A, Post-Pentecost 16 Proper 19 - Matthew 18:21-35 "What Lies Between"
These days we hear a lot about interest rates. There is
much interest in them because of the debt a person has to repay. Have you ever
wondered why they are called “interest rates”? It is not simply because we are
interested in or concerned about the rates and how much one might owe.
In Latin interest means “what lies between”. Perhaps we are interested in what lies
between us and someone else when we owe a debt or if a debt is owed to us.
Peter asks Jesus how many times he should forgive someone. He
uses seven times as the lowest common denominator. Was Peter looking for a
figure at which the straw might break the camel’s back, allowing him to avenge
the debt lying between him and his debtor? It is as if he wants to get
forgiveness out of the way quickly: I forgive you, I forgive you, forgive you,
forgive you, forgive you, forgive you, forgive you … Now that you haven’t
changed, you’re going to get what’s coming!
Payback seems sweet until Jesus turns everything on its
head by telling a simple parable about a king who mercifully forgives a debtor.
But the debtor, unable to pay forward the mercy shown to him when he was freed
from his debt, goes and chokes his fellow servant, demanding that the much
smaller debt lying between them be repaid. As Jesus shows in the parable,
payback is not so great when we consider our eternal debt towards God, our
heavenly Father!
Anyone who hears this parable joins in with the fellow
servants at the injustice of the forgiven servant who’s unwilling to do
likewise and forgive his fellow servant.
Jesus tells this parable in response to Peter’s query, how many times
one should forgive. It shows Peter and
us all, that “what lies between” God and us is far greater than any debt owed
to us by our earthly neighbours.
Jesus had just spoken to the disciples about who was
greatest in the kingdom of heaven. He
said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will
never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is
the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3–4 ESV)
Peter’s question, “How often should I forgive?” is a “how
long?” question. This is not a question born of humility in Peter’s secret
heart. Yet it captures the essence of our deepest human frustration when debt
lies between two people and a relationship is put under the strain of an unjust
balance, whether the imbalance is perceived or genuine.
However, what lies at the root of Peter’s question and our
frustration with other people’s sin is brought to light in the fear within the
hearts of Joseph’s brothers when their father, Jacob, dies. They thought Joseph
was going to play God in what lay between them, since they had sinned
grievously by playing God when they sold Joseph into slavery and pretended to
Jacob that a wild beast had killed him.
We learn from the parable that our hearts and the justice
we seek are somewhat different from God’s heart and the way He mercifully seeks
the justice He deserves. Our justice is governed by what we deem good, but it
is usually a good for us that has consequences for others. Jesus understands
Peter’s heart and our hearts better than any of us understands ourselves. Just
like Peter, we might forgive seven times or for the period we prescribe, then mete
out our justice to our fellow human beings, as did the servant in Jesus’
parable.
But Joseph’s actions towards his brothers after the death
of his father, Jacob, point forward to the saving acts of God’s Son, Jesus
Christ. Joseph said to his brothers, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As
for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it
about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear;
I will provide for you and your little ones.” (Genesis 50:19–21a ESV)
Jesus humbled Himself like a child and is now the greatest
in the kingdom of heaven. His terms of forgiveness are God’s terms of
forgiveness. He therefore put aside the power of being the Son of God and took
on the humility and weakness of humanity to be the Son of Man, bearing the evil
of humanity in His death and bringing about the good of God by giving life through
His resurrection from the dead.
In our human weakness, we want to forgive on our terms and
then, at our appointed time, become gods of the situation and mete out acts of
justice. We forget what lies between us and God and make ourselves gods over
each other. But this is not godliness like that of God; it is the same
“godliness”, or rather “godlessness”, that caused Adam and Eve to be thrown out
of the Garden of Eden.
Just as Joseph’s brothers were weak and failed in their
responsibility to look after Joseph, we too are weak in our ability to do the
good that God requires. We fail to see the big picture as He sees it. We need
to recognise our base humanity as inherent ungodliness: if God, in His justice,
gave us what we deserved, we would be condemned for not being merciful as God
is to us.
