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July 6, 2021

7/6/2021

The Limits of Forgiveness, Part 2 Again

        But that same servant, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat he said, "Pay what you owe." So his fellow servant fell down and besought him, "Have patience with me, and I will pay you." He refused and went and put him in prison till he should pay the debt. Matt. 18:28-30, RSV.

    Scene two in the parable moves the action from the divine-human perspective of scene one to that of the relationship between two human beings. And it is at this level that we Peters get into trouble.

    Let's catch the dynamics. Having just gotten off my knees and left my place of prayer, I am truly in a good mood in the full assurance of God's forgiveness. So far, so good.

    But 10 minutes later I run across a jerk who has been avoiding me for weeks. And for good reason. He owes me money, and I am the last person he wants to see.

    And it is no small amount. After all, 100 days' pay, approximately a third of a year's salary. Even at the modest minimum of $7.50 per hour for 100 eight-hour days the amount equals $6,000. That is a significant part of my yearly budget. I want my money, and I want it now. So I grab him by the throat and order him to pay up or else.

    And what is the response? A falling on the knees and a request to have patience and a promise to pay what he owes.

    That's not good enough for me. I have had to deal with this slick dude long enough. Now is the time for justice and to make things right. Gracious too long with this shifty character, I will give him exactly what he deserves.

    In act two of Christ's parable on forgiveness we find the human perspective. This person has used up the quota of forgiveness. Having reached the limits of forgiveness, I can at last cut loose with my righteous fury. It is time for me to hand out the legal punishment.

    Completely overlooked is the fact that his request for mercy from me almost exactly echoes my recent prayer to God on the same topic. Also, conveniently, I have "forgotten" that the money owed to me is really a part of my debt to God.

    But why remember such technicalities when I am right and others are wrong? It is only just that I give them what they deserve. Or is it?

July 5, 2021

7/5/2021

The Limits of Forgiveness, Part 2

        Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the reckoning, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents; and as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, "Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay you everything." And out of pity for him the lord of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. Matt. 18:23-27, RSV.

    Jesus knew that Peter would not get the point of the 490 forgivenesses from a mere statement on the topic. As a result, part 2 of His reply to the apostle's question is a story that illustrates the point.

    The parable of the unmerciful servant (Matt. 18:23-35) has three main characters: the king (God), and servant forgiven an unbelievably large debt (you and I), and a servant (our neighbor, wife, husband, children, fellow church member) who owes the first servant (you and I) a manageable debt.

    The parable has three scenes. In scene number one the first servant is in the king's audience chamber, where the ruler forgives him a large debt. It was not merely large--it was a stupendous amount, a debt that could never be paid.

    Ten thousand talents doesn't mean much to me because I don't think in those terms. But the figure begins to be understandable when I realize that the combined annual budget for Idumea, Judea, and Samaria was only 600 talents. And the budget for the relatively prosperous Galilee was 300 talents.

    Thus when Jesus notes that "he could not pay," He was uttering a plain truth. No way an individual could even begin to pay such a 10,000-talent debt.

    At that point the parable moves into human logic--give the debtor what he deserves. But in the face of that just punishment the servant falls on his knees, praying for the king to allow him time and he would repay everything, an impossibility that must have been evident even to him.

    At that point in the parable divine logic takes over. The king forgives the penitent petitioner. Here is grace: giving people what they don't deserve, giving them what they need.

    We Peters have no problem with the story thus far. After all, we love God's grace when bestowed upon us. Sleeping better in the light of grace, we praise God every day for that special gift. And we should.

July 4, 2021

7/4/2021

The Limits of Forgiveness, Part 1

        Jesus replied, "I do not say seven times; I say seventy times seven." Matt. 18:22, NEB.

    Yesterday we began to examine Peter's question about the limits of forgiveness. The disciple, of course, had not only asked the question, but had supplied a rather generous answer. Seven forgivenesses is a lot of forgiving, especially in an area of sensitivity.

    Jesus answers Peter in two parts. First, He says, the correct number is not seven but "seventy times seven" NEB, RSV, NIV margin) or 490. Now that is a lot of forgiveness (even if it is a mere 77 times, as suggested by the NIV)--so much that a person would lose count before transgression number 491 (or even 78) had arrived. However, Jesus is not teaching a lesson on the arithmetic of forgiveness, but rather that forgiveness has no limit.

