was being pretty generous in extending forgiveness seven times. But Jesus doesn’t let Peter off the hook. Jesus doesn’t say, “Yah, I guess seven times is enough. That is pretty generous of you Pete.” No, Jesus raises the bar. The exact words Jesus says here are open for interpretation; but whether he says “77 times” or “70 times 7 times”, Jesus challenges Peter, and us, to forgive a whole bunch of times. Seventy is a lot of times! Trying to remember all those times is difficult. The point is, if we are keeping track of the number of times we have forgiven others, then we have not really forgiven at all.

But the second part of the gospel presents us with a bit of a problem. It would appear that in the parable presented, the forgiveness that is given is not freely given at all. It would appear that there are some major strings attached. If we look at the story, we may get some insight.

The servant was indebted to his king for over 10,000 talents. Now, we need to remember that one talent is equivalent to what the servant could earn in 15 years. So in reality, there would be no way this servant could every repay the king. Now the king, being kind and caring, realizes that the debt can never be repaid and forgives the debt for the servant. So we can see that the king truly forgives. He does not seek revenge or retribution. He just gives up his right repayment and interest.

Now we would think that the slave would have learned about what it means to forgive from this event, but it doesn’t appear so. We would think that the servant would be willing to forgive a much smaller amount that was owed to him because he had had such a large amount forgiven him. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The amount of money the second servant owed the first was comparatively small. A danarii is equal to the amount of money a slave would make in one day. So the second servant owed first about 100 days of pay. But instead of showing compassion to the second, the first servant had the second thrown in jail.

Well, as you can guess, when the king catches wind of this, he is not pleased! After he had shown great forgiveness to the servant, the servant would not even show a little forgiveness to his fellow servant. This is something the kind could not let happen. So the king had the first slave thrown in jail until the debt was paid, in effect, until the slave died.

Jesus tells this parable to teach his disciples not only how often we should forgive but also, why we should forgive. We, like the servant, have had our sins forgiven. We have had a debt that we could never repay forgiven. God has given up the right to seek revenge and repayment from us. Jesus took that burden from us and placed it upon himself. It is given freely. But how are we going to respond?

Well, of course, we are to forgive those around us. We are supposed to forgo the revenge and repayment we feel we deserve. And we are to continue to do this. We are to continue to gorgive. I think this is the most difficult part of these readings; we are not just supposed to forgive once, we are to forgive again and again.

As I said, I am sure Peter thought he was being pretty generous when he offered to forgive seven times. It makes sense, doesn’t it? If, after seven times, the person is still offending you, then the person must not want to change. So, give the person seven tries and then write the person off.

But Jesus wants more of us. Jesus uses the 70 times or the 70 times 7 as a way of demonstrating for us what it means to forgive constantly. We are to forgive as God forgives, and that is constantly. Even when we continue to sin, God continues to forgive. Even while we were in the midst of sin, Christ died for the forgiveness of those sins, all of them.

But this forgiveness was not just a one-time thing, it continues! Christ paid the price for us. And it is because of this forgiveness that we are to go out into the world and forgive also. As we have received the forgiveness, so we are to pass it on.

So, who do you need to forgive in your life? What revenge do you feel you deserve but now need to let go? Who do you feel has wronged you but now you need to let that feeling go? I challenge you to not just let these questions slip through the cracks of your consciousness. I challenge you to seriously think about them. Then I challenge you to forgive that person or persons. Really forgive. I challenge you to forgive those people right now. Give your right to revenge and restitution to God and then let it go. I challenge you to remember the great forgiveness you have received through Christ, and then to pass that forgiveness on to those around you.

We are called to forgive. We are called to forgive again and again. We are called to release the grudges we may hold. Remember: Holding a grudge is like taking poison and expecting the other person to die. The only person who is imprisoned by our need for revenge and retribution is us.

This may seem like and immense undertaking, but we are not alone in the process. We have the promise of forgiveness through Christ. Our debt, a debt we could never hope to repay, has been canceled in full. We have received forgiveness and it is through this forgiveness that we are able to forgive others. This is our gift, and this is our call.

Being human, we will probably have times when we will forget this truth, but that is ok. Jesus brings the topic of forgiveness up in the Bible, A LOT! If we forget, there will be another sermon on the topic to help keep us on the right path.