On the Way to Wonder

September 17, 2023

First Reading: Genesis 50:15-21

¹⁵Realizing that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers said, “What if Joseph still bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong that we did to him?” ¹⁶So they approached Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this instruction before he died, ¹⁷‘Say to Joseph: I beg you, forgive the crime of your brothers and the wrong they did in harming you.’ Now therefore please forgive the crime of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. ¹⁸Then his brothers also wept, fell down before him, and said, “We are here as your slaves.” ¹⁹But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God? ²⁰Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today. ²¹So have no fear; I myself will provide for you and your little ones.” In this way he reassured them, speaking kindly to them.

Psalm: Psalm 103:[1-7] 8-13

Lord, you are full of compassion and mercy. (Ps. 103:8)

[ ¹Bless the Lord, O my soul,
  and all that is within me, bless God’s holy name.
 ²Bless the Lord, O my soul,
  and forget not all God’s benefits—
 ³who forgives all your sins
  and heals all your diseases;
 ⁴who redeems your life from the grave
  and crowns you with steadfast love and mercy;
 ⁵who satisfies your desires with good things
  so that your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.
 ⁶O Lord, you provide vindication
  and justice for all who are oppressed.
 ⁷You made known your ways to Moses
  and your works to the children of Israel.
]  ⁸Lord, you are full of compassion and mercy,
  slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love;
 ⁹you will not always accuse us,
  nor will you keep your anger forever.
 ¹⁰You have not dealt with us according to our sins,
  nor repaid us according to our iniquities.
 ¹¹For as the heavens are high above the earth,
  so great is your steadfast love for those who fear you.
 ¹²As far as the east is from the west,
  so far have you removed our transgressions from us.
 ¹³As a father has compassion for his children,
  so you have compassion for those who fear you, O Lord.

Second Reading: Romans 14:1-12

¹Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. ²Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. ³Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. ⁴Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand.
 ⁵Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. ⁶Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God.
 ⁷We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. ⁸If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. ⁹For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
 ¹⁰Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. ¹¹For it is written,
 “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
  and every tongue shall give praise to God.”
¹²So then, each of us will be accountable to God.

Gospel: Matthew 18:21-35

²¹Peter came and said to [Jesus], “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” ²²Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.
 ²³“For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. ²⁴When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; ²⁵and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. ²⁶So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ ²⁷And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. ²⁸But 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.’ ²⁹Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ ³⁰But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. ³¹When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. ³²Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ³³Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ ³⁴And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. ³⁵So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

CHILDREN’S SERMON:  The Lion and the Mouse

A Lion lay asleep in the forest when a timid little Mouse ran across the Lion’s nose. Roused from his nap, the Lion laid his huge paw angrily on the tiny creature to kill her.  “Spare me!” begged the poor Mouse. The Lion was much amused but he was generous and let the Mouse go.  Some days later the Lion was caught in the ropes of a hunter’s net. He filled the forest with his angry roaring. The Mouse knew the voice and ran to one of the great ropes that bound him, gnawed it, and soon the Lion was free.

      Share with your neighbor.  What does this story teach us about forgiveness?

Let us pray.  May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, My Rock and My Redeemer.

SERMON

         We are a little over half way through the Pentecost season.  Not only do we “serve a risen savior,” our lives are in the process of being transformed by our faith in him on this journey of life.  We live with one foot in this world and one foot in the kingdom of heaven.  We are in process.  We are in relationships with God and his creations but also we deal with our sinful selves.  As Martin Luther said, we are saints and sinners all the same time.  We bless those we relate to and we have the potential to deeply wound them also.  Last week our text raised this tension of broken relationships.  I am always impressed that Jesus reminds his disciples that what happens in our lives affects what is happening in eternity.  What we bind on earth is bound in heaven and what we loose on earth, is loosed in heaven.  My anger and bad attitudes affects how God can work with another because I am God’s agent. Likewise my ability to forgive the “other” loosens God’s hand and allows his love to flow.  That’s “deep,” as my husband would often say.

         Peter, always ready to comment, follows up today with a question to Jesus in our text, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive?” Now that is a question worth chewing on!  Perhaps our minds think of the “big ten” commandments and breeze past this text thinking we do not know any murderers and we have not committed adultery.  We are not addicts, not addicted to pornography or gossip so the lesson applies to someone else.  Before we are too quick to snooze through this sermon let me ask, how many times do we have to pick up after our children or spouse or close a door for someone who just never seems to close anything?  We won’t mention squeezing or rolling the toothpaste or putting the toilet paper rolling forward or backward.  Yes, there are habits, “idiosyncrycies,” that irritate and make us want to bop someone on the head and make us want to yell.  We don’t want to call it “sin” to be forgiven but our relationships are impacted and snarky remarks can suddenly fly from our mouths.  I would say that this text is not just for big sinners with big debts but also for those of us who tend to remember the slights of others.  Our hearts ask Peter’s question, “How long do we have to tolerate the shortcomings of the other?”  Whether we are the lion with a mouse in our paws or a mouse caught by a lion, God is speaking to us today.  Let’s dig in to the parable that Jesus tells to help us.

“…how often should I forgive?”

         I first ponder what forgiveness means.  It certainly implies an offense where one side is offended and the other side is thought guilty of thoughtlessness or worse.  The mouse disturbs the sleep of the lion.  The motives of the mouse are not a factor.  The character of the mouse is not in question for the lion laughs thinking the mouse could help him.  The ability of the mouse to pay back his debt is silly.  The power rests with the lion.  The kingdom of this world thinks of forgiveness in a tit-for-tat way.  Court sentences are assigned according to the degree of offense.  We pay fees for speeding and go to jail for robbery.  We believe the punishment should fit the crime. 

