On the Way to Wonder

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

  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 Emperor’s New Clothes:    Two swindlers arrive at the capital city of an emperor who spends lavishly on clothing at the expense of state matters. Posing as weavers, they offer to supply him with magnificent clothes that are invisible to those who are stupid or incompetent. The emperor hires them, and they set up looms and go to work. A succession of officials, and then the emperor himself, visit them to check their progress. Each sees that the looms are empty but pretends otherwise to avoid being thought a fool. Finally, the weavers report that the emperor’s suit is finished. They mime dressing him and he sets off in a procession before the whole city. The townsfolk uncomfortably go along with the pretense, not wanting to appear inept or stupid, until a child blurts out that the emperor is wearing nothing at all. The people then realize that everyone has been fooled. Although startled, the emperor continues the procession, walking more proudly than ever.

SERMON

         Is our God like that silly emperor, only wanting acclaim and applause?  Are we like the people, afraid to tell the truth for fear of being though foolish and disrespectful?  Does nobody see the charade?  Our parable today looks at some of this.      

         Last week we faced the reality of problems in the church, that is  within the body of Christ.  We are all “saints in the forming”.  None of us is perfect and our actions are for sure going to offend someone else in the congregation.   How do we handle that?  We go to the person and try to resolve our differences, humbling ourselves and asking forgiveness if necessary.  If that doesn’t work we bring in an arbitrator to bridge the breech of relationship.  If that doesn’t work then we resort to a public hearing before the congregation.  I doubt few issues get that far these days. We are not like the silly emperor, wanting to parade our “stuff” before an audience.

         Peter, the extrovert, asks Jesus if he has to forgive seven times ie a measureable amount of times.  Surely by the seventh time someone has offended you over the same issue, it is time to say “enough is enough.”  My guess is that few of us make it to that seventh mark.  Shockingly Jesus responds by saying we need to forgive seventy-seven times, ie an unmeasureable amount of times.  Few keep track that far.  By then we have turned our back on the other. 

         On the other hand, I am not going to ask you how many times you have had to pick up after your children in their messiness or close a door or draw 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.

         Jesus tells a parable to make his point clear and to bring his point home.  A king, of course God, wants to settle his accounts with his servants, of course us.  Some person owes a huge debt, 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.  I think we call it an estate sale or foreclosure.  The owner will only receive a portion of what is owed.  Besides which no amount of money can compensate for the memories and relationship.  Insurance only covers a certain amount of the value of an object but can never create new health, new smiles or new memories.  How much do we owe God for health, for family, for fellowship, for sunrises, for answers to prayer.  An impossible debt because God’s generosity is impossible to assign monetary value to and he does not charge!

         Perhaps a side question here is “Do we see God as our king?”  Perhaps we think God owes us a good life because we have worked so hard and tried so hard to be good.  After-all, he created us and that is his job. 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 demands God’s generosity.  When hard times come, we are surprised because we have tried so hard.  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 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.

         Jesus then shifts from the hierarchical aspect of mercy – God to man- to the vertical aspects of mercy.  We who have received forgiveness and mercy then meet our fellow person and demand that which we have been forgiven.  God forgives me for disrespect and yet I demand respect from others.  My love for God is imperfect and yet I demand perfect love from friends.  When I am unforgiving, I am demanding from others what I have already received from God.  The Old Testament reading is about the life of Joseph who because of his brothers’ jealousy is sold into slavery and a rough time in Egypt.  He is falsely accused of adultery by Potipher’s wife and thrown in jail.  In jail her interprets dreams but the lucky men who benefit forget Joseph.  Finally he rises to power only to run into his brothers.  He saves their lives from starvation but when father Jacob dies 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.

         Jesus does not stop here, though.  He points out that others are watching our lives.  The other servants see the man refuse to forgive and see him abuse the other to get s small debt paid.  They report to the king.  Others are watching.  The New Testament reading reminds us that while we may feel right in our own eyes, others with weaker consciences are watching.  We know the saying, “Actions speak louder than words.” 

