On the Way to Wonder

First Reading: Jonah 3:10–4:11

¹⁰When God saw what [the people of Ninevah] did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.
 ^4:1But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. ²He prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing. ³And now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” ⁴And the Lord said, “Is it right for you to be angry?” ⁵Then Jonah went out of the city and sat down east of the city, and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, waiting to see what would become of the city.
 ⁶The Lord God appointed a bush, and made it come up over Jonah, to give shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort; so Jonah was very happy about the bush. ⁷But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the bush, so that it withered. ⁸When the sun rose, God prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint and asked that he might die. He said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
 ⁹But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?” And he said, “Yes, angry enough to die.” ¹⁰Then the Lord said, “You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night. ¹¹And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?”

Psalm: Psalm 145:1-8

The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. (Ps. 145:8)

 ¹I will exalt you, my God and king,
  and bless your name forever and ever.
 ²Every day will I bless you
  and praise your name forever and ever.
 ³Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised!
  There is no end to your greatness.
 ⁴One generation shall praise your works to another
  and shall declare your power.
 ⁵I will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty
  and all your marvelous works.
 ⁶They shall tell of the might of your wondrous acts,
  and I will recount your greatness.
 ⁷They shall publish the remembrance of your great goodness;
  they shall sing joyfully of your righteousness.
 ⁸The Lord is gracious and full of compassion,
  slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

Second Reading: Philippians 1:21-30

²¹For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. ²²If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which I prefer. ²³I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better; ²⁴but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you. ²⁵Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith, ²⁶so that I may share abundantly in your boasting in Christ Jesus when I come to you again.
 ²⁷Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, ²⁸and are in no way intimidated by your opponents. For them this is evidence of their destruction, but of your salvation. And this is God’s doing. ²⁹For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well—³⁰since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

Gospel: Matthew 20:1-16

 [Jesus said to the disciples:] ¹“The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. ²After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. ³When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; ⁴and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. ⁵When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. ⁶And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ ⁷They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ ⁸When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ ⁹When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. ¹⁰Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. ¹¹And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, ¹²saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ ¹³But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? ¹⁴Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. ¹⁵Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ ¹⁶So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

CHILDREN’S SERMON:  Today I want to look again at one of Disney’s beloved fairy tales that has been made into multiple movies, Beauty and the Beast.  Belle, a beautiful young town girl, is captured by a Beast who is actually a prince turned into a monster by a wicked fairy.  He must learn to love Belle and get her to love him before the last petal falls from an enchanted rose. Meanwhile handsome and buff Garcon is convinced Belle is the right wife for him.  There is much drama and beautiful music and magical love that sees beyond the scars of life.  Belle wins the heart of the Beast who humbles himself.  And she learns to see beyond appearances and to love the Beast.   In our text today we are tempted to see a landowner as a beast because it seems unfair to pay all his workers the same wage though they have worked different amounts of time.  Can we see beyond his seemingly gruff exterior to the heart of love beneath?  Let us try.

Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my rock and redeemer.

SERMON

         What is the context of our text today?  We are in Pentecost, asking how our faith impacts our lives.  We are somehow like Disney’s Beast because we are like the prince living under a curse.  We in a similar way are children of God living in the kingdom of this world if sin.  Biblically, Matthew sets the context of the story in a setting where a young rich man comes to ask Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life.  What must he do to break the curse?  The man believes he has fulfilled the law and has tried to do everything, as God requires.  Maybe he is like Disney’s Garcon, the arrogant young man who wants to marry Belle and flexes his muscles bragging about his wonderfulness.   The young rich man of Jesus, though, suspects he has fallen short.  Hence the question, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?”  I suspect many of us, in the depths of our heart ponder if there is something more we need to do to get to heaven?

         In the Bible, the young rich man is told to share his riches and he has left sad, for he was very wealthy.  Beauty tells Garcon she does not want to marry him and he leaves angry.  The Beast and Garcon must each humble himself.  The disciples hear this and despair as they have left everything to follow Jesus.  What more must they do as faithful followers?  Jesus tells this story.

