Peter came and said to Jesus, "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 take place. Then his lord summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked slave! I forgave you all the 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."
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When I was 15 1/2 my parents decided it was time for me to learn how to drive so I could pass my driver's test. I guess they finally got tired of chauffeuring me around all the time. The worst thing was parallel parking. We went downtown on the weekends when downtown Oklahoma City was like a ghost town and practiced parallel parking more hours than I'd like to remember in front of the federal building.
On the morning of April 19, 1995 I was sitting in class at school. The room we were in didn't have any windows and we felt the building shake. We were talking amongst ourselves because we didn't remember seeing any clouds in the sky as we were walking into the classroom. We at first assumed it was thunder. A few minutes later a student who had forgot to wear a tie (I went to a private Christian school that had a dress code) was returning from home when he said he saw some cars driving over 80 miles an hour on the highway. It was all rather strange and surreal. Our teacher turned on the TV and we heard the breaking news that there had been an explosion downtown. At first, reporters thought it was a natural gas explosion. Then, as reporters often do in a vacuum of hard facts, they jumped to the conclusion that it was "Muslim terrorists." And finally, the truth emerged that two people planned this attack in retaliation for the government's actions of the Branch Dividians in Waco, Texas.
Seeing all of this on the TV was hard to believe and I can remember many nights after this happening taking the "long way home" and going along Interstate 40 which was an elevated highway where you could see the damage very clearly. Being unable to believe the place where I learned to parallel park and that had been so calm so many times before was the center of such chaos and tragedy.
As you know, this week we passed the seventh anniversary of September 11 and what happened in New York City, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D. C. The events that happened in Oklahoma City when I was a junior in high school come the closest to me being able to understand what happened on those days. It's just now 13 years later that I'm able to talk about my experience of being in Oklahoma City during the time of the federal building bombing. These are difficult things to talk about without our emotions getting the best of us. Sometimes sadness. Sometimes anger. Sometimes wanting revenge.
This week's gospel lesson is particularly hard to hear in light of September 11. But I think in other ways it's not. What I want to think with you about is the parable Jesus tells about the man who is forgiven his enormous debt who turns around and is unwilling to forgive someone who owes him a small sum. This is one of those Gospel lessons that as I heard it as a kid I enjoyed listening to the first part about forgiveness, then Jesus turns the tables on me at the end where the man is unwilling to forgive his fellow slave. This man has been forgiven so much yet he's unwilling to forgive someone else.
I think the reason this gospel angered me so much hearing it growing up was my innate sense of justice. Bishop N. T. Wright in his book Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense argues that within each of us is a longing for justice. We want people to be treated fairly and justly. Deep inside of us we know when someone has been wronged.
Let me give you an example. A few weeks ago my partner Jason and I took our Godkids David, who is eight, and Grace who is five, to the Air and Space Museum. Grace is at that age where she is keenly aware of justice. There were three times that day when her brother did something and we'd hear, "That's not fair." By the third time feet were stomping and yelling commenced. We know that justice looks like and we're always striving for it.
When we see someone treated differently because of the color of their skin, because of their religion, because of their sexual orientation, or because of their socioeconomic status we know it's wrong.
One of my favorite theologians is Dr. James Cone, a professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. I had the privilege of hearing Dr. Cone speak back in January at the Trinity Institute. A questioner asked him about the present "crisis" in the Anglican Communion around human sexuality. "Will there ever be reconciliation in the Anglican Communion over issues of human sexuality?" Dr. Cone, who is an African Methodist Episcopal Church pastor and not an Episcopalian, had nothing to loose by answering this question candidly and honestly. He said reconciliation can never happen until there's justice. Until gay and lesbian Christians are treated with dignity and respect and treated equally as straight Christians. Archbishop Desmond Tutu who chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa would probably respond in the same way. Reconciliation couldn't happen in South Africa until justice had won the day and blacks were treated with the same dignity and respect as whites.
So today I wonder where God might be calling us to work for justice. I wonder if we as a nation have been forgiven much and now it's time for us to forgive others. My hunch is the answer to that question is yes. We as a nation haven't been totally innocent in a number of atrocities. I wonder if seven years is long enough for us to begin to think about healing. I wonder if God's dream for us as a country is to walk in those words from Micah 6:8 -- to DO justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God. Amen.
The Rev'd Thomas S. Rogers, III
Assistant Rector
All Saints Episcopal Church
Frederick, Maryland
September 14, 2008 // Year A: Proper 19
2 comments:
Preach it brother, preach it! :-D Nicely done on all counts.
I just have 1 word for that Piece, WOW!
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