When he began the accounting,
a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount.
We are this debtor. We already owed God an incalculably unpayable amount before Adam and Eve first incurred the debt of sin. To exist at all, to be aware of God, and of the goodness of creation and life in the world was already an entirely unearned gift. Therefore once a single sin was committed there was nothing that the human race possessed in order to pay that debt. Everything was already unmerited favor.
Since he had no way of paying it back,
his master ordered him to be sold,
along with his wife, his children, and all his property,
in payment of the debt.
Sin changed our relationship with the world such that we were no longer fully under our own rule. The world would not respond to us as its master and guardian, but would rather now at times be our adversary, subjecting us to grueling work, pain, and finally death. Lest we become presumptuous self-styled gods, we could no longer relate to the world or to others as we had before the fall. It was in some way medicinal, designed as a response to what had broken within us. It was not easy. But neither was it the full story. It was meant to lead, not to permanent degradation, but rather to repentance.
At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,
'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.'
Moved with compassion the master of that servant
let him go and forgave him the loan.
Of course the debt was so large that it could never really be repaid. But the important thing was that the servant at least remembered to whom it was owed, remembered from whom he had received so much. He agreed that justice would dictate that he should repay the debt, and decided to set about doing so, though the task be never ending. Yet what the master wanted was not so much that the debt be paid as that the servant return to sanity, to humility, and to charity. Since he understood and expressed contrition he was allowed to experience forgiveness of the entire loan.
When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants
who owed him a much smaller amount.
He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,
'Pay back what you owe.'
The response of his servant to the debt of his fellow servant demonstrated that he hadn't fully received the gift of forgiveness from his master. Had he really understood his own situation he would have been sympathetic with that of his fellow servant. Had he been truly grateful for the gift of forgiveness he would have desired to share that gift. But it seemed that he perceived the master's response only as a narrow escape. He did not note the generosity of the master, which should have given him comfort. Rather than live on the basis of the abundance of the master he was motivated by his own perception of scarcity, seizing whatever opportunities he could to horde his own wealth, lest he ever be in a position where he could not pay a debt in the future. But no matter how much he horded it would not change his relationship as debtor to his master. If he refused to depend on the generosity of the master there was nothing left for him but to experience his justice.
Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,
as I had pity on you?'
Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers
until he should pay back the whole debt.
The ability to forgive our fellows consistently and from the heart comes from the revelation of what God himself has first done for us. If we lack this realization we will at best only forgive partially and inconsistently, according to some calculus of own, rather than on the basis of the mercy and generosity of God. May we not only receive God's mercy, but realize what we've received, so that we may share it with others.
No comments:
Post a Comment