    That is not the answer Peter expected, for as we noted yesterday, Peter, like you and me, is really more interested in the limit of Christian love and forbearance than in its extent. After all, it is reassuring to know at what point I can stop loving my neighbor with a good conscience, to know when I have fulfilled my quota of love and forgiveness, so that I can as a "good Christian" let people have what they deserve.

    All too often I find myself standing with Peter and the all-too-human implication underlying his question: "When can I let go?" "When do I have a right to explode at these stupid yokels that I have to live with? work with? go to church with?"

    Here are some real questions of practicality for daily living. Especially since those other people really are disgusting--really are deserving of a bit of my wrath, a good tongue-lashing, a piece of my mind. And they are. I have been so patient with them, but they don't seem to get the point. So if forgiveness doesn't seem to solve the problem, perhaps a bit of attack will wake them up.

    That line of thought represents Peter's idea on the topic and mine also. But Jesus frustrates both of us by stating that there is no limit to forgiveness.

    That is not an answer that Peter can even begin to understand. So in the next few verses Jesus will illustrate His point.

    Lord, give me ears to hear as my Lord tells me something that I really need to understand.

July 3, 2021

7/3/2021

Peter's Try at Greatness

        Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Matt. 18:21.

    Now there is a practical question. One wonders why Peter even asked it. But, given the context, perhaps the reason is not difficult to discover. For one thing, Jesus had been speaking to the topic of problems between individuals. For another, the disciple had been hearing echoes of glory in his head ever since Jesus had commended him at Caesarea Philippi. And third, since that time all of the disciples had been arguing about which of them was the greatest.

    Peter was sure that it was him. And now he would demonstrate it before them all, including Jesus, who would undoubtedly have praise for his generosity.

    "How often am I to forgive my brother...? As many as seven times?" (Matt. 18:21, NEB). Peter had no doubt about the "greatness" of his statement. After all, seven forgivenesses is a lot, especially since the rabbis taught that one must not forgive more than three times.

    Thus Rabbi Jose ben Hanina claimed that "he who begs forgiveness from his neighbour must not do so more than three times." And Rabbi Jose ben Jehuda said, "If a man commits an offense once, they forgive him' if he commits an offense a second time, they forgive him; if he commits an offense a third time, they forgive him; the fourth time they do not forgive."

    The biblical base for that ruling appears in the opening chapters of Amos, from which the rabbis concluded from the oft-repeated "for three sins" of the various nations, "even for four," that the limit of God's forgiveness was three times. Thus Peter, in an act of exceptional generosity, doubled the accepted Jewish quota and added one for good measure. Not bad for a hard-fisted and probably short-tempered fisherman.

    But behind Peter's outward question lies one that interested him far more. Namely, when have I reached the limit of forgiveness? When with a clear conscience can I cut loose and let people have it? Or when, after I have filled the obligatory limit, may I be my real self and with clear conscience give people what they deserve?

    Those are questions all of us would like to have answered. Christ's disgusting response is "never."

July 2, 2021

7/2/2021

So You're Offended!

        If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile or a tax collector. Matt. 18:15-17, RSV.

    How much misery we could avert if church members followed the counsel of Jesus set forth in these verses. All too often what happens is that individuals, whose overly sensitive selves think they have been offended, begin to shoot off their mouths to any who will listen. Possible reconciliation gets transformed into gossip and eventually the trash of bad feelings.

    In considering "our" feelings and "our" selves we trounce on other "selves," whom we may or may not have even understood.

    I remember as a pastor that people would come up to me and begin to complain about others in church. Of course, they expected me to "do something about it," or even have the church take action against them.

    My answer was always the same: "Why have you come to me?" Most of the time I was met with a blank stare. At that point I would open the Bible to Matthew 18:15.

    Jesus couldn't have said it more clearly. Don't make the problem public, but go to the person privately and keep it between the two of you if possible. It never helps to bring sin out in the open if we can solve the problem in private. Then again, in many cases we are dealing with misunderstanding rather than "sin" or true offense. Sometimes it is merely our own trumped-up vision of our own "dignity."

    Whatever the problem, Jesus makes it clear that the offended one should take the initiative--"go." That is a command to be like the God who sent His own Son to make reconciliation with those who had "spit in His face."

    If a personal conference doesn't solve the problem, invite a couple other mature Christians into the discussion to help bring in some objectivity. And, if that doesn't work, then, and only then, should you take the issue to the congregation.

    Bottom line: Here is a Christian grace I can start living today.

