Forgiveness and Freedom: Matthew 18:21-35 - 15th Sunday after Pentecost

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.” (NRSV)

photo by author

A congregation in a small Pennsylvania city was preparing to celebrate its 200^th anniversary.  I’m going to call it White Church, for its large, white-painted brick building.

The people of another church, what I’ll call Brown Brick Church, asked about being part of the celebration—because until the mid-19^th century, they had been one church.

Their hometown was located on the Underground Railroad, and as a result, many freed and runaway African-American slaves had settled there, and they began to attend White Church. 

But as the number of African-American worshippers increased, the white congregants began to worry and complain.  So, the elders built a balcony, and required all African-Americans to worship from there.  But the balcony was much too small, forcing many to sit in the nave below.  When the elders demanded that they sit in the balcony or leave, they decided they would build their own church: Brown Brick Church.

Initially, the anniversary planning committee at White Church welcomed the people of Brown Brick Church—until one of Brown Brick’s members asked about making a public statement of forgiveness to White Church for having excluded and expelled them because of their race over 150 years ago.

The people of White Church felt that accepting that forgiveness would mean owning guilt for something done by people who’d been dead for over a century.  Ultimately, both churches returned to their buildings—segregated and unreconciled.

If this story says anything about forgiveness, it is that forgiveness is one of the hardest actions of the Christian faith.  Forgiving somebody once is hard enough—but in today’s Gospel, Jesus commands you to forgive not just one time or even seven times, but seventy-seven times.  In other words, forgive to the point that you aren’t keeping count. 

Only problem is, forgiveness really isn’t in our nature as human beings and it certainly is not in our 21^st century American vocabulary.  If someone commits a crime, we throw them in prison and brand them criminals for life.  [I should also note that our country incarcerates more people than any other country in the world.]  If someone sins against you but not in a criminal way, you file a lawsuit.  If a lawsuit doesn’t work, you take to social media or find a way to publicly shame that person or organization.  Whatever it takes, you fight back hard, every time.  If you forgive, you’re letting them off too easy!

Unless you’re a murderer, thief, predator, or drug addict, you’re not a sinner in need of forgiveness.  If you do wrong, you learn from your mistake and do better next time.  If, however, you believe in your heart that you’re doing what’s right—but other people get hurt—then that’s their problem and not yours.

While many flat-out refuse to forgive or ask forgiveness for themselves, they expect others to forgive.  I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve known someone who’s been the victim of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse or a systemic injustice like racism or sexism—and people say things like “get over it” and “stop living in the past.” 

At the end of the day, a world without forgiveness is world at war.  A life without forgiveness is spent in a never-ending a battle to assert your rightness in everything and get even against everyone and everything that’s done you wrong.  Without forgiveness, there are no possibilities for love, peace, or healing. 

This is why God commands forgiveness: not as a prerequisite for God’s forgiveness, but because forgiveness is tied to the promise of Jesus’ cross… 

Jesus committed no sin, yet we condemned him to die.  But now, as far as the East is from the west, so far as he removed your transgressions from you.  Jesus reconciles you and the world to God by the forgiveness of your sins.  Jesus destroys death and evil by the forgiveness of your sins.  Through communal confession and forgiveness, we are joining with Jesus in disarming all the forces of evil that tear this world apart. 

By forgiving, you’re giving up the right to remind someone of what they did.  You’re saying “you can’t hurt me anymore” and “you cannot run nor ruin my life.”

By asking forgiveness, you are owning your sinfulness—and the fact that your sin impacts your neighbor, even if you didn’t set out to hurt them intentionally.  You’re owning your interrelatedness to your neighbor.  You’re owning the fact that you sin against people by participating in systems that privilege your group or tribe over others. 

The current membership of White Church did not segregate and expel their fellow Christians for the color of their skin, but for generations they failed to right this wrong. 

In seeking forgiveness, you’re affirming to that person that they matter as much to you as your own self. 

If only the churches of this nation would practice this mutuality of confession and forgiveness, we wouldn’t be in the mess we’re in.

Forgiveness is divine—and as such, it is impossible for human beings, but not impossible with God.  Forgiveness is God’s will, and God will help you to do it—so that life, love, and peace can be possible. 

So practice forgiveness.  Start by forgiving the people who get under your skin: the driver who cuts you off in traffic; the fast food worker who forgets to give you your French fries; the customer service rep at the cable company when your service goes out.  Say “I forgive you” out loud.  If you see someone at school or work whom you can’t stand and you feel fear or disgust towards them, whisper those words to yourself.  Say “forgive me” as often as you can, even if you’ve done nothing wrong—if you can be at peace.

But if you’re finding it hard to forgive someone for the terrible things they’ve done (including yourself); if your mistake or someone else’s evil has wrecked your life, take it to the cross.  What is impossible for human beings is not impossible for God.  Jesus can make you live and love again.  He can take the shame away. 

Forgiveness is freedom—a dying and rising with Christ.  Forgiveness is a promise Jesus will help you to keep.