         We forgive because God first forgave us. We forgive because anger and hatred and bitterness destroy relationships and hurts 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.  Let us remember Christ on the cross for our sins as we face each other and those irritating things we do to each other and may be seek to honor God before others.

         Jesus’ parable does not have a foolish worldly emperor wanting to impress but a King who wants to settle accounts, perhaps to establish justice, or perhaps to remove the barriers between him and his people.  Like the men who sewed for the Emperor, and knowlngly deceive the king, they are not like us who work and deceive ourselves that our works deserve rewards.  The child observing the procession sees the truth.  Perhaps the outsider who observes us sees some truth.  In any case, forgiveness is not measureable because our debt is impossible to pay and God’s grace is impossible to comprehend.  May we face each other with attitudes of gratitude and when caught in a falsehood, humble ourselves and seek forgiveness.  And to God be the glory!  Amen.

First Reading: Ezekiel 33:7-11

⁷So you, mortal, I have made a sentinel for the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. ⁸If I say to the wicked, “O wicked ones, you shall surely die,” and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from their ways, the wicked shall die in their iniquity, but their blood I will require at your hand. ⁹But if you warn the wicked to turn from their ways, and they do not turn from their ways, the wicked shall die in their iniquity, but you will have saved your life.
  ¹⁰Now you, mortal, say to the house of Israel, Thus you have said: “Our transgressions and our sins weigh upon us, and we waste away because of them; how then can we live?” ¹¹Say to them, As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from their ways and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?

Psalm: Psalm 119:33-40

 ³³Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes,
  and I shall keep it to the end.
 ³⁴Give me understanding, and I shall keep your teaching;
  I shall keep it with all my heart.
 ³⁵Lead me in the path of your commandments,
  for that is my desire.
 ³⁶Incline my heart to your decrees
  and not to unjust gain. 
 ³⁷Turn my eyes from beholding falsehood;
  give me life in your way.
 ³⁸Fulfill your promise to your servant,
  which is for those who fear you.
 ³⁹Turn away the reproach that I dread,
  because your judgments are good.
 ⁴⁰Behold, I long for your commandments;
  by your righteousness enliven me. 

Second Reading: Romans 13:8-14.

⁸Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.
  ¹¹Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; ¹²the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; ¹³let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. ¹⁴Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Gospel: Matthew 18:15-20

 [Jesus said to the disciples:] ¹⁵“If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. ¹⁶But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. ¹⁷If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. ¹⁸Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. ¹⁹Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. ²⁰For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”

• Children’s Sermon:      The Lion & the Mouse

A Lion lay asleep in the forest, his great head resting on his paws. A timid little Mouse came upon him unexpectedly, and in her fright and haste to get away, 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. “Please let me go and some day I will surely repay you.”

The Lion was much amused to think that a Mouse could ever help him. But he was generous and finally let the Mouse go.

Some days later, while stalking his prey in the forest, the Lion was caught in the toils of a hunter’s net. Unable to free himself, he filled the forest with his angry roaring. The Mouse knew the voice and quickly found the Lion struggling in the net. Running to one of the great ropes that bound him, she gnawed it until it parted, and soon the Lion was free.

“You laughed when I said I would repay you,” said the Mouse. “Now you see that even a Mouse can help a Lion.”

A kindness is never wasted.

PRAYER:  May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and redeemer

SERMON

As we listen to the readings from the Word of God, Lutherans start with an Old Testament reading, followed by a Psalm and a New Testament reading – before the Gospel that is always centered around the teachings of Jesus.  The pattern will often be that the Old Testament identifies the situation that is being addressed on a given Sunday.  In the Psalm reading, we the people agree.  The New Testament reading shares how the early church understood Jesus to speak to the issue.  Then we stand for the reading of the Gospel, to show respect for the words that came from Jesus, the living word.  Today Ezekiel reminds us that we are ALL sinners and we all offend others and yet we are called to be a light of God’s truth to the world.  In the Psalm we plea for help to learn and understand God’s statues.  The early church saw that fulfilled as we live in love with the other.         

“Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” 

How does that work practically, the nuts and bolts.  I can sing with Jackie DeShannon.  “What the world needs now is love, sweet love.  It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.  What the world needs now is love, sweet love,  No not just for some but for everyone.” 

