Sermon on Matthew 18:21-35

Pastor Jennifer Garcia

Today’s parable seems pretty straightforward at first glance. We’ve been forgiven everything by God, so we should forgive others instead of holding on to minor grievances.

But two things have been bugging me about this parable.

First, the sums of money that Jesus names.

A single denarius was about a day’s wages for a laborer.

A single talent was about 6,000 denarii.

So the guy that owed the slave money owed him several months’ wages—not an insignificant amount.

But the slave owed the king 10,000 times 6,000 day’s wages.We’re talking easily billions of dollars if we try to convert that to today’s currency.

What’s bothering me is: why did the king loan the equivalent of billions of dollars to this slave? That makes no sense!

Sure, it could simply be a gross exaggeration to emphasize how much God has forgiven us. But hold on to that question for now, and we’ll see if we can come up with a more satisfying answer.

The second thing that’s bothering me is Jesus’ closing statement: “And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt.So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

Is Jesus really saying here that God will torture anyone who doesn’t sincerely forgive everyone for everything?

Fire and brimstone preachers had plenty to draw from in the Bible, including this line from Jesus.

But we don’t deal in fear here. Picking verses here and there can provide ammunition for scaring people into doing pretty much anything you want. But that is manipulating the Bible, not reading it faithfully.

The Bible also says that “God is love,”[1] and “perfect love casts outfear.”[2] And lest you think I’m doing the very same cherry-picking, let me say that those individual verses merely illustrate the larger theme of love that is entrenched throughout the Bible from beginning to end.

So, a god that throws us into the dungeon to be tortured for all eternity for withholding forgiveness does not line up with the character of the loving, forgiving, grace-filled God we see throughout the Bible.

But then what do we do with Jesus’ words at the end of this parable?

We could say he’s exaggerating for dramatic effect.

Or perhaps there’s more to be learned here about God and God’s Beloved Community.

A commentary by Stanley Saunders[3] helped me understand today’s parable in a different way.

He helped me realize I wasn’t considering the structure of the society and what that meant for this parable.

Saunders describes the structure of society at the time as a pyramid: the king is at the top, and from there, various managers would collect wealth from those lower on the pyramid and pass it up toward the king. They would also, of course, shave a bit off for themselves in the process.

So, the slave in the parable (let’s call him Matt) was probably a very high-ranking manager who had access to a huge upwardly flowingcurrent of wealth. Perhaps he skimmed a little too much off for himself, or perhaps those on the lower levels weren’t paying their share. That is how a slave might owe a king an exorbitant amount that could never be paid back.

And in a system like that, the king had to send a message to the rest of the pyramid. He had to make an example of Matt or else everyone else would think they could get away with the same thing.

But the king’s heart was moved by Matt’s pleas for mercy, and he forgave it all!

And this one merciful act upended the whole system. Saunders says, “The king effectively inaugurates a regime of financial amnesty, a jubilee, not only for one slave, but for everyone in his debt.”

Jubilee is a concept in the Hebrew Bible that wiped the slate clean when it comes to debt, enslavement, and property. Some things happened every seven years and some every seven times seven years, but basically debt was forgiven, slaves were freed, and property went back to its historical owner. This was how God instructed the freed Israelites to structure their life together: an economy of forgiveness—not just saying “I’m sorry,” but tangible economic forgiveness.

By wiping out one debt, the king in the parable institutes a similar economy of forgiveness.

But instead of accepting this new economy along with his newfound forgiveness, Matt continues to operate in the old system and with a vengeance. He starts ruling the lower levels of the pyramid with an iron fist, demanding what he would have been owed in the previous system.

And others witness it, alerting the king to this mismanagement of jubilee.

By operating in the old system, Matt is forcing the king back into that economic account setting. This parable isn’t about one person demanding payment. It’s about someone overturning the abundance and forgiveness of jubilee.

Matt’s unforgiveness binds the king into the pyramid system in which either debts are collected or their debtors punished.

I don’t want to let the king off entirely—he still has the choice not to punish Matt—but it’s Matt’s insistence on upholding the unforgiving system violently that results in his debts being reinstated.

Matt, even in his state of having been forgiven, wasn’t willing to imagine a world of forgiven debts. To a certain extent, his prison was his own creation—his torture, self-inflicted.

And to a certain extent, it is our choice whether we imagine the world as the realized Beloved Community or insist that the status quo remains.

But it’s hard within the status quo to imagine anything different.

Does Beloved Community mean that everyone is required to say sorry all the time and forgive everyone for everything?

No.

For too long, the Bible has been used to bludgeon victims into forgiving their abusers. To guilt those without power into forgiving the harms of those with power. To silence, to hide abuse, to convince people that Jesus said to forgive, so if they don’t forgive, it is their sin that matters, not that they have been sinned against.

Notice in this parable that it’s those with power who are the ones to forgive. The king forgives Matt, his slave. Matt ought to forgive the other slave who is indebted to him. This parable is not about ignoring accountability.

It’s about living into the lavish, even ridiculous,world order of the Beloved Community. A world in which a king is compassionate and debts are forgiven and jubilee is real.

The forgiveness that Jesus is talking about here is about community—restoring people who have been hurt and those who have hurt them into community with each other and the rest of the Jesus followers.

This isn’t about silencing abuse. This isn’t about letting people off the hook when they stomp all over our boundaries or enabling people to continue destructive behavior because we’ve “forgiven” them without letting them experience the consequences of their actions. And forgiveness doesn’t always mean continuing a relationship with the wrongdoer.

Forgiveness is difficult and complicated. There isn’t a one-size-fits all formula for it. Forgiveness is as varied as the people who have been wronged and the people who have wronged them.

If you’re thinking about a particular situation this morning, feel free to talk to me or Pastor Greg. Let’s set up a time to chat and dig deeper into what forgiveness might or might not look like for you. There is a lot to unpack and consider, so let’s give it the time it deserves.

For this morning, let’s just remember that God loves each of us beyond imagining.

We’ve each hurt other people and been hurt by other people, and God loves us anyway and weeps with us.

God’s arms are spread to embrace each of us into the Beloved Community, where jubilee reigns, debts are forgiven, and compassion flows.

That invitation is for you. And it will never go away.So rest easy, Beloved.

I want to close by repeating the end of our confession and forgiveness from the beginning of our service:

Friends, this Good News is for all the world: Christ was born, lived and died, and rose again thatwe would be freed from sin and death. Know that indeed you are forgiven, and be at peace. +

Amen.

[1]1 John 4:16

[2]1 John 4:18

[3]https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-24/commentary-on-matthew-1821-35-4