Forgiving Ethic!

THE Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost brings us to read once again from the Gospel According to Saint Matthew. Within this text, we find instructions about forgiveness that was given to Christian communities. The lesson reveals that we as Christians are to go beyond worldly standards…

Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”

Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.

Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the reckoning, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents; and as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made.

So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him the lord of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.

But that same servant, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ So his fellow servant fell down and besought him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ He refused and went and put him in prison till he should pay the debt.
 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you besought me; and should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his lord delivered him to the jailers, till he should pay all his debt.

So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” (Matthew 18:21-35)

The Forgiving Soul: How to Forgive Yourself, Others and Life By Samuel White, III

Doing Justice?

Our gospel writer reiterates that which had been laid out to the early church about Christian forgiveness. This Matthean witness related to the congregations previously that Jesus, when teaching his disciples how to pray, stated that we should ask for forgiveness of debts (sins), just as we have been forgiven (Matthew 6:12). However, as we read this... please be reminded that Matthew addressed a community which had strong roots in Judaic legalism and traditions. For this reason, we need to consider their predisposition. In scripture, as represented by Peter, they had surely received guidance through the Law of Moses. Peter quoted a Hebraic scriptural standard, but first note that recompense for injury was stated as quite vindictive…

Lamech said to his wives: “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; you wives of Lamech, hearken to what I say: I have slain a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. If Cain is avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”

                                                                                 (Genesis 4:24)

 Thus Peter’s statement about forgiveness of debts was rooted in very early Hebrew tradition, for by stating the “sevenfold” example we see it was even exceeded by that which was passed along by rabbinical teachers of his own day. Those contemporary teachers stated that one was to forgive only three times before grabbing someone by the throat and hauling them into a legal hearing.

 To set the stage for us, we first see evidenced in Luke how Jesus called upon this sevenfold standard. He taught them saying...

 “A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he forgave them both. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, to whom he forgave more.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” (Luke 7:41-42)

We see by this Lukan text that the ancient sevenfold rule of thumb had been a concrete measure numerically used by Simon (Peter) and also many others who sought to “exceed righteousness”. Put simply, they carefully measured justice! However, we note that Luke later recorded where Jesus addressed the disciples about using their sinful, sliding scale. He radically stated what the Church is to do if the offenses occurred in just one day’s time…

Take heed to yourselves; if your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him; and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” (Luke 17:3-5)

We repeat these radical instructions here! Jesus stated clearly, “seven times in the day”. Thus it was that more persons than Peter offered sevenfold as a standard; far greater persons in number had stated that justice demanded more than the three-fold forgiveness recommended by contemporary rabbinical authorities, Therefore, Jesus called the infant Church to go much, much farther.
 You see, our Lord radicalized the amount stated in Peter’s self-answered question. Jesus cited a very radical number of forgiveness instances to be made available. Then using a parable, our Lord gave the example of the immense forgiveness of a king. He stated that the ruler forgave a debtor to the tune of about six million dollars (by today’s count). This was done in spite of accepted legalities that which would have imprisoned the man unto torture, so that also his relatives would work long and hard to ransom him. The king did not attach all of his possessions, nor enslave the man's family.

 However, after the abundant forgiveness was granted, the debtor did not pass along the grace provided. He did not… as we call it today… pay it forward! The offender imprisoned a second, rather poor man who owed him a mere sixteen dollars. He grabbed the man by the throat, a contentious but legally appropriate action of the day… and hauled him before a judge. He had the offender imprisoned because of the debt. In this alarming double standard we see how justice was tilted... and therein lay the breakaway mandate of the early Christian church.

 

Not Just a Soup Kitchen: How Mercy Ministry in the Local Church Transforms Us All By Dr. David S. Apple

 

 

 

 You see, a subtle shift takes place in the dialog of the parable... by those who were “greatly distressed” ( Greek – elypethesan sphroda ) by the action of the first man. These went to their “own” lord to report the malady. Thus we find in parable that this particular lord was rather ambiguously portrayed... as either the original king, or could yet be another lord.
 If we accept the latter example, then this "other" lord was in a position so that he could influence the master of the first debtor. If that was so, then we are called to ask, “Is this an early expression of Trinitarian dogma?” because one who was King could be influenced only by another who was also King? To be sure, whether you view this discourse as historically the words of Jesus as I do... or our own interpretative apostolic leanings, I consider that this may have indeed been an expression of theological doctrine emerging from the church of Matthew, possibly written down from oral tradition some fifty years after the crucifixion and Resurrection. Where they being asked to forgive Jews which had betrayed them to the Romans during times of persecution? We ask why this scribal necessity? Did the first debtor represent the Jews in the Church, and the latter debtor the Gentiles?