July 1, 2021

7/1/2021

Get Off Your Holy High Horse

        Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea....See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. Matt. 18:5-10, ESV.

    One thing is clear from these verses; God cares for the weak ones in our congregation, whether they be young and innocent (the "child" in verse 5) or new or struggling members (the "little ones" of verses 6 and 10).

    While verse 5 has a promise connected to the reception and caring of insignificant children, Jesus changes the tone in verse 6 from promise to warning. Meanwhile, the topic in the flow of His presentation moves from humility to the seriousness of causing "unimportant" believers (the "little ones") to stumble in their Christian walk.

    The overall message of the passage is that it is better to have a millstone around one's neck and be drowned than to lead a weak Christian astray.

    The warning is clear enough. Yet how easy it is to heap honors upon the visiting guest speaker while not even staying hello to those who look as if they can't afford proper clothes for church.

    Endless stories tell about the deacon who speaks harshly to a person who doesn't seem to fit into the congregation; about the "saintly" matrons of the church who criticize new Christians in their hearing about something they brought to potluck that wasn't up their personal standards; about the better-than type who offend a person searching after meaning with comments about their jewelry; about those who have insulted teenagers who haven't quite got their act together.

    It is no wonder that many never return to our church. But their "guardian angels" (Matt. 18:10, NEB) are working with them. And we should also.

    Today is the time to get off our holy high horse and take heed to the words of Jesus, extending our love to those "little ones" found in every congregation who are beloved of God. He wants to change our hearts and characters so that we might be a force for good in their lives.

July 20, 2021

6/30/2021

The Beginning of the End

        Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days."...He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with bandages, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go." John 11:39-41, RSV.

    Here we find one of the most dramatic moments in the life of Jesus and His greatest miracle. The two other individuals whom the Gospels report that He had raised to life were only recently deceased. But here was one who had been dead for four days, and that was problematic in the warm climate of Palestine in which decomposition sets in rapidly.

    There is something else important about this story. When Jesus had raised Jairus' daughter in Mark 5, He ordered almost everyone out of the room. And after the event He told them not to tell anyone. But now He operates before a larger crowd, putting His reputation on the line as He shouts to Lazarus to come out.

    And he did! It must have been a heart-stopping moment as they witnessed the bandaged figure staggering out from the tomb.

    As He performed this miracle, Jesus undoubtedly had thoughts of His own approaching death and resurrection. The raising of Lazarus foreshadowed His own experience. But with differences. Lazarus was raised back to earthly existence, but Jesus to a heavenly ministry. While Lazarus would die again, Jesus would live forevermore.

    The very publicness of the resurrection of Lazarus would lead to the final events of Jesus' earthly life. His disciples had warned Him not to go back to Judea because the Jewish leaders were looking for an excuse to kill Him (John 11:8). And now He had provided them with one. "From that day on they took counsel how to put him to death" (verse 53, RSV). Interestingly, they also put Lazarus on their hit list because many of the Jews were "believing in Jesus" as a result of the man's resurrection (John 12:10, 11, RSV).

    This greatest of miracles had taken place in Bethany, just a few miles from Jerusalem. Soon Jesus would make His final entrance into the great city as the crowds surged into it for the Passover feast. And following that entry would come the climatic events of His life.

    The Lazarus miracle indicates the life-giving power of Jesus. It is that power that forms the basis of the good news that He came from heaven to share with us.

June 30, 2021

6/30/2021

The Disciples' Favorite Question

        At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them, and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Matt. 18:1-4, RSV.

    With this passage we have come to the disciples' favorite question. They seem to be obsessed with it. Mark 9:33, 34 tells us they had been "arguing" on the road about who was the greatest.

    Perhaps the stimulus for the problem was Jesus' blessing of Peter after his reply that Jesus was the divine Christ. It is almost impossible to believe that he hadn't gloated over that commendation. Then there was the selection of three of the disciples to go with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration.

    But at a deeper level the question of greatness resides at the center of the sinful human heart. The desire for egocentric importance fuels both the world's greatest accomplishments and its greatest sins. The desire to stand out, to be superior, to have people look at and admire "me" is part of the great rebellion of human beings against God. It was also the root of Lucifer's sin in heaven. He had said in his heart, "I will raise my throne above the stars of God....I will make myself like the Most high" (Isa. 14:13, 14, NIV). The desire to be the greatest, even to be the god of our own life, forms the very foundation of sin. And, as we noted earlier in discussing Matthew 16:24, the only solution to that problem is the cross--that is, the death of our selves and the born-again experience in Christ.

