Homily Offered by our Deacon Michael
We do not have to search hard today to know that mercy is in very short supply. People seeking retribution for some real or perceived injury are quick to demand their “pound of flesh” from anyone for any reason, even if it means taking the life of an innocent baby in the process. Our world seems to revolve around retribution rather than forgiveness; around murder rather than mercy. We see that even the harshest of punishments handed down by our criminal justice system is not enough to deter some people from committing unspeakable cruelty.
In the Gospel lesson today, Jesus addresses this issue. Based on His parable, we learn that mercy was in short supply in the first century just as it is today. The parable known as the “Unmerciful Servant” was told by Jesus in response to St. Peter’s question: “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” (Matt. 18:21) We know that in Biblical numerology, the number seven represents completeness, so St. Peter may be implying that by forgiving someone seven times we have fulfilled the requirements for the Law. But Jesus corrects Peter stating that we are to forgive “seventy times seven” (v. 22). Even this fantastic sum of forgiveness (490 times!) is only intended to illustrate the need to forgive without limit, and more importantly, the amount that we forgive—or more accurately, do not forgive—will be reflected on God’s mercy towards each of us if we do not forgive from our heart (v. 35).
Forgiving from our heart involves much more than just letting someone off the hook, so to speak, for a transgression directed against us. And since only God can see into our hearts (1 Sam. 16:7), it is only He Who can determine whether our forgiveness it true. Jesus taught us that the pure of heart will see God (Matt. 5:8), so when we truly forgive and live a life full of mercy towards others then we will be able to know God in His full glory. The prayer that the Lord taught His disciples and we recite daily is to help us to remember that God’s forgiveness is directly proportional to the forgiveness we show to others (Matt. 6:12; 14, 15). This should cause us to pause and reflect on how we have been treating our neighbor, and whether our level of forgiveness measure up to the amount of forgiveness we expect to receive from God.
Reflecting on today’s parable, we learn that the first servant owed a huge sum of money to his master; by some accounts the ten thousand talents represents a debt so incredible that no one could ever pay it back in a lifetime, maybe even several lifetimes. Jesus meant this to represent the debt each of us owe God: several lifetimes of sin that could that we can never fully repay. But like God the Father, the master in the parable was moved to compassion when the servant begged to be spared the punishment that was due him and his family. It should be noted that the servant’s wife and children were not spared from the punishment; sometimes even the innocent suffer from our transgressions, since no sin is victimless. When we sin, someone is either directly or indirectly being affected. The master then did more than what his servant requested: He did not just delay the forced repayment of the debt, but he forgave it completely! (v. 27) Now you would think that after receiving such an unimageable amount of mercy that the servant would have been willing to show the same mercy himself to someone in his debt. Unfortunately, the blessing of forgiveness is often quickly forgotten.
Jesus then turns around the parable and demonstrates the exact opposite of the mercy received by the first servant. We can see the level of violence unleashed on his fellow servant, grabbing him by the throat and demanding payment in full of the money borrowed. Although not an insignificant sum (100 denarii was about 3 months wages of the average worker), the debt was minuscule compared to what was already forgiven of the first servant by his master. The pleads for mercy were ignored and the unmerciful servant has his debtor thrown into prison until what was owed could be paid in full.
How quickly we forget the mercy, love and kindness that is shown to us by our Heavenly Father. Maybe if we would take a few minutes throughout the day to reflect on the multitude of blessings we receive from God, we just might not be so quick to seek retribution. Taking the time to count our blessings will help to keep in the forefront of our hearts and minds all the many things that God has done for us. Despite our sinful shortcomings He is still there welcoming us like the father in the parable of the Prodigal Son. We turn our backs on God’s mercy several time every day, but still He welcomes us back. Keeping this in mind should help us to also remember the debts that are forgiven us and should make us more quickly to forgive others.
There is an old hymn we used to sing called “Count Your Blessings” (Johnson Oatman, Jr. Pub. 1897). The chorus goes:
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God has done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your many blessings, see what God has done.
A sure cure for a case of “Mercy Amnesia” would be to take the time to think about all the blessings we receive from God, especially the blessing of forgiveness. How many times have we fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23) and beg for His mercy for the sins we commit with the confidence that our rightful punishment is not delayed but rather completely forgiven? Think about the accumulation of sins that we have in our lives: If God did not completely forgive them, what would be the weight of the debt owed to the Master? It would likely look like the amount owed by the ungrateful servant, a sum so great that it could not be paid off in several lifetimes. That alone should give us pause to consider how we treat others who need forgiveness from us.
While God is “longsuffering and abundant in mercy” (Psalm 86:15), we should never forget that there will be a time of reckoning. God will call us all to make an account for how we lived our lives, especially how we treated our fellow human beings. If we do not show mercy to those who are in our debts than we cannot expect the same leniency from Him. Jesus ends today’s parable with this dire warning: “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses” (Matt. 18:35). We do not want justice because justice means that we will get exactly what we deserve. Rather, we want the fullest measure of mercy to save us from our proper punishment. Only by practicing the level of forgiveness that we expect to receive will we be able to approach the throne of God on the day of judgement to beg and receive the same mercy that we have shown to others.
Forgiveness should be a way of life for all faithful Christians and we should never forget the endless love that our Heavenly Father has for us. Practicing a constant remembrance of our endless blessings throughout the day will help us to also remember the duty we have to forgive the trespasses of our neighbor. The amount of debt owed to us by another should not have anything to do with the level of mercy we must show, for whether the size of the trespass against us is as small as one hundred denarii or as large as 10,000 talents, we are called to forgive all from the heart as we want to be forgiven. May God help us put this lesson into practice so that it becomes an integral part of our lives as followers of Jesus Christ.