What Must We Forgive To Make Our Lives More Complete?
Good Morning Friends,
Jesus final words in today’s Gospel parable are very instructive and chilling for those who refuse to listen regarding the importance of forgiveness from the heart. It is about not being bitter. It is about not sowing seeds of bitterness and sin. It reminds us that the law was given through Moses, and that grace and truth came through Jesus Christ, but that without a sacrifice of forgiveness offered up, hard justice inflicted by us might well perpetuate a cycle of violence. And so, this morning we contemplate the success and sacrifices in the lives of Moses and Jesus and ask on a more personal basis: What Must We Forgive To Make Our Lives More Complete?
Scripture: Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the LORD, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Isaiah 55:6-7 (NRSV)
Let me cross over to see the good land beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and the Lebanon.” But the Lord was angry with me on your account and would not heed me. The Lord said to me, “Enough from you! Never speak to me of this matter again! Go up to the top of Pisgah and look around you to the west, to the north, to the south, and to the east. Look well, for you shall not cross over this Jordan. But charge Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, because it is he who shall cross over at the head of this people and who shall secure their possession of the land that you will see.” So we remained in the valley opposite Beth-peor.
Deuteronomy 3:25-29 (NRSV)
Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times. “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, 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 slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
Matthew 18:21-35 (NRSV)
Message: Today we ask a tough Lenten question about what completes our lives. And yes, the answer is the love of Jesus experienced in the fullness of our repentance. So, it is a little bit sad if we have not submitted to receiving and offering up forgiveness from our hearts for all those things that need forgiveness. For without that our connection to the love of God is not complete. Sometimes we need to dive into the deep water and out of the shallows to realize the relationship lived in the fullness of life. To help us understand what we are to reflect, we have as our text a passage about the Israelite nation. The pregnant moment it depicts is the moment of the crossing into the Promised Land. After forty years in the desert, the Hebrew nation is leaving Moses behind as they begin crossing with new leadership in Joshua. And in the Gospel message we have a passage about Jesus training up Peter in leadership with a focus on the need for forgiveness to complete our lives. And when we combine today’s lectionary selection we begin to see the role of forgiveness in freeing us from our past and in also freeing us to our future. We also begin to see that when we believe in something larger than what we can accomplish alone we must use faith as a means of achieving it. Here forgiveness with faith frees up space within us to create the life and the love we really want and that is what makes a life complete in Jesus as we glorify God in our life. Interestingly there is a symmetry between Jesus and Moses that can speak into what makes our lives complete. What Moses did for Joshua, Jesus did for the twelve. They both trained others to take over the reins of leadership. Both would bear the sins of others. The list is extensive. Both Moses and Jesus were born into a history of oppression from other nations. The killing of Hebrew infant male children was ordered by both Pharaoh and King Herod. Both Moses and Jesus hid from persecution in Egypt. Both used water as a symbol of salvation. Both were raised by men who were not their natural fathers. Both faced rejections. Both were described as shepherds. Both took compassion on others. Moses’ ministry started supernaturally with the burning bush and God speaking to Him. Jesus’ ministry started supernaturally when the dove descended on Him and a voice from Heaven spoke. Moses reappeared after His death and Jesus reappeared after His resurrection each helping to complete what God had envisioned. Friends, now today we have a call to cross over into a land of unlimited forgiveness. The juncture is at the corner of Peter’s question about forgiveness and Moses demonstrating that social good comes before individual gain. So too for us, only when our hearts forgive will we be freed to love and discover a completeness of glorifying God. Jesus teaches us that asking forgiveness is not a simple apology, it is to be aware of the sin, of the idolatry that we commit when we close the door to God’s forgiveness. Even at Calvary the case for Christ is presented with the grace of a King who loves abundantly. In this place of three crosses we see rebellion, repentance and redemption. We see the gift of second chances. At the very moment that Jesus was dying for that criminal’s sins on the cross He was offering all of us an unconditional pardon. Here a symbol of shame and terror and death is replaced with a symbol of God’s profound love for us. Jesus invites us home and is waiting to see if we will extend grace to others.
And So, there is a relationship between love and forgiveness, and that repentance connects the two. When Jesus preached the Good News, He said… “Repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” It was all about love and forgiveness. So, we need to recognize the revolutionary significance of the primary demand these words bring for those seeking the Christian life. We need to realize that repentance is not a call to a remorseful way of thinking but an invitation to change one’s basic attitudes about God, self, things and others. It is a call to learn to love and forgive.
Pray we not grieve the Holy Spirit. Pray we mature to accept Christian forgiveness over a demand for unlimited vengeance. Pray we pass on the mercy we have received from Jesus. Pray we crossover into an opportunity to conquer our fears. Pray we never consider mercy a weakness. Pray we forgive from the heart. Pray we realize the importance of how our hearts remember the events of our lives. Pray we realize the importance of keeping the dream alive in our hearts.
Pray we have the courage and commitment to trust God. Pray we realize we are loved. Pray we share the love we have received. Pray we are confident in God’s care. Pray we are committed to God’s purpose. Pray we are controlled by God’s will. Pray that we pardon by faith, that we set at liberty even our enemies to enjoy peace, fellowship, joy and the hope of God’s glory.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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