Year A
Genesis 50:15-21
Psalm 103:1-13
Romans 14:1-12
Matthew 18:21-35<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May the words of my mouth\u2026 O God\u2026 speak your Truth\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are people I don\u2019t want to forgive\u2026 for the things they\u2019ve done\u2026 or for the things they\u2019ve said\u2026 or for how I\u2019ve felt about what they\u2019ve done or said\u2026 not no way\u2026 not no how\u2026 sometimes I\u2019ve been the intended target of their actions or words\u2026 and sometimes I\u2019m simply unintended collateral damage\u2026 but I\u2019m wounded just the same\u2026 and sometimes those wounds have been physical\u2026 or psychological\u2026 or spiritual\u2026 yes we can even be wounded spiritually\u2026 and there are some wounds that we inherit\u2026 which are not our fault\u2026 but which become our responsibility\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the command to forgive\u2026 Jesus tells Peter to forgive not seven times\u2026 but seventy-seven\u2026 and I wonder if\u2026 I think this is one of those numbers like forty\u2026 when it rained for forty days and nights\u2026 the Jews wandered in the wilderness for forty years\u2026 Jesus was in the wilderness for forty days\u2026 it\u2019s a way of saying A LOT\u2026 and I think seventy-seven is meant to be taken this way too\u2026 I mean\u2026 how would you even keep track\u2026 what if you were really only at 76\u2026 but you thought you forgave 77 times\u2026 what would happen then\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if we\u2019re not careful\u2026 we can blur the boundaries between responsibility\u2026 and forgiveness\u2026 and accountability\u2026 and consequence\u2026 because if the schoolyard bully doesn\u2019t feel responsible for what they\u2019re doing\u2026 and is not held accountable\u2026 and there\u2019s no consequence\u2026 all we do is enable him to keep on bullying\u2026 but we can forgive\u2026 we can imagine that they really do not know\u2026 what they are doing\u2026 because if they knew\u2026 if they had the Mind of Christ\u2026 that kind of behavior would be offensive to them\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The word forgive means\u2026 to let go of\u2026 so when we don\u2019t forgive\u2026 is it because we\u2019re keeping score\u2026 is it because we\u2019ve decided what we\u2019re owed\u2026 like the workers in the parable in Matthew 20:1-16\u2026 who came early in the morning\u2026 and worked in the vineyard\u2026 in the heat\u2026 all day long\u2026 and when it came time to get paid\u2026 the owner paid even those who arrived last\u2026 a full day\u2019s wage\u2026 but those who arrived first were indignant\u2026 they didn\u2019t count to 490\u2026 they knew who came when\u2026 and they figured their score ought to be higher than those who arrived last\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The cover image on our bulletin is a ledger book\u2026 ledger books are about transactions\u2026 money in\u2026 money out\u2026 income and expenses\u2026 balance sheets\u2026 cosmic ledger books are perhaps even about sin and repentance\u2026 and at some point\u2026 we believe things ought to even out\u2026 and we can get really really angry\u2026 if we believe there\u2019s not enough repentance\u2026 and we can slide into vengeance\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sirach reminds us\u2026 that anger and wrath\u2026 are abominations\u2026 yet a sinner holds on to them\u2026 and Sirach asks us\u2026 does anyone harbor anger against another\u2026 and expect healing from the Lord\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But perhaps what we need more than vengeance\u2026 is a judicial system which practices restorative justice\u2026 an approach which offers an opportunity for the victim and the offender\u2026 and perhaps representatives of the wider community\u2026 to meet and share their experience of what happened\u2026 to discuss who was harmed\u2026 and how\u2026 and to decide on an appropriate and measured response for repair and healing\u2026 The Truth and Reconciliation Commission\u2026 which met in South Africa after the end of apartheid\u2026 is one example of a restorative justice body\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a recent letter to synod pastors\u2026 Bp. Satterlee wrote\u2026 I joined Jonah sitting under a bush\u2026 awaiting the fate of the city\u2026 Jonah wants Nineveh destroyed\u2026 and in the solitude of our souls\u2026 we could all name our own Ninevehs\u2026 people\u2026 beliefs\u2026 movements\u2026 and institutions that\u2026 if they do not repent… deserve to be destroyed\u2026 but rather than destroying Nineveh\u2026 God destroys Jonah\u2019s bush\u2026 to make the point that God\u2019s love is always bigger\u2026 and just when we think we have arrived at the limit of God\u2019s grace\u2026 God finds a way to remind us that God is\u2026 “a gracious God\u2026 and merciful\u2026 slow to anger\u2026 abounding in steadfast love\u2026 and ready to relent from punishing\u2026”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When we don\u2019t forgive\u2026 it\u2019s sometimes because we\u2019re certain that we\u2019ve suffered more than the