9-10-20 - Community of Forgiveness

You can listen to this reflection here.

This week’s Jesus story still isn’t over – there is another turn to it. (You know, Jesus’ story is never really over!) The injustice wrought by the newly forgiven slave is not the last word. After he refuses to release his fellow-slave from his debt, the other servants turn the mean guy in:

“When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt.”

Okay, we could do without the torture part; God is not in the torture business – though we endure a kind of spiritual pain when we withhold forgiveness. But here Jesus explicitly links forgiveness in and forgiveness out, as he does in other teachings on prayer. We can’t get away from it – and we can’t fully experience God’s love if we can’t forgive ourselves and others.

What I like in this story is the way the community watches the situation, and calls out the injustice. Having witnessed the great mercy shown this slave, they were not about to let him get away with holding someone else to harsh terms.

Injustice can be perpetrated and perpetuated in communities, and misdeeds swept under the carpet. But in healthy communities, a light is always on and members are accountable to each other. When someone acts in a destructive or prideful way, a healthy community has people of integrity who can remind her of the mercy she has received, and invite her to align her values with those of the community. In Christian communities, that means the values Jesus taught and lived. Think how much better our police departments and military units and financial institutions function when they are communities of accountability and justice. Many news stories would have been non-events.

Have you ever been called on your behavior or treatment of another? Was the message delivered in a way that you could receive it? How did you respond?

Have you ever spoken to another about the way they are acting or speaking? Perhaps a notorious gossip or someone who routinely sows discord? Those are hard conversations to have. But when we put the health of the community and of each person in it – including the one who’s being destructive – above our social discomfort, we can move forward. And when we pray it through beforehand, and during, those conversations often go much better than we anticipate.

If there is someone you think you need to talk to about behavior that damages the community, pray for that person awhile before having the conversation – it brings peace and gives the Spirit a chance to prepare the ground. And as you speak, talk about times you may have been less than wonderful, and speak with humility; it might help keep the walls from going up. And if you can pray with the person you’re having the conversation with, so much the better.

God set us into communities, starting with families, classrooms, workplaces, memberships… Community can be one of the hardest aspects of human life, and one of the richest. This story Jesus tells invites us to be active in keeping our communities as healthy and life-giving as we can. That includes speaking the truth in love.

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9-9-20 - Showing Mercy

You can listen to this reflection here.

What a heart-warming story we heard yesterday in Jesus’ parable about debt forgiveness. The king had pity on his poor slave and forgave his debt, all 10,000 talents of it. In fact, Jesus says, “he released him and forgave him the debt.” Perhaps he was even set free from his servitude. It was a good day for that debtor. One would like to think he continued the chain of mercy. Ah, but the story is not done. Plot twist – turns out the debtor was also a creditor:

“But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt.”

So the one who, in effect, just gained 10,000 talents he no longer has to repay refuses to even extend the collection period on a mere 100-denarii loan. Sometimes we think, “Oh, if everyone just received merciful treatment, they’d treat others that way.” This parable suggests it’s not so automatic. I’ve preached to guys on the street who I’m pretty sure have received major forgiveness in life – and some of them really didn't approve of the parable of the prodigal son. They prefer justice to mercy, hard as it is.

In this story, Jesus suggests that, when we refuse to forgive our fellow human beings for the offenses they have committed, we are being exactly like that wicked slave – because the forgiveness we have received from God is so much greater than anything that is asked of us. Do you buy that? We need to accept at least two conditions for it to make any sense to us:

1. That we are sinners in need for forgiveness by God, and have received that grace.
2. That, no matter how serious another’s offense against us is, it pales in comparison to humankind’s offenses against our Creator. 

At the time we are wounded or insulted in some way, it’s hard to see anything but our pain and righteous anger. We’ll talk about it to anyone who will listen – often to anyone except the perpetrator. The idea that in God’s Big Picture our betrayals and shortcomings may be just as serious, or more, seems inconceivable. We lose perspective.

I’m not going to try to persuade you which forgiveness is bigger. Let’s just step into the shoes of the first debtor, the one whose huge debt is removed, who has been set free. The more fully we integrate that spiritual gift, the better able we are to keep perspective when we are sinned against. When we really “get” how blissfully off the hook we are, we might just be more inclined to want other people to enjoy that feeling, even those who’ve hurt us most. Especially them.

