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Pentecost 15 Proper 19 September 13, 2020

Posted on September 13, 2020 by Beth Crane

Exodus 14:19-31
Psalm 114
Romans 14:1-12
Matthew 18:21-35

In our opening reading for today, God’s people pass through the Red Sea. Scholars tell us that their route led though a part of the sea called the Sea of Reeds, a shallow portion. When it was very windy, the wind would push the water to one side, and you could pass through, if you were traveling light. The people of God were on foot. The Egyptians had chariots and horses, and they sank. 

The thing that strikes me about this passage this year is that the pillar of cloud, which symbolizes the presence of God, and the angel, who have been leading the people, now move to the rear and place themselves between the escaping slaves and the pursuing Egyptian army. God leads God’s people into freedom. God protects God’s people as they flee from slavery. God literally puts Godself as a barrier between God’s beloved people and those who would enslave them. And God protects us from that which would enslave us. God leads us into freedom.

Paul is addressing his letter to a congregation which has people from all kinds of different religious backgrounds. They have all flocked to this new faith in Jesus. Some are Jews, and they continue to observe the Jewish holy days and the dietary laws. Some have worshipped at the shrines of the Greek and Roman deities. There is a wide array of dietary and religious practices, and Paul is saying, please respect each other, continue to follow your dietary practices and religious observances, and do all of this to honor God and to give thanks to God. God is the one binding us together.

Over the centuries, we Christians have had many differences. Some of us remember the controversy over the new prayer book, published in 1979, and then the new hymnal published in 1982. We still have differences of opinion today, but the main thing is that we are gathered because our Lord has called us together, and, no matter what our differences, he calls us to be one in him.

In our gospel for today, Peter asks Jesus, “How many times should I forgive—as many as seven times? Scholars tell us that the rabbis told us to forgive three times, so Peter is being very generous in saying seven times. But Jesus says seventy-seven times. And then he tells a shocking parable. 

A king is settling accounts with his slaves. One slave owes him ten thousand talents. Scholars tell us this is a huge amount, a sum that is almost beyond imagining. One scholar says it is 3 billion dollars. Another says forty-six million dollars in today’s terms. The point is that it is an amount that no one could pay back. This slave cannot pay the debt. The king says that he will sell the slave and his family and possessions to get what money he can.

The slave is devastated. He falls on his knees and begs the king to have patience and he will pay everything. It would be impossible for him to pay this debt. The king has pity. Scholars tell us that the word translated as “pity” is the same word used of the compassion of our Lord for the crowds who follow him, and the compassion of the Good Samaritan for the man who had fallen among thieves. The king forgives the debt.

The slave goes out, and meets a fellow slave who owes hm a hundred denarii. Biblical scholar Thomas Troegher says the modern equivalent would be $12,000. The recently-forgiven slave grabs the man by the throat and demands payment. When his colleague cannot  meet the demand and pleads for mercy, the recently-forgiven man has him put in prison.

We have been forgiven so much. We have received so many gifts and blessings from God. And our loving God is calling us to extend to others the compassion we have received. Our Lord is calling us to forgive each other countless times, to throw out the calculator and not even bother to try to keep track. This parable is addressed to the community of faith. We have been called together by our loving and forgiving God. Beyond and through all differences or controversies, we are one as Jesus and the Father are one. I think our Presiding Bishop, who is teaching us the Way of Love, is calling us to extend this practice to all we meet. Whatever our differences may be, God is calling us to genuinely care abut each other and to work together to find a loving way forward. 

This may seem impossible, but escaping slavery in Egypt seemed impossible, too. God is calling us to explore the many kinds of slavery which hold us in bondage. Africans were brought here beginning in 1619 and held in slavery, but we white people have also been enslaved by our implicit racism and our assumption of white privilege. When we fail to extend to others the gifts of freedom which have been given to us, we are like the forgiven slave who refused to give that gift of freedom and forgiveness to his brother.

Here we are, on September 13, 2020. We have just passed the nineteenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks which we will never forget. We are still in the midst of the Covid 19 pandemic. We also have an economic crisis which is hurting great numbers of people. In the richest country in the world, people are going hungry. We are facing many challenges. They may seem like a Red Sea that we may not be able to cross.

This year, I find the image of the angel and the pillar of cloud inspiring and helpful.  God is leading and protecting us. And we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, all the saints who have followed God’s leading over the centuries and who serve as inspiring examples to us. And always we think of our Good Shepherd, out in front leading us. 