other person\u2026 or like Jonah\u2026 we\u2019re certain that there hasn\u2019t been enough suffering\u2026 but when we don\u2019t forgive\u2026 do we think it\u2019s because we know better than God\u2026 because in truth\u2026 when we don\u2019t forgive\u2026 it\u2019s like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die\u2026 Peter asks Jesus about specific instances\u2026 but Jesus\u2019 answer is about a changed heart\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In today\u2019s Gospel parable\u2026 there were two debtors\u2026 the first one owed the king 10,000 talents\u2026 and his fellow servant owed him 100 denarii\u2026the denarius was one day\u2019s wage for a typical laborer who worked six days a week\u2026 so with a Sabbath day of rest\u2026 and allowing approximately two weeks for various Jewish holidays\u2026 the typical laborer worked 50 weeks of the year\u2026 and earned an annual wage of 300 denarii\u2026 so 100 denarii was about four months\u2019 wages\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And one talent was about 6,000 denarii\u2026 so it would take twenty years to pay back one talent\u2026 but this poor fellow owed the king 10,000 talents\u2026 so if it takes twenty years to earn one talent\u2026 then do the math\u2026 to repay 10,000 talents\u2026 it would take 200,000 years\u2026 that was one VERY forgiving king\u2026 and so if we know that God has forgiven us multiple times\u2026 how can we not forgive\u2026 Jesus has forgiven me at least 77 times\u2026 so how can I not forgive others once\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Rev. Stephen Schmidt writes\u2026 I just read a friend’s post about how we’re approaching the end times\u2026 and the rapture\u2026 and if you love Jesus\u2026 and are not ashamed of Jesus\u2026 you’ll copy and post this\u2026 and it struck me how badly we\u2026 the church\u2026 have failed to teach our people\u2026 we\u2019ve taught them doctrine\u2026 but we haven’t taught them to actually READ the bible and interpret it for themselves\u2026 so my friends can regurgitate doctrines about sin\u2026 hell\u2026 the rapture\u2026 the anti-Christ and the beast\u2026 but not know that most of those doctrines were built on solitary verses\u2026 in isolation\u2026 not at all what the biblical writers were trying to convey\u2026 or that\u2026 even when there is a bone of truth in them\u2026 they are minor ideas floating in a much bigger sea of texts about how we treat each other\u2026 but no\u2026 our concern over hell\u2026 is more important than loving our neighbor\u2026 the rapture has become more important that caring for the poor\u2026 feeding the hungry\u2026 healing the sick\u2026 and welcoming the foreigner\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And much of this is grounded in our notion of economy which is transaction based in contract\u2026 but God\u2019s economy is transformation based in covenant\u2026 our notion of economy is based in division\u2026 but God\u2019s economy is based in unity\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our sins are like 100 denarii\u2026 but God has already forgiven us 10,000 talents\u2026 God has already forgiven us\u2026 for we do not know what we are doing\u2026 and when the magnitude of that generosity sinks in\u2026 when the incalculable generosity of that takes hold\u2026 then we can stop drinking the Kool Aid of misguided superiority and resentments\u2026 see unity in God\u2019s diversity\u2026 and work together to build a little bit more of the Kingdom of Heaven\u2026 wherever we are\u2026 Holy God\u2026 make it so\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Year A Genesis 50:15-21 Psalm 103:1-13 Romans 14:1-12 Matthew 18:21-35 May the words of my mouth\u2026 O God\u2026 speak your Truth\u2026 There are people I don\u2019t want to forgive\u2026 for the things they\u2019ve done\u2026 or for the things they\u2019ve said\u2026 or for how I\u2019ve felt about what they\u2019ve done or said\u2026 not no way\u2026 not no how\u2026 sometimes I\u2019ve been the intended target of their actions or words\u2026 and sometimes I\u2019m simply unintended collateral damage\u2026 but I\u2019m wounded just the same\u2026 and sometimes those wounds have been physical\u2026 or psychological\u2026 or spiritual\u2026 yes we can even be wounded spiritually\u2026 and there are some wounds that we inherit\u2026 which are not our fault\u2026 but which become our responsibility\u2026 But the command to forgive\u2026 Jesus tells Peter to forgive not seven times\u2026 but seventy-seven\u2026 and I wonder if\u2026 I think this is one of those numbers like forty\u2026 when it rained for forty days and nights\u2026 the Jews wandered in the wilderness for forty years\u2026 Jesus was in the wilderness for forty days\u2026 it\u2019s a way of saying A LOT\u2026 and I think seventy-seven is meant to be taken this way too\u2026 I mean\u2026 how would you even keep track\u2026 what if you were really only at 76\u2026 but you thought you forgave 77 times\u2026 what would happen then\u2026 And if we\u2019re not careful\u2026 we can blur the boundaries between responsibility\u2026 and forgiveness\u2026 and accountability\u2026 and consequence\u2026 because if the schoolyard bully doesn\u2019t