Today, let’s think about people we still need to forgive for hurting us, letting us down, lying about us. Bear in mind the person you’re keeping on the hook might be yourself. It might be God. What would it feel like to release that debt?

It can take a lifetime to accept God’s forgiveness and freedom, to live into the change in status conferred upon us in Christ: no longer a slave, no longer a debtor; now a daughter, a son, free. But what a life we can have when we accept that gift right now. As the chorus of a song I love, Be Ye Glad, goes,
Every debt that you ever had has been paid up In full by the grace of the Lord. 

Be ye glad, be ye glad, be ye glad.

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9-8-20 - Receiving Mercy

You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.

Jesus said there is no limit to the number of times we must be prepared to forgive. Then, to illustrate the point, he told one of his trademark stories. This is a longer parable, with multiple characters and scenes. As is often the case with the way Matthew relates Jesus’ stories, this one has a violent cast to it. In a nutshell, the story goes like this:

A king is settling his accounts with his slaves. Apparently this king not only has slaves, but is their loan-shark. And the terms of non-payment are severe – you’re sold off, along with your wife and children, and have to sell all your belongings, with the proceeds going to service your debt. Nice. One guy owes ten thousand talents. He begs the king for mercy – and receives it. Wow! That was unexpected, right? What he does in response to having his massive debt forgiven we’ll talk about tomorrow. Today, let’s focus on this king who is capable of such mercy.

Jesus starts the story by saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves.” Is he saying that GOD may be compared to such a king? Not necessarily – he says the realm of God may be so compared. At the very least, we surmise that in the economy of God’s realm, the “slaves” or servants owe the king quite a bit, and that settling these accounts is a normative occurrence.

Do we owe debts to God? Some theologians, like Anselm of Canterbury, argued that every sin we commit is akin to stealing from God. If God is perfect and has given us perfect life in God's image, then every blemish on that perfection is an offense against the creator, an offense for which we must make restitution. That’s one way to look at it.

Or we might use the language of stewardship, which suggests that everything we have in this life, including our life, our gifts and resources, our relationships, our abilities, is on loan from our heavenly father, for us to use and enjoy and to nurture into growth. In this sense, every time we claim something as ours, from money to credit for things we’ve done, we are snatching what was freely offered us to use. There is no “mine” in this view – and we are always to be ready to account for our use of God’s gifts.

That's one way of seeing the process of repentance and confession: a daily settling of accounts with God. Do you make a regular practice of confession? We all do it in church, with or without much thought. Some people do it in their own prayer times. Others visit a confessor for the sacrament of reconciliation. To be honest before another person and hear the words of God’s forgiveness is a powerful grace.

Today, we might take an inventory, thinking through our relationships, our work and activities, our use of our gifts, communities we belong to. Incidents of self-centeredness or wounding of self or others might come to mind as we do this, and we can offer them to Jesus for forgiveness. Or read through a Prayer Book litany like the one for Ash Wednesday– that’ll stir up some repentance.

And when we find we’ve taken more out of the kitty than we can replace, when we have committed too serious an offense to repay – which may be all of them – we rely on God’s great mercy. If it’s anything like the king’s in this story, though the consequences could be extremely dire, we get to walk away with our books balanced, nothing hanging over our heads. How great a feeling is that!

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9-7-20 - Forgiveness Without End

You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.

Last week we explored what happens when one member of the community is hurt or offended by another. Jesus laid out a process of confrontation leading to resolution, positive or negative. Peter must have been thinking ahead, for he realized it wasn’t enough to just address conflict or banish offenders… if what Jesus was saying meant anything, reconciliation would have to include forgiveness. How far was that supposed to go?

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.”

In another gospel, it’s translated “seventy times seven.” I once wrote a short story called “The 489th Wrong,” about a woman who finally reaches that number of times she feels she’s forgiven her husband, and she’s thrilled that she doesn’t have to do it anymore (wrong!). But it’s not about the math. Seven is one of those infinite numbers, so Jesus is basically saying, “As many times as needed.” There is no end to the number of times Christ-followers are called to forgive.

The deeper the wound, the more forgiveness costs us. Because for-giving means “giving-for.” Someone has taken something from you; they owe it, and you pay yourself for them – so, in effect, you lose twice. Why do that? Because it cancels the debt, clears the field, resets the clock, frees you and the other person. That’s one reason.