Go Beyond the Law…

Note that in the parable, thus hearing of the ingrate’s actions, the king immediately gathered the first debtor up once again. Having been told of the servant's hardness of heart, he issued a much more profound measure of punishment. Therefore, I consider that this text revealed that Jesus warned his early disciples clearly about the will of the Father. The witness of Christians had been made substantively over against those within the infant church community who would simply adhere to former confines of the Mosaic Law or accepted rabbinical practice. Were they being stingy with forgiveness? Were they bring asked to forgive people who had denied Jesus as Lord during the persecutions from Nero and other Roman authorities?.
 We thus may ask, “Was it that some persons stubbornly kept the traditions of Israel... or favored their rabbinical teachers.., who were being yet too stingy in passing along the radical good news to converts about the superlative abundant grace received?” Finding this subliminal trace within the parable dialog as to foundational Trinitarian relationship, as expressed through our Lord’s use of “king” and “lord”, I find that we need to pay very close attention and pay our own due.

 

How To Stop The Pain - eBook By Dr. James B. Richards

 

 
 For the church of Matthew, we see that it was likely that the Holy Spirit had already established a pattern. We of the modern Church have thus inherited an existential model for our own ministry from this gospel writing. For any church in the Spirit, limitless forgiving compassion is a goal to be expressed. We are to be a gospel declaring community, no matter the worldly status of the recipient nor their personal faith history. We are not to cave in… settling for such as Israelite, Sharia law, or national law.
 Remember, even in its perfect form the Law only condemns. It cannot deliver the debtor! The Church is thus called to be separatist. The character laid out for the whole Church sets our Lord’s disciples apart as having a quality that is different than the rest of the world.

 

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 You see, expansive forgiveness and mercy is a divine act of God not to be ignored, nor exploited by the people of God. Inexhaustible forgiveness and mercy has been purchased for all who believe by the body and blood of our Lord and repent of their sinfulness. Invitation to the forgiving feast in the divine  courtyard is therefore extended freely to rich and poor alike... to the previously established and the new. Let the Church subsequently be warned that it is not to lay a burden upon anyone else that we are unwilling to shoulder. We who have received immeasurable forgiveness are called to forgive others immeasurably. Does this open the Church to challenge and abuse? Indeed yes! So it was done to our innocent Lord as he bore our sins to the cross. So it was also in the days of Matthew’s writing.., and so it is to be in the modern Christian church as we wade through this turbulent age. We are a people still called to bear the cross of our Lord. May the Holy Spirit guide our walk into the future days of witness.

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May You Be Called to Repent and Receive!

Be Reconciled!

FOR THE Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost, we hear the early church of Matthew laid out Christian behavior for adherents. The Gospel According to Saint Matthew tells us precisely what was done internally as the early churches formed. This text then, should stand as a basis for handling disputes along our modern paths…

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”  (Matthew 18:15-20)

 

 

Confronting Without Offending: Positive and Practical Steps to Resolving Conflict By Deborah Smith Pegues

 

 

Going to Court?

In today’s lesson, we find the church of Matthew lays out a method of reconciliation. This was to be used whenever disagreements beset members or factions within the Church. The statement as we read for this coming Sunday, however, bypasses that which had been set in an earlier judicial stage for the disciples, as they functioned in tension with the synagogue. The text which preceded this in Matthew revealed to readers that the early Christians in Antioch were to view the apostolic founders as "infants" before God. And thus being infants, warnings against harming them rolled forth from Jesus. Using statements such as “Woe to the world for temptations to sin!” (Matthew 18:7), Jesus emphatically warned any person or persons who would dare attempt to sideline the evangelical course of the early Church.

 

Matthew: Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Hardcover) By Douglas Hare

 

 
 Jesus drew stark word pictures of preferring self-mutilation rather than risk offending the “little ones”. So strong was the mindset of our Lord concerning this matter. One may properly envision eternal hellfire and brimstone falling upon any who would harm his apostles and their Christian witness.

