Sermon by Dr. George Bryant Wirth
The Third Sunday in Lent
March 15, 2009
THE GIFTS OF GOD FOR THE FAMILY OF FAITH
“FORGIVENESS”
Scripture:
Matthew 18:21-35
INTRODUCTION
Bernie Madoff, the 70
year-old
According to the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution, Madoff said he was “deeply sorry and ashamed” (as he) was
led off in handcuffs to begin serving a sentence expected to be up to 150 years
in prison” (AJC cover story, Friday,
March 13, 2009, by Larry Neumeister and Tom Hays, Associated Press).
Nancy Gibbs, senior editorial
writer for Time Magazine, noted that “Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor
Elie Wiesal…and his entire foundation were wiped out (financially), along with
thousands of other investors in Madoff’s $50 (maybe $60) billion ponzi
scheme” (Time Magazine, March 23, 2009,
by Nancy Gibbs, page 17).
Watching a CNN report just
last week, I heard a woman from
Well, nobody knows for
certain the exact location where Mr. Madoff will spend the rest of his life in
a prison cell, but even with his confession of guilt and public apology, what
most people do want to know, especially the deceived investors, is this: “Where
did all the money go? And how can they
get at least some of it back?”
I
When Jesus told His story
about the unforgiving servant, recorded in Matthew 18, it is unlikely that any
of those first century listeners could have imagined a Madoff ponzi scheme of
such staggering dimensions. But the debt
that was owed – ten thousand talents with each talent worth fifteen years of
wages – the debt was so great that as the first servant who had been forgiven
refused to forgive his fellow servants, Jesus said that he was given over to
the jailers until he could repay everything…strangely similar to the Bernie
Madoff scene.
And if these two stories were
only about the money, then the lessons to be learned would include staying away
from the vice-grip of greed, being good stewards of the gifts we have received,
and sharing our blessings with people, especially the poor, who are in such
dire need today.
But that is not really what
Jesus intended for us to discern from this parable, neither is it the bottom
line of the Bernie Madoff scandal. The
deeper questions we must deal with sooner or later are these:
1.
Is forgiveness
possible when we have hurt or betrayed people and broken their trust?
2.
If we don’t
forgive others, will the Lord forgive us?
3.
And can
reconciliation happen when we cannot see it on the horizon?
So let’s begin with the first
question: Is forgiveness possible when we have hurt or betrayed people and
broken their trust? If you read the Bible
from Genesis to Revelation, the answer is “yes,” but it is never easy and does
not happen automatically.
This is the very question
which Dr. John Patton has addressed in his classic book “Is Human Forgiveness
Possible?” As many of you know, Dr. Patton
chaired the Pastoral Theology Department at Columbia Seminary and after
retirement, joined our staff here at the
So please listen to these
words from the introduction of this book:
“Human
forgiveness is not doing something but discovering something – that I am more
like those who have hurt me than different from them…although the experience of
God’s forgiveness may involve confession of, and the sense of being forgiven
for, specific sins, at its heart it is the recognition of my reception into the
community of sinners – those affirmed by God as His children.” (From “Is Human
Forgiveness Possible?” by Dr. John Patton, Abingdon Press, 1985, page 16)
And toward the conclusion of
his book, Dr. Patton adds this insight in response to the dialogue between
Peter and Jesus in our text for today:
“Lord,
if a church member sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered “Not seven times, but I tell
you seventy time seven.”
John Patton writes:
“Our
human problem is not how to forgive, if this is understood as something to be
done, but finding a way to discover that the other person is a human being like
ourselves, in spite of all that has happened…Jesus’ answer to the question
affirms the relationship and all that it involves. (Ibid, page 179)
Now that is not only a
therapeutic and pastoral perspective – it is the Biblical and theological
context for the process of forgiveness.
If anyone who has been hurt or betrayed by someone else holds on to the
pain, nurses the anger, continues to blame, re-plays the harmful event over and
over again, and seeks revenge, then they are locking the doors to the
possibility of forgiveness.
But when we look at that
person who has injured us and can see them as a child of God, loved by the
Creator; when we envision that person as a human being who is imperfect,
inconsistent, insensitive and sometimes downright indifferent; and when we are
willing to stare into the mirror and recognize that what Romans 3:23 says is
true: “All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” – then the
door can open to the process of forgiveness.
What Jesus was telling Peter,
and what He still wants us to know all these years later is that forgiveness is
not only possible – it is God’s will for His whole human family on earth with
these two provisions:
1.
Forgiveness does
not mean forgetting or excusing what has happened, and
2.
Sometimes
forgiveness requires that we maintain a distance from the one who has hurt us,
especially when violence has occurred and justice must be served.
Of course, it needs to start
where you and I live – in our own homes and families. A 75 year old man went to his doctor for a
physical examination. The doctor
couldn’t find a single thing wrong with him, and he said “It’s amazing! You have the healthy body of a man 25 years
younger. What’s your secret?”
The man replied, “Well, when
my wife and I were married 50 years ago, we made an agreement. We decided to never quarrel, so when we have
a difference of opinion and it causes friction, and we can see a fight coming
on, she just stays in the house and I go out for a long walk. So I guess my good health is due to the fact
that for the past 50 years, I’ve lived pretty much of an outdoor life.”