The other, as we’ll see from the parable Jesus uses to illustrate his point, is that while we’re busy chewing on whether or not to forgive someone, somebody may well be wrestling with forgiving us. Even if we’ve offended no one on earth, chances are we’ve done, said or thought something that makes us less than who God intended us to be, and therefore we need God’s forgiveness. When we think about how many times we ask God to forgive us, often for the same darn thing, we might want to cut each other some slack. That’s what the great hymn “Forgive our sins” reminds us.

Is there someone whom you have been unable to forgive? A resentment that sits there within you? Chances are that wound remains unhealed, and gets reopened periodically, either by that person or by similar feelings. What feelings come up when you think about forgiving that person, releasing that debt?

If you don’t yet feel ready to forgive, might you be willing to let God do it? That’s one way we can pray toward forgiveness, by saying, “Lord, I can’t forgive this person… but if you want to, I guess that’s okay.” Just praying that will shift the landscape a bit, generate some space. The Holy Spirit will work with whatever space we give. If you're willing to go a little further, pray, "And if you want me to, please give me a desire to forgive..." That's another opening.

Our “forgiveness muscles” need to be exercised just like everything else in us. Wouldn’t it be great if we could get to the point where we thank those who hurt and bother us for giving us the opportunity to practice forgiveness, over and over and over again? Practice makes perfect...

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9-4-20 - The Promise of Presence

You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.

Sometimes I wish Jesus would show up and set a few things straight in this messed up world of ours – if people would pay more attention than they did the first time around. But that idle wish misses a big ol’ point: He is here. He said he would be. It’s up to us to discern him and to make him known.

“For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them,” is a promise, a promise of presence. To unfold that promise, though, requires a few steps of faith.

First, we have to be able to distinguish between flesh and spirit. Jesus said fleshly reality was limited, and spiritual reality was never-ending. Jesus’ enfleshed presence was time-and-space-limited, 33 years or so, in one region of the world. His presence in a resurrection body lasted about 40 days. His spiritual presence is eternal, and still going strong, especially among those who believe in his promise.

We also need to affirm that Jesus lives in us. I take the promises of baptism at face value - that we are united with Christ, made a new creation, given a new heart and a new spirit – his spirit. So Paul wrote, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” But we are not filled with his spirit in an “invasion of the body snatchers” way. Rather, his spirit joined with ours brings forth a new person, that most true “……..” (fill in your name) that can possibly be.

If Christ dwells in us, abides in us, then he is real in us. When we gather with others in whom Christ lives, his presence can become even stronger and more real. By believing and joining together, we make Christ present in our world, not just a suggestion of presence, but fully here, spiritually speaking. (We have to supply the flesh and blood.) This is just as true for online gatherings in his name as in-person.

How might it change our lives and ministries if we were more fully conscious of this reality? If, when we gathered together, we knew Jesus was among, us and spoke and acted and prayed like we knew we were in the presence of the all-powerful God? If, when we went out in ministry, we made sure we went in teams of at least two, so that the power of Christ’s presence would fill and empower our work in his name? Don’t get me wrong – Christ is present in us when we’re alone. But he promised that when two or three of us – our more – gathered in his name, he would be in our midst.

Where would you love for Jesus to show up this weekend? In a place? A person? A situation? Do you have any idea how you might bring him there, with two or three others? Going deeper… where do you think he might want to go? You might get quiet in prayer today or Saturday morning, and ask him: “Jesus, where do you want me to take you today, to make you known?”

I can’t wait to hear how those prayers turn out. I do know the world needs a lot more Jesus, and we’re just the ones to help make that happen.

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9-3-20 - Agreeing With God

You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.

Some promises are dangerous, offering more than can seemingly be delivered. This statement of Jesus’ strikes me that way: “Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.” 

Anything? If even just two of us agree?

Is this a promise with a back-door clause – is it so unlikely that two people on earth would ever fully agree about any request, God has an automatic out? No, let’s assume Jesus was being straightforward. Which could leave us doubting God, knowing that we have prayed for outcomes with many people in whole-hearted agreement as to their desirability, without seeing them come to pass. Exhibit A are prayers for healing that are not visibly answered.

