17 September 2023 - Proper 19, Year A

 

Theme

This week’s readings invite us to consider the value of forgiveness in the Kingdom of God. In Matthew, Peter asks Jesus how many times we should forgive and Jesus tells a parable about a king who forgives an insurmountable amount of debt. In Genesis, Joseph forgives his brothers after their immense betrayal. In Romans, Paul warns against condemning others for their choices or beliefs. The Psalms and Exodus passage offer songs of praise and thanksgiving for God’s forgiveness and mercy.

Scripture Readings

  • Exodus 14:19-31 - God parts the red sea for the Israelites as they escape from Egypt. The Egyptians chase the Israelites but the sea closes over them before they can get through.
  • Psalm 114 - A Psalm exclaiming God’s glory for rescuing the Israelites and destroying the Egyptians.
  • Romans 14:1-12 - Paul warns against the dangers of condemning each other for their beliefs or choices. He says that their master will judge them, that is not our job. A person’s motives behind an action are more important than the action itself. Every person will kneel before God and give a personal account of their lives.
  • Matthew 18:21-35 - Peter asks Jesus how often he should forgive someone who sins against him and Jesus responds: “Not seven times, but seventy times seven!” Jesus tells a parable about a King who settles his accounts with his debtors. One of his debtors owes millions but cannot afford to pay so the master ordered that he and his family be sold to settle the debt. The man fell down and begged for mercy. The master is filled with pity and forgives his debt. The forgiven man immediately goes and demands payment of a debt from a fellow servant. The servant asks for forgiveness, but the man does not offer the same grace that he received from his master. Instead, he gets the man arrested until the debt could be paid in full. When the king heard about this, he condemned the man because he didn’t extend the mercy that had been offered to him. The man is sent to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt. Jesus says that this is what God will do to those who refuse to forgive others.
  • Exodus 15:1b-11, 20-21 - The Israelites sing songs of praises to God for rescuing the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and destroying the Egyptians in the Red Sea.
  • Genesis 50:15-21 - Joseph’s brothers plead for Joseph’s forgiveness. Joseph declares that though they intended to harm him, God intended it for good. He cannot punish them because he is not God. Joseph tells them not to be afraid and that he will continue to take care of them.
  • Psalm 103:(1-7), 8-13 - A Psalm of praise to God for the way God treats God’s people. He forgives sins and heals diseases. He does not punish us and deal harshly with us for all our sins. He has removed our sins as far as the East is from the West.

The Context

The past few chapter’s of Matthew’s Gospel have been looking at the “deeper physics” that are present in God’s Kingdom. These deeper physics are completely different to the things that are typically important in the world like violence, vengeance and power. God’s alternate physics of love, mercy and peace are constantly at work in God’s Kingdom. This week’s readings continue this theme by looking at God’s counter-cultural and extravagant offer of forgiveness.

Personal Application

I love Peter’s story that Matthew’s Gospel has been taking us through over the past several weeks. Peter is a character that many people relate to. He is brash, naive and shrewd. But perhaps where Peter differs to many of us is that he is not afraid to question Jesus. At the beginning of today’s Gospel reading, Peter asks Jesus how many times we have to forgive those who have wronged us. Jesus responds by saying: “not seven times, but seventy times seven.” Little did Peter know that in just a few chapters time, we will be reading about Peter’s denial of Jesus in his darkest moment and Peter himself would be in desparate need of this very forgiveness from God.

Just like the shrewd servant in the parable, Peter was trying to determing how much forgiveness is right to offer others who had wronged him while neglecting to consider the immense forgiveness he has received and will continue to receive from God. How often do we too withold forgiveness from others for whatever reason? Both giving and receiving forgiveness are closely linked, as Jesus clearly tells us in this passage as well as in Matthew 6:12 and Matthew 7:1.

What limits have you perhaps placed on the forgiveness that you offer to others? Do you have a number of chances that you are willing to give or perhaps criteria that people need to fulfil in order to receive your forgiveness? How does Jesus’ parable in Matthew’s Gospel make you feel about forgiveness? Think about the forgiveness that God offers you and consider how you could extend similar mercies to those who have wronged you.

Communal Application

Jesus’ teaching about forgiveness reminds us that we are able to create an atmosphere around us of what we are likely to experience. For example, in Jesus’ parable, the servant who would not forgive his debtors even after being forgiven himself, experienced imprisonment himself. He received the punishment that he was willing to dish out to others.

When we’re merciful (or by contrast, when we’re stingy, or vengeful), we create a kind of micro-climate around us, where the people we interact with experience mercy (or stinginess, or vengeance). But we, too, end up having to live in that very climate. If it’s an atmosphere full of mercy, we’ll experience mercy. If it’s full of judgment, we’ll experience judgment. Forgiveness, it turns out, is an environmental issue: the world we make is the world we’ll inhabit.

If God forgives us, and we forgive one another, together we may create a realm and atmosphere of mercy, a taste of what Jesus calls “the reign of heaven.” This is true in our personal lives and communities, of course, but it’s equally true in the wider world, so full of division, resentment, and violence. Each of us is called to model the blessings of forgiveness, since even the most minor moments of mercy have ripple effects far and wide.

How can you develop an atmosphere of forgiveness and mercy in your life? What would this look like in your circles of family, friends, church and workplace?

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