Pass It On
Genesis 50:15-21
15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said,
“What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the
wrongs we did to him?” 16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your
father left these instructions before he died: 17 ‘This is what you are to
say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the
wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive
the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message
came to him, Joseph wept.
18 His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We
are your slaves,” they said.
19 But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of
God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to
accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So
then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he
reassured them and spoke kindly to them.
Matthew 18:21-35 NIV
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I
forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven
times. [a]
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle
accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who
owed him ten thousand bags of gold [b] was brought to him. 25 Since he
was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his
children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’
he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took
pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants
who owed him a hundred silver coins. [ c ] He grabbed him and began to
choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with
me, and I will pay it back.’
30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into
prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what
had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master
everything that had happened.
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said,
‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me
to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had
on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be
tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you
forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
Sometimes, we are quick to pass along something good or helpful:
happy news, a favorite recipe, a possible remedy, or relationship
advice – or maybe a movie or restaurant recommendation or a stock
tip.
Likewise, we can be quick to pass along something sad or
discouraging: a difficult diagnosis, news of a friend’s divorce,
or a family member’s recent layoff.
But what about the Good News of the grace that God gives us?
Do we keep it to ourselves and for ourselves – or do we pass it on?
God did not send His own Son to die for us so we could hoard that
Good News of His deliverance and forgiveness.
These gifts are supposed to be – as Cousin Eddie said about the
“Jelly of the Month Club” in Christmas Vacation – “It’s the gift that
keeps on giving, Clark!” They are not meant to hit a dead-end with us.
They were meant to be passed along – shared freely – as someone
once shared them freely with us.
God redeemed us from sin and death so we could pass those gifts on
to others. He created us and saved us to be conduits of His grace and
mercy in a world that sorely lacks both of those.
If you would like a simple way to remember how to differentiate
between mercy and grace – this might be helpful: Mercy is NOT giving
us what we deserve and Grace is giving us what we don’t deserve.
Moses took very seriously his role as a conduit of God’s grace and
mercy. When the Israelites panicked because they were trapped
between the edge of the Red Sea and the Egyptian Army – Moses
shared with them an encouraging message he had received from God:
“Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the
LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never
see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
Moses stretched out his hand, and the wind (or breath or Spirit –
the Hebrew word covers all three) of God drove the sea back so the
Israelites could walk across on dry land.
God’s power to deliver can open a path through what should be
impossible obstacles – so that we can move on into the life of service
He has in store for us.
Can you think about a time in your life when you had a “Red Sea
Moment” – when God removed what seemed to be an immovable
obstacle so that you could do something He was calling you to do?
Was it going to school to be a teacher? Or a safety officer at a plant?
Or being an instrument of healing as a doctor, nurse, or medical
technician? Was it marrying a fellow believer so you could have and
raise Covenant children for Christ’s Kingdom?
What extraordinary things did God do to get you to where God wanted
you to be? Did you resist or just go with the flow of God’s Spirit?
Or was your "Red Sea moment" a time when God delivered you from
a bad situation – and now you can extend that same grace and help –
and maybe even a second chance to someone else?
Those are the circumstances in which we find Jesus and Peter in our
reading from Matthew’s account of the Gospel today:
Peter came to Jesus – hoping that he could get a free pass not to have
to keep forgiving his brother – who apparently kept doing things that
bothered or upset Peter.
“How many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me?
Seven times?”
Peter thought he was being generous. The ancient Jewish law only
required forgiving someone three times. Peter must have thought that
Jesus was out of His mind when He replied, “Not seven times, but 77
times” – although some Gospel scrolls say, “seventy times seven” –
which would require forgiving 490 times.
The numbers don’t matter that much – it’s the point that counts.
We are to forgive every time someone sins against us – because God
forgives us every time we sin against God. Please forgive me if this
sounds a bit harsh – but do we think we’re better than God?
Jesus responded to Peter’s stingy attitude toward forgiveness with the
parable of the unmerciful servant.
