Sermon - 15th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 19A)

Romans 14:1-12, Matthew 18:21-35                                  Panzer Chapel Liturgical Service

September 13, 2020

“The Upper Hand”

We forgive because God has first forgiven us. This would seem to be an obvious point. And yet, too many times, probably sometime of every day, we forget that we are where we are because we live forgiven lives. God has forgiven us for the terrible, awful, stupid things that we have done to shame and embarrass ourselves. God has forgiven us the petty, insignificant things which we thought that nobody would ever know about. And God will forgive us tomorrow and the day after that for the mistakes and sins that we will commit, on purpose, in the future. The good new is this: We are forgiven, even when we forget or don’t believe that we are forgiven.

In last week’s appointed lesson, Jesus had a discussion with the disciples about discipline and reconciliation in the church. He told us to work hard to build bridges between us, even when we disagree. It’s where we get a promise for the future – “wherever two or three are gathered in my name, there I will be also.’ So naturally, Peter wanted to nail down Jesus’ expectations, asking for a clearer understanding of exactly what is required in the area of forgiveness.

Peter came and said to Jesus, "Lord, if another member of the church sins again 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."

 Well, isn’t that extraordinary? In fact, some translations cannot agree on whether Jesus said seventy times seven (490) or seventy-seven. It doesn’t really matter though, because what Jesus meant was, “Forgive them until you’ve lost count and then forgive them some more.” What an awesome responsibility. What an awesome, exhausting responsibility.

And of course, to get his message across, Jesus told a story… one which you and I are quickly able to understand is our story.  A king brought decided to settle with all those who owed him money. He had the upper hand in those relationships. And before him came at least one man who could not get his act together. Let’s call him Joe. As the king was ready to throw Joe’s life away, Joe begged the king, ‘Have mercy on me. Be patient and I will pay you all I owe.”  So, the king, having the upper hand, showed mercy and Joe went free. What a great end to the story. Except it’s not the end.

As we read on, we find that to gather the money he owes the king, Joe goes out and harasses all the people who owe HIM money. Now Joe has the upper hand. And when the next guy, let’s call him Jerry, asks for the same patience and goodwill from Joe that Joe received from the king, Joe is the first one to say, “No way!” and has Jerry thrown into prison. 

Now this is concerning to everyone watching, because who knew which one of them might be next to feel Joe’s wrath. And so they went and complained to the king. And the king was so upset that he went off the deep end and order a terrible punishment for Joe, erasing all of the previous undeserved forgiveness. For Joe, it’s not a happy ending at all. Now, who has the upper hand?

It is hard for us to listen to this story without swallowing a big lump at the end. And unless we are careful, this we come away with a fear of retribution, God’s retribution. Made simple, we could interpret the message as: “Make God mad, and you’re in BIG trouble!”

But let’s remember a few things. First, the king has a right to be angry. He trusted Joe to be changed by his generosity. After all, the king didn’t just forgive him on a whim. No, he did it to make a point, to change the way that Joe lived the rest of his life. It’s a sad commentary on life that Joe couldn’t even remember the king’s kindness through the end of the day. The King’s forgiveness wasn’t valued after all. That wasn’t what the king expected.

When we hear the parables of Jesus, we want them to have happy endings, to wrap everything up in a nice, tight package. But I wonder if this parable is troubling to many of us because, well, we relate to Joe. When push comes to shove, we neither want to forgive or love or be generous, especially when we think that we are in the right, or don’t recognize when we are repeating the same old mistakes.

Instead of comforting us, this parable makes us afraid. We want to get past the fear of unforgiveness and dip into the well of joy when we first hear those words, “I forgive you.” But left to our own devices, we don’t know how. We trust the instinct which says “Win at all costs.” We forget how much we need to hear and say the words, “You are loved.”

So as an addendum let us look at a practical parable of what it is to be forgiven by God. It is called the Parable of the Bug by Ernesto Medina. He writes:

I don't know abut you, but if I see an bug walking along the kitchen counter top, I don't even think twice about smashing it (make appropriate hand gesture). I have done this for years. One day, while I was at home minding my own business, there I saw yet another one of those blasted bugs making its way around the sink. In almost a reflex movement, my hand reached out, index finger poised, pressed to the counter top, and poof, it was gone.

