The Place, the Reality and the Consequence of Forgiveness - Sermon for the 22nd Sunday after Trinity

Twenty-second Sunday after Holy Trinity
November 13^th, A+D 2022
The Place, the Reality, and the Consequence of Forgiveness 
Matthew 18:21-35 

Let’s talk about forgiveness

    In the Large Catechism, speaking on the 3^rd Article of the Creed, Martin Luther wrote the following:  “⁵⁵ Everything, therefore, in the Christian Church is ordered toward this goal: we shall daily receive in the Church nothing but the forgiveness of sin through the Word and [Sacraments] [‘signs’ in the original], to comfort and encourage our consciences as long as we live here. So even though we have sins, the Holy Spirit does not allow them to harm us. For we are in the Christian Church, where there is nothing but continuous forgiveness of sin. This is because God forgives us and because we forgive, bear with, and help one another. [Galatians 6:1–2]^[1]”

    The Church of Jesus Christ is all about delivering forgiveness to sinners.  Wonderful stuff.  But, what exactly is forgiveness?  This should not be a difficult question amongst Christians.  But, can you say what forgiveness is?

    Is forgiveness a decision?  Peter seems to think so.  As the future Apostle asks Jesus how many times he must forgive his brother, Peter seems to think that forgiving his brother is a decision he is obliged to make, although he does not want to.  “How many times must I forgive my brother?” Or, to say it another way, “When can I stop making this sacrifice that I don't like?” 

    In the parable that Jesus goes on to tell, we see how the wicked servant did not want to
forgive his fellow servant's debt, which was a stupid decision. Deciding not to forgive resulted in his ruin.  His lack of mercy for his fellow servant, who owed him a relatively minor amount, enraged his master, who had forgiven him an incalculable debt.  It’s helpful to understand the ratio of a denarius to a talent.  A denarius was the standard day’s wage for a laborer.  A talent was worth 6,000 denarii.  So 10,000 talents would equal something like 180,000 years of labor.  Jesus’ point is that the forgiveness and grace of the master is incomprehensibly great.  But the master’s mercy had no effect on the heart of the wicked servant.  He would not forgive. 

   If forgiveness is a decision, certainly this wicked fool should have decided to forgive his fellow servant.  But, thinking that forgiveness is our decision is problematic, for at least a couple reasons. 

    First, Jesus says we must forgive to continue to receive the Father's forgiveness.  If forgiveness is our decision, this would mean something we do, our good work of forgiving another, is the key to salvation. As if we are saved, or at the least we protect and maintain our status as saved, by our works.  This of course runs against many very clear Bible passages that teach us that salvation is a work of God, a gift from God, received by faith, neither earned nor maintained by our works. 

      Even more, in our gospel today Jesus demands that our forgiveness come from our hearts.  To forgive from the heart does not sound like a decision. The forgiveness God wants to see in our lives is not a choice we force ourselves to make, but rather a spontaneous act of mercy.  Forgiving from the heart means forgiving naturally, and gladly, like God does.   

      Does this mean then, that forgiveness is an emotion, a feeling?  Is the Lord telling us that the key to salvation is that we feel happy when we forgive others?  I hope not.  Because, at least for me, forgiving someone who has sinned against me does not always make me feel very happy, even though I am convinced that it is right and good to do so. Forgiving someone can really feel awful, can’t it?  Of course. 

      When we try to forgive someone who has harmed us, the devil, the world and our own fleshly emotions band together in a chorus of protest: , “No, don’t let him off the hook! Don't let him escape without consequence!  Don't be a fool!  You have to demand a payment, some groveling, something to maintain your pride and the respect of others.  Something to give you a little satisfaction.” 

     The greater the sin suffered, or the greater our perception of the sin suffered, the more difficult it is to forgive, and the harder it is to be happy to have forgiven someone.  Maybe we hear a note of despair in Peter's question: “Do I have to forgive my brother, even as many as seven times ...?”  If the legitimacy of my forgiveness depends on me feeling happy to give it, then I am lost.  Because my emotions all too often fight against forgiving.  Forgiveness certainly generates lots of emotions, in the one who sinned, and in the one sinned against.  But I don't believe Jesus is teaching us that forgiveness is an emotion. 