    In Matthew 18:2-4 Jesus tells His disciples that the greatest in the kingdom will be like little children. Children were of little account in antiquity, and we find Jesus here turning the wisdom of the world on its head by proclaiming that true greatness does not lie in accomplishments and worldly sophistication but in the humility and transparency of children.

    The disciples, as we might expect, didn't like that lesson and immediately forgot it. To be honest, I don't enjoy it either.

    And with that realization it is back to the foot of the cross in humble repentance.

June 29, 2021

6/29/2021

Lessons From a Fish Story

        What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers? Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free. Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take and give unto them for me and thee. Matt. 17:25-27.

    Another example of the unpreparedness of the disciples is the Temple tax episode. That event takes the form of an attempt by the Jewish leaders to trap Jesus by creating a situation in which either answer to their question is problematic.

    The question "Does not your teacher pay the tax?" catches Peter off guard. A negative answer will provide a pretext for charging Jesus with rejecting the Temple service. Peter, wanting to avoid that horn of the dilemma, quickly answered that Jesus will pay the tax.

    But that hasty reply merely lands Peter (and Jesus) on the other horn. After all, priests and others devoted solely to God's service could claim exemption. As a result, Peter in effect denies Jesus' role as a prophet and teacher in Israel. Thus the same apostle who a short time before had set forth Jesus as the Son of God and the Messiah now stumbles over himself and sanctions the very conception of Jesus put forth by the Jewish leaders.

    Jesus does the best thing to disarm the situation, telling Peter that He is exempt, but to pay anyway by catching a fish that would have the right amount of money in its mouth.

    At first glance that miracle seems out of harmony with what we read in the biblical Gospels and more in line with the exotic miracles of the apocryphal gospels. But a moment's reflection shows that the miracle of the fish with the coin fits the very need of Jesus at the time. For one thing, it definitely proves to Peter the true status of Jesus. Second, it is almost impossible to believe that the disciple could keep his mouth shut about how they obtained the money. Third, even though Jesus outwardly complied, technically it was not His money that paid the tax. Thus the miracle made both horns of the dilemma disappear.

    An overlooked point in this event is that Jesus acted as He did so as not to give offense. The lesson we need to catch is that He avoided useless confrontation whenever possible. What a better place the church of today would be in if all disciples followed Him in avoiding needless conflict.

June 28, 2020

6/28/2021

Not Every Day Is a Spiritual High

        And when they came to the crowd, a man came up to him and kneeling before him said, "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly; for often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not heal him." Matt. 17:14-16, RSV.

    What a contrast! On the Mount of Transfiguration Jesus and the "three" had witnessed a bit of heaven. Now, coming off the mountain, they glimpse a fragment of hell in the life below. To say the least, they descend to find a difficult situation.

    In fact, it was exactly the kind of circumstances that Peter had hoped to avoid when he had said on the mountain, "It is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles" (Mark 9:5, NASB). If Peter could have had it his way he would have stayed up there forever.

    But Jesus had not forgotten His mission. The purpose of the Transfiguration was to strengthen Him for it. And He arrived just in time to face a serious problem. The nine disciples had publicly failed in healing a boy, and the scribes were having a great time of it, casting doubt not only on the ability of the disciples but, by extension, on Jesus.

    The humiliation of the disciples was extreme. It was at that point that Jesus showed up and cured the boy. Why had they failed? the disciples asked Him later. That was a good question, since He had already given "them authority over the unclean spirits" (Mark 6:7, RSV). And upon returning from their first mission experience without Jesus they had reported that they had "cast out many demons" (verse 13, RSV). What was the difference now? A first suggestion is that Jesus' announcement a week earlier that He would be rejected and die had shattered their faith. They couldn't give what they didn't have. Beyond that, they may have had a bad attitude, grousing about the special privilege of Peter, John, and James in going with Jesus while they remained behind.

    What we know for sure is that their prayer life was weak (Mark 9:29). Of course, their discouragement and lack of prayer were not unrelated. Most people stop praying when they become discouraged. Yet that is the very time we need to pray more than ever.

    It would be nice if we could always remain on a spiritual high on the mount with Jesus. But the hard fact of life is that mountain highs of necessity are followed by "coming down" to the real world. And in that we need prayer to navigate successfully, even if we don't feel like praying.

    The end point: Pray anyway.