Then, half-way kidding with myself, I asked, "Why don't I feel awful when I do that?" The answer was obvious... I am this tall (move hand to my height) and the bug is this small (put fingers together to show the size of the ant). Such a great difference in size allows me the freedom to feel nothing when I kill it.

And then, do you know what occurred to me? As large a difference between the bug and myself, this difference is nothing compared to the difference between me and God! Yet, God does not go around squashing us (hand gesture). In fact, God does something very different. God offers an arm outstretched calling us into divine presence. An outstretched arm asking us to stand in the midst of God's love. In spite of the difference between us and God, God cares for each one of us. Enough care that Jesus dies for our sins. Enough care that we are forgiven. (WORSHIP THAT WORKS , Rev. Ernesto R. Medina - Proper 19 Notes).

So how does this play out in our lives? How do we go about the business of getting right with the people we need to be able to love? For each of us, there are many right answers. The question is very personal – one size does not fit all. But at the same time, this is also a very painful question, painful because it makes us look at ourselves in ways that we often try to ignore. History shows one man’s struggle and how it played out in his life:

At the time that Leonardo da Vinci was painting “The Last Supper,” he had bitter argument with a fellow painted, and as a result, anger overflowed into his life. As da Vinci was painting the face of Judas Iscariot, he decided to paint the face of his enemy as Judas’ face, so that their feud might be permanently recorded by all who looked at the painting. 

Slowly da Vinci worked on the faces of the other disciples. But each time he tried to paint the face of Jesus, he found that it would not come out right. Da Vinci was confused and frustrated. Eventually, he realized his hatred of this other painter was keeping him from being able to see Jesus’ face clearly enough to complete the painting. It was only after he made peace with his friend and repainted Judas’ face that he was able to paint Jesus’ face and complete his masterpiece. (Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks, 1994, Youth Specialties, Inc., page 161.)

The gospel message can really be boiled down to these words, as found at the beginning of Bill Countryman's book The Good News of Jesus. In the first paragraph, he essentially says that the Good News that Jesus brought was to tell us that we are forgiven. Nothing more. Nothing Less. All Christ requires of us is to accept the gift and pass it on.

We are living through difficult times. The walls between us have never seemed taller or thicker. But the day will come, sooner than we might imagine, when we will be asked to live out the gift of forgiveness we have already received. We think of Jesus’ forgiveness as something that’s going to come in the future, but in reality, it has already happened even before we recognized our need.

Each one of us is already forgiven. Jesus came – he lived, he taught, he loved, he died, and he rose again to show us that all is not lost. Jesus’ parable teaches us that forgiveness is something that is to only received, but also must be practiced… whether it’s seven times seventy or seventy-seven times – it really doesn’t matter. Jesus is asking us to develop the habit of forgiveness as we respond to the love that he has shown us with a forgiveness that can never we earned or deserved.  

How can we not respond to that kind of love? It is love that reaches out to us in our joys, our sorrows, our anger and our frustrations. Internalizing our own forgiveness is the first step in passing that gift on to others. It’s the foundation of what it means to be a family – of what it means to be the Church. Forgiveness not only changes our lives but changes the world. Thanks be to God!

Let us pray:

Lord, here we are, daring to speak to you in the faith that you want to be in conversation with us. We speak in the faith that, time and again in our history, when we have forgotten you, you remembered us. When we turned away from you, you returned to us.

Sometimes Lord, we fail to see your loving care for us at work among us. We look upon current events and don’t see much evidence of your activity. We find explanations for ourselves and the world that don’t include you. We doubt.

Come to us, Lord. In our worship, strengthen our faith that you care about us, you hear our cries, and you come to us. Help us to see that our doubt of you says more about us and our limits than about you and what you are up to.

Give us the grace to doubt our doubts. Deliver us from our skepticism and uncertainties. Enable us to see you as you are, God for us, God of love in action. Amen.