A Sermon by Rev. Henley
We heard in our reading of Matthew 18:21-35 this morning, how Peter went to Jesus and asked …how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times? “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven.”
That is a lot of forgiveness!
Many of us have people in our lives we need to forgive. A loved one may have betrayed us, an adult hurt us when we were young, or perhaps, a friend was cruel to us.
Forgiveness is about seeing the person and their pain, then forgiving them. After we have forgiven them, we can let go of OUR pain. “Forgiving” is about our own peace not the other person’s peace. Coming to terms with what happened is actually about us.
We are not required, either, to tell the other person that we have “forgiven” them. IF they are alive, and IF they have asked for forgiveness, then we can choose whether to speak the words of forgiveness. The seventy times seven is about OUR wholeness and holiness.
If they are not alive, or if they have not asked for forgiveness, keep in mind, that God is good at giving the good news of forgiveness; it is all right to let God give them the news!
The parable of the unforgiving debtor is really two stories. The one scholars say Jesus told, and the one that Matthew told. It is believed that Jesus ended the parable with the question in verse thirty-three, “Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?”
For Jesus, the story was about how his followers should live in the hear and now. Matthew added verses thirty-four and thirty-five to give the story his own theological perspective. I want to explore what Jesus wanted us to learn from HIS parable.
In the first century, the political and societal systems worked under a “patronage system.” Everyone found their well-being tied directly to a person who was a little better off than they were. Scholars tell us it was pervasive, and everyone had someone to whom he or she owed allegiance. From the steward of the olive vineyard to Herod the Great, at all levels of society, everyone was part of an interdependent web of patronage. When Herod the Great died, he left gold and gifts to Roman Emperor August Caesar, because the emperor had ensured Herod’s continued position of King of Judea.
This patronage system kept the peasant, agrarian workers heavily indebted and heavily taxed. Another aspect of the patronage system was that it ensured the status quo.
E. P. Sanders, renowned historical Jesus scholar, has written that one of the reasons Jesus was distrusted and destroyed is because he would not participate in the patronage system. Jesus astutely saw what the system did to the marginalized. This story reflects that understanding.
In the parable there is a man who owes a king an amount of money he could never repay. The amount is symbolic, theologian Eugene Boring, says, and the man is not a servant, but some kind of public official who has mishandled money due the king. The first century reality of the situation is the king must kill the man or show him mercy. The king forgives him and cancels the debt. However, the man does not show such mercy to those who owe him money. When a man who owes him cannot pay, he throws him in prison. Having been forgiven of debt, he cannot himself forgive another of his debt.
Jesus knows human nature well. There must be something about us that makes it difficult for us to see ourselves honestly. Sometimes, when we treat others badly, we don’t even recognize what we have done. In Vivian Pomeroy’s prayer “Forgive Us,” she is lifts up those ways in which we treat others, yet just as the debtor in the parable, we often fail to see our own shortcomings.
The prayer says
I knew a woman a long time ago, before Roe versus Wade became law. Her teenage daughter became pregnant, and she and her daughter flew to California for an abortion. I am not declaring how I feel about abortion; I am simply telling you this story, this morning. Yet, after Roe versus Wade, when her church picketed women's clinics and shouted hateful things at women going in those clinics, the woman was there, picketing with all her church friends.
There are things in our lives for which we forgive ourselves, but find intolerable in others. Perhaps it is heavy traffic, when we do something to avoid the slow pace of movement, yet when others do it, we are quick to honk our horn or call them a name. Perhaps we leave the cap off the toothpaste and don’t think anything of it, but when our spouse doesn’t squeeze right, we become irritated.
From serious things, to not so serious things, we often forgive ourselves, but not others.
The prayer says
We hear this and we think, “Oh, that’s not true. I demand perfection from myself; I am harder on myself than others.” Y e s, we know this one well. We are part of a work ethic and culture that demands “perfection.” Pomeroy is talking about our tendency, public or private, work or play, with friends or family, to live the attitude, “Do as I say; not as I do.” We expect others to behave a certain way, our spouses, our children, our co-workers, yet often we do not.