 When that previous text is read, therefore, it set the stage for this discussion. I find it somewhat profound that in my own denomination, some Lutherans use the earlier verses while others study only the latter. An alternate reading recommended includes Matthew 18:1-20. Thus the latter text we study here concerns only internal strife within the faithful community. It seems to me that there existed a sticky band-aid tearing away of painfulness in the early Church. We note that only Luke echoed any mention of dealing with internal strife…

And he (Jesus) said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come; but woe to him by whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung round his neck and he were cast into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. Take heed to yourselves; if your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him; and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”  (Luke 17:1-3)

 Being that we find this importance of forgiveness only in the gospels of Matthew and Luke, but not in Mark, we calculate that the source was the common “Q” document. “Q” is a writing which has not yet been found and only exists in reconstruction. However, tradition reinforces that this text is the thought, position and words of Jesus, and not a later invention of the gospel writer’s community. We need only refer to earlier Hebrew writings…

“You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason with your neighbor, lest you bear sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”  (Leviticus 19:17-18)

 But, in the realm of this Law the settled peoples of Israel nation soon heard further legalisms. In this we note an absence of any loving softness in final decision…

“A single witness shall not prevail against a man for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed; only on the evidence of two witnesses, or of three witnesses, shall a charge be sustained. If a malicious witness rises against any man to accuse him of wrongdoing, then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days; the judges shall inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother; so you shall purge the evil from the midst of you. And the rest shall hear, and fear, and shall never again commit any such evil among you. Your eye shall not pity; it shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”  (Deuteronomy 19:15)

 By this example, we see that the Law concerning dispute was set forth harshly, and the emphasis on the gospel of loving one's neighbor got historically lost in application. This initial forgiving priority became rediscovered by Christians, however, as it was carried over by Jesus over into the writings of the earlier Church. We see this when we examine writings that predate Matthew’s witness only by several decades. For example, Saint Paul wrote in his earliest letter to a church…

Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Look to yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each man will have to bear his own load.  (Galatians 6:1-5)

 That the apostles were thought of as founders, the first little ones of the Church, we assume they went forward before the Law along with Gospel proclamation. We see that a proper balance of Law and forgiving Gospel became a goal among the Christians. To provide further proof, we later see that Paul stressed this new balance, by restoring for the vacillating synagogue Christians the original intent found in Leviticus. He upbraided the new church which was formed in Corinth…

When one of you has a grievance against a brother, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, matters pertaining to this life! If then you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who are least esteemed by the church? I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no man among you wise enough to decide between members of the brotherhood, but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers?

                                                                                      (1 Corinthians 6:1-6)

 Thus we see that the issue of internal community strife was not newly found in the church in Antioch. Therefore, it was not due to an isolated incident addressed exclusively by the pen of Matthew. Wherever there is sin… whenever there are disagreements… assuredly prescribed Christian guidelines needed to be laid out before the people of God. Matthew did so. The guidelines were to be done prayerfully. They were not necessarily taken before the province or authorities of any outside governmental power. The instructions provided in Matthew thus gave us procedural process within a growing faith community and guaranteed that Jesus Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit would be with us in the midst of what may at times be sinful, painful and gross unrest.

 

 

The Courage to Stand: Facing Your Fear Without Losing Your Soul By Russell Moore

 

 

Follow the Progression!

 This promise was given to Matthew’s church and also to us, by the gospel writer’s pen. We see that Matthew’s community was an infant church struggling in separatist fashion with its parent synagogue… providing a path of Christian ministry into the future. Looking in retrospect, therefore, our modern Church is also called by the power of the Holy Spirit to follow similar progression as outlined clearly. This is true whether the sin and dissonance be personal, congregational, denominational or across the breadth of the entire Church.

 I noted when studying the original Greek found in the Matthean witness, that “agreement” was very specifically flavored... in that we should exist in “symphony” (In Greek = συμφωνησωσιν [sumphōnēsōsin]). We need remember therefore, some very final and everlasting words to the Church spoken by Jesus. These are recorded by the church of John. Written likely in the last decade of the first century A.D. we read …

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.”  And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”  (John 20:21-23)

From John then, we call attention specifically to the refrain of peace that our Lord Jesus Christ gave to his disciples who were present. As they were in the upper room, hiding like little children from the wrath of parental Judaic anger, he said repeatedly, “Peace be with you.” (In Greek = Εἰρηνη ὑμιν [Eirēnē humin]). I contend that this statement was said as an actuality for the infant churches since the Prince of Peace was already there. This statement was also Law, however… a command in that the community of Matthew and others developed guidelines for the children’s behavior. And finally, this statement is most surely Gospel… for as the baptized children of God the good news is that through Jesus Christ working through the Holy Spirit... we also may certainly work to have lasting peace with one another. Consequently by the witness of Matthew, knowing that we fall short, we sinners can yet gather at the table of the Lord knowing that the peace existing beyond all understanding is already ours. Thanks be to God!

 

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May the Peace of God prosper Mutual Ministry!