Loving God, you call us to forgive others as you have first forgiven us. Help us to remember how much you have forgiven in our lives, and teach us how to treat others with the same mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

            The verses we have heard today from the gospel of Matthew have to do – not just with forgiveness in general – but with forgiveness and reconciliation within the church.  In Greek the word that is used simply means “brother,” and it is variously translated as “another member of the church” or “your brother or sister.” In other words, these verses have to do with our relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ.  Because, whether we like it or not, the church is full of sinners, and often, forgiveness is needed.

         The gospel today begins with a process for reconciliation that continues to be part of our church constitution.  Assuming that you are on an equal footing with the other person involved, it is a process that begins with a one on one conversation with the person who has hurt you. – Not telling somebody else about it. – Not telling everybody what a horrible person they are. – Not even avoiding the person, even though these things seem to be the first choice of many who have been wronged.  Instead, the person who has hurt you needs to be given the chance to realize what they have done and to make amends.  In many cases, this might be all that is needed for reconciliation to take place.

         However, in the event that this doesn’t resolve anything, one or two witnesses are to be added to the conversation.  If this still doesn’t result in a resolution, then it is to be taken to the entire congregation – still with the hope that reconciliation can take place.  And if the offender still won’t listen, they are to be treated as an outsider and removed from fellowship.

         For Peter, of course, all of this talk about a brother or sister in Christ sinning against you has him wondering how many times he might have to forgive somebody – as many as seven times?  “No,” says Jesus.  “Not just seven times, but maybe 77 or even 70 times 7.”  With seven, though, being the number of completeness, Jesus could have simply said “infinity.”  We are to forgive a limitless number of times.  However, lest we are left thinking about how difficult this would be, Jesus launches into a parable.

         There was this king, you see, who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves.  One of these slaves, who was possibly a satrap or a governor, owed the ridiculous amount of 10,000 talents.  It would be like one of us owing billions of dollars.  At any rate, this slave begs the king for mercy and promises that if he is given enough time, he will pay the king everything he owes. And, in spite of the fact that this slave could never manage to pay it all back, the king has pity on him and forgives him the debt.

         This same slave goes out and comes across a fellow slave who owes him 100 denarii.  This is approximately 100 days’ wages for a labourer. So it is a big debt, but it is pretty trifling compared to 10,000 talents. At any rate, he grabs his fellow slave by the throat and demands that he pays what he owes.  The slave falls down and uses almost exactly the same words as the first slave, saying, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you” (Mt. 18:29).  However, the first slave refuses and has him thrown into prison until he pays what he owes.

         It is rather ridiculous behaviour, given how much the king had forgiven him, and all of the other slaves know it.  Thus, they tell the king what has happened, the slave is summoned again, and this time he is handed over “to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt” (Mt. 18:34).  And then comes the kicker: “So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart” (Mt. 18:35). Wow!  What happened to limitless forgiveness?

         The thing is, though, that this is not the only time that human and divine forgiveness are linked. Back in Matthew 6, where Jesus teaches his disciples the Lord’s Prayer, we find these verses:

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 (Mt. 6:14-15).

It seems that when we refuse to forgive, we are also unable to experience God’s forgiveness, for the two are linked.

         The point of the parable, however, is not “forgive, or else!”  Rather, the parable is told in order to help us to see how much we have been forgiven and how silly it is for us to refuse forgiveness to those who ask us.  If we’re going to refuse them, could we really blame God for refusing us?  With this parable, Jesus invites us to see ourselves as forgiven sinners.  In fact, we have been forgiven a debt that we could never repay, just like the first slave in the parable.

         It is important to remember, however, that today’s gospel does not address all of the questions we might have related to forgiveness.  For example, what about cases where the person who has hurt us has not repented or even asked for forgiveness?  Do we have to forgive in all cases?  Are there any actions which are, quite simply, unforgivable?  Are we supposed to just automatically say, “I forgive you,” whenever somebody hurts us?

         Keep in mind that the slaves in the parable actually ask for forgiveness.  It is also important to keep in mind that even though the parable points to God’s forgiveness, the king in the parable does not represent God.  In spite of Jesus’ call to forgive as many as 77 times, the king only forgives once and then simply acts in anger, since torture is not going to result in the slave paying back anything.

         Unlike the king in the parable, God has acted in love to give us a path to forgiveness.  Our path goes through Jesus, who has taken our sins upon himself on the cross.  When we come to God with faith in Jesus Christ and repentance in our hearts, we receive, not only forgiveness, but salvation and eternal life.  And knowing this, wouldn’t we want to pass on the same gifts to others?  Amen.

Lent 1 (NL 1)                                    Matthew 18:15-35

March 10, 2019

St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church

Pastor Lynne Hutchison

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