Matthew 18:21-35I have been struggling this week with understanding how this passage speaks to us in the midst of these particular current events. In many ways, this passage would be easier to preach on the anniversary of 9/11, for that disaster had a clear 'enemy' who is in need of our forgiveness. Even four years later, I wonder if we, as Christian individuals, have forgiven our attackers.
But we don't get to forgive Hurricane Katrina, and I'm not sure that it's even appropriate to talk about "forgiving God" within the context of a natural disaster like this. While we may experience anger directed at God, we know that He is not in need of our forgiveness, for He is without sin. Nor does it seem appropriate for me, located far out of harm's way in New England, to talk about forgiving local, state or national leaders for slow evacuation or response.
And yet, the favorite pastime of the media this week seems to be the blame game. Before we've even had a chance to address the needs of the victims, pundits and newscasters are quick to point fingers and cast blame. Even our politicians have been quick to throw blame at someone else, hoping to keep the spotlight from themselves.
Rabbi Marc Gellman has some great words in this week's
Newsweek.
However, in the end I simply refuse to blame the rescuers more than the storm that caused the need for rescue. It is not merely naive but profoundly foolish to have expected that 100,000 troops with water and food and patrol vehicles and helicopters and busses and trains and showers and shelters and electricity and bulldozers and levee-repair crews and mobile kitchens and tent cities and psychological services and identity checkers and employment services and construction crews and electrical linemen and mechanical and structural and civil engineers and architects and water-control experts and animal-removal experts could have all been set up somewhere out of the storm path but close enough to swoop in and pluck the soaking victims out of harmÂs way despite the collapsed bridges and levees the minute the winds stopped blowing and minute the tide subsided without missing a heartbeat. Where have we gleaned the arrogant belief that if we suffer from a natural disaster, it must always somebodyÂs fault? We must all face the grim but inescapable fact that there are some times and some places where the need you face is simply greater than the resources you have at that moment or even days after that moment or even weeks after that moment, and thus agonizing decisions must be made.
The day will come when committees will be commissioned, research will be performed, and blame will be assigned. There may even be politicians who resign before all is said and done. But that day is not this day. As far as I’m concerned, today is the day for mobilizing response efforts. Today, like everyday, is the day for being the Church—reaching out to those in need, giving a cup of water and a loaf of bread in the Name of Christ—at the same time dispensing living water and bread from Heaven. That’s why we’re collecting bottled water and non-perishable food and shipping them to disaster relief sites. That’s why we’re going to build crisis care kits—to help meet the basic human needs of hurricane survivors in the Gulf Coast, as well as replenishing our supply for future disasters.
And yet, the day will come when those reports will be filed, conclusions reached, and blame passed. But when that day comes, what is the Christian response? How do we respond when someone fails or is negligent? How do we respond when someone wrongs us personally?
The Christian response is to be one of forgiveness. I’m not suggesting that we don’t hold people responsible. I’m not saying that the natural consequences of negligence shouldn’t be carried through. But at the same time, we are to be a forgiving people.
Why?
Because our God is a forgiving God.
Even to local, state or national leaders who seem unable to rise to the task?
Even looters, rapers, murderers?
Yes.
Why?
Because our God is a forgiving God.
If there is one thing revealed by the news coverage of Katrina it is this: woven in the fabric of humanity is the desire to assign blame. Reports have come out about individuals who have looted, raped, and murdered fellow victims of Katrina. While we are disgusted by the actions of some of the evacuees, we must realize that their sins are no worse than the sin of casting blame and holding a grudge.
As Christian people, we are to be a forgiving people.
Why?
Because we are made in the image of a forgiving God.
The debt of the first man in Jesus' parable was equal to at least 60 billion days wages. Which means that even if he could work 365 days a year, it would take him 164,000 years to pay off his debt. This was a literally a debt that he could not pay. His begging and pleading for more time is simply laughable--as there is no conceivable way that he could ever repay that debt.
And then he turns around and goes after a fellow servant who owes him just three months worth of wages. He throws him into prison, where he will be unable to work, until he can repay the debt.
It's easy to see ourselves in this parable. We, who have been forgiven much, find it far too easy to hold others responsible for that which they cannot repay. We are far too likely to hold a grudge, give the silent treatment, or carry an owed debt to the grave.
But our very slate has been wiped clean! We, who have been washed clean by the blood of the lamb, know what true forgiveness is! Our burden has rolled away, our sins have been forgiven, and we ought to forgive others the same way that Christ has forgiven us.
For those who still carry that burden, let me tell you the Good News: you can be forgiven of all your sins. I don't care what they are, and I don't need to know. God already knows. He knows our deepest, darkest sins--the ones that we haven't told to anyone...and He stands ready to forgive them. What is required is that you come to Him and ask forgiveness. How? Because Jesus' blood has paid the debt you could not pay--you must simply claim that blood by faith, repent of your sins, and receive the gift of forgiveness.
It's easy to point fingers. It's easy to blame. It's easy to hold a grudge.
But God has called us to something different--He's called us to gracious forgiveness.
Why?
Because He is a forgiving God.
Grace and Peace,
PastorJon
You can find the entire lyric here, I've included just a couple of brief quotes below.
