Matthew 18:21–35

²¹Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" ²²Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven. ²³"Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. ²⁴When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. ²⁵And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. ²⁶So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.' ²⁷And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. ²⁸But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, 'Pay what you owe.' ²⁹So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you.' ³⁰He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. ³¹When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. ³²Then his master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ³³And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?' ³⁴And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. ³⁵So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart." (Mat 18:21 ESV)

On this anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, many are still wondering what is the correct way to respond. Should we seek revenge? Should we be nice to our enemies and hope they will see we are not such bad people and start to like us? The government has been waging war against terrorism, is this a just war? Where is God in all this? Why is he silent amidst all this turmoil, violence, killing and suffering?

While the government continues to wage war against terrorism, we must remember that God does not give us all the same vocation. The government is God's servant to meet out justice, to punish the evildoer, and to protect its citizens. St. Paul writes: "Whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and will incur judgment. For the government is God's servant, he does not bear the sword in vain. He is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer." Romans 13:2-4.

However, to the church, God has given a different vocation. The government, not the church is to punish evildoers. The church is God's servant to offer his grace and forgiveness to all. It is to the church that God has entrusted the mission of salvation; of dispensing the forgiveness of sins and faith to all people. The tool given to the state is the sword; but to the church he has given us the tool of the Gospel. The Word of God, the proclamation of God's love and forgiveness.

So where is God to be found today in regards to the war on terrorism? He is found in the government searching out and punishing evil doers and murderers. And he is also found in the church, where the gospel of salvation is proclaimed offering forgiveness from God to the sinner who repents and turns from his sinful deeds and trusts in the Lord.

Therefore we find ourselves in the flow of forgiveness. That forgiveness which flows from the cross, comes first to us, and then, through us, it flows out to others.

But how much should I forgive others? The question is not only how much I should forgive those who attacked our country 10 years ago, and those still wanting to hurt or kill us today, but more importantly, how much should I forgive a brother, a fellow Christian, another member of the congregation when he offends me?

That is the question which St. Peter asked Jesus on behalf of all followers of Christ: "How often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Seven times?" But Jesus overrides the numerical model which seeks to limit our forgiveness. He responded: "Not seven times, but seventy times seven."

What this means is your forgiveness is to be unlimited. Seventy times seven is code for complete, perfect, infinite, unlimited. You are to forgive your neighbor when he sins against you an unlimited amount of times, because that's how God forgives you. God's forgiveness for you is unlimited, infinite.

Then Jesus tells a parable: Therefore, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. One slave owed the king a practically in infinite amount of money. If you do the math, it was a thousand times more than what he could have earned in his entire lifetime. It was therefore an infinite debt. An impossible debt to pay. There was no hope for him. So he fell at his master's feet and begged for mercy; "have patience with me, and I will pay you everything I owe."

Then because of his compassion, the master had mercy on him and forgave the debt. The word forgive literally means to release. He was released from any and all obligations for the debt. He was released from the obligation to pay. He was released from any retaliation or retribution on account of the debt.

But that same servant left his master and went to a fellow slave, an equal, a colleague, a brother who owed him a small amount and was unwilling to show the same compassion and mercy. This man owed him a small debt that could have possibly been paid in a few weeks. This man fell to the first slave's feet and begged, "Have patience, and I will pay you everything I owe." But he was unwilling to forgive this man's debt.

He had been unmoved and unaffected by his masters generosity and kindness. The kindness of his master went right in one ear and out the other. It was as if he had spurned the gift his master had just given him. What we see is injustice and pettiness on his part. Forgiveness was the right thing to do, but he refused.

The master was enraged that his slave had spurned his goodness! He was enraged at this man's injustice! He threw him into prison and sold his family for every penny he could get. This judgment is clearly just. Justice had been done.

But the real question is; who is this servant? We are that servant! We are the ones who have been forgiven an infinite, impossible to pay back debt. Our master, our Lord, has had compassion and has released us from all obligations due to him, and he expects that his generosity and kindness will play out in our relationship with other people as well. "As I showed you mercy, it is necessary that you show mercy to others." Mercy and forgiveness are not options in God's kingdom. Jesus concludes the parable with the stark warning: "Just as his master delivered him to the jailers...so also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart." And when teaching the Lord's Prayer, Jesus concluded by saying, "If you do not forgive others their sins, neither will your Father forgive your sins." He leaves no wiggle room here. There is coming a day when we will all render accounts before God, and we will all answer for what we have done in this life.

Forgiving others is the only right thing to do. It is a necessity. It is not optional. But the justice and necessity of forgiveness drives us to the question: since it is right and necessary, how can I forgive those who have sinned against me? How will it be possible?

