Readings
Genesis 50:15-21
Psalm 103:(1-7), 8-13
Romans 14:1-12
Matthew 18:21-35
Today’s Gospel passage starts with Peter asking a perennial question for Christians. How much and for how long should we forgive? Jesus responds by saying “seventy-seven times.” In other words, so often that you lose count. Or to be more blunt, always.
And with this, Jesus expands on the nature of God’s forgiveness and how forgiveness should work in the community of faith through a parable about a master and two slaves.
First we see someone who owes decades worth of income in debt. A sum so large that it would be impossible for him to repay it even if he worked on it the rest of his life. The master (read God) initially responds in what appears to be a harsh and unforgiving manner, but then upon the slaves pleading he relents and basically forgives the debt.
What is interesting is that even in the face of such mercy, that same slave upon leaving encounters someone who owes a much smaller amount and fails to show the same mercy that he just received.
The community to which he belongs witnesses this behavior and reports it to the master, who then calls the slave back and imposes on him the full burden of his original debt.
For those of us who tend to focus on the idea of a loving and forgiving God, this Gospel passage really is a mixed bag. Isn’t it? On the one hand we have Jesus calling us to forgive always, and on the other hand we have an image of God that shows a mixed reality.
But what if the image Jesus presents of the master isn’t one of cruelty, but something altogether different? What if the image he is presenting is more restorative than retributive?
One way to think about today’s Gospel is in the old phrase “What you sow, so shall you reap.” If you sow forgiveness, then you will find forgiveness. If you sow judgment and demand, then you will find only judgment and demand.
The first slave is reminded of his own failings and the deep gap between what he might be and what he is. Through a metaphor of debt, he is called to see the seriousness of his brokenness and failing. But the response of the master is one of forgiveness. He is given space for repentance and transformation. Upon his recognition he is met only with love and compassion.
But that same slave fails to remember that reality when confronted with the brokenness of another. Instead, he presumes his superiority and issues unforgiving judgment upon the second slave. And in the wake of that presumption and cruelty he receives the same in turn.
To reference another passage from this Gospel, Jesus is reminding us that we are to be concerned with the specks in our own eyes rather than the planks in our neighbor’s. By doing so we stay in a state of genuine humbleness. We are reminded of the fundamental reality of the human condition and our need for a gracious and forgiving environment. Each of us are to be one who forgives again and again, because we are also in need of such forgiveness. In doing so we open ourselves up to a greater reality and open ourselves up to the loving presence of the ground of our being.
But, let me be clear, this passage has been used too many times to allow or condone broken, abusive, or criminal behavior. It has been misinterpreted to mean that we are called to be little more than “doormats” upon which others trod.
This is not what forgiveness means, nor is it what genuine forgiveness looks like.
Even in the midst of our forgiveness there needs to be accountability. It is our responsibility as a community to hold one another and others to account for their broken, abusive, or criminal behavior.
As an example, think of all the women and children who suffered and continue to suffer abuse at the hands of another. For far too long the church served as an institution that allowed such behavior to continue, calling the victim to forgive while avoiding the difficult task of holding the perpetrator to account. In recent years much has been done to change that, but there is still more work to do.
We must be ready and prepared to be like those servants who reported back to the master the abuse of the first slave. We must live into the pattern we heard about in last week’s Gospel, holding one another accountable.
It is important to remember that forgiveness does not mean allowing or condoning someone’s broken behavior, it means no longer allowing that behavior to have control over us and creating space for repentance and renewal.
We are called to be a people of forgiveness, both as individuals and as a community. Through such behavior we partner with God in the transformation of the world. Through such behavior we encounter our authentic selves and the living God.
How might we be brave enough to do a fearless moral inventory and recognize how far we have missed the mark? How might we, as both individuals and a community, hold one another to account, all the while offering space for repentance and renewal? How might we live as a people who forever forgive and who are forever forgiven?
May we find the wisdom, the strength, and the courage to do so and to be so. May we always remember the gap between who we might be and who we are. And by doing so, may we be agents of healing, transformation, and renewal. May we, through our forgiveness, encounter nothing less than the living God of love.