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Writer's pictureSt. Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church
Sep 14, 20206 min read

The Hallmark of a Christian Community – is not vengeance, retaliation, or punishment but forgiveness

“Glory to God whose power working in us can do infinitely more than we could ask or imagine.”[1] In the name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. AMEN


This is a different Rally Day for all of us. It was also known as the Feast Day of the Holy Sign-up sheets. We still need you to volunteer! There is much work to do! Please call the office and we can get you connected.

The theme in Matthew is Forgiveness. The importance of forgiveness is huge in Matthew. Forgiveness allows us to stay together. It is an absolute tenet of what being a Christian looks like. We all have done something that hurt someone else either on purpose or accidently, and for which we wanted to be forgiven. What about forgiving ourselves? William Willimon, a theologian, and retired bishop in the United Methodist Church writes:

"The human animal is not supposed to be good at forgiveness. Forgiveness is not some innate, natural human emotion. Vengeance, retribution, violence, these are natural human qualities. It is natural for the human animal to defend itself, to snarl and crouch into a defensive position when attacked, to howl when wronged, to bite back when bitten. Forgiveness is not natural. It is not a universal human virtue."[2] But we can become proficient in forgiveness with practice.

We can be twice blessed. In Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, “Though centuries old, Portia's words to Shylock still speak with the eloquence of God, "The quality of mercy is not strained, it droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed: it blesseth him that gives, and him that takes." Being "Twice Blessed" means not only embracing God's forgiveness, but it means becoming a forgiving child of God, too.”[3]

So just how does forgiveness work? The Community in Matthew is trying to figure out how they are going to be able to continue without Jesus? A Daily Mantra? How can forgiveness be a daily reminder that we need? The Hallmark of a Christian Community – is not vengeance, retaliation, or punishment but forgiveness.

What is forgiveness? Does the parable help? A servant of the King owes the Royal 10,000 talents. A single talent is about 6,000 denarii. A denarius was a silver coin and monetary unit of ancient Rome. A laborer was typically paid a single denarius for a day’s work. So, the servant owed 60 million denarii, it was such a large amount that it exceeded the debt of a small country. No one could repay this. Even if they sold themselves, their immediate family, and all their relatives, and everyone who lived on their block, into serfdom for several lifetimes, they would not be able to pay this back. Jesus is using a hyperbole to teach the lesson. A hyperbole is an extravagant exaggeration to make a point. The King then in an outrageous act of generosity and mercy, forgives this unforgiveable debt.[4]

There is a second debtor servant, who only owes 100 denarii – a decent amount of money – but not when you compare it to the amount of debt of the first servant. It is kind of like Peter’s suggestion of forgiving 7 times as minuscule compared to the answer that Jesus gives. But it really was not. Peter knew what he was suggesting. It was Rabbinic teaching that a man must forgive his brother three times. The Biblical proof for this comes from the Book of Amos. In the opening chapters, there is a series of condemnations on the various nations for three transgressions and for four. “From this is was deduced that God’s forgiveness extends to three offenses and that he visits the sinner with punishment at the fourth. It was not to be thought that a man could be more gracious than God, so forgiveness was limited to three times.” I think that maybe Peter thought he was being generous and had answered his own question. Maybe he was waiting to be warmly commended. But then that rebel, Jesus, replies Seventy times seven! In other words, there is no limit to forgiveness.

Are you surprised that the king got angry? He has granted his servant a level of forgiveness that is off the scale. And yet the servant shows no mercy or generosity at all to the one who owes him. He did not pass it on.

Letting go of an offense against us or absolute erasure of an offense against us is very difficult. And part of forgiveness is not keeping score. Forgiveness is committing yourself to a relationship going forward. By this I mean staying future oriented instead of past oriented. The point of forgiveness is that the past does not control the present.

Three times in our worship service we are reminded of the commitment to the on-going future work of forgiveness. When we start with the penitential order, we say the confession first. At the very beginning, we are absolved, pardoned, forgiven of our sins. After being forgiven of our sins, then we pass the Peace. This is not a half-time show or a time to meet and greet each other. It is designed specifically for us to pass the Peace of God to those who perhaps we have had issues with. Finally, we pray the Lord’s prayer. Here is the part that I have the most difficult time with “…And forgive us our trespasses (our sins) as we forgive those who trespass (who sin) against us.”[5] I don’t want to be forgiven the way I forgive, I want to be forgiven the way Jesus did! I will need to work on that. It is clear, that we are to forgive before we receive the Holy Sacrament.

The lesson is quite simple, we must forgive in order to be forgiven. “Blessed are the merciful,” said Jesus, “for they shall obtain mercy.”[6] Divine and human mercy go hand in hand. How can we expect to be forgiven if we cannot forgive? Jesus explained it further “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.” (Matthew 6:14-15). And James puts it even better, “For judgement will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgement.” (James 2:13).

“In the Old Testament I like the story of Joseph, (ya know with the fancy coat) particularly its outcome. Joseph is the favored one. The older brothers say, "Dad always liked you best." In this case it was true. The brothers go out and fake Joseph's death. They bring back some bloodied clothes and say to their father, "He is dead." In actuality they have sold him into slavery in Egypt. Time passes. Famine comes to Israel. These brothers are forced to go to Egypt and ask the king for food. Traditionally, the king has been their enemy. Can you imagine the drama of that moment when they lift up their eyes and see their brother? There is an exchange and the very last line is the most important. Joseph looks upon them with the eyes of forgiveness and says, "What you did to me you intended as evil, but God and I were able to bend it into something good." You see, the noblest revenge is to forgive your enemy, and it is perhaps the last of the lessons that we learn from Jesus.”[7]

Yet another viewpoint comes from Our Bishop, Frank Logue, who suggests that “the hardest person to forgive is not the one who caused you the great hurt. The hardest person to forgive is yourself. Seeing others as God sees them, means also seeing yourself as God sees you.” That is from his sermon today at 10:00 am (how do I know that? It was prerecorded! According to the FaceBook).

So especially now in this time of the COVID, who do you need to forgive? AMEN.


 

Proper 19 Year A Matthew 18:21-35

The Rev. James T. Said September 13, 2020



 
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