The prayer says Forgive us for repelling people by the way we set a good example;
How often do we consciously think, “I am doing a good thing here; others should learn from me.” There are some of us here who are guilty of believing we are “good examples.” And the minute we begin to feel all good about it, we learn pride truly does come before a fall!
We see this in the story of the Prodigal Son. The brother was supposed to be the "good son," but when it came time to accept the prodigal’s return, all he could say is, but I’m the good son!
The prayer says Forgive us the folly of trying to improve a friend;
Who are we to find fault in a friend and then try to improve them? It never turns out well if they have not asked us to help them. And didn’t Jesus say, “First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.”
The prayer says Forbid that we should use our little idea of goodness as a spear to wound those who are different;
Time and time again, I have seen “helpful” people offer advice to someone or even take someone “under their wings,” because that someone did things differently. I have seen women who organized grass-roots movements for years, be told by well-meaning activists that “this environment was different.”
The prayer says Forbid that we should feel superior to others when we are only more shielded;
How often do we comfort someone at work or a friend who is suffering from a relationship problem, and think, “I’m glad I don’t have these problems?” When in truth, we don’t have those “problems” because we do not allow ourselves to be as vulnerable in our relationships. We don’t want “problems.” We miss out on a richness of life because we are shielded.
I can think of no better example of our human imperfection than in the story of Kenneth Lay and Enron. In February of 2001, Fortune magazine named Enron the “Most Innovative Company in American” for the sixth consecutive year? Here is Enron’s press release:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, Feb. 06, 2001
HOUSTON -- Enron Corp. was named today the "Most Innovative Company in America" for the sixth consecutive year by Fortune magazine. "Our world-class employees and their commitment to innovative ideas continue to drive our success in today's fast-paced business environment," said Kenneth L. Lay, Enron chairman and CEO. "We are proud to receive this accolade for a sixth year. It reflects our corporate culture which is driven by smart employees who continually come up with new ways to grow our business." [press release from Gary North’s “Specific Answers” website]
In December of the same year, Enron filed for bankruptcy—the largest bankruptcy filing ever in the story of the world.
Kenneth Lay never saw anything wrong in his actions, even though, thousands of people were destroyed financially while he had millions in a nest egg. If he did not see himself honestly, then why would he apologize or ask for forgiveness?
Jesus’ parable and Pomeroy’s prayer suggests that we are not perfect; we are human beings with faults, no matter how well we think of ourselves. When we do something wrong, we need to recognize it, and ask for forgiveness.
What is harder, seeing ourselves in an honest light and recognizing that we’ve hurt someone, or asking for forgiveness?
All of the above
Last, the prayer says And may we encourage the secret struggle of every person.
It is a struggle. We all know it is.
Was Jesus’ ministry about taking the easy way? Did he accept the cultural system of patronage and fit in with the status quo? Does religion, the best of religion, call us to a faith that is UNDEMANDING?
In the parable of the unforgiving debtor we hear the need for forgiveness and mercy. The need we each have to forgive those who hurt us, because it brings wholeness and holiness to OUR lives…
AND
The need to ask for forgiveness from those we hurt.
“No one ever said it would be easy.” Well, Jesus never said it would be easy.
Reading I
“Forgive Us” by Vivian Pomeroy
Forgive us that often we forgive ourselves so easily and other so hardly.
Forgive us that we expect perfection from those to whom we show none,
Forgive us for repelling people by the way we set a good example;
Forgive us the folly of trying to improve a friend;
Forbid that we should use our little idea of goodness as a spear to wound those who are different;
Forbid that we should feel superior to others when we are only more shielded;
And may we encourage the secret struggle of every person.
Reading II
Matthew 18:21-35
Parable of the Unforgiving Debtor
21 Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone[i] who sins against me? Seven times?”
22 “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven![j]
23 “Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him.
24 In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars.[k]
25 He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt.
26 “But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ 27 Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt.
28 “But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars.[l] He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.
29 “His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded.
30 But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.
31 “When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened.
32 Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me.
33 Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’
34 Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.
35 “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters[m] from your heart.”