88. The Importance of Forgiving

 “If your brother sins against you, go, show him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained back your brother. But if he doesn’t listen, take one or two more with you, that at the word of two or three witnesses every accusation may be established. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembly. If he refuses to hear the assembly also, let him be to you as a Gentile or a tax collector. 

If two agree on earth concerning anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the middle of them.”

Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, how often shall I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?”

Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but seventy times seven.

The kingdom of God is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began, one was brought who owed ten thousand gold talents. Because he couldn’t pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, with his wife, his children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, have patience with me, and I will repay you all!’ The lord of that servant, being moved with compassion, released him, and forgave the debt.

“But that servant went out, and found one of his fellow servants, who owed him one hundred days wages, and he grabbed him, and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’

“His fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will repay you!’ But he wouldn’t, and cast him into prison until he should pay back what was due. 

When his fellow servants saw what was done, they were distraught, and came and told their lord. His lord called him in, and said, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave your debt because you begged me. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ He delivered the man to the jailers, until he should pay all that was due. So my heavenly Father will do to you, if you don’t forgive each other from your hearts.”

Reflection

One of the sad facts of human nature is how resistant we can be to forgiving others even after we’ve experienced forgiveness ourselves. Do you find yourself falling into the trap of imagining you deserve to be forgiven while others don’t? Do you tend to call your sins “mistakes” while seeing malicious intent in what others do? 

 

Prayer: Help me show grace to others, Lord, in the extravagant way you have shown it to me.

 

87. A Father's Love

He said, “A certain man had two sons. The younger of them said, ‘Father, give me my share of your property.’ He divided his wealth between them. Not many days later, the younger son took everything he had and traveled into a far country, where he wasted his fortune in riotous living. When he had spent all of it, there arose a severe famine, and he became desperate. He went to work for a local farmer who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. He wanted to fill his belly with the husks that the pigs ate, but wasn’t allowed. 

When he came to himself, he said, ‘My father’s servants have bread enough to spare, and I’m dying of hunger! I will get up, go to him, and say, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants.”’

“He arose, and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion; the father ran, fell on his neck, and kissed him. The son said, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

“But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe, and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. Bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat, and celebrate; for this, my son, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’ They began to celebrate.

“Now his elder son was in the field. As he came near to the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the servants to him, and asked what was going on. He said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and healthy.’ 

The elder son was angry, and would not go in. His father came out, and begged him. But he answered his father, ‘These many years I have served you. I never disobeyed a commandment of yours, but you never gave me even a goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came home after spending your money on prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’

“The father said, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But it was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for this, your brother, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’”

Reflection

Jesus told this parable, not to emphasize the son’s sinfulness, but the father’s love. This is one of the central stories by which Jesus revealed the extravagance of God’s love for those caught up either in rebellion against God or in self-righteous piety. In this story, do you identify more with one son than the other? In what way does this story speak of God’s love for you? 

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for showing so clearly that you can love me even if the way I have lived fills me with shame.