Sept, 14 - Forgive us our
sins as we forgive
How often should I forgive someone who has hurt
me? Isn’t seven times more than enough?
Jesus replies not seven times, but 77 – or even 7
times seventy.
That’s a lot – how will I keep tract to know when
I’ve reached the limit and can stop forgiving?
Jesus says ‘Put away your score card. It’s not about the arithmetic – or about
keeping score. Forgiveness is an
attitude, a way of life – it’s a matter of the heart.”
That reminds me of a cartoon that
dealt with the prodigal son. You
remember how when his father saw his lost son returning, he ran out to meet him
– then killed the fatten calf and threw a big dinner party.
In the scene in the cartoon, the
father is going down the road to meet his boy and the caption reads “I’ll be
glad when this boy grows up. This is the
sixth fatted calf I’ve had to kill.”
Forgiving again and again isn’t
easy. Why should you do it?
Then Jesus proceeded to tell a story. There was a certain king who had a day of
reckoning for his servants. He found one who owed him huge amount that he could
never pay. He was about to have him
thrown into jail and his wife and children sold into slavery. In response to
the man's pathetic pleadings, however, he forgave him the entire debt.
Whereupon that forgiven servant went to a fellow servant who
owed him a very small sum of money, and demanded payment. He pleaded for
extra time, an extension, but the forgiven servant would not hear of it and had
him thrown into jail.
This story got back to the king who went into a
rage. He
called in the forgiven servant and said “I forgave you all that debt because
you pleaded with me. Should you not have
had mercy on you fellow steward, as I had mercy on you?” And in anger, the king handed him over to be
sold into slavery until he had paid his debt.
Jesus concluded: So my heavenly Father will also
do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother and
sister from your heart.”
Jesus says we have to be forgiving, or we’re out in
the cold with the un-forgiven. He is
tough because the incongruity of sinners refusing to forgive other
sinners. How can they expect to be
forgiven by God if they are unwilling to forgive others? It doesn’t make sense to Jesus and he’s not
going to put up with it.
There is an unbreakable bond between the
forgiveness of God and the forgiveness we offer to one another. Don’t expect the mercy of God if you refuse
to show mercy.
“Judge not, that you not be judged.
Jesus said, For
with the standard of judgment you employ, you also will be
judged. The measure you give will be the
measure you get.”
“Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not
notice the greater one in your own eye?”
Matthew 7:1-3
Maybe God responds to people in the ways they
demonstrate, by their actions, that they wish to be treated. Those who are unforgiving and judge harshly, should expect God to do the same. Those who are forgiving will find that God is
already there, forgiving them and helping them find forgiveness in their hearts
for others.
God’s mercy can create a community of merciful
people.
The parable invites listeners to view themselves as
forgiven debtors - no more, no less - living with and among fellow
debtors. The difference between the
debtors is only slight from God’s perspective.
To be forgiven means to give up the game of playing innocent versus
guilty, and to join the fellowship of forgiven sinners.
Forgiveness is a matter of a changed heart, a transformation of the
inner disposition of the recipient.
In the hymn after the sermon, we’ll ask God’s help
in changing our hearts:
Lord cleanse
the depths within our souls and bid resentments cease. Then by your mercy reconciled, our lives will
spread your peace.
Think of yourself as being like a pumpkin. God lifts you up, takes you in, and washes
the dirt off you. He opens you up,
touches you deep inside, and scrapes out the yucky stuff - including seeds of
doubt, hate, greed, jealousy. Then he
carves a new smiling face on you and puts his light inside for you to shine for
all the world to see.
The problem is forgiving doesn’t come
naturally. Will Willimon
writes: "Humans are 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 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."
That’s what makes the scene in our first lesson so
unusual. Joseph could have said this is
the time to get even with my brothers for the way they treated me years
ago. They had thrown him in a pit where
he could have starved. They then
reported to his father that Joseph was dead.
Joseph lived only because a passing caravan found him, and sold him into
slavery. Joseph had good reason to want
to get even.
But here in
the final chapter of book of Genesis, Joseph breaks the cycle of revenge and
hatred when he forgives his brothers.
The old vengeance of “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” has been
scrapped for a higher law.
Joseph said to them, "Do not
be afraid! Am I in the place of God? Genesis 50:19
Only God has the right to impose judgment on His
children.
Paul echoes
Joseph’s words:
Why do you pass judgment on your
brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God... We
do not live to ourselves... Romans
14:10
What right do broken people have to pass judgment
on their broken brothers and sisters? We
all stand on the same footing before God.
Only God has the right to judge human beings. So we may not judge others, for they serve
the same Lord and we must recognize the right of the Lord to judge. Instead of judging, we are to show compassion
and understanding.
In contrast to what comes naturally, let me tell
you a story of people who do forgiveness right.
The Amish community of Nickel Mines,
Their
response was a remarkable Christian witness.
One of the first things the Amish did was to reach out to the gunman’s
widow and children. They brought them
food. They raised money to help them pay
their bills..
Ten days
after the shooting they had a bulldozer level the school house. Amish don’t use bulldozers, so they hired a
non Amish contractor. And usually if the
Amish were demolishing a building, they would do it by hand, salvaging nails
and wood.
But on this occasion, they reduced it to
splinters. They wanted the world to see
that they were absolutely determined to forgive and forget - to do it quickly
so they could move on.
Forgive, then forget – and move on with your life.
Disciples are forgetful. Because they train themselves to forget the
wrongs done to them in the past – to forget words said in anger by a friend –
to forget the slights. They forgive and
forget so they can put it behind them.
After all, that is what the Lord does with our
sins. As we prayed in
the psalm.
As far as the east is from the
west,
so far has he removed our sins from us. Psalm
103:12
It’s as if the Lord takes our sins, throws them
into a deep lake, and puts a sign there: “No fishing”. Don’t dredge them up again.
In the hymn after the sermon we’ll sing:
How can God’s pardon reach and
bless the unforgiving heart that broods on wrongs and will not let old
bitterness depart?
Imitate Christ - forgive and forget the wrong, so
that your heart may be open to God’s grace.
Lord Jesus, even from the cross, You
managed to forgive us. Even after we had betrayed you, forsaken you, you did not forsake
us. You forgave us.
Help us, in our dealings with one another, to be
courageous enough to follow you down this way of extravagant forgiveness.
Make us into the sort of people who are willing to
put aside idea of vengeance and getting even, that come so naturally.
Give us the courage, the grace, and the wisdom to
forgive others as you have forgiven us.
Amen