feel responsible for what they\u2019re doing\u2026 and is not held accountable\u2026 and there\u2019s no consequence\u2026 all we do is enable him to keep on bullying\u2026 but we can forgive\u2026 we can imagine that they really do not know\u2026 what they are doing\u2026 because if they knew\u2026 if they had the Mind of Christ\u2026 that kind of behavior would be offensive to them\u2026 The word forgive means\u2026 to let go of\u2026 so when we don\u2019t forgive\u2026 is it because we\u2019re keeping score\u2026 is it because we\u2019ve decided what we\u2019re owed\u2026 like the workers in the parable in Matthew 20:1-16\u2026 who came early in the morning\u2026 and worked in the vineyard\u2026 in the heat\u2026 all day long\u2026 and when it came time to get paid\u2026 the owner paid even those who arrived last\u2026 a full day\u2019s wage\u2026 but those who arrived first were indignant\u2026 they didn\u2019t count to 490\u2026 they knew who came when\u2026 and they figured their score ought to be higher than those who arrived last\u2026 The cover image on our bulletin is a ledger book\u2026 ledger books are about transactions\u2026 money in\u2026 money out\u2026 income and expenses\u2026 balance sheets\u2026 cosmic ledger books are perhaps even about sin and repentance\u2026 and at some point\u2026 we believe things ought to even out\u2026 and we can get really really angry\u2026 if we believe there\u2019s not enough repentance\u2026 and we can slide into vengeance\u2026 Sirach reminds us\u2026 that anger and wrath\u2026 are abominations\u2026 yet a sinner holds on to them\u2026 and Sirach asks us\u2026 does anyone harbor anger against another\u2026 and expect healing from the Lord\u2026 But perhaps what we need more than vengeance\u2026 is a judicial system which practices restorative justice\u2026 an approach which offers an opportunity for the victim and the offender\u2026 and perhaps representatives of the wider community\u2026 to meet and share their experience of what happened\u2026 to discuss who was harmed\u2026 and how\u2026 and to decide on an appropriate and measured response for repair and healing\u2026 The Truth and Reconciliation Commission\u2026 which met in South Africa after the end of apartheid\u2026 is one example of a restorative justice body\u2026 In a recent letter to synod pastors\u2026 Bp. Satterlee wrote\u2026 I joined Jonah sitting under a bush\u2026 awaiting the fate of the city\u2026 Jonah wants Nineveh destroyed\u2026 and in the solitude of our souls\u2026 we could all name our own Ninevehs\u2026 people\u2026 beliefs\u2026 movements\u2026 and institutions that\u2026 if they do not repent… deserve to be destroyed\u2026 but rather than destroying Nineveh\u2026 God destroys Jonah\u2019s bush\u2026 to make the point that God\u2019s love is always bigger\u2026 and just when we think we have arrived at the limit of God\u2019s grace\u2026 God finds a way to remind us that God is\u2026 “a gracious God\u2026 and merciful\u2026 slow to anger\u2026 abounding in steadfast love\u2026 and ready to relent from punishing\u2026” When we don\u2019t forgive\u2026 it\u2019s sometimes because we\u2019re certain that we\u2019ve suffered more than the other person\u2026 or like Jonah\u2026 we\u2019re certain that there hasn\u2019t been enough suffering\u2026 but when we don\u2019t forgive\u2026 do we think it\u2019s because we know better than God\u2026 because in truth\u2026 when we don\u2019t forgive\u2026 it\u2019s like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die\u2026 Peter asks Jesus about specific instances\u2026 but Jesus\u2019 answer is about a changed heart\u2026 In today\u2019s Gospel parable\u2026 there were two debtors\u2026 the first one owed the king 10,000 talents\u2026 and his fellow servant owed him 100 denarii\u2026the denarius was one day\u2019s wage for a typical laborer who worked six days a week\u2026 so with a Sabbath day of rest\u2026 and allowing approximately two weeks for various Jewish holidays\u2026 the typical laborer worked 50 weeks of the year\u2026 and earned an annual wage of 300 denarii\u2026 so 100 denarii was about four months\u2019 wages\u2026 And one talent was about 6,000 denarii\u2026 so it would take twenty years to pay back one talent\u2026 but this poor fellow owed the king 10,000 talents\u2026 so if it takes twenty years to earn one talent\u2026 then do the math\u2026 to repay 10,000 talents\u2026 it would take 200,000 years\u2026 that was one VERY forgiving king\u2026 and so if we know that God has forgiven us multiple times\u2026 how can we not forgive\u2026 Jesus has forgiven me at least 77 times\u2026 so how can I not forgive others once\u2026 The Rev. Stephen Schmidt writes\u2026 I just read a friend’s post about how we’re approaching the end times\u2026 and the rapture\u2026 and if you love Jesus\u2026 and are not ashamed of Jesus\u2026 you’ll copy and post this\u2026 and it struck me how badly we\u2026 the church\u2026 have failed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=936"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":938,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936\/revisions\/938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twochurches.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}