First Reading Genesis 50:15–21
After Jacob’s death, the brothers of Joseph begged for forgiveness for the crime they had done against him. You intended to do me harm, Joseph said, but God used this as
an opportunity to do good and save many lives.
15 Realizing that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers said, “What if Joseph still
bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong that we
did to him?” 16 So they approached Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this instruction before he died, 17 ‘Say to Joseph: I beg you, forgive the crime of your brothers and the wrong they did in harming you.’ Now therefore please forgive the crime of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 18 Then his brothers also wept, fell down before him, and said, “We are here as your slaves.” 19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God? 20 Even though you intended to do
harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people,
as he is doing today. 21 So have no fear; I myself will provide for you and your little ones.” In this way he reassured them, speaking kindly to them.
Psalm Psalm 103:1–13
1Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless God’s holy name. 2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all God’s benefits—3who forgives all your sins and
heals all your diseases; 4who redeems your life | from the grave and crowns you with steadfast love and mercy; 5who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like an eagle’s. 6O LORD, you provide vindication and justice for all who are oppressed. 7You made known your ways to Moses and your works to the children of Israel. 8LORD, you are full of compassion and mercy, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love; 9you will not always accuse us, nor will you keep your anger forever. 10You
have not dealt with us according to our sins, nor repaid us according to our iniquities. 11For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is your steadfast love for those who
fear you. 12As far as the east is from the west, so far have you removed our transgressions from us. 13As a father has compassion for his children, so you have compassion for those who fear you, O LORD.
Second Reading Romans 14:1–12
This Christian community has significant struggles with diversity. Here Paul helps us understand that despite different practices in worship and personal piety, we do not judge one another. All Christians belong to the Lord Jesus Christ who died for all of us and will judge each of us.
1 Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over
opinions. 2 Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. 3 Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand. 5 Some judge one day to be better
than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own
minds. 6 Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who
eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God. 7 We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. 8 If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the
Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. 10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For it is written, “As
I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.” 12 So then, each of us will be accountable to God.
Gospel Matthew 18:21–35
When Peter asks about the limits of forgiveness, Jesus responds with a parable that suggests human forgiveness should mirror the unlimited mercy of God. As you read the gospel, it’s helpful to understand that one denarii was the price paid for one day’s wth of labor. A talent was equal to 15 years labor for the common worker.
21 Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins
against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times. 23 For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; 25
and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. 26 So the slave fell on his knees
before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of
pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred
denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. 31 When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. 32 Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Should
you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. 35 So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
No limit to forgiveness
Stories. As individuals, stories are a part of who we are. We live to tell stories. It’s through our stories that we learn about each other, about our families and our history.
The stories of who we are and of what we’ve experienced define us and are important in our identification process. Jesus recognized the use of stories, stories we call parables, because they illustrate a point and aide in understanding the central message. When we’re young, we’re captivated by them and when we’re old, we feel compelled to share them. Without stories, we wouldn’t understand where we came from, what pitfalls to avoid or where we’re going. As a member of a larger group or society, stories play the same role.
As a culture, we use the stories of our past to define who we are. In some cases, they can even change who we are. Turn on the evening news and we see and hear the events of the day. These are occurrences, that taken together with the background information gathered by the reporters, give us a quick and concise summary of what has occurred in
our area and around the world. When we add these events up over time, we begin to see a pattern emerge that shapes our history. And it’s from this collection of events, both small and large, that we find ourselves defined as a nation and as a world. It was one such large event, 10 years ago today, that not only shaped our nation and our world, but us as
individuals as well.
One decade ago today, 19 hijackers changed the world as we know it. At 8:46 in the morning, the first of four airplanes that had been hijacked, were used as a weapon of terror against the United States. Three of these planes reached their intended targets and destroyed or practically destroyed buildings. The fourth thankfully never made it to its
final target, because of the exemplary actions of the people on board flight 93. And within minutes of these attacks, every aircraft within US airspace was grounded. Military fighter and interceptor aircraft were immediately armed and launched and every protective agency within the US was put on alert. And as the fires were extinguished and the dust
began to settle around these sites, we learned that nearly 3,000 people lost their lives that day. It was a tragic set of events that will forever change who we are as Americans. With each passing year we revisit the stories of terrorism and of acts of bravery by men and women, who threw regard for life aside, and rushed in to save and assist the victims. Since those fateful few hours, speeches have been made, songs penned and sung, harsh words have been said and wars were started and continue to be fought, all stemming from the actions of a relatively small number of people, who allowed hatred and fear to dictate their
actions. For this generation, it was a defining moment, our Pearl Harbor as it were; or as President Roosevelt said, a date which will live in infamy. For anyone who watched as the live news reports came in, it was a day when time seemed to stand still. It was a set of
events that will forever be etched in our minds. And each of us has a story to tell, of where
we were and of what was going on at the time of the first attack.
