Matthew 18:23- 35 "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 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?' 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."
I
live in South Africa. We are a people who have spent approximately 300 years
learning how to hate one another. We have good reason to hate, because our
ancestors robbed and killed each other at the point of a gun or the end of a
spear. More recently we have used military might, and government legislation to
confiscate the land and livelihood of people based on the colour of their skin.
Yet, when Nelson Mandela led the creation of a new country, he noted: 'When a deep
injury is done to us, we never heal until we forgive'
Nobody
disagrees with him that we have needed to learn to forgive. But as the years
have passed – another question has emerged: Just how long must this forgiveness
continue? At what point do we abandon the ‘rainbow nation’ and move on to ‘winner
takes all’? The practice of democracy has little room for forgiveness. However,
the praxis of Jesus is all about forgiveness.
The
context of the above scripture passage is a response to a question raised by
the apostle Peter. He seems to have understood that Jesus teaches forgiveness
as a core life value. Peter’s problem lay in exactly how many times Jesus
expected his disciples to be forgiving? Jesus does not shy away from a straight
answer: Jesus tells us that God’s Kingdom values are Grace and Mercy. Our
understanding of the Grace that God has extended to us is demonstrated in the
measure by which we extend the same forgiving values to those around us. This
echoes the words of the Lord’s Prayer – “Forgive
us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us”. This does not mean that we are to ignore
injustice by means of forgiveness. Instead, when we have a forgiving heart, our
pursuit of justice is not motivated by revenge, but instead comes from a desire
to see the Kingdom values of God expressed in our daily lives.
Today I share in the Convocation of the Order of Deacons of the British Methodist
Church. My invitation to those in the Convocation is simple: your Grace-filled
conduct towards each other over the next few days will be a visible demonstration
of how you understand the Grace of God. And if you are finding it hard to be
forgiving of someone else at the Convocation – perhaps you can at least hear
the plea in the parable to “have patience”.
In
the same way my invitation those who follow Jesus in South Africa: and indeed to all Jesus-followers everywhere: our
capacity to be forgiving of one another is the visible expression of the
presence of God amongst us all. Let us not give up on the pursuit of justice!
But as we do so, let us use grace and mercy as our tools to fashion our new
national identity.
“Forgiving is not
forgetting; it’s actually remembering--remembering and not using your right to
hit back. It’s a second chance for a new beginning”
Desmond Tutu.
Pray for: Carole Smith (Oxford); David Smith (Liverpool); Hilary Smith (Bury St Edmonds)
Readings
taken from the lectionary in the Prayer Book of the British Methodist Diaconal
Order
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