O Lord, we pray, speak in the calming of our minds and in the longings of our hearts, by the words of my lips and in the thoughts that we form. Speak, O Lord, for your servants listen. Amen.
Our three readings today speak to us today of sin and of forgiveness.
Our first reading shows Joseph - being implored by his brothers, in the name of the God of their Father, to forgive them. And Joseph does - saying - as he does
"Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God. You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives..."
Joseph, you will recall, was sold into slavery by his brothers, who were jealous of the favour shown by their father towards him and resentful of the attitude that Joseph seemed to have towards them. They would have murdered him, but for their reluctance to actually have his blood on their hands, but the fate they condemned him too was little better than murder, for no slave is able to do as they wish - and the life of a slave could be +taken at the whim of his master.
Indeed it was only because of Joseph's favour in the eyes of God that Joseph was able to prosper in his slavery and, after many trials and tribulations, including more than two years in prison for an offense he did not commit, rise to the position of being at the right hand of Pharaoh, where he was charged with the task of keeping Egypt safe from seven years of drought and famine.
Joseph was most surely sinned against by his brothers. And yet, many years later, when hunger brought them into Egypt - he fed them; indeed he provided richly for both them and his father, saying even then, that God had a purpose in allowing them to sell him into slavery, for it made it possible for him to save them and all his people in their time of need.
Joseph was given the grace to see beyond the pain to the gain. The grace to see that while evil was done to him - God was able to use that evil for good.
Often for us that is a most difficult thing.
We can't see anything good coming out of the harm that others have done us.
We can't see any reason for mercy - for forgiveness - even if, in other areas of our life, we prosper.
We carry the wounds of the past with us, we remember the hurt done us,
We think of what might have been, rather than looking at our life as it is now and seeing in it the hand of God to do good for many, and from that point of view, forgiving the harm done to us by few.
The truth be told - even in the story of Joseph, sin remains sin, even though God brought good out it.
That is the simple fact that we do well not to lose track of.
No matter what God does with the sins that have been committed against us they remain sins.
The Psalm today speaks to us of what God does with our sins. Let me quote from the first eleven verses of
Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits - who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.... The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us...
God removes our sins from us. Out of love for us, God forgives us our sins. God cancels them out. God makes the debt that in justice we owe to him - of no account. That is the great message of the cross - that God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whosoever believes in him might not perish, but have eternal life.
As you all know from your experience - sin is grievous.
Sin is always wrong.
It is always bad.
It always hurts someone.
But the incredible news is - while sin always hurts - it's power to hurt ends when forgiveness is applied to it.
We have been forgiven by God. Sin no longer has the power to harm our relationship with God, it has been washed away, it has been nailed to the cross, it has been buried, never to rise again, and in it's place new life has come forth, a life that we have but to reach for to receive.
That is what God does for us.
- Instead of punishing us for our sin
- Instead of keeping us at arm's length
- Instead of turning his face away from us as we deserve, God turns to us.
God turns to us, and in pain, and in tears, and finally in death itself, he forgives us and calls us - and empowers us - to live as ones who are able, like Joseph, to save many lives - as ones, who like Jesus, are able to bring the word of life to those who are in darkness, the word of love to those are perishing on account of their lack of it.
"God doesn't condone our sin, nor does he compromise his standard. He doesn't ignore our rebellion, nor does he relax his demands. Rather than dismiss our sin, he assumes our sin and, incredibly, incredibly sentences himself. God is still holy. Sin is still sin. And we are redeemed." (Max Lucado - "In The Grip of Grace")
We are redeemed. We have bought out of slavery to sin and death. God is good to us - even though some of our brothers and sisters have not been good to us - even though we have not been good to God.
And so we arrive at the Gospel Lesson today. And also at the title for our Sermon
"as we forgive those who trespass against us."
After listening to Jesus speak to him and the other disciples about how to treat a brother or sister who has sinned against them, and the procedure to be followed in trying to win them back to the way of God, those careful steps I dealt with last week, Peter comes to Jesus and asks him
"Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins gainst me? Up to seven times?"
