To Forgive
In our Gospel reading last Sunday, we heard Jesus talk to His disciples about what to do when a member of the community sins against another, and later on He says,
“Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Maybe that is why, in our Gospel reading for this Sunday (Matthew 18:21-35), Peter approaches Jesus and asks, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive? As many as seven times?” I imagine Peter thinking seven times is a pretty generous number. But Jesus goes way beyond that: “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.” And then Jesus uses the opportunity to tell a parable about the importance, dare I say, the necessity, of forgiveness.
The parable is about a servant who owes a large amount to his master. Before being sold along with his family to pay the debt, the servant begs the master to give him some more time. And the master, “moved with compassion,” just forgives the debt entirely. But when that same servant encounters another servant who owed him money which was a mere fraction of what he owed his master, he refuses to give his fellow servant time to pay the debt, and has his fellow servant thrown into prison. When some other servants see this, they report it to the master, who hands over the unforgiving servant to the torturers until the debt is paid. At the end of the parable, Jesus says,
“So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from the heart.”
In the context of the parable, why was the unforgiving servant unmoved by the mercy and generosity of his master? Did his greed block out the memory of how his master treated him? Did he somehow feel entitled to the mercy shown him while he decided that his fellow servant was not worthy of such generosity? Or did he think that his own debt was forgivable, while the debt owed to him was not?
The parable, of course, was not talking about money. The parable reminds us that in Jesus, our sins are forgiven. In Jesus, God does not hold our past against us. Such is the generosity and mercy and love of God for us!
Confronted with such love and mercy, how can we human beings feel justified in withholding mercy from others? How can I believe that Jesus died for my sins, and yet hold on to the belief that He did not die for the forgiveness of yours?
Again, to forgive does not mean to condone the sin. It does not mean to deny the hurt. To forgive is to have peace in our soul, responding to the forgiveness of God toward us by being willing to forgive others.
But what about sin that is unforgivable? When this Gospel reading comes up, I often go back to those church members in Charleston after that young man came into their church and started shooting, killing members of that church, and how the members were able to forgive him. By the grace and mercy of God, we can forgive as well. This is a quote I came across on Facebook:
“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and to discover that prisoner was you.”
– Corrie Ten Boom
As we have been forgiven, may we forgive. As we have been shown mercy, may we show mercy. As we have been set free, may we help others be free.
I welcome any comments or questions. Thanks for your time.
In Christ,
Phil, CP