Yet we hear, “For while we were still weak, at the
right time Christ died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5:6 ESV)
Our self-appointed godliness and the timing we assign to it
amount to ungodliness, weakness and sinfully bad timing. But at the right time—God’s
time—He made atonement for our debt. Like the king in Jesus’ parable, God
passes over our debt, and at the right time He had that debt placed on His Son,
Jesus Christ.
Therefore, now is the right time to forgive. While we live this side of the grave, now is always
the right time to forgive. Despite the old Adam within wanting to terminate
forgiveness and serve up its sinful impatient justice, now is always the right
time to forgive!
St Paul tells us, “Owe no one anything, except to love
each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” (Romans 13:8 ESV)
But how do we love someone with whom we are in conflict
when emotions are high and our rights seem to have been violated? Within us,
there is a timer ticking down to a point where frustration wants to burst forth
and choke the neighbour with whom we are in conflict; such is our weakness!
God calls us to remember our ungodliness and weakness,
which have been corrected by the cross. He gives us the Holy Spirit to help us
see our neighbour as God sees us, so that rather than seeking revenge and
retribution, we love them as Christ loved us.
The Holy Spirit helps us to bear our cross for Christ’s
sake. He wills you daily to drown the old Adam in your baptism because your old
Adam is always working to resurrect himself in you. Otherwise, you seek justice
according to your knowledge of good and evil instead of Jesus’ knowledge of
good and evil. In his humanity, Jesus always set the will of our heavenly
Father first, which led Him to take on our human weakness, live the perfect
human life despite bearing human flesh, and then endure the cross and scorn its
shame for the joy set before Him, despite being without sin.
Jesus’ exchange of our sin for His perfection at the cross
should awaken “a rate of interest” in those who truly understand the depths of
their human nature and the sinful deeds that continually ooze from it! If not,
perhaps you should revisit the Ten Commandments in the Small Catechism and
relearn who you are in God’s eyes.
However, it’s God’s will in heaven to forgive you your sin;
it’s also His will for you on earth to forgive each other for the sins you
commit against each other. You and I
will have to give an account of ourselves before God on His judgement
seat. It’s in everyone’s best interest
for mercy to lie between God and us, and therefore that same mercy to lie
between us and our neighbours as we wait for our resurrection into God’s
eternal presence.
Let us pray. Dear heavenly Father, You have forgiven me my
sin through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. You have sent the Holy
Spirit into my heart through my baptism. Therefore, work Your will in me so
that I forgive as You have forgiven and love as You patiently love me. Help me
not to seek payback but to pass over the sins of others, so that what they
intended for evil against me might be passed onto Jesus’ death and made good in
his victory over sin, so we forgive as we are forgiven, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
Sermon Summary
Jesus’ parable of the unforgiving servant exposes the
sharp contrast between God’s immeasurable mercy and our instinct to limit
forgiveness. The debt that lies between us and God is greater than any debt our
neighbour could owe us, yet through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ,
God has forgiven what we could never repay. Joseph’s mercy towards his brothers
points forward to this saving work: rather than take God’s place in judgement,
he trusted God to bring good from evil and responded with reassurance and
provision. Because Christ died for us while we were weak and ungodly, now is
always the right time to forgive. The Holy Spirit turns our hearts away from
revenge, renews us in our baptism and enables us to love our neighbours as
Christ has loved us. Forgiveness is therefore not a limited transaction but the
merciful fruit of living under the grace of God.
Reflection Questions
- What does Peter’s question about forgiving seven times reveal about the human desire to place limits on mercy?
- How does the enormous debt forgiven by the king reshape the way you view the wrongs others have committed against you?
- Where are you tempted to take God’s place by judging, controlling or seeking payback?
- What can Joseph’s response to his brothers teach you about entrusting justice to God and responding with practical mercy?
- How does Christ’s death for the weak and ungodly change both your understanding of forgiveness and your willingness to forgive?
- Is there a relationship in which “now is the right time to forgive”? What faithful first step could you take?
- How can remembering your baptism and relying on the Holy Spirit help you resist resentment and love your neighbour?
- What would it look like for God’s mercy to lie between you and another person this week?