To tell you the truth, I
can’t imagine what it would be like to live in a marriage or a family without
friction and some kind of commotion.
Because if we dare to draw close together, we are bound to rub up
against one another from time to time.
So when the conflict comes,
then forgiveness is what we need to mend our fences, to rebuild trust, and to
prevent the walls of resentment from going up.
As Christians, we believe that the Spirit of Jesus Christ is the source
of that healing power and peace. “Be
kind and tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ has forgiven
you” (Ephesians 4:32). And that is the
gift which He offers to you and to me and to all of us in our families when and
if we are willing to receive it. Life is
too short and people are too precious to miss it – so don’t miss it!
II
And so it can be in the
church, which we here at First Presbyterian call “The Family of Faith.” The psalmist wrote long ago “Behold, how very
good and pleasant it is when the people of God dwell together in unity” (Psalm
133:1).
But what are we do when that
unity is threatened by divisive issues in our denominations, and by
inter-personal conflicts in our local congregations? This is where the second question of our
sermon comes out into the open: “If we don’t forgive others, will God forgive
us?”
Barbara Brown Taylor, who
teaches at
“I gained a reputation for
preaching…our organist was a gifted musician…God gave us the bread…we gave it
to one another and carried it into the community, dishing up soup in the
kitchen, handing out food at the food pantry, setting the table for mothers and
their children at the battered women’s shelter…and the congregation grew.
Before long, we were setting out
folding chairs on Sunday morning and decided to go from three services to four…The
obvious solution was to expand our facilities…and while a few members
championed the new building, the majority resisted the idea. People were afraid that paying off a new
mortgage would decimate our outreach budget, and they were afraid that making
room for more members would put an end to the intimacy that had drawn them to
Grace-Calvary in the first place…
People were afraid…and I was afraid
too that I would not be able to manage the conflict that was arising…which I
knew some people blamed on me…At the congregational meeting, when I walked
around and saw the sheets of newsprint on the walls that discussion groups had
hung there, I saw the same phrase in one form or another on several sheets:
‘Wait until Barbara leaves to decide this,’ they read, which was how I first
learned that it was time for me to go.”
(From “
Within a year, Barbara Brown
Taylor moved on to become a college and eventually a seminary professor. Today, I believe that God has blessed her
heart with the gift of forgiveness, and also given the same gift to most of the
people in that church.
But when we don’t forgive one
another, when we forget to speak the truth in love, when we resist or refuse to
receive the spirit of forgiveness, then even God has a hard time getting
through to us.
I think that’s what Jesus
meant when He told the parable of the unforgiving servant recorded in Matthew
18. And by the grace of God, I hope and
pray it will never happen to us here at the corner of 16th and
Peachtree.
CONCLUSION
Which leads us to the
conclusion of this sermon and our final question: Can reconciliation happen, even when we
cannot see it on the horizon?
The Apostle Paul wrote to the
Do you know what that
means? It means that even though we do
not know how everything is going to turn out, especially during these difficult
days of financial crisis and recession, God is calling us, here and now, to be
His agents of reconciliation – in our own lives, in our homes, in the church,
and across this nation and around the world.
And if anyone in this
sanctuary today, or worshipping with us through radio or television, is
wondering how God’s plan of forgiveness and reconciliation is ever going to
come true, then remember the final words of His son our Savior Jesus on the
cross: “Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they do.” And believe
this: those words were meant for everyone, including me and including you.
Do you believe that today? Let me tell you this legend as we close:
“God called together a great
convocation, something like a general assembly, in heaven; and all the angels
are there, and the archangels, and everyone.
At the beginning God gravely announces that on earth mankind has
encountered sin and has fallen. And He
asks for suggestions of a remedy, for volunteers to go down to earth and
straighten things out. And one great
angel comes forward and says, “I will go to earth, and I will live a life of
purity and righteousness and be an example for the human race.” And God says, “That’s good, but an example is
not good enough to overcome the power of sin.”
Another angel volunteers: “I will go down and I will teach them the
truth,” he says. And God replies, “Your
lessons would be true and the things you taught would be right, but it’s not
enough; your teachings cannot wash clean the stain of sin.” And a third angel steps forth, and he says,
“I will go down and will take with me the sound of the heavenly music, and charm
earth’s people with the beauty of holiness.”
And God shakes His head and He says, “That’s good, but it’s not enough
to drown out the raucous clamor of sin.”
For a time there is silence in heaven as all ponder what to do. And then God’s Own Son, Whom angels and
archangels revere, God’s Son comes and stands before His Father. And God’s Son says, “I will go down to earth
and I will become one of them, and I will die for them to show them how much we
love them. And they will know that
through Me they are lifted out of their sins and are forgiven.” And God says, “Yes.” And that’s the way it happened. And that’s the way it is.” (From a sermon presented by Dr. Robert
Cleveland Holland, “The Encouragement of Christianity For the Unforgiven,” March 16, 1980, Shadyside Presbyterian
Church, Pittsburgh, PA)
In the name of the Father and
the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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