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Sermon: The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost (A) - 11th September 2011
St Alban's Anglican Church Epping 7, 8 and 10 am
Readings: Exodus 14:19-31; Psalm 114; Romans 14:1-14; Matthew 18:21-35
How many times must I forgive my brother? At first it seems like an outrageous question to Jesus. If he is your brother, surely you would forgive him. Just like charity, surely forgiveness begins at home, begins with family, begins with your brother. Of all people to forgive, surely we feel a sense of duty to forgive our brother. But then we remember what some families can be like. Some families are warm, nurturing and loving. Yet families can be destructive and harmful. Sometimes your brother can be the very last person on earth you would want to forgive.
At first glance, forgiveness seems so simple. But its not until we are in the situation of needing to forgive that we begin to realise how difficult a task it can be. No doubt Peter knew this. No doubt he had struggles with it. Perhaps at some point he had reached his conclusion that forgiving seven times would be enough to discharge his duty before God. But wisely he had the sense to take the matter to Jesus for a decision.
And in response to his question regarding the limits of forgiveness Jesus gives two answers. First he said we must forgive seventy times seven. And second Jesus said we must forgive from the heart. In other words these two answers refer to the quantity of forgiveness and the depth of forgiveness. We need to forgive as much or as often as possible and our forgiveness needs to be as deep as possible. But why would Jesus say this? Why must our forgiveness be like this? Why is forgiveness so important? Why must forgiveness be a characteristic of a life of faith?
And to answer these questions Jesus told his parable. We have a servant who is so deeply in debt there is no prospect of his ever paying back his master. So his master ordered that he and all his family be sold into slavery. The servant begged for more time to pay thought there was no hope of repaying that debt. Then the master takes the bold step and forgives the vast debt of the servant. His life and his family’s life have been saved. Now one would expect this would provoke a spirit of gratitude in the life of this servant. But it wasn’t to be. He immediately found a friend who owed a trivial amount. He too asked for more time to pay, but the servant refused and had the friend thrown into jail until the debt was repaid. Of course the master found out what had happened and had this man thrown into jail until he paid his impossible debt. Then Jesus finished by saying this is what God requires of us, to forgive one another from your heart.
Superficial forgiveness is not enough. True, heartfelt forgiveness is what is required. This is backed up by Paul’s comment in Ephesians 4. “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Jesus also has forgiven you.” And then of course we have the Lord’s Prayer where we pray, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.” We are required to forgive as often as possible and as deeply as possible.
But as soon as we rise the matter of forgiveness objections seem to arise almost immediately. Our natural tendency is to be like Peter and look for ways to put limits on forgiveness. We have a natural tendency to feel uncomfortable with Jesus’ idea of forgiving often and well. And often the first objection is the case of the awful crime. Some crimes of violence are so evil, so utterly cruel that its almost beyond us to think humans could behave like that. But then people say surely God does not expect us to forgive those people. Surely here, forgiveness cannot be expected of us.
As Sydneysiders our thoughts might naturally go to the murders of Anita Cobby. Such a vile crime that the judge had their files marked, “Never to be released.” But Garry Lynch, Anita’s father, asked what was the alternative? He said he was not prepared to live his life consumed by hatred. Rather he needed another answer. He also felt that justice was not satisfied by a life long prison sentence. In the end, he said he reached a position where he could hand those murders over to the justice of God. Through his faith he was able to find some peace in the wisdom of God. He understood that through this crime the whole family had been wounded and needed healing. But that healing couldn’t come through bitterness or revenge.
Fortunately, we will never suffer like that family. The offenses done to us will never achieve that level of seriousness nor be as wounding. And so the words of Jesus come to us with greater force. His demands on us remain the same to forgive our brother from the heart. But our next objection is that our brother is not repentant. They may not ever admit any wrong doing. How can we forgive when the other will not admit the wrong.
But it always amazes me that every person has an unswerving belief in their ability to tell right from wrong. Particularly, we love to believe that “I am right, and you are wrong.” Sadly, the truth is that none of us are perfect judges. We are not as good at determining right and wrong as we like to think. And Jesus never included any conditions. The command is not to forgive those who say they are sorry. The command is to forgive as we have been forgiven. No limit is included.
But then some may ask where is justice in this? Is Jesus describing a lawless society where people an do whatever they like and the rest just have to put up with it and forgive their bad behaviour? Well, from the God who gave us the Ten Commandments this seems improbable. From the God who told us to love one another this is an unreasonable conclusion.
In the wider teaching of Jesus, the requirement to forgive falls into the wider context of God’s new, restored, redeemed and reconciled society. And one essential quality of that society will be justice. As we trace this theme through the Bible God never denies the need for justice nor does he ever reject his roll as the final judge. For those who hunger and thirst for righteousness they will be satisfied. But many people have no patience. People want justice now. Of course we have the old maxim that justice delayed is justice denied. But life is never that simple. Justice in an illusive thing. We strive to have the best legal system possible. Yet it has its flaws, it has its weaknesses like any human institution. I always get nervous when I hear angry people shouting for justice. Do they know what they want? Do they know how hard it is to get it and how costly? And what will they do when they don’t get it?
Garry Lynch could never say that justice had been truly served in his case. But as a man of faith he did what he could and left the rest to the justice of God. But as well he places before us the question of what is the alternative if we don’t forgive? Once my brother has passed his limit of seven what do I do then? Do I reject him as my brother? Do I say he is my brother no longer? Do I enter into perpetual warfare with him? Once we take that path we enter a very lonely isolated world.
And the other hard reality is that we all make mistakes, we all take wrong turns, we all are in great need of being forgiven. In the parable, the servant’s debt was so great there was no hope he could pay it back. And Jesus forces us to the uncomfortable truth of our need for forgiveness and its out of that need that we should be forgiving others. Jesus’ vision is of a world of reconciliation, a world where people can come together in friendship and love. And though the final realisation of that dream remains in the future we can begin to enjoy those benefits now. We can bring the future into the present through exercising this gift of forgiveness, breaking down the enmity between ourselves and others and being reconciled to one another. It is true to say that from the beginning the church has taught the world to love. But that love was always expensive. It required the sacrifice of Jesus’ own life on the cross. It requires the sacrifice of our own pride and arrogance, as we recognise our need for forgiveness as we start down that rocky road of forgiving one another.