Readings (Track 2)

Our Gospel begins with Peter’s question: “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” And the remainder is devoted to Jesus’ answer, ending with “So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” What might the Spirit be saying to us in this and the other lessons?

Peter asked about forgiving a brother or sister; Jesus’ parable displays the intimate connection between God forgiving us and our forgiving one another. It’s easy to think of these as separate issues, but already in the Lord’s Prayer Jesus tells us they’re one issue. The Lord’s Prayer: a series of petitions, which series is interrupted only once by a report of our conduct: “And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” And immediately after that prayer: “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Mt 6:14-15). That’s the theory; Jesus thinks it’s important enough that he tells us a story (a parable) about it.

(Parenthetically, as here, ethics is often about imitating God. Genesis tells us we’re created in God’s image. So to live humanly it’s probably better to imitate God than, say, a weasel. And learning to properly imitate Jesus’ God is the work of a lifetime.)

But back to Peter. His question was, more specifically, “how often should I forgive?” Does Jesus’ response address that? Yes, I think: in that last part: “if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” That phrase “from your heart” focuses one of the counterfeit forms of forgiveness. If I’m keeping track—say, up to seven—what I may be doing in “forgiving” is simply building the case that at number eight I’m fully justified in doing what I’ve wanted to do all along: lower the boom. To use the frame St Paul has been presenting in the last couple weeks’ readings, if my forgiveness isn’t an exercise in love of neighbor (seeking the neighbor’s good), it may be something other than forgiveness.

Today’s psalm celebrates God’s forgiveness:

3 He forgives all your sins
and heals all your infirmities;

10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
nor rewarded us according to our wickedness.

If we take it seriously that can be tremendously liberating. We can be honest with ourselves and with God because there is forgiveness. We can even be honest about how little interest we sometimes have in repenting, in changing. God really does love us as we are, and loves us enough to keep nudging us—more or less gently—toward a less self-destructive version of “as we are.”

Our lectionary almost certainly chose first reading for its narration of Joseph’s forgiveness. To the brothers’ plea for forgiveness Joseph responds “Am I in the place of God? Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today.” There are two things in that response what might contribute to our practice of forgiveness.  “Am I in the place of God?” Withholding forgiveness: that just might be above Joseph’s paygrade. And if above Joseph’s… Second, the brothers weren’t the only ones intending and acting. God was also intending and acting. This doesn’t mean that the brothers’ action was less in need of forgiveness. It does mean that they were less in control of the situation than they—or Joseph—imagined.

Our reading from Romans is—obviously—not talking about forgiveness. There the issue is dealing with a diverse community in which the members make different judgments about food and days to be observed. In that context “love your neighbor” means giving the neighbor the space to respond faithfully to the Lord even when that response makes no sense to us.

“Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God.”

This is, obviously, not the only thing Paul has to say about community life. Thinking back to last week’s reading, I doubt that Paul would have had much time for “Well, reveling and drunkenness, debauchery and licentiousness is how I honor the Lord.” Nevertheless, his words in today’s lesson are important. Ironically, forgiveness would come into play primarily if some sought to impose their definition of honoring the Lord on others. That would need forgiveness.

“Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.” And that’s all that needs to be said?

Well, no, because there’s the first half of the chapter, some of which we heard last Sunday. Sin can be deeply destructive: “If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea” (Mat 18:6). And sin in the community is a community concern: “If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault…” (Mat 18:15). If there’s an obligation to forgive, there’s equally an obligation to prevent the sin repeating seventy-seven times, an obligation not carried exclusively by the sinned-against member. Thinking of cases like spousal abuse, where too often part of the pattern is a plea (demand?) for forgiveness by the perpetrator after each incident, that latter obligation may mean get out now. Recall that today’s psalm, rejoicing in God’s forgiveness, also included “The Lord executes righteousness / and judgment for all who are oppressed.” And that psalm text recalls another from Deuteronomy: “Slaves who have escaped to you from their owners shall not be given back to them. They shall reside with you, in your midst, in any place they choose in any one of your towns, wherever they please; you shall not oppress them” (23:15-16).

At every Eucharistic Prayer: “This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.” In light of texts like today’s Gospel that’s both about God forgiving our sins and creating a people who forgive each other’s sins. It’s a package deal.