         Jesus gave us a formula.  When an offense occurs between myself and someone else, I am not to chew that bone and ignore it but seek to resolve the difference with the other.  Scary stuff if I am busy protecting self!  If that does not work because both of you see the issue differently, then step two is to seek an arbitrator, an impartial party who can listen to both sides without bias and help you both to find the middle road.  Is the goal self justification or resolution of relationship?  If THAT fails then Jesus says to take it to the church body.  If your family is like mine, the unspoken rule is that we don’t hang dirty laundry in-front of others.  If love is not the motivating factor, we end up with surface politeness and then we go home and have the sermon dissected for lunch, or the other person.  We do not follow these guidelines of going to the other, next an arbitrator, and finally going to the church and I would suspect that the cause is we are not rooted in love.

            Two Sundays ago we read Matthew 16 and heard Peter confess that that Jesus was the Messiah, and Jesus affirms that confession as limited as Peter’s understanding was at the time.  Jesus is going to build a church on the faith the size of a mustard seed.  Reality is there will be betrayal and failings.  But Jesus will build the church, not me.  Jesus then talks about the Keys of the Kingdom.  In chapter 18, he now circles back to that same principle and embedded it in a conversation about misunderstandings in the church, in the reality that we will fail, we will sin, and we will offend each other.

         Churches are not perfect communities that ooze love.  Do I hear an “Amen!”  Jesus says, ¹⁸Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”  Our anger, our disagreements, bind the power of God in our lives and in the lives of others.  Two weeks ago I looked to the story of the prodigal son.  The father with two sons, one resenting being under the father’s authority, takes his inheritance and squanders it.  While his heart is closed to the father and while he is seeking to lead his own life, he struggles and relationship is broken.  He returns and unbinds the situation but interestingly the other brother has bound himself with jealousy and resentment, the silent anger.  Both have lost blessing with the father and with each other because of their closed hearts. 

         We see these stories all through scripture, twin brothers, Jacob and Esau spend years apart because of their jealousy.  How many people were hurt in Egypt because the pharaoh did not submit.  Ezekiel laments, “Our transgressions and our sins weigh upon us, and we waste away because of them; how then can we live?”  Disagreements are an albatross around our necks and around the ministry of the church.

         In the same way Jesus reminds us of the blessings of a community pulling together, ¹⁹Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.” The daycare and the community garden of Bethany are not the result of one person’s dream but are the result of a united vision to bless others.  I think of so many verses that talk about love.  “Love covers a multitude of sins.”  1 Corinthians 13, “Now faith, hope and love abide but the greatest of these is love.”  As we follow the guidelines of scripture – put God first, love parents, don’t kill or steal or slander or covet – God is able to work in ways we would not expect.  I think of the parable of the Good Samaritan.  A man walking on the road between two towns is beaten up and robbed.  People walk by and do not want to be involved, to get their hands dirty, but the foreigner stops and helps the man, binding his wounds and taking him to an inn and seeing he is cared for.  How many lives have been touched by that story.  Elizabeth Fedde, one of the patron leaders of the Deaconess movement in the USA came from Norway to Boston to help Norwegian sailors.  She started Sunday schools, an ambulance society, and on her vacation in Minneapolis founded the Lutheran Deaconess Hospital that merged with Fairview.  Wow!  We do not know how many the ripples of her life touched.  We do not know how many are touched by the attitudes in our hearts.  Jesus says that when we agree, we unleash the power of God from Heaven.

         Jesus closes today,  ²⁰For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”  We are more than two or three people gathered today in Jesus name.  We do not just gather in his name, he is here among us, ready to bless.  It is his nature to bless.  God is love.  Let us go home resolved to deal with our differences, to resolve our conflicts, and to allow love to permeate our lives.  All by God’s power, of course.  He’s ready, are we? 

         The lion in our children’s sermon did not know the result of his kind deed to the mouse.  Perhaps he didn’t even let her go from love.  But in the same way, as we release insults to God to handle, we will be blessed.  To that I can say, “Amen, Lord, let it be so!”