    Forgiveness is not our decision.  Nor is it our emotion.  Then what is it? 

   We’ll be better off to conceive of forgiveness as a place. A place?  What do you think of this idea?  Does it make any sense?   

     Well, yes.  Yes, forgiveness is a place, and that place is the heart of God Himself.  Forgiveness is a place, or at least, forgiveness is found in a very specific place, in the heart of the Father. As we prayed in the psalm, “If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?  But with You there is forgiveness.”  

     The key to understanding forgiveness is to recognize that it is not a natural quality or  characteristic that we can claim.  We are not natural wellsprings of grace and mercy.  But God is.  Forgiveness is an attribute of God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Forgiveness is of His character; it is of His being.   Forgiveness is located within the divine essence, in the very heart of the Lord.   

     All good?  Everything clear?  So, if forgiveness is in the heart of God, and it is, then it cannot be our decision.  Nor can it depend on our emotions.  To think of it from another angle, consider this:  Forgiveness is the antidote for sin, as St. John says: the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)  But we all know that our decisions and our emotions still suffer from our sinfulness.  Therefore, our forgiveness, that we are called to grant to a brother, cannot be our decision, nor our emotion.  It is only going to be real forgiveness, if it comes from the heart of God. 

     Now, in the heart of God, I think we can speak of forgiveness as an emotion.  Consider this mystery: Despite what it cost Him, forgiving makes the Lord happy.  The Lord has compassion for sinners, enough to give His only begotten Son as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.  Winning forgiveness is Jesus’ exaltation, His glory!  And now that Jesus has won forgiveness for the sins of the whole world, it is the joy of the Lord to receive more and more sinners, who confess their sins, and ask for mercy in the Name of Jesus. 

     In the heart of God, we can also speak of forgiveness as a decision, the divine decision to forgive sinners in the Lamb, Jesus Christ.  And this isn’t some current, doubtful “maybe He will, maybe He won’t” decision.  No, the Lord made the decision to forgive before the foundation of the world. 

   Think of it:  Even though God knew before creating us how we were going to fall into sin and rebellion against Him, nevertheless, the Almighty decided to save us, through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Forgivenesss was a decision in the heart of God, before time began, a decision that gave joy, and still gives joy, to the Lord. 

    When forgiving one another is hard, when it pains us to forgive a sister or brother, oh that the Holy Spirit would remind us of Jesus, who despised the shame and accepted the incalculable suffering of the Cross, for the future joy of seeing all the believers around the throne, dressed in white robes, that have been washed and made white in His Blood, the Blood of the Lamb.      

     Very well, forgiveness is a place, the heart of the Father, where the decision and the joy of forgiving are eternal, and completely reliable. Forgiveness is the heart of God.  Where and how can we find and receive this forgiveness?  Where is the heart of God?  Well, we might say everywhere, because God is everywhere.  After all, in Him we live, move and have our being (Acts 17:28). But it is clear that forgiveness is not available everywhere.  If it were, this world would be a very different place.  We need to know where the heart of the Father, the place of forgiveness, is present and accessible to us. 

     And you already know.  In Christ Jesus.  We can access the heart of the Father through His beloved Son, His eternal heart, who came down from heaven and became our Brother, taking on our human flesh, to give us access to His Father's heart, through the forgiveness He won on the Cross.  We can imagine Jesus as an inexhaustible reservoir of forgiveness.  Or if you prefer, of love.  This is a distinction without a difference, because God's love for us is first and foremost the gift of his Son, given into the Cross, to redeem this sinful world.  The forgiving love of God in Christ Jesus can never run out.  And to deliver the goods, you know that Jesus promises to meet us right here, and wherever two or more gather in His Name, to hear His Word of grace and receive His forgiving gifts.   

     The thing that condemned the wicked servant was not precisely his ruthless demand on his fellow servant.  That was a symptom of his wickedness, of his bad faith.  The wicked servant’s unbelieving rejection of the master’s forgiveness was revealed in his cruelty to his neighbor.  In truth, the wicked servant condemned himself by denying and rejecting the limitless mercy of his master.  For if there is no mercy for my neighbor, then I am also saying there is really no mercy for myself, either. 

