The word that will turn the world upside down
When the world around us is coming apart, it is imperative that the church speak some other word to the world besides, “You lead, we’ll follow.”
When I first started out in ministry, now over thirty years ago, the church, at least the church I knew, was mired in something of an identity crisis. Desiring friendship with the world, many of its leaders were naively following the lead of a misguided society. “Love,” defined in a very shallow sense as indifference toward the often dangerous shortcomings of others (the exact opposite of what “love” truly is) and the rather speciously defined “inclusivity” were the watchwords of the day. You were out of bounds if you dared mention the word “sin” or even hint at the fact that all persons, regardless of what real or imagined categories you placed them in, were natural born sinners. To do so would be denounced as unloving, intolerant, and not inclusive (although if there is anything all of humanity shares, it is our commonality in sin).
There is nothing new under the sun, as the wise preacher in Ecclesiastes observed so many thousands of years ago. Lots of things have happened over the last thirty years or so, but the world remains largely the same, if not in the everyday realities we face (which are quite different now than they were then), then certainly through the lens by which the children of the world see themselves. Thirty years ago, the children of the world didn’t know what they were talking about when they talked about “love.” The same is true today, but that error is compounded by the fact that the children of the world now presume to speak a word about sin—and, as with love, the children of the world do not know what they are talking about.
We hear a lot about sin from the children of the world. Individual sin, corporate sin, sin in the present and sin in the past. The children of the world suddenly think they can comprehend the height, the depth, the width, and the length of sin. Divorced, however, from the equally important comprehension of the height, the depth, the width, and the length of the love and mercy of God, this very worldly understanding of sin is warped and grotesquely deformed. Unfortunately, as was the case thirty years ago, many within the church, who ought to know better, are falling in line with this ungodly view of sin.
When the world around us is coming apart, it is imperative that the church speak some other word to the world besides, “You lead, we’ll follow.”
Of course, the church does have some other word to speak to the world. It is a word given to us by (Who else?) Jesus himself.
“Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” (Matthew 18:25-35)
The world may be speaking a lot about sin, but here is Jesus speaking a lot, a whole lot, about forgiveness. Through this parable, Jesus calls us truly to appreciate and embrace the height, the depth, the width, and the length of forgiveness.
Forgiveness is the word the church must speak to the world today.
There is plenty of emphasis in Scripture about the steadfast love of God; how he is faithful and desires that no one should perish. Our liturgy is saturated with language about how God comes to us in the waters of baptism. We confess our sins and receive absolution. We receive the body and blood of Christ as visible means of God’s mercy and grace. We shouldn’t need any more reminders that we serve a loving God who forgives sins.
Or so we think.
But the very fact that we need his forgiveness is a reminder that we are still sinners—and we need reminders, like this parable from Jesus, every day.
Forgiveness, as Jesus makes clear in the parable, is not just an individual, momentary thing. It is a way of life; a way of grace. It is the life you live, even as you navigate the twists and turns of this world, as a citizen of the kingdom of God. It defines not only your relationship with God through Jesus Christ, but it also defines your relationship with others.
The real, deep-seated problem with the servant in the parable is not that he is unmerciful. His real problem is that he is clueless, ignorant, utterly devoid of any comprehension of what it means to live a life of continual gratitude: gratitude toward the master who forgave him, manifest in mercy toward those whom he, likewise, ought to forgive. Forgiveness is never a one-way, momentary transaction between us and God. As God forgives us, we are to forgive one another. God is merciful and gracious—and he forgives us our sins, that we may be free to live in a posture of perpetual forgiveness toward one another. That is the norm in the kingdom of God—a kingdom not of this world, so let us not again be enslaved by this world’s corrupted understanding of sin. Let us, instead, speak boldly and graciously that word of forgiveness.
“In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!”
God has set you free, and now he sends you to speak that word that will turn this world upside down.