This parable of Jesus teaches us not only the necessity of forgiveness, but it also empowers us to forgive. The power to forgive comes in the Master who forgives us first. The reason and power to forgive comes from the cross where God has had compassion on us and forgiven us a tremendous debt which we could never repay, not in a thousand lifetimes. It comes from the fact that we stand squarely in the flow of forgiveness from the cross of Jesus. That forgiveness flows out from the cross in the very blood which flowed from Jesus' side and pours onto us. It is poured over us and onto us in Baptism. We have received it from the cross. And in Holy Communion we drink the very blood of Jesus which is poured into us for the forgiveness of sins. It is only here, in the forgiveness of sins which we have received from God through Baptism and Holy Communion, that we find the power to forgive one another.

So then, what is our problem? Why is it so hard to forgive others? Why is it so difficult to let go of the hurt and injury that others have done to us? Why are we so unwilling to have compassion on others?

It is because of our own sinfulness. We consider injury and injustice against us something that should be paid for and gotten even for. This is how the world around us sees it, and we use the same framework to see things.

But in this parable Jesus calls us to be different from the world. We are of God's kingdom not the kingdom of the world. We want retribution. We want to be compensated for our injury and hurt. We frame the situation in terms of the injustice done to ourselves, not in terms of the compassion and grace that God has given us.

Perhaps our difficulty really lies in not understanding just how great a debt we owe to God. We don't really understand or appreciate just how sinful we are. We don't think we are so bad. We think we just make little mistakes, and that God won't really do anything to us for such insignificant little details. We think that overall we are pretty good people. Therefore we really deserve to be forgiven.

By comparison, if someone offends us, we consider that a great, terrible injustice. That person for some reason does not deserve our forgiveness. He must pay for what he did to us. We see his offense as being much greater than any offense of ours. I am such a good person that I deserve that God forget about my sins, but that other person doesn't deserve that I forget his sins. So we might say that our problem forgiving other is really the sin of self-righteousness. It is our pride and self-righteousness that grasp just how bad we are. We don't really understand that we are offensive to God and deserve his most terrible punishment. It is self-righteousness that causes us to think that others are worse than we are and deserve greater punishment. We don't think it is fair that someone get off scot free after doing something against us. After all, they are just getting what they deserve. Why should he get off scot free? But aren't we forgetting that we got off scot free too. We didn't deserve to be forgiven. But God's kingdom is all about grace and forgiveness.

So, just as the master in the parable, God is enraged against us when we refuse to forgive. We have been rescued from the righteous and just payment for our sins. We have been released from all debts and obligations. Therefore we must also release the one who has offended us from all debts and obligations and retaliation. By forgiving others we manifest who we are; sons of God and heirs of the kingdom.

Rather than the world's "get even and pay for your wrongs" framework, we live in the framework of God's forgiveness and mercy. We are different from the world. We look to the cross of Christ. There we receive the power to forgive others. For from the cross forgiveness flows first to us, then from us to others. The framework of the death of Jesus is the framework for our forgiveness of others. His death on the cross for you empowers you to forgive. God has taken the initiative in forgiveness by forgiving you first. It is never earned or elicited. Forgiveness is never deserved...

But the reality is, it is still hard to forgive. In our fallen world the issue of forgiveness will always be front and center. It's an issue that will never go away in our lifetime. Those feelings of hurt and pain still remain even after we have decided to forgive our neighbor. For us weak and frail humans, emotions cloud our mind and heart.

Forgiveness means "release." Forgiveness is to release someone from the retribution that he deserves; to release him from the consequences of what he did. Yes, he does deserve retribution. If he didn't deserve it, then forgiveness would not be forgiveness. He does not deserve to get off scot free, but neither do we.

As sinful humans, our forgiveness is imperfect and limited, like Peter when he said only "seven times?" We humans are tempted to limit the forgiveness we give. But God's forgiveness is unlimited and infinite; seventy times seven.

Nor is our forgiveness perfect so it is never over and done with. We keep being reminded of the offenses of others and the hurt and pain returns and we have to forgive over and over. Or, Satan or another person reminds us of what we have done and over and over feel the need for confession and forgiveness from others. As humans, the feelings of hurt and pain change very slowly. They may last years after we have made the decision to forgive someone and release them from their debt to us. Those feelings persist long after we forgive, and only the Holy Spirit can change them after years of prayer and receiving the Sacrament. We are frail and our forgiveness is never the same as God's perfect and unlimited forgiveness.

Yet, we too can be sure that God has forgiven us. The Bible is filled with assurances that when God does forgive, he forgives completely and utterly, as far as the east is from the west. Though our consciences and acquaintances may keep reminding us of our transgressions, there is no need for God to forgive the same sins over and over again. Christ died once and for all time. Jesus forgives seventy times seven. The Master forgave the slave an impossibly huge debt. That is the way God has forgiven you. Cling to that wonderful and unlimited compassion of God in Christ for you, and there shall you receive the power to forgive one another and become truly the community of the faithful in Christ Jesus, for you are the forgiven people of God.

Amen.