God’s Extravagant
Forgiveness
Sermon preached at
St. Mark’s,
by The Rev. Thomas C. Pumphrey, September 14, 2008
Eighteenth
Sunday after Pentecost (year A, proper 19): Matthew 18:21-35
Matthew 18:21-35 (NRSV): 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 would 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 would 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."
In my years in ministry, both lay ministry and ordained
ministry, I have often heard stories about family feuds and bitter division.
The stories go something like this: “I haven’t talked with my brother in twenty
years!” When I ask “Why not? What happened?” the answer is usually something
like “Well, he’s just ignorant!” In
This story has many variations, but I am always left with such sadness at the bitterness and pain in such situations. You know the saying about bitterness? ‘Bitterness is like taking poison and expecting the other person to die!’ Why would a person be so consumed with ill will, and often over very small things? Of course, small things are often linked to old wounds. Mother’s approval may have deeper connection than we can see, and repeated offenses erode trust. How often should we forgive? And how do we forgive when someone is unrepentant?
Peter asks Jesus “how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus responds not seven times, but seventy seven times—or as some translations read “seventy times seven.” Jesus offers an astounding answer to what Peter must have thought a very tolerant and generous approach to forgiveness. But for Jesus, keeping count isn’t the point. Jesus calls us to a complete mindset of forgiveness—forgiveness from the heart, for that forgiveness is an essential part of God’s reconciliation.
Repeated forgiveness is a challenge indeed. We feel that we would be foolish to simply let someone cheat us again and again, or lie to us again and again. Indeed, Jesus had just told the disciples about confronting sin in the community. You remember from last week’s Gospel reading (Matthew 18:15-20) how Jesus was serious about addressing the problem of sin and told his followers to confront the sinner with the problem. Jesus preached repentance indeed, and Jesus does not ask us to pretend that a sin never happened. Victims of repeated abuse are indeed following God’s will when they call abusers to account for their sins and change their behavior. Jesus does not want unhealthy relationships—Jesus wants us in healthy, life-giving relationships. As we heard in last week’s lesson, Jesus is ultimately after reconciliation
Reconciliation requires more than accountability and repentance, however, so last week’s lesson does not end where we stopped last week. If everyone first waited for the other person to repent, we would never be reconciled. Reconciliation first requires hearts free from bitterness and revenge—hearts who are actively involved in forgiveness. To be disciples of Jesus, we must remember how Jesus forgave us—not after we repented, but while we were yet sinners. Before we repented, Jesus died for us that we might be forgiven.
To further explain his answer to Peter, Jesus tells the parable of the unforgiving servant. Strangely enough, this parable never addresses the issue of repeated forgiveness or repeated sin. Jesus has a bigger message to convey about hearts of forgiveness, and God’s extravagant grace.
A king was reviewing his accounts and discovered that one of his servants owed him 10,000 talents. Debtor’s prison was one way to force the servant to repay, but instead the king ordered the servant and his family sold to recoup his losses.[1] The man begged the king, saying “have patience with me, and I will repay you everything!” The king pitied the man, and not only did he not sell the man and his family, he entirely forgave the loan. The man no longer owed the king anything.
But then, the man found his fellow servant and grabbed him by the throat demanding the 100 denarii he owed. The fellow servant begged the man saying “have patience with me, and I will repay you!” But despite the echo of the words he had himself used before the king, the man threw his colleague into debtor’s prison. The king, when he heard this, threw the first man into prison—not because he couldn’t pay the enormous debt, but because he was unforgiving in his heart to others after the king had shown him great mercy.
Jesus drives a remarkably hard message home here. There is no question but that Jesus is serious about forgiveness. There is no question that we are in big trouble if we do not forgive each other. This is a serious command, and we hear Jesus repeat this directive in his teaching on the Lord’s Prayer: “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
But Jesus is after something more than just a call to forgiving behavior. Jesus’ parable is not just about us. Jesus’ parable is about God. While human bitterness is well known to us, the solution is not simply bitter forgiveness. The solution to our bitterness lies in the heart of God’s extravagant forgiveness of us. Perhaps a better title for this parable might be “the parable of the incredibly forgiving king.
The first servant throws his colleague into prison because he owes him a hundred denarii. A denarius was worth about a day’s wages. A hundred denarii was not small, but a servant’s savings could repay it. So the second servant cries out to his brother “Have patience with me, I will repay you,” echoing the first man’s plea for mercy to the king. Yet the first man had no compassion, no pity on his colleague, no interest in restoring relationship with his brother. Could it be that he had no compassion to give? Could it be that he had no example of mercy, no experience of forgiveness from which to draw? Was he given no gifts to share with his brother?
Do you know what a talent was? A talent was the highest
denomination of money in the
This is not a story of an unforgiving man—a man who is like us when we hold grudges or harbor resentment. No—this is a story of a king with unbelievable, immeasurable grace—a king who lavishes us with gifts of forgiveness beyond our understanding! A king who gives us an example of mercy and undeserved forgiveness. A king who does not demand repentance before extending forgiveness, but a king who desires reconciliation so much, he gives us immeasurable forgiveness while we are yet sinners.
Jesus dodges the issue of how many times we should forgive each other. If we’re counting, then our hearts are not yet set on reconciliation. If we are counting, then we have forgotten the debt too huge to be numbered that God forgave us when Jesus died on the cross for our sins.
When a witness could have stopped Jesus’ execution, Peter denied that he even knew him—not once, but three times. Peter stood before God knowing that he shared responsibility for his son Jesus’ death, and God forgave him. God forgave Paul who once rounded up Christians for execution. God forgives us though we turn away from each other, though we often seek self-destructive paths, though we constantly forget God. We stand before God undeserving, yet loved so much, forgiven for so much.
When we truly know God’s forgiveness, then we are enabled to
forgive in ways beyond our natural capabilities. We can forgive that “ignorant”
brother. But we can also forgive that hurtful mother, or that friend who cheated
us. In
God’s forgiveness felt in our hearts and shared with those around us has the power to bring reconciliation. When we know the forgiveness of Jesus Christ, we will stop counting down the days before we write someone off, and start counting the opportunities to foster reconciliation and renewed relationships. Reconciliation always requires both people to seek relationship, but by God’s grace, we can be the first person to forgive, and the first person to share God’s extravagant and life-changing grace. Bitterness may be like taking poison by ourselves, but God’s forgiveness is like sharing the water of life with those around us.
[1] The Greek word for “servant” is the same word used for “slave” (this is also true in Hebrew). Because servants were so often in long term relationships with their families, the lines between servitude and slavery were often blurry, as in this case where these men could earn money of their own and lend and gain wealth, yet we hear the king contemplating selling the first man and his family. I use the word “servant” since it is probably easier for us to identify with a “servant” than it is with a “slave.” The NRSV translation seems to prefer “slave” for all occasional uses of this word, whereas most other translations use “servant” unless the issue of bonded slavery is clearly the context. Often the word is used not only for its first century context in stories, but as a framework for viewing our relationship with God: God sets us free, yes, but as Christians we choose to be slaves to God, our king, and servants of each other.