Forgiveness; March 10, 2019 sermon on Matthew 18:15-35

Rev. George Miller
March 10, 2019
Matthew 18:15-35

A few weeks ago we studied Matthew 7:1-14 and shared how Jesus sets the bar high hoping that we will exceed; that Jesus wants us to be a Bruno Mars and not a Maroon 5 in the Superbowl Halftime Show of Life.

We discussed that if you are different, you must go beyond what the world expects if you are to succeed- your shoes must be shined and tie on point.

Of course, these are only things you can know if someone taught you.

Now, if we were to put our heads together and pull from our nearly 9,000 years of collectively lived experiences, what would we say are the top 10- 20 things everyone should know in order to live a successful adult life?

How to boil water, cook an egg, fix a flat tire, and balance a checkbook is up there.

What else? What do you suggest???

…If we were to get a step further, and say that you knew your time on earth was limited, what would the pearls of wisdom be that you would want to pass on to your loved ones???

…Last week we studied chapter 16 and 17, and heard how Jesus revealed to the disciples what is about to take place.

Jesus told them again and again the news that he must go to Jerusalem, suffer, and be killed.

No ifs, ands or butts- Jesus is going to die.

It seems that with this bit of information revealed, Jesus’ ministry has changed, and there is a new focus.

In the beginning, Jesus was in the synagogue teaching. He was on the mountains calling people blessed; miraculously feeding the masses. He was by the seashore healing the sick, eating with sinners, walking on water.

But now, with the news of his death, it seems as if Jesus has switched up his ministry to telling his followers how to live without him.

In chapter 18 he talks about humbling oneself like a child, he warns them about causing others to sin, and to not despise others.

Today, he teaches about church relationships, reconciliation, and forgiveness, and in Jesus’ true fashion, he doesn’t make things easy, he speaks in extreme hyperbole, and he sets the bar super, super high.

If you notice, in the 1st part of today’s reading, Jesus does not sound very UCC. He does not say “No matter who you are, or where you are, you are welcome here.”

Matthew reports Jesus as saying that there is a specific way to handle sinful behavior within the church, and if it cannot be worked out one-on-one, or three-on-one, or in front of the whole congregation, it is best for that person to be let go.

But in the same breath Jesus tells Peter we are to forgive not 7 times, not 17 times, but 77 times.

Then Jesus shares a parable about a servant forgiven of a large debt but having an unforgiving heart.

Let’s be honest here- how do we even begin to preach about forgiveness?

Forgiveness is perhaps the hardest thing there is in the human experience.

We can talk about being housework- if your floor is dirty, sweep it!

If you have dishes in your sink-wash them!

But how do you address something so emotional, so relational, so circumstantial as forgiveness?

Learning how to forgive is like learning how to fold a fitted sheet- nearly impossible.

After all, how many of us here today are mad at someone, and not only are you not ready to forgive, you wouldn’t know how even if you wanted too?

How many of you at this moment are either currently mad at me or have been mad at me in the past?

Or mad at the council, or someone sitting in the pews, or up here on the chancel?

How many are mad at someone who severely, permanently, or violently hurt someone you loved, and no amount of forgiveness can ever undo what’s been done?

…How many here today may be mad at themselves???

And Jesus says to forgive not 1x or 7x, but many many times?

Then this story about a king who forgives his servants extremely high debt?

Perhaps this is like Matthew 7 in which Jesus is setting the bar super high so that we succeed.

Perhaps this is Jesus acknowledging that humanity’s ability to forgive one another is not like a magic wand that is waved and “poof!” it happens right away.

Perhaps this hyperbole is a way for Jesus to acknowledge just how difficult true forgiveness really is.

That true forgiveness takes time, takes practice, takes many, many attempts.

That forgiveness is not about perfect execution, but the fact that we try our best to achieve it again and again.

Maybe this amount of scriptural space and hyperbole is an indication of truly just how important forgiveness is to God.

Perhaps Jesus is speaking in poetic extremes because he knows that as human being, forgiveness is perhaps the hardest thing we can do.

Mountains can be climbed, oceans can be sailed, the stars can be explored.

But to forgive someone who has truly hurt you beyond repair- that’s hard.

But it matters to Jesus, and it matters to God, and it mattered to the early church, otherwise it would not be here.

Today is a difficult reading to preach upon, because there is no magic solution we can dispense.

There is no witty acronym to give.

There is no step-by-step instruction to tell you how or when to forgive.

There is no shaming you into submission.

There is no way to even start to pretend that I can teach you how, or that I practice an ounce of what I preach.

But I do believe that Jesus is raising the bar in hopes that we exceed; that Jesus wants us to excel, if not for that person’s sake, than for ours.

In the beginning we talked about how if you are different, you must go beyond everyone else to succeed.

This is Jesus acknowledging that we are different; we’re not like everyone else.

We are not like the rest of the world.

We are a heavenly family right here on earth; sisters and brothers of the same God.

And the God who remembers, the God who sets free, the God who parts the seas, the God who feeds from the mountaintop, and saves us from the storms,

Is the same God who wants us to forgive, and to be forgiven.

For that’s part of what being a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven is about.

Amen and amen.

PS- after the sermon, each person is given an index card and encouraged to write down the name of one person they would like to start the process of forgiving. While music is played, they are invited to place their folded-up card in the prayer bowl upon the altar as an offering to God.