God is with us. The risen Christ is with us. The Holy Spirit is with us. The creativity of God is in our midst. The redemptive healing and forgiveness of Christ is with us. The Holy Spirit, God at work in us and in the world, is with us. God is surrounding us with love, filling us with grace, and energizing us for the work ahead. We have received God’s love and forgiveness. Let us share it. Amen.

Let us now pray the Prayer for the Power of the Spirit.

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Pentecost 15A RCL September 17, 2017

Posted on September 17, 2017 by Beth Crane

Exodus 14:19-31
Psalm 114
Romans 14:1-12
Matthew 18:21-35

As usual, our readings for today give us inspiration and much food for thought. In our opening reading, the people of God, traveling light, go over the Sea of Reeds while the army of Egypt, with its chariots and horses, sinks. The people are on their way to the promised land, and there will be many challenges on the way.

In our reading from the Book of Romans, Paul is addressing a congregation which is welcoming people who have come from all kinds of faith traditions. Some are from the Jewish tradition; others have been worshipping the Greek or Roman gods. Some celebrate certain festivals; others celebrate different feasts. Some follow certain dietary rules; other do not. Paul encourages us to be tolerant of each others’ faith traditions and not to pass judgment on each other. He reminds us that each of us will be accountable to God.

In our gospel for today, Peter asks Jesus how many times we should forgive. Peter generously proposes that we forgive seven times. He knows that the rabbinical tradition says to forgive three times, and he is adding to that number. But Jesus says no, we should forgive seventy-seven times. Other translations say seventy times seven, or 490 times.

And then Jesus tells us one of his most interesting and thought-provoking parables. There is a king who wants to settle accounts with his slaves. The first man owes the king a mind-boggling amount of money, more than one could ever imagine. Biblical scholar S. D. Giere calculates that Today the debt would be three billion dollars. The point is that the amount is so huge that it would be impossible to pay it off.

The man pleads with the king, and the king forgives the entire debt. The slave goes out and sees someone who owes him a far smaller debt and demands to be paid. When his fellow slave pleads with him, he throws the poor fellow into prison. His lord has had compassion on him, but he has no compassion for his fellow slave.

If we look honestly at our lives, God has showered us with gifts beyond our imagining. We may think that we have achieved these things on our own, but, in fact, that is not true. Without God’s gifts of life and energy and intelligence and diligence, none of it would have happened.

But that is only the beginning. If we look at our lives honestly, God’s mercy and forgiveness have been showered upon us in quantities beyond our ability to calculate. How often we have failed to offer true compassion and help to others who need it. If we are honest, we have judged others far too often. We try, but we fail. We become hardened. In short, we are sinners in need of forgiveness.

Time and time again, God looks upon us with love; God picks us up, sets us on our feet, gives us forgiveness and grace and hope to keep moving on. This is like the king who forgave a debt that no one could possibly repay.

God has forgiven us so much. God has given us so much. It is very difficult for us humans to do an honest examination and assessment of the countless times God has been out there at the end of the driveway to meet us and forgive us when we have made a mess of things. It is difficult because we hate to do the self-examination and tabulate the sin, and it hurts our human pride to think how many times we have made the same mistakes over and over again and God has lovingly set us on the path over and over again.

The unforgiving slave actually told the king that he would repay him, that he would repay a debt that no one could possibly repay.

And that is the point. God has forgiven us more than we could ever begin to repay, and we are called to do the same to others, over and over again, more times than we can count. Once again, I have to put in that disclaimer about abuse or domestic violence. When that happens, we are not talking about forgiveness. We are talking about getting any victims to safety. Then we can talk about restitution.

So, we are called to forgive each other countless times. How in the world can we ever even begin to do this? Well, we have to do what that unforgiving slave did not do. We have to realize that God has given us a gift that we did not earn, a gift we can never repay. Jesus has come among us, has given his life for us, has died, is risen and is alive among us now, and he is constantly giving us gifts of love and grace. When we begin to realize this, something changes in our hearts. Something changes in the core of our being. Remember that the heart is not just our feelings but our will and our intentions. Something changes in the core of our being and we know we are called to imitate that level of compassion and forgiveness. He is giving it to us; he calls us to share it with others, all others.

That is going to call for large measures of grace. Thanks be to God that that grace is constantly available to us. And God’s love is constantly pouring out so that our cup runneth over.

And we have one more gift from God today. We have our collect, which sums up these readings so well.

Let us pray this collect together one more time.