   As Luther described, the central purpose and activity of God’s Church is the delivery of mercy and forgiveness, from the Lord to us, and also back and forth between us.  We habitual sinners have to habitually receive forgiveness.  We need daily forgiveness, for ourselves, and to share with others.  We live from God’s mercy and forgiveness, but we do not own them like possessions.  Rather our faith is like a pipeline through which life-giving forgiveness flows to us, and then through us to others.  Forgiveness is both the foundation and the ongoing fruit of our restored relationship with God. 

     God's forgiveness is His open and compassionate heart towards us.  And, He wants to give us a heart like His, a new heart that naturally shares what it receives.  As the poet Alexander Pope said, “to err is human, but to forgive is divine.”  What the poet knew is that by our nature, we have no true forgiveness for anyone.  Human forgiveness always comes with limits, strings, and expectations.  Human forgiveness is never totally free. 

   But God’s forgiveness is free.  Jesus has earned it for you.  And, He sets you free to share it.  We can share the same grace we have received, because we know and trust that the blood of Christ covers all sin.  There is forgiveness in Christ for all people.  Jesus in His suffering, death and resurrection has revealed the place of forgiveness: the heart of His Father.  Jesus Christ is the reality of forgiveness, and so our forgiveness is always the result of first receiving His.      

     If we refuse to forgive, we are saying that the infinite forgiveness of Christ is not applicable to another sinner. This is to say that the Spirit is a liar. This is to mock the Father who gave his beloved Son to save all sinners.  Denying that the blood of Christ washes another clean is to reject this saving bath for ourselves.  It is to reject the reality of God's grace and mercy, and instead to choose the reality of hatred, payback and eternal suffering that rules in the domain of Satan.   

     Lord have mercy upon us, so that we never refuse to forgive, even if our brother sins against us seven times a day, or seventy times seven times, or more.  This is not to say Christians must be doormats, never defending ourselves or holding another person accountable.  For the good of the society and for the good of the sinner, there can and often need to be earthly consequences for hurtful acts.  We may testify against the criminal who harmed us in order that they be sent to prison.  You may need to set boundaries to protect yourself or your loved ones from a person who habitually harms you.  We do not have to be defenseless doormats.  But, Christians can also forgive, because we are in Christ.   

   When the opportunity to forgive arises, when the one who has sinned against you repents and seeks reconcilation, forgive them.  And even if they never repent, forgive them in your heart; pray to God to help you let go of their offense against you.  Speak out loud to yourself the truth that in Christ, their sin against you is forgiven.  Do not give sin power that Jesus has defeated and buried.  Fight with God’s Word against unforgiveness, so that it doesn’t give you a bitter heart.  Pray for your enemies, and when the opportunity to speak forgiveness comes, forgive.  As Christ forgives you when you do not deserve it, so also share His forgiveness with others.   

     Forgiving is difficult. Because we have not yet been perfected, every opportunity to forgive is a potential struggle.  The world laughs and mocks anyone who freely forgives.  Our will, our emotions, and our minds combine forces to avoid it.  But as Jesus has taught us in the fifth petition of the Lord’s Prayer, we can say the words.  Forgive me my sins against you, O Lord, and I will forgive those who sin against me.  Pray as Jesus has taught you, and also pray to the Holy Spirit: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.  Forgiving may be hard to do.  Sometimes is feels good, other times, not so much.  But remember that the decision, the emotion and the reality of forgiveness do not depend on you.  Rather they are the very heart of your heavenly Father.          

   So, let us approach Christ, who is present today, right here, to share His forgiveness with us.  Jesus draws near to us, longing to hear our confession, so he can then renew our hearts and make them sincere with His Word of forgiveness.  God is here strengthen you in the full certainty of faith, and to create in you the divine will to forgive others. 

   You can do it, because your hearts have been purified from a bad conscience and your bodies have been washed with pure water.  The Spirit of Christ, whom you received in your baptism, will help you.  You can forgive, because you are forgiven, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.    

---

^[1] Paul Timothy McCain, ed., Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2005), 405.