Forgive Us Our Debts
03/17/09 08:02 Filed in: Forgiveness
“Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?” (Matthew 18: 21-35)
The debtor in today's parable could just as easily be one of us. Like so many people today, he is living with a crushing debt burden, when suddenly called to account. To his great relief, the debtor's day of judgment is postponed. The king shows leniency and suspends the payment. It's as if the debtor has received a mortgage workout from the local banker.
When the debtor in the parable learns of his good fortune, he reacts in a surprising way; instead of being grateful, he is angry and quick to blame his troubles on someone else.
The debtor in today's parable could just as easily be one of us. Like so many people today, he is living with a crushing debt burden, when suddenly called to account. To his great relief, the debtor's day of judgment is postponed. The king shows leniency and suspends the payment. It's as if the debtor has received a mortgage workout from the local banker.
When the debtor in the parable learns of his good fortune, he reacts in a surprising way; instead of being grateful, he is angry and quick to blame his troubles on someone else.
“Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?” (Matthew 18: 21-35)
The debtor in today's parable could just as easily be one of us. Like so many people today, he is living with a crushing debt burden, when suddenly called to account. To his great relief, the debtor's day of judgment is postponed. The king shows leniency and suspends the payment. It's as if the debtor has received a mortgage workout from the local banker.
When the debtor in the parable learns of his good fortune, he reacts in a surprising way; instead of being grateful, he is angry and quick to blame his troubles on someone else. He demands immediate and full repayment of a debt that is owed to him. Far from being lenient, he throws the other debtor in jail. His unwillingness to forgive, as he had been forgiven, became his undoing. As soon as the Lord learned what he had done, the debtor was thrown into prison.
Lewis Smedes once said, "To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you."
In today's Gospel, Peter asks Christ whether he must forgive his brother seven times only to be told, ‘. . . not seven times, but seventy-seven times.’
A few years ago, the University of Michigan decided to find out just how willing we are to forgive our brothers and sisters. The answer wasn't seventy times seven. It turns out that 53 percent of us carry a toxic grudge of some kind. We just can’t let go of the need to get even.
As one man told the researchers, "I don't mind burying the hatchet just so long as the handle is still sticking out."
In the same survey, 43 percent of the respondents said they could never forgive someone else. Yet, 70 percent felt God had forgiven all their sins. Not so, Jesus says in today's parable. We'll be forgiven to the degree that we forgive others.
Forgiving is not the same as excusing. It’s not a question ignoring, condoning or diminishing the wrong that was done. That would not be true to yourself. Rather, it is a question of acknowledging the hurt and refusing to let it sully your soul.
Forgiveness is not only good for the soul; it's also good for the body. The researchers discovered that those who freely forgave had fewer headaches, back aches, stomach aches, colds and bouts of the flu.
Forgiveness is a gift we give ourselves. It's the freedom to open a clenched fist and let go of white-knuckle anger. It's the power to release the past and the freedom to embrace the present.
The debtor in today's parable could just as easily be one of us. Like so many people today, he is living with a crushing debt burden, when suddenly called to account. To his great relief, the debtor's day of judgment is postponed. The king shows leniency and suspends the payment. It's as if the debtor has received a mortgage workout from the local banker.
When the debtor in the parable learns of his good fortune, he reacts in a surprising way; instead of being grateful, he is angry and quick to blame his troubles on someone else. He demands immediate and full repayment of a debt that is owed to him. Far from being lenient, he throws the other debtor in jail. His unwillingness to forgive, as he had been forgiven, became his undoing. As soon as the Lord learned what he had done, the debtor was thrown into prison.
Lewis Smedes once said, "To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you."
In today's Gospel, Peter asks Christ whether he must forgive his brother seven times only to be told, ‘. . . not seven times, but seventy-seven times.’
A few years ago, the University of Michigan decided to find out just how willing we are to forgive our brothers and sisters. The answer wasn't seventy times seven. It turns out that 53 percent of us carry a toxic grudge of some kind. We just can’t let go of the need to get even.
As one man told the researchers, "I don't mind burying the hatchet just so long as the handle is still sticking out."
In the same survey, 43 percent of the respondents said they could never forgive someone else. Yet, 70 percent felt God had forgiven all their sins. Not so, Jesus says in today's parable. We'll be forgiven to the degree that we forgive others.
Forgiving is not the same as excusing. It’s not a question ignoring, condoning or diminishing the wrong that was done. That would not be true to yourself. Rather, it is a question of acknowledging the hurt and refusing to let it sully your soul.
Forgiveness is not only good for the soul; it's also good for the body. The researchers discovered that those who freely forgave had fewer headaches, back aches, stomach aches, colds and bouts of the flu.
Forgiveness is a gift we give ourselves. It's the freedom to open a clenched fist and let go of white-knuckle anger. It's the power to release the past and the freedom to embrace the present.
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