Whoa. Woe.
Matthew 18:21-35
21 Peter came and said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if another member of the church* sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?’ 22Jesus said to him, ‘Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven* times.
23 ‘For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents* was brought to him; 25and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. 26So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.” 27And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. 28But 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.” 29Then his fellow-slave fell down and pleaded with him, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you.” 30But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he should pay the debt. 31When his fellow-slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. 32Then his lord summoned him and said to him, “You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33Should you not have had mercy on your fellow-slave, as I had mercy on you?” 34And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he should pay his entire debt. 35So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister* from your heart.’
Whoa! “... to be tortured”? “... so my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive ...”? Whoa. Woe! That’s extreme talk. It’s a threat. No, from Jesus it’s worse: it’s a promise. And must be taken literally. Self soul-searching is required of me. And so who, or whose memory, lingers in my past unforgiven? Well, there is one. It was long ago and the offense will not be discussed -- but someone offended a beloved one, for which the unforgiveness in my heart is murderous.
How does that sit, in this gospel for next Sunday?
And what is forgiveness?
It doesn’t sit well. Not well at all.
And forgiveness? Fortunately, blessedly, forgiveness is the same as love, agape, there’s no difference. Agape, the New Testament Greek word for love, is not a feeling, not an emotion; it’s how we treat people. Forgiveness, aphete, is no different, it’s how we treat someone. In Jesus’ parable, the king treated the servant one way, forgiving; that servant treated his fellow servant another way, unforgiving. Jesus says nothing about how the king felt toward the servant, nor about how that servant felt toward his fellow servant. The forgiveness is all about how they treated each other.
So this morning I’m giving myself a green light. My feelings can smoulder in the dark recesses of my mind forever as long as I don’t act on them. Should the one who is the object of my feelings ever again come into my presence, as long as I am courteous, kind, that’s forgiveness. Minimal forgiveness perhaps; but if the gospel is true, it's forgiveness enough to keep me out of hellfire.
The litmus test is in The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis. To refresh quickly, the story is of a man in hell who with a crowd of other souls rides an overnight bus to heaven. Upon arriving one is met by a soul whom one knew during life on earth, visits for a bit, and chooses for oneself: either stay on in heaven or get back on the bus for the return trip to hell.
In the story, some souls are so self-righteously outraged when they find out who is there in heaven that they refuse to stay. They get back on the bus. Their problem, of course, is that in heaven there is no ... what Matthew's Greek gospel terms mh aphete -- not letting go. The saying is literal: they can go to hell.
And will. And do so. Of their own choosing.
Back to myself then. Encountering in heaven the one toward whom my unforgiveness is murderous, would I let it go (aphete) and stay on? Or go to hell.
TW+