Forgiveness and Mercy

September 13, 2020

St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois

Romans 14:1, 5-12; Matthew18:21-35, CEB[1]

Forgiveness is one of those defining traits of being a Christian. Like loving your neighbor, forgiveness is part of who we are. Our forgiveness is our response to God’s forgiveness of us, as we pray each week, “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors”[2] What happens then, when we don’t forgive our debtors? As Peter seems to ask, what happens when we run out of forgiveness?

Here we have a person who has been generous. A fellow servant needed some cash, so our servant loaned out one hundred coins. Now the borrower is asked to pay up, and can’t. So, our servant has him jailed for defaulting on the debt.

I mean, if you can’t pay back what you owe, maybe you shouldn’t borrow money in the first place. My parents were born during the Great Depression. They didn’t borrow money. No car loans; they always saved up and paid cash. No credit cards. My dad was a minister, so they lived in the parsonage – no mortgage. Debt was to be avoided. Debt collectors aren’t known for being overly merciful, after all. Have you ever been on the receiving end of a collection agency phone call? Collecting on debts is just good business, anyway. Economies collapse when loans get defaulted.

So, what’s the problem? Why is Jesus getting involved? The servant, the central figure of this parable, starts out as the manager of a tremendous responsibility. How much is ten thousand bags of gold? Other translations read ten-thousand talents. It is meant to be understood as an unreasonably large amount, the kind of debt a nation-state owes. This servant can’t possibly come up with such a sum. Even though the servant promises to pay it back, with a little more time, that doesn’t seem realistic.

The master, in response to the pleadings of the servant, unexpectedly forgives it all. No extension of the loan, no refinancing or renegotiation. The loan is just cancelled. Poof. Gone. This is where Jesus gets involved. If the king, the master is meant to represent God, the debt that is forgiven, as colossal as it seems, is too small. God, creator of the universe, giver of life, and love, the earth and all it contains, has given everything to wayward sinners, irresponsible stewards, human beings with all our failures and faults. What we owe to God is beyond calculation. And yet, we are forgiven. Our sin, our failures, all of our unmet promises, washed away in a breath of mercy.

Our servant, having just been forgiven an enormous debt, can’t summon the grace to forgive even a small debt owed by a fellow servant. I’m offended. His fellow servants were offended. You were just forgiven so much, and over so little you send a fellow servant to jail? Are you for real? I’m more than offended now; I’m angry. The master is going to hear about this!

The master hears our story, and calls the servant to account. “You wicked servant!”[3] Ooh, this is going to be good, we’re thinking. Revenge is sweet! “Shouldn’t you also have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?”[4] Oh, yeah, that’s right. Throw him in jail, master! Give him what he deserves!

Wait a minute. What just happened? Did we just become the unmerciful servant ourselves? We stop and stare into our memories, all the times we failed to forgive. How many times have I failed to forgive my family for not being who I want them to be? How many times have I failed to forgive a friend for failing me? How often have I relished revenge rather than mercy? And as the servant is handed over to punishment, have I done it again? God, have mercy.

Forgiveness is hard. Revenge feels good. When someone who has hurt us gets hurt in return, we secretly (and sometimes openly) like it. We want payback, we don’t want to forgive without getting something in return, some payment or effort to make up for the wrong. What we forget is that sometimes what is owed is beyond what can be paid back. And what we owe, and have been forgiven, is beyond any payment we could make. What God has forgiven in us is beyond measure, and we are asked to be that merciful in return.

Forgiveness is not simply wishing away the loss, the harm, or the pain. It isn’t forgetting what has been done. Forgiveness takes hard work, acknowledging and understanding the negative impact of another person’s actions and attitude on our lives. We can’t forgive by denying we have been hurt, or minimizing how we have been affected. And we must not forget or dismiss the harm done by the abuse or betrayal of another.

To forgive is to choose to let go, to release the other from whatever punishment we think they deserve, however justified. Forgiveness is choosing to leave behind our desire for retribution, to release our resentment. Forgiveness is choosing to set ourselves free from the hold that the other has on our minds and on our hearts. It is denying the other person the power to live in our heads and keep us angry, bitter, and resentful. It is refusing to allow what has happened to keep us prisoner.

