September 11, 2011
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco.
What do you remember about September 11, 2001? If you are old enough, you would remember where you were when Pearl Harbor was bombed. Most of us can still remember when JFK was assassinated. Ten years ago, we were woken by a phone call from our daughter, Lauren who was still living in Philadelphia to tell us to turn on the TV because the Twin Towers were burning. The world has not been the same since.
I wasn’t sure if I should go down to the church office on that Tuesday when we heard warnings of the Golden Gate Bridge might also be a terrorist target. But the church staff decided to come downtown so that we can pray and open the sanctuary for those in our city who might want to come to sit and meditate.
On this tenth anniversary of what has now been shorten simply as “9/11,” living in a region far away from New York City, the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, we ask ourselves how have our lives changed since the terrorist attacks. Where have we seen the power of God at work? How has 9/11 changed us, for better or for worse? What are the signs that we can see that we are learning to do the work of forgiveness and reconciliation?
How Often to Forgive?
In our passage for today in Matthew, Peter seems to be demonstrating to Jesus how much he has learned under his Master’s teaching. To begin with, it appears that he is ready to forgive a brother without regard for any sign of repentance on the part of the offender. Then, Peter demonstrates his understanding of a gracious and generous heart by suggesting the unthinkable: we should forgive not once or twice, as might be expected from a righteous person, but seven times.
Judaism in the first century taught that one should forgive another person one, two or three times, but probably not four times. In short, there was a limit to the requirement for forgiveness. For Peter to suggest that he would forgive his brother seven times would show abundant and complete grace.
Jesus, of course, has more to teach Peter. He begins by telling Peter that, though he is on the right track, he is not there yet. “Not seven times,” Jesus says. Seven is a good start, but the godly response is not complete even at that, despite the fact that scriptures seem to like that number. No, complete love is shown by those who forgive beyond measure. 70 times 7 is so generous of heart as to forgive beyond our ability to count. I was never that good in the multiplication table for number 7! I think that’s 490 times.
Those who keep track at all are, in a sense, not forgiving their neighbor. They are merely collecting offenses, allowing them to accrue until the accumulation is so great that vengeance is seen as justified.
Forgiveness in the New Testament means to “send off, to hurl away, to release, to let go.” To forgive is more than a passive sentiment; it is an active process. Jesus says to do this endlessly to the point of absurdity.
How Much to Forgive?
In the parable that Jesus told, he teaches Peter and us on how much to forgive. The servant owes the king 10,000 talents, a ridiculous and incalculable amount of money. One talent of silver was worth fifteen year’s of wages for a menial laborer. Scholars have attempted to bring the story into some realistic proportions. Even so, the amount does not compute. It is too large a sum to make sense in any circumstance. The amount is intended to indicate an inconceivable debt so that the parable can make a point.
The extravagance continues as the king responds to the servant’s pleading. The servant asks to be released in order to repay the debt. But the king was so moved, he not only releases the servant, but forgives him the entire debt. The servant is set free from jail and from all obligations to repay what is owed the king.
When the first servant then confronts the second servant about the smaller debt owed him, the contrast is again one of exaggeration. One hundred denarius, or roughly three months of wages, is used to indicate an infinite contrast between this and the first servant’s debt. Freed from a debt too large to calculate, the first servant jails his fellow servant for an ordinary debt.
The parable ends with the king reversing his earlier kindness. He jails the first servant and tortures him until the large debt can be repaid. The unmistakable point is that God is the king who freely forgives even the greatest sins of those who serve him. The frightening implication is that those who do not forgive will have their own forgiveness revoked.
Can We Forgive?
On the tenth anniversary of 9/11 terrorist attacks on our soil, the question arises, “Can we forgive them?” Soon after 9/11, all we can pray about was comfort from incalculable loss and fear. Since then, we have been praying about finding peace when we are at war, safety of our US servicemen and women from harm’s way, and recently the sense of security that may have come from the death of Osama bin Laden. Far from our minds has been a time to pray for forgiveness. On this anniversary, is it time for forgiveness?
Forgiveness is often far from our minds, whether for great offenses or small. It is our nature to nurse wounds and cherish them a bit. Ten thousand talent offenses like September 11th don’t come along that often, but 100 denarius offenses come along at us everyday. For a while, we might be like Peter, gracious enough to forgive our neighbors, friends, or family members a good number of times. But, sooner or later, the ledger will mount up and the bearer of forgiveness can become the carrier of a grudge.
Remembering offenses and rehearsing them at opportune times, as in during an argument, can be satisfying. The problem is that carrying a grudge becomes its own offense. It is a way of convincing ourselves that we are not as thoughtless, careless, or foolish as those who offend us. But, our relationship with one another are not enriched by thinking of ourselves as better than others. Jesus’ teaching about forgiveness is a guide to help us negotiate life together. Forgiveness may not come naturally, but such is the new life in Christ. Each of us has to choose Christ. Forgiveness gives us the clarity and conviction to live as Jesus taught, and to pray for a gracious heart when it seems impossible to forgive.