It is one of Jesus’s most emotionally powerful stories. We read of a
servant who owed a huge amount of money – ten-thousand talents –
which would be somewhere between ten-million and 15-million dollars
today. That entire amount was forgiven by the king to whom the
servant owed that much money.
But the servant did not learn from the grace that was shown to him.
He did not pass it on.
When he ran into a fellow servant who owed him a hundred denarii –
which would be about two-thousand dollars today – he grabbed the
man by the throat and ignored his pleas for more time to come up with
the money. Then he had the servant thrown into prison until he could
pay off the debt.
Let’s stop for a moment and think about that. How could anyone come
up with that money while in prison? He couldn’t work to earn it.
He couldn’t visit his friends to beg for their help. He couldn’t even go to
one of those payday loan places that have popped up all over the Ohio
Valley. The poor guy might never get out of prison.
The master who had forgiven his servant’s debt heard how the servant
had not extended the same mercy to his fellow servant – and had the
unmerciful servant thrown in jail to be tortured until he paid back every
penny he owed.
Generally speaking, people like to hear how the unmerciful servant got
his come-uppance – was punished harshly for his refusal to extend the
same mercy that he had received initially.
But how well do we take that lesson to heart? When we think about it,
just one sin is all it takes to disqualify us from God’s gift of eternal life.
Let’s think about all the sins we have committed over the years.
How could we possibly dig our way out of that hole?
The answer is actually very simple: Jesus.
Our sins put Jesus – God’s own Son – to death on the cross –
but they are not held against us because of Jesus’s sacrifice.
Or as Max Lucado put it, “Jesus came to pay a debt He didn’t owe for
those who owed a debt they couldn’t pay.”
Having been shown that much grace and mercy – how can we ever
justify refusing to extend that same grace and mercy to others?
Not only is that hypocrisy – but it also a slap in the face of Jesus.
On top of that – unforgiveness blocks the flow of grace in our own
hearts. Living as faithful citizens of Christ’s kingdom requires a change
of heart – not mathematical gymnastics, like the one who asked
whether he should forgive "seven times."
When we think about the sins we have committed over all the years
that we have been alive – it’s like a boat anchor and chain that
threaten to drag us into the depths.
Or as the ghost of Jacob Marley said to Ebeneezer Scrooge: “I wear
the chain I I forged in life. I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I
girded it on of my own free-will, and of my own free-will I wore it.”
But we have been set free from those chains – free from that weight on
our consciences – and free from the eternal consequences they carry.
So our gratitude for the mercy that God has given to us should drive
us. No – drive is too tame a verb. It should propel us – like a rocket
to show mercy to others.
Are we still holding grudges – clinging to a mental or spiritual boulder
that threatens to sink us – drown us – in a sea of bitterness?
For that matter, are we still bitter about the 9-11 attacks 25 years ago
this past Friday – and are still wary of anyone who looks like he or she
is from an Arab country?
This past Friday – on the 25 th Anniversary of that horrible day – I was
listening to a sermon that Tim Keller preached at Redeemer Church in
Manhattan on the Sunday after the terrorist attacks. It was called
“Truth, Tears, Anger, and Grace”.
In it, Rev. Keller challenged his shell-shocked congregation to allow
themselves to grieve – but not in the same ways as those who have no
hope. Allowing ourselves to grieve and allowing others around us to
grieve is a good way to build relationships – and is another way that
we can “give answer to everyone who asks us to give the reason for
that hope that is in us,” as Peter wrote in his first pastoral letter.
The sad anniversary is now past. We have grieved the massive loss of
life and the suffering of those injured or physically sickened by the
burning plane and collapsed buildings. But we do not grieve as those
who have no hope – because we have a hope that endures – through
fires and floods, wars and peace, sickness and health, poverty and
riches, sorrow and joy.
We have the peace of God that surpasses our ability to comprehend it.
May we choose today to let God’s peace and love and mercy flow
through us – not just to us.
Let’s pass it on! Amen.