Göttinger Predigten
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13. Sunday after Pentecost, 09/11/2011
Sermon on Matthew 18:34-35, by Steve Saxe
33And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?' 34And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. 35So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart."
To err is human, to forgive divine!" A good reminder for Christians who are wronged by others (and who isn't?) This adage also reminds us that we are human indeed, and at the same time, that the forgiveness of sins that the Church confesses in her Creed is divine indeed! The forgiveness that we are given and enjoined to practice in our life together doesn't originate with us, nor does it come naturally to us when we are sinned against; forgiving another when are wronged is counter-intuitive! If the forgiveness of another is to happen in the many relationships in which we find ourselves offended, it must be divine!
In that regard, Peter's question of Jesus in the Gospel is pertinent: how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" Jesus' short answer is intriguing: "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.
If you know your multiplication tables; that makes 490. I suspect that there are some couples here who have been married long enough, and families with children where that number has been exceeded! Have you ever kept track of someone's offenses? Yet, forgiving someone 490 times & then "pow!" is not exactly what Jesus had in mind. Keeping count of sins is not forgiveness: 1 Corinthians 13:5 is instructive in this regard. "[Love] does not keep a record of wrong;" it does not keep count.
Jesus' parable about a king settling accounts with his servants is more instructive about forgiveness for Christian legalists who want to do the numbers game. Listen to the king in the parable: should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?'
Lest we have any doubt: forgiveness of one who wrongs us is to be a normative practice within the church. It is how we are to respond when are sinned against, or find ourselves irritated by quirks, differences and tensions that we discover in living with sinful human beings. We forgive because God deigns to forgive & be merciful to us! A reality that we acknowledge this in the Lord's prayer when we pray: Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And so our life together in Jesus Christ is to be driven by that around which His Church is organized: mercy & forgiveness.
If only it were that easy! Every one of us present at this service knows how hard it is! Jesus' explanation of the parable tell us this. 35So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart."
But isn't the forgiveness of our sins the we receive unconditional; earned by the work & merits of XC's cross?
& so we learn that as our Lord forgives, so must we: from the heart! But the problem we experience is that when others sin against us, most of our hearts get so caught-up in the injustice of the wrong-doing that we don't forgive. I don't like being sinned against, and so when I am, my preferred reaction is to appeal to the law: "Sue him! Revenge is sweet! You'll get yours!" That's what the "fellow servants" of the parable wanted to happen to the unforgiving servant. They were greatly distressed, so they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Intense resentment, anger, fear and all of those other inner-passions provoked by the injustice of the unforgiving servant came into play. Forgiveness was the last thing on their heart.
And what about our hearts? Jesus' words from an earlier chapter in Matthew (15) indicate that we are in big trouble: what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19For out of the heart comes evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person.
So it would appear that to err is human...and Jesus puts Peter's & our backs against the wall on that reality!
Forcing us to conclude from today's parable that we are NOT inclined or equipped to forgive, unless...WE first receive. Should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?'
If there is anything we learn from Jesus' teaching, -and let us not forget this- it is that to forgive IS divine. It has to be, for we are not capable of it! In Jesus' case, both the human & the divine come in one package.
If nothing else, this parable helps us to know that Christians who claim to be right with God pray for forgiveness continually. We do so because we know that to err is human. We can, therefore, count on being sinned against by others. We can also, in communion with our Lord in His Church, count on being forgiven.
But let's be clear: this Gospel does not address what we should do with terrorists, or criminals or evil people out there. Peter asks: "Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? It is about "fellow slaves or servants" implying a connection between the slaves working for the same King & servants of the same "master." Let us make no mistake: these verses are addressed to us...to Christians. A forgiven people made alive in Christ to be in relationship with others in the communion of saints here...& in our homes...& out there in the world where we work and interact with other sinners
This Gospel reveals the forgiveness factor of our life in Christ. It helps us realize how we are able to forgive because we have been and are forgiven of our sins by Him who fully shares our humanity but does not err! And yet at the same time, He is also divine. Giving Himself that God might do for us what we sing & pray in the church's liturgy: Lord have mercy! Offering the forgiveness obtained on the cross to each of us in the waters of Baptism before we ever repented and believed, because mercy & forgiveness are for sinners! Yet it can only be believed and received by faith in those who have been hit hard with God's Law, which exposes our unforgiving hearts to work repentance.
Jesus words show how merciful God is and how unforgiving we are! At the same time, they teach us how forgiving we are able to be. Not because we are quick to forgive by our own reason and strength, but because we understand how badly we need mercy! And how abundantly the Lord God provides it through our Master and King, Jesus, who forgives us ever so much more than seventy times seven.
Amen!