         In the parable, the king is not motivated by vengeance though.  He does not want to get even with the servant for abusing his generosity.  Nor does he seem to be motivated by justice.  He is not rewarding the servant for good service by dismissing a debt.  I even notice that he is not motivated by any mention of a deep friendship with the servant.  The master is seeking to remove barriers to relationship – “a king who wished to settle accounts…” The king whom we know represents God has all the power and seeks to settle accounts with us, his servants, to clear the slate and be able to go forward.  The king seems to be motivated from within and not by anger.  The lion lets the mouse live because he chooses to.  He is being generous.

         I think this is an important point worth pondering.  If we understand the cross as Christ paying the debt for our sins or Christ appeasing a distant God separated from sinful humans we might end up with a view of God who is distant and distressed with our sinfulness.  He is always unhappy with us and we often feel not good enough, needing Jesus to plead our case.  If we understand the cross as Christ walking through death to show us that nothing in this world can separate us from a loving God who wants relationship, we might end up with a much more approachable view of God who delights in prayer filled conversations with us.  He is not just looking for praise and worship from his creation but for relationship to partner with.  Different branches of Christianity approach salvation looking through different lens.  If you come to church today weighed down with a past or present guilt, please hear that God wants to settle accounts and rid you of the burden.  He takes the initiative to remove the debt.  If you come to church today thinking God is just about love, please hear that we do have debts that are important to God and he wants to remove those barriers.

²⁷And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. 

         Jesus tells a parable to make his point clear and to bring his point home.  Some person owes a huge debt, an impossible to pay debt, and begs the king for mercy.  If the king throws him in jail or sells his children, the king will never raise the money of the debt.  Even if the servant has an estate sale or foreclosure, the king will only receive a portion of what is owed.  Besides no amount of money can compensate for the memories of the need for the loan or the humiliation of asking.  The servant can never create new health, new smiles or new memories.  Killing the offender does not bring back the victim.  How much do we owe God for health, for family, for fellowship, for sunrises, or for answers to prayer?  We, the servants, have impossible debts because God’s generosity is impossible to assign monetary value to and daily he blesses us! The lion chooses to release the mouse because the lion knows himself to be generous. 

         Some people see God as the one who owes them for their faithful service. God owes them a good life because they have worked so hard and tried so hard to be good.  That’s how we think of a good boss.  After all, he created us and now it is his job to take care of us. I have heard the argument presented that God is good and I have tried to be good and love my neighbor as myself and so I don’t need to worry about God and church.  My good deeds demand God’s generosity.  When hard times come, we are surprised because we have tried to be good.  Part of the lesson here is that settling debt, settling sin, is not about good works, maybe not even about relationship.  There is no indication that there is a strong relationship between the king and the servant.  Forgiveness comes from the heart of God who does not desire to destroy our lives to get his due.  Let me say that again, forgiveness comes from the heart of God who does not desire to destroy our lives to get his due.  Forgiveness is an undeserved gift from the heart of God.  Mercy comes from above because God is a God of mercy and love.

^“31When his fellow slaves saw what had happened,”

         The king forgives the servant an unpayable debt because of his own character, not because of anything the servant does. We are blessed by God’s grace.  This forgiveness, though, should have a trickle-down affect. The story continues to tell how the forgiven servant goes out and sees a fellow servant who owes him a little.  He does not pass on the grace but demands repayment and refuses mercy to another.  We come to the communion table but go to the car and have choice words for the idiot who cuts us off in traffic or who is texting on his phone at the signal.  We who have been so blessed have the tendency to turn around and critique or judge another.  God forgives me and yet I demand from others.

         Not only do I not extend grace to my fellow human but also it is also true that other people are watching.  Others see the forgiven servant be cruel to his own debtor and report to the king.  Our lives are not lived in a vacuum.  I like to say, the wall has ears.  My mother would say, little pitchers have big ears in the back seat of the car.

         My love for God is imperfect and yet I demand perfect love from friends.  When I am unforgiving, I am refusing to give others what I have already received from God.  The Old Testament reading is about the life of Joseph who because of his brothers’ jealousy was sold into slavery and had a rough time in Egypt.  He was falsely accused of adultery by Potiphar’s wife and thrown in jail.  In jail he interpreted dreams but the lucky men who benefit forgot Joseph.  Finally he rose to power only to run into his brothers again.  He saved their lives from starvation but when father Jacob died the brothers are convinced they will now get what they dished out and they are petrified.  Joseph responds:

         “Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God? ²⁰Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today. ²¹So have no fear;       I myself will provide for you and your little ones.”

When we refuse to forgive, we place ourselves above another and take the place that belongs to God.

         The New Testament reading reminds us that while we may feel right in our own eyes, others with weaker consciences are watching.  Our ability to forgive has a ripple effect.

         Allow me to summarize:

• We forgive because God first forgave us.
• We forgive because anger and hatred and bitterness destroy relationships and hurt us as well as the other. 
• We forgive because others are watching and we desire to give glory to God. 

         It is not easy to forgive.  It is not easy to be merciful.  Forgiveness cannot be measured nor do we know all the impact.  The lion had no idea the mouse would one day save its life.  Our debt is impossible to pay.  The mouse had no idea how it would repay the lion and so could only plead for mercy and promise to be available to help. God’s grace is impossible to measure.  Let us remember Christ on the cross for our sins as we face each other and those irritating things we do to each other. May we seek to honor God in all we do.  May we face each other with attitudes of gratitude and when caught in a falsehood, humbly seek forgiveness.

Is your image of God a being who is a just judge or is he a being willing to incarnate and go through death to be in relationship with you?  Our parable says God wants to settle our accounts, not get even.  He is merciful.  To God be the glory! 

Let the people of God say, “Amen.”