Twenty Fourth Sunday of OT

Twenty-Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time
September 15, 2002

What are the mathematics of forgiveness? Or what does the number 164,383.5 have to do with the gospel?

One of the difficult truths about being a human being is that we cannot purchase forgiveness. There are no shops with signs posted on the windows: “Forgiveness for sale.” (Though you could see the marketing: “Two sins forgiven for the price of one on our Labor Day blowout weekend) Once we have wounded another, once we have hurt one of our fellow human beings, there is no sum, no price, no amount that we can do to ‘earn’ that forgiveness. We either receive forgiveness from the other, or we don’t. You cannot ‘take forgiveness’ from another, nor pay for it. Forgiveness can only be received.

It was a hard lesson for people to learn, even in the time of Jesus’ gospel. And so, he tells a story, like many others, to help us ‘get it’. A man owed a HUGE amount. That is a Major understatement. The Greek used is 10,000 talents. 1 denarii = one day’s wage. 1 Talent = 6,000 denarii. So, if the debt is 10,000 talents, that’s 60 million days wages. The man who owed it would have to work 7 days a week for the next 164,383.5 years to pay it off… And now you begin to sense the mathematics of forgiveness. The ‘debt’ that happens in harming another cannot be taken care of by strict justice, by earning, by meriting the other’s response. No amount of groveling can deserve forgiveness. It is the mathematics of forgiveness that Jesus is inviting his disciples to understand. 70 x 7 x 365 = 178,850 times a year we must forgive our brothers the wrong they do us… And that is a completely different world to walk around in than the one we live in, isn’t it? Do it always. Do it as a rule of thumb. Because it is the only way you’ll understand my Father’s love.

And as if to drive the point home, the third act of the play has the King (read God) throwing the man in jail. If you can’t play by my rules of forgiveness, then guess what? I will play by yours. If you measure your love of your brother, I will measure my love of you. If you measure the mercy you give out, I will do the same. “Your heavenly father will treat each of you in exactly the same way unless you forgive your brother from the heart.” Woof! I think I like the world of mercy. Because if my love becomes the measure, as we heard in Sirach, then I am in trouble.

A few Sundays ago I celebrated an amazing moment in the life of a woman. It was the end of her journey with Project Rachel, a process for women/men dealing with the after effects of having chosen an abortion. We did the ‘funeral’ for her two children killed by the abortion - a naming of the babies and a handing them into the care and love of God. Though there were many tears shed, when it was all over, she said to me: “It is as if I have been given my life back again over these past months. I know in my heart God has forgiven me. I know in my soul, my children have forgiven me. And now, I have forgiven me…and I can begin anew. I have no words to describe the freedom, no words to describe the grace. But I am free, and I can begin anew. I am free, and I can offer that freedom to others.” Here is a woman who knows the mathematics of forgiveness.

This week, I invite you to learn in your own life the mathematics of forgiveness. Two ways to do it.

One: Count the number of times for one day, that you need God’s forgiveness. Keep a log of the abrupt word, the judgmental glance, the uncharitable joke, the help not offered, the kindness unexpressed. Realize how much, each day, you need the gift of forgiveness in your own life.
Two: Practice forgiveness in small matters. With the roommate, a friend, an acquaintance – forgive the debt, let them off the hook, stop making them squirm. Give them a hug/a handshake, a high five, heck, treat them to a beer or a soda or an ice cream – to let them know the mercy you have been shown.

184,383.5 years. It can’t be earned. It can’t be merited. It can only be experienced. When you come to the table tonight – may you know that love which awaits you now…