Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost 13th September 2020

Romans 14: 1–14                          

Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarrelling over opinions. 
Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. 
Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgement on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. 
Who are you to pass judgement on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand.  Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. 
Those who observe the day, observe it in honour of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honour of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honour of the Lord and give thanks to God. 
We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves.  If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. 
Why do you pass judgement on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgement seat of God. 
For it is written,
‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
     and every tongue shall give praise to God.’ 
So then, each of us will be accountable to God.  Let us therefore no longer pass judgement on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling-block or hindrance in the way of another. 
I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. 

Matthew 18: 21–35

Then Peter came and said to him, ‘Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times. ‘For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.” And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow-slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, “Pay what you owe.” Then his fellow-slave fell down and pleaded with him, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you.” But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow-slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. Then his lord summoned him and said to him, “You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow-slave, as I had mercy on you?” And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he should pay his entire debt. So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.’ 

Reflection:

What does it really mean to forgive someone? We often learn about it as a practice from a very young age, as we are taught to say “I’m sorry,” or then if someone apologises to us to say “It’s ok. I forgive you”. On many occasions when doing youth and children’s ministry I have had to talk to kids about saying sorry. Unfortunately, though, it’s not just kids who sometimes need to learn to forgive. You possibly also have experienced times when you’ve had to help someone to see the benefits of forgiveness. 

I wonder if as we get older and life gets more complicated, we discover there is far more to forgiveness and reconciliation. The truth is that life sometimes hurts; not just in general, but in specific ways that cause us real harm, emotionally, mentally, and even physically. And when we are hurt, or when someone we love is injured, forgiveness is often far from our first response. Certainly, we hear the countless instructions to forgive, but when it comes down to putting them into practice, it is not always that easy. Perhaps, it’s partly because, we don’t quite know what forgiveness really looks like, or how exactly we are to go about it. (I’m not sure) Even when we pray the prayer that the Lord taught us, we ask God to forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. But what does it mean to really forgive? And I sometimes wonder if we even have the ability to really forgive without the grace of God.

The question Peter is asking Jesus in the first part of our gospel reading today is about forgiveness, and how often we need to forgive. His suggestion of seven times is no accident –in scripture the number seven is significant of what is complete or perfect. Peter wants to get it right. He’s not asking Jesus for the bare minimum requirement; Peter wants to know what the ultimate requirement for forgiveness is. I’ve often read this passage and thought that he was just wanting a thereabout number to go by. But Jesus is specific. He replies– seventy-times seven. This isn’t just a math sum to get him to the number 490. It is the response that indicates that forgiveness requires something even beyond perfection. 

The goal is the perfection of perfection; infinity times infinity. As Lewis Donelson puts it:

‘it must be beyond counting. Forgiveness becomes an absolute.’ Easy to say but sometimes hard to do!

However, in this response from Jesus; he indicates that forgiveness is not so much about a check-list of tick that one off and onto the next, but instead is about ongoing discipleship. In other words, forgiveness is to be a way of life. Forgiveness is part of the essence of who we are. I suggest that one of the ultimate cries of forgiveness came from the cross as Jesus prayed ‘Father forgive them as they know not what they do’.

I stand in admiration of people when a shocking crime has happened to someone they love and we see them outside the courtroom, publicly announcing forgiveness to the perpetrator. Remember not that long ago three siblings and their cousin, were killed, and the other children in the group were taken to hospital when a drunk driver drove into them as they walked to the shops. How tragic….And yet, the mother Laila Abdallah was reported saying "The guy, I know he was drunk, driving on this street. Right now, I can't hate him. I don't want to see him, but I don't hate him.” She told the reporters. "I think in my heart to forgive him, but I want the court to be fair. It's all about fairness. I'm not going to hate him, because that's not who we are," Laila said her family were helped by their faith in the Bible and she had taught her children to pray and look to God for strength. She said that she was relying on her relationship with God to help her through.

It’s ours to forgive, its God’s or the courts to judge. Paul in his letter to Romans implores us, ‘therefore no longer pass judgement on one another’. In Christian belief, forgiveness is very much a part of God’s requirement for his disciples. It is an expectation for what it means to follow Jesus Christ. But it’s not always easy. 

Matthew 18, contains a story often known as the parable of the unforgiving or unmerciful servant. It is a parable of extremes. Just as Peter and Jesus point to perfection in their discussion in the preceding verses, Jesus now uses a story to make his point. He introduces characters with larger-than-life debts and responses. If you think about it, the concept of ten thousand talents would have been astronomical in the day this was written. Both “ten thousand” and “talent” were words that were the biggest units in Greek at the time. Thus, the amount that the servant owed was ridiculously huge. Also unbelievable is the concept of a master forgiving that amount of debt.

This illustration shows a measure of grace in abundance. It is a seventy-times-seven kind of forgiveness of debt. And then sadly in contrast, is the response of the servant to the one who owes him a debt, comparatively little at only a hundred denarii (– a denarii is a day’s labour). While we might expect the servant, who has been forgiven so much to repeat the grace exhibited to him, instead we see quite the opposite. And the Lord summons the ungracious servant to make it clear that this is not OK. Mercy, and grace, and forgiveness, requires the same. They are to be passed on.

Think about it. We have all been forgiven and God continues to forgive us daily. Not that we deserved it but because God deemed it. His grace is sufficient for us and day by day we are experiencing his grace even when we don’t realise it. Only this morning I was reading about the need to search ourselves and start the work there. In other words, recognise the grace that God has given you. My devotion said, “Remember your great field of labour is yourself. This is your first task, the weeding, the planting, digging, pruning, bearing fruit”.

Unfortunately, I suggest that sometimes people hold unforgiveness in their heart for many years, even a lifetime. Sometimes the sins of one is held against the whole group. As example, I meet people who don’t go to church anymore because of the actions of someone in the past. I find this so sad for they do not realise that they are the ones who are losing out. God has forgiven us, why cannot we then forgive? It doesn’t mean we like the person who has sinned against us but we don’t block our relationship with God.

If forgiveness is a natural part of our practice, of who we are as followers of Christ, this then fits with the understanding of the model that Jesus gave to Peter, a repeated, ongoing forgiveness, seventy-times-seven, even in the most trying of circumstances. 

Now all this is easy to say but I again I suggest that it is not always so easy to do. Forgiveness, on its most basic level, is a letting go. Some say that it is a choice that we make, regardless of remorse shown. I’m not really sure except to say that forgiveness comes from a grace from God. 

Marjorie Thompson an author and retreat leader writes: “To forgive is to make a conscious choice to release the person who has wounded us from the sentence of our judgment, however justified that judgment may be. It represents a choice to leave behind our resentment and desire for retribution, however fair such punishment may seem. . . Forgiveness means the power of the original injury's power to hold us trapped is broken.”

This is important, for Forgiveness is liberating! Liberating, for those who do the forgiving. And the benefits continue, too. Research actually shows that: forgiveness is good for the person who offers it, reducing “anger, depression, anxiety, and fear” and bringing “cardiovascular and immune system benefits”. Unforgiveness can affect our health adversely- forgiveness has a life-giving, positive effect on our health and mental well-being. It also has a positive effect on our relationship with God. Unforgiveness can be a block, a wedge between us and God. It’s almost like when we forgive, God draws near and we draw near to God.

But, as with most things that are ultimately good for us, we need to practice. Forgiveness calls for a release of those things that bind us. This is what makes it such a theologically important concept – when we let go of that resentment and anger and relinquish the grudges we have; we open up space – the space to experience God’s grace and love more fully. And ultimately, we find incredible peace. Amen..