¹“The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.

         A landowner, God, the owner of this world, takes the initiative to seek and hire us, the laborers.  Faith is not a once in a lifetime opportunity, it seems. God keeps coming back, hiring workers at various times of the day – early morning, nine a. m., noon, and 3 p.m.   We do not know if the people in the square refused him earlier hoping for a better offer, or if they slept in or if perhaps they were passed over, but the owner keeps returning.  At the end of day, at the end of time, rewards for work done were given.  I find that encouraging. 

         God does not give up on seeking workers and God does not give up on us.  God does reward.  Some come to faith as children and some later on.  Some of us have dramatic stories of conversion and some of us have the internal peace of growing into productive workers for our Lord.  God is not a one size fits all God! In the face of death, we comfort ourselves that one-day we will meet our heroes, our relatives and friends, and perhaps that wayward special person who turned to God at the last minute.  God is a landowner seeking laborers.  Belle and the Beast go through the tale learning to love each other.  The curse is reversed at the cross but there is another theme being woven of how we learn to love each other, see past our scars and masks and humble ourselves.

         The twist is that all the workers, the early morning and the late afternoon workers, all receive the same wage. “Unfair” cry those who have worked all day.  Did I hear an “Amen” from you?  By the world’s standards, life IS unfair!  It is unfair that late, lazy or unqualified workers get the same wage as those who have worked hard all day and done what is right.  It’s ok to shake your head and agree in the depths of your heart.  We demonstrate for fair wages, equal rights and justice.  People want life to be fair for all ethnicities, all economic strata and all people.  But life is not fair and we demand justice in the kingdom of this world.  The Beast and Garcon should have equal opportunity to claim Belle’s heart.  Both men are fighting arrogance but the Beast is also fighting a curse.  The odds are stacked against him.  Handsome and buff Garcon seems to have all a man needs to impress Belle and the town’s people agree. It is so easy for us to feel like victims of injustice.

         In Hebrews 11, the faith chapter, the writer talks about the martyrs through history who died during persecution for their faith.

         “³⁹ These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, ⁴⁰ since God had planned       something better for them so that only together with us would they be         made perfect.”

 Jonah in our Old Testament reading, in the face of God’s mercy to Nineveh, sat under a bush God provided and sulked.  A worm destroyed the bush and Jonah whined.  He knew God to be merciful.  There was no point in his work.  Life was unfair in Jonah’s eyes.  God responds – should he not be concerned about the Ninevites who cannot tell their left hand from their right?  Should God make life revolve around Jonah or you or me? Perhaps there is a bigger picture we do not see and cannot understand?

         If we connect blessings in this world with God’s approval, as the Jews did, then we end up asking, “Who sinned, his parents or this man, that a man should be born blind?”  When faced with a diagnosis of cancer, a bankruptcy, a wayward child, a setback in any area, it is easy to cry, “unfair” and put our lives under a microscope to see where we went wrong.  This world is not the kingdom of heaven and our sense of values is warped by this world.  Perhaps when we get to heaven we will see the bigger picture and there we will be treated fairly.  God works outside our boxes and has a bigger plan he is working on.  Belle and the Beast do not see the bigger picture till the end when he has humbled himself and they have learned love.

         As I step back from the demands for justice, I must ask myself if it is true that life is unfair.  Those hired early in the morning, let’s say the disciples, represent people who had the blessing of walking and talking with Jesus in person for years.  The early workers had the privilege of working under a benevolent dictatorship, under the owner, God.  They had the gift of prayer.  They had the blessing of fellow workers hopefully supporting each other.  Paul in our second reading ponders the choice of death to be with Christ verses the suffering of this present life.  For the sake of his fellow Christians he chooses life.  Life as Christians cannot be compared to what we might have experienced without God.  We just don’t know!