And Jesus gives his famous answer - "I tell you not seven times, but seventy times seven times".
And then Jesus tells an alarming parable about how the Kingdom of Heaven is like a King who wanted to settle accounts with his servants - and how one of these servants - even though he is forgiven a massive debt by his master - fails to be equally forgiving of a fellow servant who owes him but a small debt.
"You wicked servant" says the master to the one he had forgiven so much, "I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?" And in anger his master turned him over to the jailors to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
Alarming is it not? And how much more so when you remember the punch line that Jesus offers.
"This", says Jesus, "is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
I call this parable alarming because most of us find it difficult to forgive.
And because, in some way or other, it seems that the forgiveness we finally receive depends on the forgiveness we give....
"This", says Jesus, "is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
And again, from earlier in the Gospel According To Matthew, when the disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray.
This, says Jesus, is how you should pray, "forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who have trespassed against us."
God loves and us forgives us - even before we even ask. His forgiveness is total and unconditional, and he calls to us to open our lives to him and to accept that love and forgiveness.
If you worried about being unable to forgive someone one time, let alone seventy times seven times, there is something you can do about it.
Or if you are worried that perhaps your prayer to God might be fulfilled before you are ready for it, and that God will end up forgiving you in the way you forgive others there is something you can do about it.
And that something is this: surrender your judgement to God, surrender your judgement to God and keep praying the prayer that Jesus taught, and pray it with deep earnestness.
From time to time try changing the words.
Change them from "And Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us" to "And, as You have forgiven us our trespasses, help us forgive those who trespass against us"
and change the words back again.
Pray the prayer of Christ and savour the grace of God of which our Psalm sings of today.
Remember that sin is sin - and that it all hurts - and yet God removes it from us as far as the east is from the west, he forgives us, he has compassion on us, like a father has for his children, like a mother has for her child.
Savour what that means for you, think of how God has shown love for you, forgiveness to you, even before you asked, even before you thought to ask.
Then you will be, as the Psalm One put its, "like a tree planted by streams of water"
You will be drawing upon the love of God - the story of God wonder and grace - the word of God - and you will be able to yield your fruit in season, and your leaves will not wither, your actions - and later even your feelings - will be good.
Yes, sin is sin, and we have a right to be angry about it. We should be angry about it.
But work to let go of your anger at those who sinned, work at it by not only remembering what God has done for you, but also by remembering who is in the end, the only one who has the right to render judgement.
Forgiveness means that we must forever surrender the idea that we are the judge.
And I so am happy about that. Because I know what a lousy judge I am. Because I know how my judgements of others have proven wrong, and I know how even when they have been "right", they have done nothing to improve the situation: for me. For those I am worried about. For the one that has done wrong.
Think on these things.
Think about how God's ways are greater than ours. And how God cares. And wants us to care.
Then pray again, "Lord, forgive my trespasses as I forgive those who trespass against me" and again, "Lord, as you have forgiven my trespasses, help me forgive those who trespass against me"
God will help you as you remember what is so near to God's own heart - and ask his help with it. God will help you even as you continue the prayer as Jesus taught us to pray.
Fear not that you have already lost - or will loose your salvation - your joy or peace.
Rather keep trying to forgive - for in trying to forgive forgiveness comes.
Fear not either your failures to forgive despite your resolve to be forgiving. The Lord who calls to us to forgive seventy times seven times has himself done the same - and indeed even more.
Your salvation is not lost by one act of malice, or even by a series of such acts. It can only be lost if you commit what the scriptures call the unforgivable sin, the sin against the Holy Spirit, the sin which we understand to be the denial of God and God's power, the denial of the Truth of God that seeks to leaven your life.
On this the day of the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 atrocities, let us remember that the truth of God is that God is forgiving.
The power of God is the power to help you to stand firm and to show that truth to others, through the love we give.
Praise the Lord, O my soul. All my inmost being, praise his holy name. Amen
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