Forgive us, Lord, as we forgive others

The Rev. Kathi Johnson

Lectionary 24, Year A – 17 September 2017

Text: Matthew 18:21-35

Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Grand Prairie, Texas

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Last week, we looked at the first part of Matthew 18, in which Jesus teaches us about handling the conflicts that arise in our lives. For instance, when we’ve been hurt by someone, we should talk with them directly about it, or, when someone is telling us that we’ve hurt them, we should listen to what they’re saying.

Today’s gospel reading gives us more from Matthew 18 – and in some ways, it gives us the whys of forgiveness. Why do we forgive someone?

Today’s teaching by Jesus gives us insight into community expectations. What I mean is this: the Gospel of Matthew was written for an early Christian community and one of the intentions was to answer these questions: As followers of Jesus, what kind of community are we going to be? What will we value as a community? What is important to God, and so therefore, also important to us?

Matthew 18 shows us that forgiveness was one of their core values. As followers of Jesus, they saw themselves as being led by Jesus to forgive others. As followers of Jesus, they saw this ability to forgive others as flowing directly out of the forgiveness that we ourselves receive from God.

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant helps us think more imaginatively, and that’s exactly why Jesus uses so many parables in his teachings.

·      Imagine if a servant owed his king an impossible sum of money.

·      Imagine if the king showed mercy, and forgave that impossible debt.

·      Imagine if that forgiven servant didn’t offer forgiveness to someone else.

And with our imaginations stirred, we begin to see how forgiveness plays out in the Kingdom of God, and we can see the extreme importance to God of us living out the petition that we pray in the Lord’s Prayer: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” We can also begin to see how unforgiveness binds us, and how forgiveness sets us free.

Forgiveness provides a release. When we forgive someone, we stop allowing the pain of someone else’s action to control our lives. When we forgive someone, we are freed to live more fully, we are more able to love others, and we are then offering a life that is pleasing to God. And when we forgive someone, we are living out – we are embodying - the abundant forgiveness that God gives to us.

Forgive us, Lord, as we forgive others.

The extreme forgiveness given by the king in the parable told by Jesus may not make sense to us. But Jesus’ answer to Peter’s question at the outset gives us a sense of the complete forgiveness that is given to us and hopefully also given by us. Peter comes to Jesus and asks him how many times we should forgive someone who has sinned against us…?

What do you think, Jesus - one time? Twice? Surely not six times? Or seven? THAT MANY?

And Jesus ups the ante even beyond Peter’s highest bid – he says that we should forgive  not only seven times, but seventy-seven times. That number – seventy-seven – isn’t a just random number. In Scripture, seven represents wholeness or completion. Our forgiveness of someone is to be complete. And how many times do we forgive someone? That should be uncountable – we shouldn’t even keep track.

This may seem impossible. But forgiveness – like love – is often made up of a series of small decisions over time. Forgiveness is rarely once-then-done, rather, it is lived out day by day, week by week, year by year. Forgiveness doesn’t mean that you’re automatically reconciled to this person who has hurt you. Forgiveness does mean that the wrong they’ve committed no longer has power over you.

Forgive us, Lord, as we forgive others.

When we pray those words, we are reminded of our own need for forgiveness from God, and from others. We sin daily, and through God’s grace, God forgives us when we confess our sin. Whether our confession comes here at church, or in our cars, or living rooms, or wherever it is we realize our sin, God meets us with forgiveness – God meets us with extreme forgiveness.

And then, as forgiven ones, we are freed to live as followers of Jesus who offer forgiveness to others.

Thanks be to God. Amen.

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