God forgives us. As we live each day in the grace of God’s mercy, we are called to show that same measure of forgiveness toward one another. As often as we forgive, we are always forgiven. As we forgive our debtors, the ones who owe us, who have sinned against us, who have trespassed on our hearts and minds, we are forgiven all that we owe to God, and blessed by God’s grace. “We all will stand in front of the judgment seat of God.”[5] It is there we shall be judged on the mercy we have shown by the God who showed us mercy.  Amen.

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[1] Scripture quotations noted CEB are taken from the Common English Bible, copyright 2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

[2] Matthew 6:12.

[3] Matthew 18:32.

[4] Matthew 18:33.

[5] Romans 14:10.

One in a Hundred

September 6, 2020

St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois

Psalm 28:6-9; Matthew 18:12-14[1]

This parable from Matthew is one of several lost-and-found stories. We can easily identify with searching for something that is lost – our keys, our phone, our mask, our kids. In this parable, and others about searching for what is lost, we are meant to be the lost ones, the ones who are the object of another’s search. We are lost, not necessarily in the sense of not knowing where we are, but in the sense of being searched for, lost to someone else. We are the ones for whom someone is searching.

When we are lost, like a child in the store, we can sometimes forget that someone is looking for us. We start frantically looking everywhere, and usually getting further and further away from where we started. If you’re lost in the wilderness, we’re taught that the first thing you should do is stop, calm down, and make a plan. If you know someone will be looking for you, you’ll be better able to hear them calling if you remain calm and still.

When we are lost in more metaphorical ways, it can be harder to remember that we are being looked for, that someone wants to bring us back into the fold. Like the lost sheep, the one in a hundred who has gone astray, we are searched for, and when we are found, rejoiced over. We are found, not because we go seeking, but because we are sought. The good news is that we are sought for by Christ, and we have always already been found.

Now, our role is not to actively go astray, playing hide-and-seek with God, saying “catch me if you can!” Nor is our role to be passive, waiting and waiting to be found, doing nothing to improve our situation. Our role is to be attentive, recognize that we are lost, and be open to being found. It is listening for the voice of the one calling out to us and turning toward the one who seeks us.

As the lost, the ones who have gone astray, we are the sinners, the ones in need of being found, of being saved. We aren’t the ones doing the saving; but, in order to be saved, we must listen for the voice that is calling and turn toward the finder. We must repent, recognizing that we are lost and need finding, we are sinners in need of saving. In this way, the work of salvation involves recognizing our sin, and having the willingness to be saved from it.

We sometimes find ourselves seeking for what we have lost. Perhaps it is a sense of purpose, belonging, or our faith that there really is a shepherd seeking us out. It takes a lot more energy to search than it does to get lost, doesn’t it? At least in searching we feel like we are in control of things, we’re looking for what we’ve lost, we’re trying to DO something. Maybe if I just go to church more, or pray more, or listen to the Christian music station I’ll restore my faith, find my purpose, or feel like I belong again.

In that kind of search, looking for our lost faith or to fill the emptiness that we feel, we can spend a lot of time and energy on temporary fill-ups and grabbing hold of anything we find. They fade, because they were not what we were looking for, and we continue searching. Perhaps what we need is to allow ourselves to stop searching, to quiet our troubled minds, and allow ourselves to be found. The Lord has heard the sound of our pleadings. The shepherd seeks us out. Will we accept that we are lost and allow ourselves to be found?

Most of the time, we are the ninety-nine sheep, never going astray. We may feel like the shepherd has abandoned us to go looking for the one who deserved to get lost, always wandering off like that. We might resent the attention that the shepherd gives to the lost sheep, even though we are safe with the herd, surrounded by green pastures and still waters. This is when it helps to recognize that we have always been found, and to know that if we were to get lost, the shepherd would look for us too. Then our role becomes the celebrators of the one who is found.

The parables of the lost and found end with the coming together of friends and neighbors to celebrate, to rejoice that the one who went astray has been found. Rejoicing is the goal, the happy moment of finding and being found. Salvation is more than just being rescued, restored to community, being reunited with the shepherd and the flock. Salvation is the celebration, the rejoicing over the return of the lost ones. It is also rejoicing with the shepherd who is our strength and shield, the one our hearts trust; who makes our hearts exult, and with our songs we will give thanks to the Lord.

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[1] The scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.