Ecclesiasticus 27:30-28:7
Romans 14:5-12
Matthew 18:21-35
Psalm 103 or 103:8-13
He was a dedicated and very responsible employee of a small sized company. For purposes of this sermon, we'll call him Joseph. Joseph is a friend of mine whom I saw a month or so ago on one of our monthly get-togethers. He was pretty upset and depressed about something when I met him for lunch.
It took a while to find out the reasons for his despondency, but I finally pried it out of him. He had some strong suspicions that he was going to be fired. He had worked for this same company for 20 years and had sterling performance reviews. He was the second in command after the CEO and was a most trusted employee.
I asked him on what basis did he suspect this was going to happen. He told me that his boss had stopped communicating with him as well as making negative unfounded remarks about his work. Their close, trustful relationship seemed to have changed drastically in the last 3 or 4 months. In fact, his boss had been rude to him on numerous occasions and Joseph had a hard time trusting him now or even forgiving him for this 360 degree turnaround.
In today's Gospel from Matthew, Jesus tells us that we need to forgive one another not just 7 times but seventy seven times. Forgiveness isn't easy to give or to receive! It requires considerable humility to even think that one might be guilty or that both parties might be partially responsible, let alone apologize. "How many times should I forgive my brother?", asked Peter. "Seven times? "No," said Jesus. "Not seven times but seventy times seven."
In other words, the spirit of forgiveness should permeate our lives to the point that we simply lose count of how many times we have had to forgive others. God doesn't keep count. This demanding request impacts every aspect of our daily life whether it be our family, business, our job and the church.
And when we talk about the church, it's well known that people who are offended in church by someone or something, very often walk out and never attend that church again. For some people, that's a pattern in their lives. They attend church, they're offended and they leave only to attend a different church. Soon the same thing happens all over again and again and again.
It's obvious that the parable of the unmerciful servant in the Gospel contains a teaching lesson. A debt of 10,000 talents would have been unheard of because no one short of the Roman emperor would be able to write off such an amount. For example, asking one of us to write a check for $1.2 billion today.
The amount is exaggerated so as to point to an all powerful God whose resources are unlimited. The figure suggests that our offenses against God are infinite because God's love is infinite. God gives us his forgiveness as a free gift. No one can earn it! This parable describes God's gracious extension of forgiveness to every person-to you and to me.
The servant of the king owes him 10,000 talents and he cannot pay it back. When he begs the king for mercy, the king forgives him and frees him of this obligation.
You would think that this would have an impact on the forgiven servant. Instead, when he meets a fellow servant who owes him a substantial amount-three month's pay-he grabs him by the throat, demands payment and throws him into prison.
When the first servant's unforgiveness is reported to the king, he reverses his decision of pardoning the servant and orders him put in prison.
The king in this allegory is God, our Father. We see that by the relative sizes of the two debts that what we are asked to forgive is nothing compared to the forgiveness we need from God. The warning we are given sounds very harsh as the king revokes the pardon he has offered: "So, my heavenly Father will also debt everyone of you if you don't forgive your sister or brother from your heart." This parable is addressed to you and me this morning-to our Christian/Episcopal community where all are sisters and brothers, each and everyone of us.
Well, Joseph, my friend and Vice President of this company, had some good perceptions and instincts (or gut feelings) about his possible termination.
He was terminated and it was a terrible injustice for their really were no valid reasons for his dismissal. He had become caught in the middle of political intrigues and shenanigans in the company. Has something like this ever happened to you or have you been deeply hurt by a friend or family member? Joseph needs to forgive his boss so he doesn't become a prisoner of anger and hatred-so that he doesn't let that anger consume and destroy him. (He's in a heated revenge stage now.)
We each need to forgive those who have hurt or tried to harm us.
It's very easy to say and hard to do but we should start with saying the Lord's Prayer everyday. We won't always forgive our brothers and sisters from the heart immediately but our saying of the Lord's Prayer will help us receive the grace to do so. Such a prayer is truly meaningful in Morning Prayer or the Eucharist. When you say it later on in the service, ask Jesus to help you forgive those you haven't forgiven for years-relatives, friends and neighbors, those who have hurt or harmed you in both small and big ways and those specifically in our church community who may have knowingly or unknowingly offended you in some way. Your burdens will be lightened, your hear and mind freed of ill will and vengeance and your inner self filled with peace!
Won't you start forging today and for the rest of your life just as God forgives you for your sins? It could change your life forever.
AMEN.