The morning for me started off as any other. I went to work about 6 am and prepared for the morning meetings. At 8:30, the final production meeting of the
morning was concluded and I ran to the Base Exchange to grab a couple of things. I was standing in line at the beagle shop, when the announcement came over the PA that the base was now under lock down, no one was allowed to move until further notice. Since the BX was just outside the McGuire AFB gate, I wasn’t allowed to reenter the base and return to work. No further explanation was given, but within minutes the TVs inside the BX began to broadcast live news reports from New York City. About 9:15, an announcement was given that all military personnel were to report immediately to work. I arrived a short time later and was told to report to the conference room for further instructions.
Since McGuire is only 90 miles from New York City, we were selected as the staging
base for all the rescue workers that were being sent in as part of the search and rescue efforts. As you can imagine, that day was a very long day filled with anxiety, fear and aggressive desires. And over the next several days, I helped crews from all over the US get from the airport to transportation staging points, so they could be driven north to assist NYC fire and rescue personnel. It was also in those first few days that I learned that one of the folks that attended our small church there in Pemberton, New Jersey was one of those who lost their lives that day in Tower 1. This of course made this act of terrorism very personal. It also began a personal struggle with conflicting emotions that to this day I still have difficulty in dealing with.
One of the defense mechanisms we are born with is described as the flight or fight response. In the human fight or flight response in prehistoric times, fight was
manifested in aggressive, combative behavior and flight was manifested by fleeing potentially threatening situations, such as being confronted by a predator. For a member of the military, fight is what they do.
As a member of the military, my first reaction is to defend, by whatever means necessary, the people and freedoms of this land that we enjoy. For me, this meant deploying on four separate occasions to foreign locations supporting personnel and war efforts, necessary to search out and destroy all those responsible for this heinous act and the people who supported them. As my older brother has reminded me on several occasions, the job of the military is “to kill people and blow things up” in an effort to stop the enemy’s ability to make war. The fear and aggressive emotions that began that day, made doing this job easier and it also made it more difficult at the same time.
As human beings, God created us as multi-faceted creatures. As 9-11 demonstrated, we are capable of experiencing a wide range of emotions. Unlike animals, we have the ability to control or allow our emotions to control us. As a child of God, this means we struggle with the sinful emotions like resentment and hatred. And this is never easy. When someone we care about is attacked or we in some way feel violated, we want to respond.
We want desperately to get revenge or avenge the wrong. And in the case of an elusive enemy like the terrorists that trouble our world today, these feelings can last a long time,
eating at us, and in many ways controlling us. Left unchecked they can dictate our feelings, or behaviors and our fears. And in our Old Testament reading for this morning we see a small example of what jealousy, resentment and fear can do to people. We also see what God can do, when people are faithful even in the midst of what might seem like horrific circumstances.
The story of Joseph, and the coat of many colors, is a story we’ve heard from our earliest
Sunday school years. The third Hebrew patriarch Jacob, or Israel as God renamed him, had twelve sons. Joseph, the second youngest and the first-born son of the favored wife Rachael, was Jacob’s favorite son. As a young lad he was shown favor and given a
richly ornamented robe that showed his favored status among his brothers. God also gifted young Joseph with the ability to foresee events in the form of dreams and the ability to interpret their meaning.
One night Joseph had a dream and shared that vision with his brothers. Because of the dream, the brothers hated Joseph and began to plot to rid themselves of him. Their plan was to kill him and throw him into a pit. But at the last minute, Ruben convinced
them not to harm Joseph and instead they sold their brother to a passing caravan who took him to Egypt and again sold him to Potiphar, the captain of the Pharaoh’s guards. The brothers then took his ornamented robe, put animal blood on it and showed it to their father who assumed his favored son was dead. The brothers allowed their envy and hatred to drive their actions and the result was their brother’s life as a slave in a foreign land. But God had a different plan.
Even in the midst of difficult circumstances, Joseph remained faithful to God. Despite being sold as a slave, accused of attempted rape and imprisonment for more than
two years, Joseph remained faithful to his God. I’m certain there were times that he struggled with sinful emotions. I’m sure he wrestled with ideas of revenge, ways of getting even or even entertained the thoughts of murdering his brothers. And as we read this story, we can sympathize, possible even relate with Joseph. But God was with him and directed his path and Joseph never allowed these negative and destructive emotions to ultimately control his actions.
Sure, he played a few head games with his brothers. At one point he even locked one of them up in order to force them to bring his youngest brother to Egypt. But in the end, we see the difference between what fear can do and what forgiveness can do. At the death of Jacob we see the transformation when we turn these vengeful emotions over to God and learn to forgive. And it’s the question of forgiveness that is central to our gospel lesson for today.
