Eucharistic Gospel Reading for Sunday of Proper 19: Year A
“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?’ (Matthew 18: 28 – 35)
This gets back to our Lord’s Prayer, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us.” But, do we really want to forgive, or pardon those who have hurt us?
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ did many things that we are not able to do. He healed the paralyzed, he gave sight back to the blind, he restored hearing and speech; and he even brought the dead back to life. We can do none of these although we sometimes come close through medical science.
However, the one thing that Jesus did that we can do if we set our hearts to it, is to forgive. In order to forgive we must first want to. It hurts. When we have been wronged, or betrayed, or abused or lied to, or assaulted , or perhaps a combination of these. It hurts. Such pain can often lead to anger.
We should plead with those whom we have offended for their forgiveness, and whether we receive forgiveness or not, we must have compassion for those who come to us and plead for the same. We all admit that we are fallible. Therefore, it should not surprise us when we err. We must remember that when we see the unrepentant, that except for the grace of God, there goes us.
Sometimes we make mistakes. Sometimes we are just wrongheaded. In any case, a time of reflection should make us aware of our transgressions and cause us to want to walk it back. As painful as it might be, it needs to be done in order to set us right before God and our neighbor.
So, the same is true for those who wrong us. Jesus’ point is that though it might happen more than once, if we are counting the number of times, we are harboring resentment. I do believe that we must guard ourselves against intentional evil but we also must use our God-given reason to protect ourselves. We shouldn’t count but we must be accountable. We are not created to misuse or to be misused.
As we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
Let us pray: Proper 19 The Sunday closest to September 14 (BCP p.233)
O God, because without you we are not able to please you, mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
onewhoponders 