Scripture/Sermon of the Day.  September 17, 2023

Matthew 18:12-35

Forgiveness

21 Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if my brother or sister sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven[a] times.

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him, 25 and, as he could not pay, the lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions and payment to be made. 26 So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him by the throat he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. 31 When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. 32 Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. 35 So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

Reflection/Sermon:

I.      One of the big concerns I had when I began my new life as a minister was this right here — what I’m doing now — preaching.  I wondered how I’d say something new every week, from a book that is so old — thousands of years old.  And not only that — but — the message from the Bible is so simple — love one another.  Every sermon is a variation of that message.  So the challenge of preaching is — how do you say “love one another” differently, about forty times every year.  And when you add to that the Scripture of the Day messages — every day — that’s three hundred sixty five times a year to hear the same message, but in slightly different ways:  “Love one another.”

II.     And there’s another challenge — or difficulty.  People who call themselves “Christian” know what Jesus said  — BUT THEY DON’T DO IT!!!!!

Isn’t that crazy?  The whole Bible can be reduced to three words, Love One Another — and yet we write millions of books about it, we study it, we learn Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic — we go to seminary for three or more years, etc., etc — and we still have such a hard time just simply doing what Jesus says:  “Love one another.”

III.    By now — when you come here every Sunday — or Zoom in — you know what I’m going to say.  Maybe we keep coming back because as simple as the message is, IT’S ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO DO.  It’s as if I were standing here and saying, “Alright — we’re going to try it again.  Today — I want you all to fly.  Come on — use the power of your mind.  At least — float in the air a foot over the ground.  Come on — think!  Imagine!  On the count of three, everyone FLY!”

IV.     It’s impossible, isn’t it.  And that’s the reason we pray.  We can’t do this by ourselves.  Even something as simple and wonderful as love — we can’t do it without God’s help.  Today is another variation on love — forgiveness — and we can’t do it!  Jesus says we MUST forgive one another.  And Christians know this, we’ve heard it since we were children!  Peter asks Jesus, “If my sister or brother sins against me — do I have to forgive?  Even seven times?”  No, Jesus says, “Not seven — seventy-seven!”  This is crazy.  No wonder the churches are so empty.  Who wants to do this?  We would rather follow people unlike Jesus who say “I am your retribution!”  A MESSAGE OF HATE.  Can you imagine someone in one of those crowds saying, “You know, I was wrong.  I’m not your retribution.  I’m not your revenge.  I’m your peacemaker.  I want you to love one another — love the foreigner crossing the border, love the person in the other political party.  Love the United Auto Workers going on strike, and love the rich CEOs who want to keep the profits for themselves.  Please — we must forgive our sisters and brothers who think differently from us, and who do not look like us.  I AM YOUR FORGIVENESS.”

V.      Sadly, even though most of the people in that crowd were “Christian” — that message would fail.  BECAUSE WE WANT REVENGE!  WE WANT BLOOD!  ONCE when the church service was over, in the days when I stood in the rear of the church and greeted people as they left, a member said, “Do you realize that some Mexican or South American is going to the school your daughter is attending and they’re not a U.S. citizen and your tax dollars are helping him do that?  Your tax dollars are helping foreigners with their education and health care and food stamps!”  And I said something like, “Jesus wants us to love the Mexicans and South Americans and foreigners.  Jesus wants us to share.”  And he said — really angry — “You don’t believe everything Jesus said, do you??!!”

VI.     I think many Christians have an identity problem.  They’ve forgotten who they are — and they don’t seem interested, really, in Jesus.  Christians want a vindictive and hateful savior who will punish people not like them and make them SUFFER!  A lot of Christians don’t really want Jesus.  They want to be Christians — WITHOUT JESUS.  Let’s make red baseball caps with those letters on them and give them out at political rally’s — hats with CWOT printed in big capital letters:  Christians WithOut Jesus.

VII.    I wonder how many people, in those days when people left after the service and I’d greet them afterward in the narthex — and they said, “Good sermon.”  I wonder how many really were thinking, but not saying:  “Good sermon — but you don’t believe all that stuff Jesus said, do you?”

VIII.   And yet — the message today is the one we’ve heard since we were children:  We must forgive — each other, ourselves, even God.  The woman who helps take care of my mother, Cata, is 60-something, from Ghana.  While I was there, she was in a car accident.  Last Wednesday, while she was waiting at a red light, a car hit her from behind, so hard, it totaled the Nissan Rogue that hit her — a tow truck had to take it away.  The woman, who was not injured, got out of the car and apologized to Cata, while she gave her insurance information to her.  Then Cata noticed that, while waiting for the police, the woman was talking on her cell phone.  When the police arrived, the woman lied and told the police it was Cata’s fault — that Cata was changing lanes suddenly and that’s why she drove into her.  The police believed the woman — who was young, and white, like the policeman — and gave Cata a ticket.  The next day, Cata told me, “How can people lie like that?  And why did God let that happen to me.”  Look who Cata had to forgive: the policeman, the woman who crashed into her — and God!  Cata even has to forgive herself for not taking pictures of the accident which would have shown her innocence!

IX.     But when we don’t forgive, Jesus said, we torture ourselves — with anger and rage — and obsessively thinking about retribution.

Jesus said when we don’t forgive — we torture ourselves.

 Better, he said, to let go of all that emotional poison — and give it to God.  Give God the poison of rage and revenge, and drink the living water of forgiveness and love Jesus offers.

Only this living water Jesus gives us each day will heal us.