Sermon Notes 18th Pentecost

18th Pentecost (Proper 19A)
September 14, 2008

Preaching on forgiveness is like fishing in a bucket.
• Really a no brainer.
• Very popular topic.
To check this idea I searched for books on the topic
on Amazon(dot)com.
Quite a treasure trove of titles.
Choosing Forgiveness: Your Journey to Freedom
Forgive to Live: How Forgiveness can Save Your Lifeto name just two.

Something I noticed is that many treat forgiveness
as the path to personal psychological wellness.
It is about us getting over the emotional wounds
that inhibit a rich and happy life.
Forgiveness becomes primarily therapeutic.
Kind of a “Dr. Philization” of a core concept of the Xn life.

Now, there is nothing wrong
with finding an inner healing in the act of forgiveness.
I have spoken over the years with too many people
scarred from stored up resentments and anger.

But to focus almost entirely on this aspect
is to miss the heart of what the New Testament means when it speaks of forgiveness.

For Jesus forgiveness is an action
that finds it source in the abundance of mercy
in the heart of Θ,
and finds full expression in reconciling the estranged and restoring community in justice and peace under Θ.
It is primarily outward and communal,
and secondarily inward and emotional.
We might define forgiveness as

an encounter between the injured and the injurer in which the truth of the injury is made known, responsibility is taken, and a new beginning is offered.
-sermon, Proper 19 September 2002

This sense of forgiveness is evident
in today’s Gospel reading.

The reading comes from an important section of Matthew’s Gospel
• Jesus teaches disciples about the nature of Θ’s kingdom & the role of the disciples in this new action of Θ
• Not a kingdom of power and domination
• A reign of mercy, restoring broken relationships btwn us & God, and between people estranged from one another.

The purpose of being God’s people, the church,
is not our own spiritual growth,
but to live as a people of the kingdom
that the world may hope
in the promise of the Lord.
Thus, how we live together,
dealing with conflict,
seeking reconciliation,
is a testimony to what God is doing
thru the death and resurrection of Jesus XP.

After all Jesus’ admonitions to the disciples,
Peter now interjects
& asks if there are any limits
to this action of mercy:
"Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?"

The answer Jesus gives,
both in his quick response to the question
(“77 times or 7x70”)
and the following parable,
signifies that there is no limit to forgiveness.

Indeed, at the heart of the kingdom
is this incredible overabundance of mercy.
The parable speaks of an outrageously forgiving King, having forgiven a debt of what amounts
to millions of dollars,
while the servant, the recipient of mercy
refusing to extend forgiveness for a paltry sum.

The social reality created by the action of the King
is that of redemption and reconciliation.
It is now to be the nature of the web of relationships
in the realm.
But the servant refuses to live in that reality.

So we as the people of God,
we are to live in the new reality
created by the grace of Jesus XP.
In XP God forgives the manifold injustices and sins
of human history,
as well as our own sins and injustices.
Not to extend such mercy with one another
is to choose exile from the Kingdom of grace.
It is to say “I do not want to live in your kingdom.”

When I was a kid I had an aquarium in my bedroom.
I remember that I had one fish
that against all common sense
would jump out of the tank when the top was off. One day when I wasn’t watching it jumped out,
and that was the end of it.

To be in the Kingdom is to be a fish
swimming in an ocean of divine mercy.
(Remember how the prophets describe
the coming Kingdom
“the earth shall be full of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea.”)
To refuse the work of forgiveness
is to cast ourselves up on the beach,
unable to move,
unable to thrive,
unable to live.

This is not to say that forgiveness is easy work,
especially as the full result is to be the renewal
of relationship and community.
And certainly there are plenty of hard situations
where reconciliation is difficult or impossible.
• We would not ask the abused to instigate reconciliation with the abuser which might well result in further injury and pain.
• And certainly we cannot restore a relationship with someone who has died.
Yet I believe these hard cases must still be considered within the wider context of what Jesus means
by the mercy of the Lord and the Kingdom of God.
& we trust in XP to accomplish the reconciliation
that is beyond us,
and hope in the restoration promised
through the power of ’ resurrection.


When we do engage in the deep mercy of God,
& share the forgiveness of the Risen XP,
the possibility of reconciliation
that passes all understanding
breaks into our divided world.

Certainly we all remember the power of the photos
of John Paul II meeting with his would-be assassin. But there are other icons of mercy to celebrate as well.

As Korea continues to face the painful division
of their nation,
and try to envision reconciliation
in the midst of decades of violence and hate, the church recalls the story of Pastor Son Yang-Won.

Pastor Son was a leader among Korean Xns
when he was imprisoned by the Japanese for refusing to worship in a Shinto shrine in fealty to the Emperor.
In 1948 his two sons were sharing their Xn faith
with Communist rioters during an insurrection
and were both shot to death.
Pastor Son publicly forgave the shooter,
petitioned for the death penalty to be commuted,
and then adopted the murderer as his own child.
In time Pastor Son would give his own life for the Gospel.

He will always be remembered not only as a martyr,
but also as the image of the abundant mercy of God.

The way of forgiveness is a difficult road.
And while we will discover healing for our wounded souls, the gift we offer in the work of reconciliation
is no only for ourselves, but for the world.
We forgive with abundance
that all may know the Kingdom manifested thru
the grace of our Lord Jesus XP,
the love of God,
and the deep fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

AMEN.