Today’s gospel lesson follows Jesus’ instruction from last week, on how we need to go to those who sin against us and be reconciled. We’re told that if a member sins against us, we’re not to simply sit back and wait for the hurt feelings to fester, we’re commanded to go. Jesus doesn’t tell us to wait and see if our neighbor comes to us seeking forgiveness, rather we’re commanded to take the first step in making things right and seek out the one who has sinned against us. We’re to do this in a loving way, when the two of you are alone and explain the situation. We’re to put the hurt feeling, the ideas of revenge and our vengeful attitudes aside and go. By following this command, we leave no room for fear and hatred to have a place in our lives. But what about those who continue to hurt us,
those who seem to take pleasure in sinning against us? How does forgiveness apply in cases such as this?
I think Peter had something in mind that day when he asked Jesus his question. I would even go so far as to say that Peter was going through a situation that was difficult for him at the time. Maybe he was asking about the trouble that the religious leaders were stirring
up. Maybe it was some of the feelings he harbored against the enemies of the Hebrew nation. Maybe there was a particular Roman soldier who took pleasure in harassing Peter. It might have even been a family member or even his wife. We simply don’t know why Peter felt compelled to ask that day about forgiveness. Whatever the situation, or whoever it was that Peter was struggling with, Peter felt the necessity to ask Jesus what the limit was to our forgiveness.
Clearly Peter thought it was seven times. He thought, or possibly hoped, that after that many times our obligation to forgive was satisfied. Maybe the situation he was asking about had reached his limit and now he wanted to write the person off. Maybe Peter was thinking about Jesus’ words that whatever he bound on earth would be bound in heaven. Again the context doesn’t leave us with sufficient information to assess the situation.
However, what we do know is, that Jesus turned the situation upside down with His response to Peter’s question. In essences Jesus is telling us that there’s to be no limit to the number of times we forgive.
The number seven in Biblical times could mean two things. An actual number, in
this case seven, or it was a symbol of completeness. In our culture it’s also considered to be a lucky number. Why Peter chose that number we don’t know, but it’s quite possible that he chose it symbolically. It’s possible that he’s asking, is there a perfect number of times that we’re to forgive? Is there a limit, that once meet our obligation to forgive is met, we can then write the person off. In essence bind them here on earth? But Jesus takes this symbol and magnifies it. The answer Peter received that day I’m sure came as a surprise.
Jesus tells all who follow Him, that we’re to forgive not just the perfect number of times, but 70 times, the perfect number of times. He’s saying, that when we’ve reached the limit of times that we think we need forgive our neighbor, in reality we’ve just begun. We’re to forgive our neighbor another 70 times that perfect number, The perfect number could be seven, it could be ten, it could be one hundred. Whatever that magical number that you think is your limit, we’re to start over and begin forgiving them again. And we’re to continue to forgive without end. It’s a tough command, especially when faced with events such as the terrorist attacks of 10 years ago.
Today we remember the events and the lives lost on September 11th, 2001. We celebrate the willingness of those courageous individuals who risked their own lives to help others and we reflect on how we were brought together as a nation. Lost in all this is the need to talk about the effect these events had on us as individuals. On how we’re affected by the pictures, songs and speeches and the negative emotions they produce; anxiety, fear and hatred. Also lost in all this, is the realization of our need to forgive.
Today isn’t necessarily about forgiving the 19 terrorists who hijacked four civilian airplanes and then killed some 3,000 innocent people. Today is a reminder of how fear can lead to hatred and thus the necessity of forgiveness. The 19 hijackers perished
10 years ago with the others, their fate was sealed at the moment of their death and God is their judge. The forgiveness that needs to happen today, is asking God to forgive us of the
animosity and destructive feeling we harbor against those who supported and continue to support terrorists. We need to ask God to help us let go of the fear and hatred we harbor against these people. If we don’t, we’ll never have the peace we’re searching for.
Joseph’s brothers, driven by fear, decided to approach Joseph to ask his forgiveness. Their father, Jacob, was dead and no longer able to protect them from the anger and resentment they feared was a part of their relationship with the powerful Joseph. If Joseph was a product of the ruthless real world, he might pay them back for the sins of their past. But God had been with Joseph and he surprises them with the words, “Do not be afraid!” These are the same words Jesus speaks to the terrified disciples. They’re the same words
angelic messengers speak to quaking people caught in the presence of the Holy. “Do not be afraid.” Joseph is aware that God has a bigger vision for the world and the future of His people. God’s love trumps anger, resentment and hatred. We are told, do not be afraid, God will care for us.
And it was Christ’s answer to Peter’s question that will forever change our view of how many times we’re to offer forgivness. No matter how many times our neighbor sins
against us, we’re to forgive. It’s time for us as individuals, and as a nation, to forgive those who sinned against us. Yes, justice must occur, but it’s not up to us as individuals to decide; that’s why God has instituted and blesses those who govern. Christ’s message to us today is clear, we need to forgive and love our neighbor; even those whose sins in our eyes seem unforgiveable. Amen
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