Tags
"Forgive us our Trespasses", 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, Body of Christ, Christian life, Colossians 3:13, Deuteronomy 15:1, Discipleship, Forgiveness, Genesis 4:23-24, Luke 24:46-47, Matthew 18:21-22, Mission, Reconciliation, Sabbath year, The work of God, Witness
Day 29: Sunday in the Fifth Week of Lent
Deuteronomy 15:1
Every seventh year you shall grant a remission of debts.
Consider carefully what this means that “Every seventh year you shall grant a remission of debts.” No debt is allowed to go beyond seven years. No financial burden is allowed to crush a family. If a series of poor harvests forces you to desperate actions, it is only temporary; in the sabbath year all debts are released. There is no bankruptcy. There is no debtors’ prison. There is no perpetual poverty. There is no permanent underclass. There is no blaming the victim. It is a nation built on forgiveness.
We are a people built on forgiveness. It’s not just that we have been released from our debt to God; we are a people who forgive. We hold no debts over others. We pray “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” Our prayer begins with forgiving others. The Words of Institution tie the cup to forgiveness. Our common life requires forgiveness: “Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” (Colossians 3:13) Forgiveness is the mission that defines us:
“Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” (Luke 24:46-47)
When asked about the limits of forgiveness, Jesus blew the question away:
Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.” (Matthew 18:21-22)
Seventy-seven-fold forgiveness overturns the world of seventy-seven-fold revenge proclaimed by Lamech as the earth careened towards its destruction.
We hold no grudges. We bind no lives. We enslave no hearts. We torment no one with guilt or shame. We are a people built on forgiveness. We are ministers of reconciliation, for this is God’s will and work.
Gracious and ever-present God,
whose mercy knows no bounds,
and whose arms are ever open to your world:
Call us forth from all that binds
And make us joyful in your service.
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Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Forgiveness_0001.jpg scem.info / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)