‘Give us today our daily bread and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.’ Matthew 18.21-35
There was a time in my life when I felt particularly aggrieved. As I prayed these words of the Lord’s Prayer I would always do a roll-call of those people who I felt had sinned against me. Then I would shudder to myself as I sensed my inability to forgive, to let go of my resentment. How could I expect God to forgive me if I was unable to forgive others? And every time I said the Lord’s Prayer knowing that I did not feel able to forgive was I not committing another sin, which would require yet more forgiveness from God? And it would become a case of spiritual ever-decreasing circles.
Many people look to the Lord’s Prayer as evidence of the conditional nature of God’s forgiveness. If we forgive others we will be pardoned by God. If not, then we will not receive God’s forgiveness.
In today’s gospel passage, which comes after the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew’s gospel, we are shown that as Christian disciples we are called to forgive, even those who sin against us repeatedly. But I believe to focus on God’s forgiveness as conditional rather misses the point.
Clearly we are called to forgive- but rather than forgiving simply in order that we might be ‘let off’ our own sins, we might better understand the call to forgive as being open to and receiving God’s forgiveness in such a way that we are transformed. After all, if we haven’t learned about forgiveness or understood it in our own lives how can we hope to enter into relationships with others where forgiveness is possible? For forgiveness to be real it is more helpful to see it as a ‘craft’ which is developed, rather than a command which must be obeyed.
So the question to be asked by us as Christian disciples is, ‘how might I further develop my ability to forgive’? After all, being a Christian isn’t magic, we cannot forgive simply because we ought- it is a process which can take years.
So how do today’s readings help us to understand what it means to be forgiven and how we might forgive in turn?
Well, in the gospel the debt owed by the slave to his Master -10, 000 talents-, would have taken the average worker in the NT period 150 000 years to earn so we are taking about an impossibly large, ludicrous sum of money for one person to owe another. But the Master is able to forgive the slave- to write off the debt.
The image of sin as a debt that is owed is helpful in that it illustrates that to forgive is to give up power- the power we have over someone who is indebted to us. This giving up of power is inherent within the very being of God- in his creating the world and humanity, and in the incarnation God has given up something – and in so doing made Himself vulnerable.
Now the actions of the slave’s peers when they witness his refusal to forgive is also illuminating. They report this to their master, but why? Out of a sense of righteous indignation? Possibly, but I think it more likely they are aware that the forgiveness offered to the slave by his master should have been a transforming event – yet the slave remains, at heart, completely untouched by the master’s act of huge generosity.
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The slave, by refusing to forgive his debtor preserves a situation whereby he has power over him. Forgiving his fellow slave would have meant letting go of that power and he resists this despite having been let off his own debt.
If we forgive those who sin against us we are also choosing implicitly to acknowledge that it is the common lot of humanity that we get things wrong, we damage other members of our family, our neighbours, our friends, our lovers, through human sin. By forgiving others we acknowledge our shared humanity and make a gesture towards restoring that humanity. It is this fact which makes the action of the slave so damaging; in not forgiving his debtor the slave denies their common identity.
Now Joseph in our OT reading provides an interesting contrast; he forgives his brothers who recognise only too painfully their need for forgiveness. We have seen in the story of Joseph and his brothers, the sins committed against Joseph. We have also witnessed Joseph’s own rise to power and influence despite this. In these latter days we have seen him use his power and play games with his brothers. Yet at the last he forgives them and weeps doing so. This degree of emotion expresses more eloquently than words his recognition that their plea for forgiveness would have cost them dearly. Through forgiving them he is restoring the family relationships and recognising their shared humanity.
So today’s readings can shed light on the relational aspect of forgiveness- how it feeds our shared humanity and restores damaged relationships. But at its heart it can only be a distorted reflection of the true and unlimited forgiveness of our Father in Heaven. It is divine forgiveness that is truly transforming- by God becoming human in Jesus Christ He has identified himself with our humanity and opened up the means through which we are forgiven.
We see this graphically in the life and passion of Jesus Christ: We know from Luke’s gospel that John the Baptist “will go before the Lord to prepare his way, to give his people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of all their sins”. So before Jesus even begins his ministry the people are prepared for his salvific message through the forgiveness of all their sins.
After His resurrection Jesus encounters his friend and disciple Peter who has betrayed him three times. He forgives Peter, and more than this, makes him the rock upon which the Church is built. In this way we know that forgiveness is at the root of the Church.
Into this forgiveness Phoebe is being baptized today. Through baptism she will be incorporated into the Church and into the pattern of Christ’s death and exaltation knowing that forgiveness is at the heart of the body of Christ and of our faith.
And like each and every one of us Phoebe will need to learn to forgive others and to be forgiven. This is a lesson that is often quickly learned in families as we struggle to be heard and assert ourselves.
As her parents, godparents and as a Church community we will promise to pray for her, and draw her by our example into the community of faith. To accompany her on her journey in the way of Christ. And of course this means leading lives where we are transformed through the knowledge that we are forgiven and hence have the freedom to forgive others.
Amen
Sarah Eynstone