Forgiving – 17 September 2017 – 15th Sunday after Pentecost/ Lectionary 24

The preacher today might circle around issues of forgiveness in our individual lives and in our national discourse to help the assembly come to terms with the fact that judgment is God’s alone. This is a radical counter to our civic notions about assigning blame and meting punishment.

Matthew 18:21-35

Peter raises a question about the quota for forgiveness, wondering when enough is enough. Jesus’ response. . .  [stipulates] the need for far more than Peter can imagine. The parable that follows is full of hyperbole, and certainly was received with humor as Jesus told the tale. . . The amount of money—ten thousand talents—is more money than a small country could accumulate, let alone a single slave.

The blame for the situation rests with both the slave, who has become encumbered by such an astronomical debt, and by the master, who lent it in the first place. The slave compounds the outrageousness of the situation by promising to repay a debt that ten lifetimes could not repay.

The gracious forgiveness of the debt is all the more unbelievable. The humor wanes as the slave who has been let off . . . now demands payment in full for a small amount from another slave. The outrageous has become outrage, and certainly the crowd would cheer as Jesus tells of the harsh punishment of that worthless slave.

We realize we have been caught by this parable, as the slave had been caught by the master. Judgment is not for us, forgiveness is. –– Timothy V. Olson

Genesis 50:15-21

While Joseph has reconciled with his brothers and has been reunited with his father, Jacob, in chapter 45, Jacob’s death presents a test. Will Joseph, now beyond the influence of his father’s place as patriarch, turn to seek revenge upon those who stole a lifetime of living with his father from him? Joseph’s responses to his brothers’ fear are notable. . . He recognizes that wrath, judgment and vengeance belong to God alone. Note in his next statement that the announcement of forgiveness is not an avoidance of accountability of judgment. . .

Through God’s gracious acts, the evil intended has been overcome for good, redeemed by divine act. In so doing, the original evil is condemned as well. Joseph now acts in accordance with the redemption, not the evil. Joseph desires to sustain them all and care for them. The human cycle of evil is broken. –– Timothy V. Olson

Romans 14:1-12

Paul continues his explication of how the lordship of Christ affects the daily life of the faithful in this passage. The subject at hand is the diversity of religious practices in the community. While the issue is the consumption of food, it seems to have wider implications about our life together in community as well. Paul uses images of the “weak” and the “strong” to identify the diversity.

Note, however, the way Paul defines each in contrast to the cultural norms of his day. The weak are those who observe the food laws closely, the strong are those who do not. This grows out of Paul’s overarching argument that faith is the center of righteousness, not works of the law, and that with faith comes freedom.

For Paul, the gift of grace that justifies does not release one from the reality of God’s judgment, it changes the character of the encounter. –– Timothy V. Olson

Timothy V. Olson is the Lead Pastor for Mission and Vision at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Ankeny, Iowa.

Homily Service 38, no. 10 (2005): 13-24.

The Elder Brother – 6 March 2016 – Fourth Sunday in Lent

[T]he season of Lent follows a tension found in St. Augustine of Hippo. Just as Augustine described the trajectory toward salvation as a personal journey in his autobiography, The Confessions, so too did he envision it in The City of God as an historical movement toward the eschaton. In Lent the lectionary exhibits this same pattern. Salvation is personal for baptizands, as they move through the preparation of Lent toward the paradigmatic celebration of baptism at the Easter Vigil.

Simultaneously, however, the readings from the Old Testament chosen for Lent every year move us from Israel's origins on the first Sunday in Lent to its hope for new life on the last. The Old Testament themes used for the sundays in Lent in all years are (1) Origins, (2) Abraham, (3) the Exodus, (4) the Nation, and (5) the Promise. – Fritz West

Today, the Fourth Sunday, we are given to ponder forgiveness in the feast that comes with reconciliation.

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

The parable from Luke lays out reconciliation in all the complexity of family life. Its traditional title, “The Parable of the Prodigal Son,” focuses only on a part of the whole. Better is the cumbersome title, “The Prodigal Son, the Waiting Father, and the Angry Brother,” for both of the brothers distanced themselves from the father and the family, the younger son in willful prodigality and the elder son in resentful duty.

The younger son breaks family solidarity, both by demanding his inheritance and by dissolute living. Though to all appearances dutiful, the elder brother sets himself outside of the family circle through anger toward his father and resentment toward his brother.

Despite all this, the father shows patience and initiative, on the one hand waiting for the younger son, on the other hand approaching the elder (vv 20, 28b). The prodigal son, in bewildered amazement, joins the celebration that his father throws for him. However, we are left at the end of the parable at the side of the father—waiting, hoping, praying for the return of the elder son. Will he join the festivities or not? That is the question. – Fritz West

And while we wait for that answer, we may well look in the mirror to see the elder brother in our own images, not sure which way to turn when the Great Provider, the One who has the fatted calf killed for us, shows us unearned mercy. We may cluck at the squandering brother, but we might also consider a squandering on the part of the elder brother who stays home, safe, and doesn’t take chances.

