Sermon for September 13, 2020 Pentecost 15 A House of Prayer Lutheran Church
Genesis 50:15-21; Matthew 18:21-35 Rev. Karl-John Stone
Affirmation of Baptism (Rite of Confirmation)
Did you ever hear the story about the mad scientist who wanted to measure how far a frog could jump? He went to his laboratory, put a frog on the table and said “jump, frog, jump”. It jumped and he measured the distance. Then the mad scientist surgically removed one of the frogs’ legs, put it back on the table, and said “jump, frog, jump”. It jumped and he measured the distance. He surgically removed another leg, and then another, until eventually the frog was down to just one leg. Each time he removed a leg he said “jump, frog, jump”, then measured how far it jumped, and each time it jumped a little less. Finally he surgically removed the final leg, put the frog down on its belly on the table and said, “jump, frog, jump.” Nothing happened. He yelled, “jump, frog, jump!” Nothing. He banged the table with his fists and screamed at the top of his voice, “jump, frog, jump!” The frog didn’t move. The mad scientist was so proud of himself; he just knew he’d made a new discovery--frogs without legs can’t hear!
The conclusion you come to depends on the angle you see things from. Our mad scientist’s logic was impeccable, from a certain angle; though of course we know he was looking at the results of his experiment from the wrong angle. If he had looked at his experiment from a different angle, maybe I wouldn’t be calling him a mad scientist.
What angle does God look at us from? We catch a glimpse in today’s gospel as Peter asks Jesus, “Lord, if someone sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” That’s once a day for a week! That’s a lot, right? Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.” Or as other translations put it, “seventy times seven.” In other words, lots and lots of times. Don’t stop forgiving; keep on forgiving until you’ve lost count of how many times you’ve forgiven.
As the parable Jesus tells describes it, it’s as if we are the servant who owes the king “ten thousand talents” and the king forgave our entire debt. I read that one talent was worth 6,000 days wages. To make it easy let’s say a day’s wage was $100. 100 times 6,000 = 600,000. Multiply that by 10,000 and you get $6 billion! $6 billion that the servant owed the king. We could look at this parable from one angle and say, how did the servant manage to owe that much, anyway? That’s more than the king would ever want to lend him to begin with. And why would the king keep lending to a servant who was so bad at managing his money?
But when we look at it from a different angle, we realize that’s not the point. The point is the servant could never repay the debt, but the king forgave him anyway! And why did the king forgive? Because this story is making the point about what Christ has first done for us, by going to the cross out of his pure love and mercy to forgive our sins and open the door to new life and salvation. We could never do enough to repay Jesus for such a gift--and he doesn’t expect us to. He just asks us to follow his example as best we can, by being generous in our forgiveness of others, and through faith in him to keep growing into people who demonstrate greater love and mercy.
Why is forgiveness so important? It’s not about being a push-over. Biblical forgiveness doesn’t ask us to let others walk all over us. Biblical forgiveness is about finding healing and new life. Forgiveness allows the wrong that has happened to no longer control your actions, to no longer take up space in your brain. Forgiveness allows what is wrong to be made right. Forgiveness allows new life to grow from what feels like coldness or even death. Forgiveness allows us to learn how to see people from the same angle God sees us from--not according to the bad they’ve done, or the bad we’ve done, but instead as beloved children of God who have maybe done some bad things, but who can be redeemed, and who don’t have to be defined by those bad things. Instead it is God’s grace and love that define us and that give each person worth and dignity. That’s the angle God sees us from.
Baptism is God’s promise and assurance to you, that the angle he will always see you from is the angle of Christ’s forgiveness, love, and grace. If you were baptized as a young child, that’s why your parents brought you to the font--or if you were baptized later in life, it’s why you chose to come to the font--to have water poured over you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit so that you can be sure these promises of God will always be part of your life for all eternity. What an incredible gift of grace, and no one can ever take it away!
Today we have three young people from our House of Prayer congregation who will be affirming their baptism by confirming their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and confirming their trust in all Christ has done for us and keeps doing for us. Sam, Lauren, and Ben--the promises your parents once made on your behalf when you were baptized, you are now taking responsibility for yourself: to stay connected to Christ and to spend your life growing as a disciple of Jesus. To live among God’s faithful people; to hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s supper; to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed; to serve all people, following the example of Jesus; and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth.
The angle with which you understand God and your faith will change and develop as you grow older and more mature. That is as it should be. You have great things to look forward to in life, and you will also face challenges and sorrows. That is normal. You’ll have accomplishments to be proud of, and you will make mistakes and need forgiveness. That means you’re human. In everything that happens, whatever angle you want to look at things from, always remember the angle that God looks at you from--and know that your true self will always be found in the forgiveness, grace, and love of Jesus. Amen.