America continues to fight a war in Afghanistan that was launched to get revenge upon Al Qaeda radical Muslims and those who harbored the terrorists. As in all imperial cultures, we support the idea of “an eye for an eye” or what is called “the myth of redemptive violence.” This is the idea that violence saves. The redemptive violence myth is the belief that violence is a necessary and appropriate response and that retributive violence is even healing for the victim, especially when administered by the state on the victim’s behalf. We know that Jesus clearly rejected violence as a constructive way of responding to a wrong or to injustice and helped us to understand that there are alternatives to violence.
Jesus teaches us that we must forgive and forgive and forgive—until it hurts—countless times. Forgiveness releases the power of the offender and the offense against us. It frees us to be about our business so that we can return to a life of wholeness and peace again. Forgiveness is necessary because of what it does for us.
Forgiveness does not let the offender off the hook; indeed, forgiveness is not about the offender. Forgiveness is all about what it does for us so that we may be more like Christ himself.
The late Pope John II forgave his would-be assassin, but he did not immediately lobby for his release from prison right away. You may forgive the thief who steals from you, but you are not obligated to loan him money later.
In October 2006, the world was astonished when a delegation of Amish farmers paid a visit on the widow of the man who had shot 10 girls in their one-room school house in rural Pennsylvania, killing 5 of them. Grieving over both the loss of her husband and the horrible crime he committed, the widow obviously did not expect the Amish farmers to offer their condolences and to ask if they could help her get through her time of sorrow.
In July, it was a huge shock to normally tranquil Norway when anti-Muslim extremist Anders Breivik, claiming that he was acting to ward off “Muslim domination,” set off explosives in downtown Oslo and went on a shooting rampage at a political camp for youth, killing 77 in all. This was the Norwegians’ 9/11 moment, said some, and the country would never be the same again.
Yet Norway’s leaders have urged caution in responding to the massacre, and its people have shown calm and solidarity in their expressions of grief. At the memorial service for the victims, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said, “My greatest thanks goes to the Norwegian people, who appeared responsible when needed, who kept their dignity, who chose democracy.” He reaffirmed the need for “dialogue and tolerance” in the land, and he expressed the hope that when political work resumed, leaders would “behave with the same wisdom and respect as the Norwegian people” had shown.
The crimes of 9/11 were, in significant ways, different from the crimes committed by Anders Breivik. For one, the U.S. was attacked not by a lone extremist but by a militant group that made clear its wish to destroy America. Yet as we Americans mark the tenth anniversary of 9/11 and look back on the nation’s response to that horrible crime, many of us will admire Norway’s calm and considered approach and its effort to respond in a way consistent with its deepest values and hopes.
Forgiving Grace
You might be thinking that offering forgiveness is just fine as long as the sinners are repentant. Have we seen the terrorists say sorry yet? What about all those who have wronged us and have not repented or begged for mercy? How could we possibly forgive on this tenth anniversary of 9/11?
Remember Peter in our passage for today that it appears that he is inclined to forgive without regard for any sign of repentance on the part of the offender?
Forgiveness is at the heart of the Christian message. Jesus not only forgave others, but challenged his followers to forgive—not just seven times but 77 time 7 times. Forgiveness is not easy, especially when we are faced with something as awful as 9/11, which has forever changed us. But it is important for us to remember that it is God who forgives sin and wrongdoing. Our forgiveness is actually a participation in God’s larger act of forgiveness.
On the cross, the first word of Jesus is about forgiveness, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). We often read this as Jesus forgiving his executioners, but in actual fact, Jesus is calling on God, his Father, to forgive them. Jesus is still in the midst of his suffering. He cannot forgive his executioners for something they have not yet completed. But he can call on his Father to forgive.
In the same way, we can ask God to forgive those who sin against us, “for they do not know what they are doing.” In prayer, we can lift up those who have hurt us terribly, and trust God to include them in an act of forgiveness that is beyond our abilities as hurting and suffering human beings.
Time to Forgive
We have and will continue to commemorate 9/11 in the days ahead. Our challenge as Jesus challenged Peter is how often and how much must we forgive. Just as God has extravagantly forgiven us for our sins, we pray that we may find it in our own hearts the forgiving grace that God forgave the world for the things that we did not know what we were doing.
I pray that you would take this time to behave like the late Pope Paul II, the Amish farmers and the Norwegian people to pursue forgiveness and reconciliation rather than revenge that only escalate violence and human suffering. As Baptists who worked to ensure that there’s freedom of religion in America, there’s no place for Islamic phobia in the church, in our homes, and in our communities where we reside.
In Genesis 50, we read about how Joseph’s brother sold him into slavery in Egypt. When the time came when he learned what his brothers did to him, they were asking Joseph for forgiveness. Joseph had the power to bring justice down upon them, but he remembers that God has put him in a place for good and to preserve a promise. Joseph said, “Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good.”
In Romans 8:28, we read, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love God.” After ten years, let us take what was harmful to us and allow God to work in us to do good to all our neighbors regardless of their religion, nationality, culture, language, and station in life.
It is time for forgiveness as God has first forgiven us.
Let us pray.
God of Love, one of the hardest things you ask of us is to forgive those who trespass against us. While we cherish the love that so freely forgives our sins against you, we struggle to forgive when the offenses against us are numerous or great. Teach us to forgive those who created such horrible sufferings on 9/11. We pray that your love will do more than free us from guilt. Let it so deepen our faith that it releases in us gracious hearts, slow to anger and quick to forgive. Amen.