This is one of those bible verses that cannot be separated from the one that follows. It only accords with both faith and experience when seen in tandem with this: 

“For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”

Ah, now we’re not only talking about human agreement. We’re talking about being gathered as the Body of Christ, in his very presence. To pray in Jesus’ name is to pray as Christ; to pray from inside, as it were; to invoke the power that his very name makes known. To pray in Jesus’ name is to pray in agreement with him, and thus to pray with perfect faith. Our own is far from perfect, but Jesus’ is 100%. When we pray with Jesus, not only to Jesus, we have all the faith we need.

Why are some of our prayers not answered as we desire? It's risky to speculate on something that involves the mystery of God. Sometimes we bring forward our desires and seeking Christ’s blessing upon them, rather than praying with Christ. Our prayers feel more effective when we pray what Jesus is already praying for; his prayers come pre-blessed.

What are some of those “unanswered prayers” in your life? Most of us have some, and they often have real heartbreak attached, and put distance between us and God. Call one to mind today, one that’s ongoing, not just situational. Have you ever talked with God about that prayer? Ever paid attention to the Spirit in you when you pray about that?

We might even ask God: "What is your desire for me in this area?" We might be surprised at how God answers us. We might have to stay still for a time, and attend to what words or images or songs arise in us. Or it might hit us later.

Prayer isn’t about getting what we want; it’s about deepening a relationship, one that will last forever. We need to speak our desires - that's just good communicating, being real. But the more we cultivate intimacy with Jesus, the more we’ll find ourselves truly praying in his name, his will, his mind, his heart.

And sometimes, as Garth Brooks reminds us, there are reasons we only discover later for what feel like Unanswered Prayers.

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9-2-20 - Free To Set Free

You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.

Do we want this much power? Several times Jesus sets the authority to offer or withhold forgiveness into a cosmic framework, saying that what we do in this world is mirrored in the heavenly realm. “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Yikes.

Maybe Jesus taught this process of confrontation and reconciliation because there are such cosmic consequences to ignoring conflict and pain. When we bury our hurts, sweep conflicts under the rug, we not only keep ourselves bound, we keep perpetrators of hurts bound to us. No one is free.

I believe what God wants most for us is freedom. And I have seen the process of healing and forgiving result in amazing freedom for people, huge releasing of energy and giftedness, new ability to see, to hope, to live. I am especially reminded of stories of survivors of sexual abuse and trauma. (There is nothing explicit in the next few paragraphs, but if this is a sensitive area for you, read with care.)

I was once in a group praying for months with a woman who was a survivor of sexual abuse throughout her life – it’s not unusual for people who have been victimized as children to suffer similar abuse in adulthood; their boundaries are compromised. This woman saw herself more as victim than survivor, and was bound in very self-destructive activities. One time I said something about moving toward forgiveness. She turned on me in fury and said, “They told me in my support group that I don’t ever have to forgive!” I backed off, thinking, “That is true – but then will you ever be free?” Forgiveness cannot be rushed, but to close ourselves off from it leaves us bound to the people who have hurt us.

Years later I prayed with another woman. She and her sisters had been sexually abused throughout childhood by their father and grandfather, who were still alive and in the family. She had done the excruciating work of addressing those wounds and moving toward healing, and had come to a place of forgiveness of her abusers. She did not trust or get close to them, and worked hard to ensure the safety of children in the family system, but over time she released the awful burden of their crimes. And then she was no longer psychically connected to them – forgiveness meant freedom from them. Her sisters refused to do this work; one was deeply alcoholic and the other suicidal. As brutal as it is to work at healing from trauma, it is a movement toward freedom, and life.

Many of us have not experienced trauma this severe – but we might feel bound in some way by a hurt we have suffered or anger we continue to hold. Usually the anger is justified; it can remain corrosive over time. Today, we might let some of those stuck places come up in our mind, and pray about forgiving people who have hurt us, or asking forgiveness of those whom we have hurt. If we ask the Spirit to show us those things, they often emerge from the muck.

Inner healing is a powerful process of bringing the love of God to bear on our emotional wounds. I have witnessed tremendous transformation result from the healing of memories and specific areas of woundedness. (If you want to know more about this process, please contact me.) As we release that healing stream of God’s love and power to seek out the hidden wounds and resentments, life returns to parched places, and old knots become unwound so that peace can flood in.

“It is for freedom that Christ has made us free,” Paul wrote. Jesus has won for us freedom to release ourselves and others. Let’s set the captives free.

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