15 Pentecost, Cycle A proper 19, September 17, 2017
Genesis 50:15-21 Psalm 103:8-13
Romans 14:1-12 Matthew 18:21-35
In the Lord's Prayer which translation do you prefer: Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Or forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. And why are there different versions? Someone once said a banker must have been involved in switching from debts to trespasses? The banker did not want the words "forgive us our debts" being a part of the common language.
Actually there are two Gospel versions of the Lord's Prayer, one in Matthew and one in Luke. The Matthew version uses the Greek word meaning debt and the Luke version uses the word meaning sin or trespass. So take your pick.
If we don't like the word debt because it implies some financial or commercial transactions, we still cannot avoid financial metaphors in the Bible. The parable on forgiveness which we have read today is a parable about the forgiving of a debt. So, Jesus uses a financial metaphor to illustrate a correspondence with what people owe each other to live together well in community.
One could also say that a financial metaphor defines the main human vocation of humanity. It is called stewardship. God created and gave creation to humanity to take care of. But how can we take care of creation if we cannot attain good stewardship of our own bodies, souls and spirit? How can we attain stewardship of the material blessing of creation if we cannot attain stewardship of loving and just relationships with each other?
Good stewardship and failure at stewardship sums up the essence of righteousness and sin. If we do not belong to ourselves but belong to God how can we live with ourselves and others to express God's true ownership of our lives and our world?
The biggest debt in life is the one we owe to God our owner. God is a very generous owner; God's give us everything that we have and God only asks that we live in such a way to acknowledge God's ownership claim on our lives.
Our human history indicates that we live selfishly. In selfishness, we fail to live as though we belong to God. It becomes the human vocation to learn how to transform our lives of selfish habits to be able to live for God and others.
The liturgy found in the religion of Israel involved metaphors of finance. What did people bring to the tabernacle, shrines and temples? Offerings. And what were the offerings called? Sin Offerings. There were a variety of sin offerings tailored to the economic condition of the giver. A sin offering was for the forgiveness of sin.
The prophets criticize the abuse of the offering system. They said that God did not need the blood of animals. God did not need a quid pro quo offering for sin and forgiveness. What did God want? God wanted mercy, justice and the care of widows and orphans as the true valid offering.
The religious system of offerings is a good system for religious fund raising and for the maintenance of the clergy and the temple complex, but if the spirit and purpose of the offering is missed, it does not result in the transformation of lives for the good of the community.
The set up for the parable of Jesus is the question by Peter: How many times do I have to forgive my brother? This is the Peter who would deny Jesus at the time of his trial. Jesus could have answered, "Well how many times do you want your brother to forgive you?" Instead, Jesus told the parable about the unforgiving servant.
The parable reveals the hypocrisy of wanting and receiving forgiveness but refusing to offer forgiveness to others.
We know that forgiveness is necessary for a community to be freed from being caught in the dynamic of revenge and pay back, expressed as avoidance and passive aggression. We also know that forgiveness is very difficult. So difficult that it seems to be easier to avoid each others when we feel like we been hurt or offended by others. Avoiding community and running away means that we end up living alone or we keep leaving communities perpetually looking for a more perfect community.
The early church discovered that if the community was to stay together, they had to learn how to practice forgiveness. This practice is retained in our liturgies in the practice of confession and forgiveness. In confession, we confess that we have sinned against God and each other. And we declare God's forgiveness for our sins. And what follows the absolution of sins? The passing of the Peace of Christ to each other.
The Passing of the Peace of Christ is when we forgive each other for not being perfect to each other. We express in our liturgy the spiritual dynamic of receiving forgiveness and offering forgiveness to each other.
My friends, being forgiven and forgiving each other is Gospel living. This life of forgiveness is the life that Jesus offers to us today. Amen.
Genesis 50:15-21 Psalm 103:8-13
Romans 14:1-12 Matthew 18:21-35
In the Lord's Prayer which translation do you prefer: Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Or forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. And why are there different versions? Someone once said a banker must have been involved in switching from debts to trespasses? The banker did not want the words "forgive us our debts" being a part of the common language.
Actually there are two Gospel versions of the Lord's Prayer, one in Matthew and one in Luke. The Matthew version uses the Greek word meaning debt and the Luke version uses the word meaning sin or trespass. So take your pick.
If we don't like the word debt because it implies some financial or commercial transactions, we still cannot avoid financial metaphors in the Bible. The parable on forgiveness which we have read today is a parable about the forgiving of a debt. So, Jesus uses a financial metaphor to illustrate a correspondence with what people owe each other to live together well in community.
One could also say that a financial metaphor defines the main human vocation of humanity. It is called stewardship. God created and gave creation to humanity to take care of. But how can we take care of creation if we cannot attain good stewardship of our own bodies, souls and spirit? How can we attain stewardship of the material blessing of creation if we cannot attain stewardship of loving and just relationships with each other?
Good stewardship and failure at stewardship sums up the essence of righteousness and sin. If we do not belong to ourselves but belong to God how can we live with ourselves and others to express God's true ownership of our lives and our world?
The biggest debt in life is the one we owe to God our owner. God is a very generous owner; God's give us everything that we have and God only asks that we live in such a way to acknowledge God's ownership claim on our lives.
Our human history indicates that we live selfishly. In selfishness, we fail to live as though we belong to God. It becomes the human vocation to learn how to transform our lives of selfish habits to be able to live for God and others.
The liturgy found in the religion of Israel involved metaphors of finance. What did people bring to the tabernacle, shrines and temples? Offerings. And what were the offerings called? Sin Offerings. There were a variety of sin offerings tailored to the economic condition of the giver. A sin offering was for the forgiveness of sin.
The prophets criticize the abuse of the offering system. They said that God did not need the blood of animals. God did not need a quid pro quo offering for sin and forgiveness. What did God want? God wanted mercy, justice and the care of widows and orphans as the true valid offering.
The religious system of offerings is a good system for religious fund raising and for the maintenance of the clergy and the temple complex, but if the spirit and purpose of the offering is missed, it does not result in the transformation of lives for the good of the community.
The set up for the parable of Jesus is the question by Peter: How many times do I have to forgive my brother? This is the Peter who would deny Jesus at the time of his trial. Jesus could have answered, "Well how many times do you want your brother to forgive you?" Instead, Jesus told the parable about the unforgiving servant.
The parable reveals the hypocrisy of wanting and receiving forgiveness but refusing to offer forgiveness to others.
We know that forgiveness is necessary for a community to be freed from being caught in the dynamic of revenge and pay back, expressed as avoidance and passive aggression. We also know that forgiveness is very difficult. So difficult that it seems to be easier to avoid each others when we feel like we been hurt or offended by others. Avoiding community and running away means that we end up living alone or we keep leaving communities perpetually looking for a more perfect community.
The early church discovered that if the community was to stay together, they had to learn how to practice forgiveness. This practice is retained in our liturgies in the practice of confession and forgiveness. In confession, we confess that we have sinned against God and each other. And we declare God's forgiveness for our sins. And what follows the absolution of sins? The passing of the Peace of Christ to each other.
The Passing of the Peace of Christ is when we forgive each other for not being perfect to each other. We express in our liturgy the spiritual dynamic of receiving forgiveness and offering forgiveness to each other.
My friends, being forgiven and forgiving each other is Gospel living. This life of forgiveness is the life that Jesus offers to us today. Amen.
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