O God, because without you we are not able to please you, mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen

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Pentecost 14 Proper 19A RCL September 14, 2014

Posted on September 14, 2014 by Beth Crane

Exodus 14:19-31

Psalm 114

Romans 14:1-12

Matthew 18:21-35

This morning we read the dramatic story of God’s people crossing the Red Sea. This passage tells us that God can lead us into freedom. It also tells us something about traveling light. The Israelites can move over the sea of reeds and not sink in. but the Egyptians, with their chariots and horses, sink up to their axles and get stuck. This makes me think of the story of David and Goliath. God is rooting for the under dog. God loves everyone, and God especially treasures ordinary folks like you and me. God protects us, leads us, and guides us. We are called to pray constantly for God’s direction.

In our epistle, Paul is addressing differences between people in congregations. In the early Church, some folks had come from the Jewish tradition and were still following the dietary laws and celebrating the holy days and festivals. Other people might have been coming from a tradition of worshipping at the temples of the Roman gods and celebrating other festivals. We do not know the exact details, but we know that the new church was drawing people from all kinds of backgrounds.

Every congregation has differences of opinion. Some people like the traditional language; some like the contemporary. Some like incense; some do not. We could go on and on. We also have political differences. We could go on and on about that.

One thing that Paul is saying is that, if we focus on Christ, these differences assume their proper place. Our oneness in Christ is the important thing. We should not judge each other. In fact, Paul says that each of us has to be responsible for our own beliefs and behavior. It’s between each of us and God. I would add that our differences make us strong, and that, as long as we place our Lord at the center of our lives, we will be one as he and God are one.

Our gospel draws all of this together. Peter asks Jesus that very  important question: “If another member of the church sins against me, how often shall I forgive? As many as seven times?” Peter is being generous here. The rabbis said to forgive three times, and Peter is expanding it to seven. But then Jesus says seventy-seven times. Other translations say seventy times seven, or 490 times. And then Jesus tells a parable.

A king wants to settle accounts with his slaves. The first one owes him ten thousand talents. Scholars wonder how a slave could even accumulate such a debt. It is huge. Biblical scholar Thomas Troeger tells us that a talent is about fifteen years worth of wages. Therefore, ten thousand talents is 150,000 years worth of wages.

Troeger says, “If we calculate this in modern terms and allow fifteen dollars per hour after deductions and a forty hour work week, we come up with$600 per week or $31,200 per year, which in 150,000 years would equal forty-six million dollars. Forty-six million dollars! The king forgives him forty-six million dollars!”

The send slave owes a hundred denarii. A denarius is one day’s wages. Troeger says that one hundred denarii would have been a hundred days in back wages.He writes, “ If, once again, we figure fifteen dollars an hour, an eight hour day would be worth $120, or twelve thousand dollars for a hundred days.”

Troeger continues, “The slave who is forgiven a debt of forty-six million dollars refuses to forgive a fellow worker a twelve thousand dollar debt even after the man promises him, ‘I will pay you.’ After walking away scot free from the king, the first slave sends his fellow worker to debtor’s prison.” (Troeger, New Proclamation 1999, p. 218.)

I find Troeger’s calculations helpful because they point out the almost unbelievable amount the first slave has been forgiven—46 million dollars and his inability to extend that forgiveness for a comparatively tiny debt of twelve thousand dollars.

The point is that God is more generous to us than we can even imagine. God showers us with gifts of grace and forgiveness and healing. If we are truly aware of how much God has done for us, we will be generous and forgiving to others.

Of course, the ultimate point that our Lord is making is that we should not be going around carrying calculators. God has done so much for us. God has extended to us such love and forgiveness. We are called to extend that love and forgiveness to others.

This call to forgive seventy-seven times or 490 times, to stop counting the number of times we forgive, is a call to those of us living in Christian community. In Christian communities, we know that we are called to respect every person. We are also called to extend God’s love and forgiveness to those outside our communities.

But, a word of caution. This does not apply to cases of child abuse or domestic abuse. Children and adults who have been abused need to be protected, placed in safe environments, and helped to recover. Perpetrators of abuse must be held accountable and prevented from hurting anyone else. Nor does this reading apply to cases of international abuse or genocide. In those cases, those committing the abuse need to be called to be accountable.

The United States is working with other nations to deal with a terrorist group, ISIS, or the Islamic State, or ISIL, which is terrorizing and killing Muslims, Christians, women, and children. The nations of the world are gathering in order to deal with this very grave situation. Please keep our President and Congress and the leaders of our nation and the world in your prayers.

Meanwhile, even in the face of this horror, we are called to be people of compassion. May we pray again our Collect, Page 233.

O God, because without you we are not able to please you, mercifully grant that your Hoy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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