         Meanwhile, whom are those late hirees working for?  They are not working for the Lord; they are sitting in the public square waiting to be hired.  Perhaps we would not equate life without Christ as working for Satan but I would ask you to reflect on lives of others without Christ.  What was your life like before you came to faith?  Those late arrivers have not just sat in luxury in the market, enjoying life but have worried about how to buy food for their families, worried about who is first in line to be chosen, pondered their faults that they were not chosen. Perhaps they have grumbled, gossiped and despaired of life.  They have not had an easy life. For those of us who chose to follow Christ as youngsters, we have received benefits far beyond the wage at the end of time, a life of eternity in God’s presence.  In today’s lingo, the bonus of having a benefit package like health insurance, vacation days, or bonus days needs to be factored in.  Life is unfair but life with Christ has fringe benefits that help level the playing field.  Also, the Beast was not alone in his curse for he had servants loyal to him and rooting for him as the other enchanted workers in the castle.  The Beast is living in the castle as he struggles in community. 

⁸When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.

         Not only is God always seeking out laborers, not only do we not see the big picture, not only do we have a benefit package to go with our work but we now learn that all workers were paid the same wage at the end of time.  All believers receive eternal life.  When the Beast loves Belle and the spell is broken, all the enchanted servants are freed.  Love flows and transforms more than just the Beast.  How the rewards for good deeds will work out in heaven, we just don’t know.  There are theories about heaven.  Some talk about gems in crowns.  Many think of a heavenly choir or floating on clouds.  I like C. S. Lewis’ image in the last book of Tales of Narnia, The Last Battle, where the heroes start running as they reach heaven, crying “Higher up and higher in”.  That gives the feeling of continued relationship and adventure, as we are able to receive and continue growing with Christ after death. We are all recipients of God’s grace and God will reward us fairly in eternity.

^“11And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner,”

         Next, notice that the unfairness of life in this parable has the workers grumbling against the owner, God.  I do not see them reflecting on their choices that led to the results.  They do not say, we should have waited to the last minute to start working for God.  That is not their response.  Their response is to blame God of unfairness.  Faced with the horrible circumstances of life, poverty, disease, and war, I can hear that little voice on my shoulder whispering, “And where is your God?  Is he lost in the heavens?  Does he not care about you?”  All the doubts about God’s love rise to the surface in the face of unfairness.  Do you notice how our attention has gone from the blessings of working for God and his character to the pain of our own situation?  We become self-centered and not God-centered.  We must be careful that we do not end up like Jonah, sitting under a withering vine, angry with God. Grumbling blinds us from realizing the blessings we are receiving and separates us from the God of the universe.

“Friend”

         Finally, please note how God addresses those workers who are grumbling and out of focus.  The owner responds to the workers, “Friend.”  Let me say it again.  “Friend.”  I must stop here and cry.  The God of the universe addresses me in the midst of my grumbling and laments and pulls me back to reality, “Friend.”  Abraham who got his wife to lie and become the Pharaohs concubine to save his own neck, who irritated Sarah with his favoritism for Ishmael until God stepped in and corrected him, this Abraham, the father of the faith, was called the “friend of God.”  In this parable today, God calls his workers friends.  I hear warmth, I hear love, I hear acceptance.

         I do not know whom you identify with in this story.  Perhaps you signed on with those early workers and you question God’s fairness?  Perhaps you are just overwhelmed at God’s mercy at the end of your life?  Perhaps you are just plain grumbling because life is hard right now and you want to demonstrate and bring justice to earth?

         This parable reminds us that the kingdom of this world and the kingdom of heaven are under God’s rule, a benevolent dictatorship that is run by his mercy.  God seeks to partner with us through out our lives. This life is unfair but when wages are paid we will receive what God has promised, eternal life in a kingdom without tears, without hunger, and without pain.  That is something to look forward to.  You are God’s worker and he addresses you a “friend.”  The curse on the Beast was not broken by hate and fighting but by the love of Belle.  The curse of sin was broken through forgiveness because of the cross, not by works but by the love of God.

Let the people of God say, “Thank you Lord.”

 

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.”