For both of them––for the adventurer who loses his way and for the careful obeyer who abides in the family compound––the prodigal father lavishes his generosity, confounded that either of them would be unaware of his open arms.

Reconciliation comes from the Bread Provider, the LORD.

Joshua 5:9-12

On the historical stage, the book of Joshua tells of the reconciliation of the people of Israel with their God, which calls closure to the desert wandering and opens up a future life in the land of promise. The forty years in the desert consolidated Israel as a people; there they experienced the Exodus, received the Law, and established patterns for religious life. The backdrop for this reading, however, is Israel's disgrace in Egypt and disobedience in the desert, which necessitated Israel's reconciliation with Yahweh. The way was opened by Yahweh, Godself. God brought them into the promised land, a foretaste of the ultimate salvation, here ritually anticipated in the Passover meal.

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

The epistle reading also sets personal salvation in a wider eschatological context. For while we experience our reconciliation in Christ personally, Paul describes it cosmologically as “a new creation.” Once again we touch on the baptismal theme. As creation was brought forth from the waters of the deep, we participate in the new creation through the waters of baptism. – Fritz West

Reconciliation is embued in the waters of baptism.

Fritz West, a liturgical author and retired pastor of the United Church of Christ, lives in Marine on the St. Croix, Minnesota, and serves as the Presiding Member of the Association for Reformed & Liturgical Worship Steering Committee and a board member of The Liturgical Conference.

Homily Service 40, no. 4 (2007): 23-32.

The Life-Giving Power of Forgiveness – 14 September 2014 – Lectionary 24

Joseph’s crucial question––“Am I in the place of God?”––calls on us to stop judging others, taking the first step on the road to being able to forgive. But it is not easy to do.

Stories of forgiveness always catch our breath: the parents of the peace worker killed in an African village where the parents, then, continue their daughter’s work by building wells; the Amish community in Pennsylvania that forgave the killer of several young children in the school; the families of murder victims who plead that the killer’s life be spared.

Matthew 18:21-35

To forgive is to be transformed. That is what we hear today in all the readings.

When responding to Peter's question about how often to forgive, Jesus' answer must not be construed as a program specifying a maximum of seventy-seven occurrences. The parable suggests that forgiveness becomes a lifestyle for those who have received God's forgiveness. Peter's question had to do with granting forgiveness for repeated offenses, while Jesus' parable deals with forgiveness for an immense debt, yet both are focused on the same problem. Forgiveness does not flow naturally from the human heart.

For the believer who lives in reconciled relationship with God, the character of God will have a transformative effect on the character of the believer. The story asks the listener to contemplate whether a person could receive the mercy of God while remaining unmerciful toward fellow believers (those whom Paul describes in Romans 14:4 as servants belonging to God). The believer will find that forgiveness not only sets the offender free, but also gives life and freedom to those who do not hold a grudge or seek revenge.

This parable does not address every question one might have about forgiveness, but addresses the listener with both the overpowering judgment and demand of God and with the life-giving power of God. The parable may call the listener to consider whether he or she is continuing to hold on to resentment for wrongs suffered in the past. The listener is invited to consider relinquishing some hurt, so as to be set free from its power.

            – Aaron J. Couch

Genesis 50:15-21

Anticipating Jesus' words concerning forgiveness, the first reading recalls how Joseph reassured his brothers that he would not take revenge on them for all the suffering they had caused him. The brothers had worried that Joseph's only reason for restraint had been out of respect for their father. Once Isaac was dead, the brothers feared that their lives were in danger. Even though Joseph held a position of great power (almost as good as God, as far as the brothers were concerned), he did not presume to be able to judge them as God would judge, deserving life or death. With a display of irony, however, Joseph acts as God does act, extending forgiveness and promising to provide for them and their children. Joseph has learned that appearances may be deceiving. Even though the brothers had desired to harm Joseph, God used their actions to give life and blessing. Joseph interprets his suffering as having an important role to play in the unfolding of God's hidden purposes.

            – Aaron J. Couch

We may not always be able to see our suffering––or that of loved ones or strangers whose lives have come to our attention––as “unfolding God’s hidden purposes,” but that does not mean God’s purposes are not hidden in what befalls us.

Romans 14:1-2

As Paul writes, “we live to the Lord.” We live and die “to the Lord.” What we are then called to do is to love our neighbors.

Paul is most concerned about the potential for conflict and judgment to divide the church. . . . Whether it is observing the Sabbath or eating meat that may have been sacrificed to an idol, the Christian must act in accordance with his or her conscience. Even more important, though, the believer must recognize that those with whom he or she disagrees belong to God. No believer has the right or authority to pass judgment on another believer.

            – Aaron J. Couch

Aaron J. Couch is co-pastor of First Immanuel Lutheran Church, Portland, Oregon.

Homily Service 41, no. 4 (21 July 2008): 14-25.