READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:
Micah 6:6-8
Philippians 1:3-11
- St. Matthew 18:23-35
May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of
God and of Jesus our Lord
(2 Pet 1:2)
Who speaks to you today, only through His Gospel, saying,
“And out of pity
for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt”
Two things are presented to us in this Word from God today.
First, mercy shown, second mercy withheld. And not in an abstract way, but
concretely. God shows mercy in the Body and we in our sin, do not show mercy to
the body. This should point us to the weight of glory God bestows on our
bodies, in Jesus, and to value them as He does.
When God teaches us His 5th Commandment, He is teaching us
about the body. Our bodies. Two eyes, ten fingers, eleven toes. It is how we
recognize each other and, more importantly, how we recognize our Creator.
When Jesus formed Adam from the dust of the ground, Adam was
unique and alone. The Lord even made all the animals pass in front of Adam and
Adam named them, but none of them were like him. When Eve was brought onto the
scene, Adam finally declared, “this is bone of my bone and flesh of my
flesh”.
So that, when you see another body, another person with a
body like yours, there is no way that you can say that other person is not
human, or that other person is less than me. When God says, “You shall not
murder”, it is clear He is speaking about your brothers and sisters in
humanity.
Wherever you see another body. Whether you are peeking into
the womb at the unborn or observing people with a different skin color than
yours. We are all created by God.
What does “you shall not murder” mean? We should fear and
love God so that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and
support him in every bodily need. You hear, there, that there is not only
something not to do, but also something to do.
We call this, the weight of responsibility. Meaning,
speaking and philosophizing about responsibility is all good, but it only
matters when you take action on your words. Saying you are a kind and tolerant
person pales in comparison to actually practicing what you preach. God gives us
a body to reveal this sin in us.
The body that God has given to all people demands us to
prove it. Prove that you don’t have murder, anger, and bitterness in your heart
by how you treat your neighbor. Prove that you don't withhold forgiveness from
this person God puts in front of you. Show me that your refusal to extend grace
to, coldness towards, and murder-filled words do not exist by this brother
standing before you.
In our sin, we believe that we cannot hurt or harm our
neighbor if he’s dead! This is the Unforgiving Servant in the Gospel heard
today. He is forgiven that impossible debt, glory be! But when he finds debt
yet to be forgiven by God, he rejects it, as he believes he is commanded to.
Maybe if this man who owes 100 denarii goes to God, he will be forgiven too. So
let’s send him off.
Let’s end this life, that this debt goes to the afterlife.
We are just hurrying their quest for Jesus. Jesus forgives sins perfectly so…
You believe you are the pinnacle of creation. On this high
and mighty seat, you look down on others, in their bodies, and judge them as
less. At the same time, you are not all that impressed with the body. You know,
God had His list at the beginning, “Ok. I’ve got Light, seas, moon and stars,
trilobites, duck-billed platypuseses, and…oh yeah men.”
You want the full weight of your body? I know that’s rude to
reveal for some people. Never ask a woman, but bros are definitely eager to
tell you he’s over 200, now. No. The full weight of your body is, like Adam,
you will have all things in creation passed in front of you and you also will
not find a helper. That is, until your God takes His own Body.
I would even go so far to say that the only reason you have
a God-given body is so that you would recognize your God in the flesh, Jesus
Christ. Bet you never thought your own flesh and blood would be a prophesy of
the Messiah, did you?
With the tragic verse, Genesis 5:3, where the sons of Adam will
now be made in Adam’s image, instead of God, we are pro-created with no Image.
Now our bodies have been corrupted by satan, this world, and our own sin. So
much so that we don’t recognize our own bodies, our neighbor’s bodies, or the
Body of Jesus Christ.
Jesus shows us who our brother is when He comes down in the
flesh. In the Gospel reading, St. Peter believes he is being so clever with his
question of forgiveness, but sin clouds his eyes as to Who is in front of him.
And Jesus, God and man, points to Himself in answer. Basically saying, how many
times should God forgive you Peter?
And it is that mercy and forgiveness that motivates God to
save you. Yes the unforgiving servant is punished, but his punishment is to
live with his Lord’s mercy which is why he cannot stand to see his fellow
servant.
Jesus, as the Second Person of the Trinity, has no fellow
servants. As God, He is not obligated to forgive His brother 70 times 7 times
because He has none. He has neither racked up debt nor received any. There is
no benefit or reward for Him to do any of the things He is preaching about
today.
This is the mystery of His Incarnation. He took on the form
of a servant voluntarily. He forsook His heavenly throne of unending power and
riches to live in the depths of woe with His creation. This is why we fall on
our faces when God appears before us. He is the Almighty, Who has chosen to be
the servant.
Because God is merciful and because of the Person, Word, and
Work of Jesus Christ, He is motivated to forgive our sins. Unworthy we are, but
of worth He makes us. For now that Christ is made man, with all the fulness of
God dwelling in Him bodily, He is our brother.
Our brother Who lives with us. Our Brother Who suffers with
us. Our Brother Who dies with us. Our Brother Who will raise us, as He Himself
was raised from the dead. And He died because we refused to recognize Him as
our brother. He died because He allowed Himself to be unrecognized, in order
that He pay for every last sin of the body.
“For we who are in this tent groan”, says 2
Corinthians 5:4, “being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but
further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life”.
It is not the weight of our bodies that kill us, but the
burden of sinful bodies. It handicaps us, humiliates us, and yet we love it so.
In His Body, Jesus does no hurt or harm to His neighbor. Though He is harmed
and murdered, He helps and supports in every bodily need.
Jesus restores the Image of God to humanity in His flesh and
blood. God made man is the pinnacle of Re-creation, washed in the Blood of
Jesus. The Body of God sanctifies every other body created and makes the Way to
forgiveness. Such that, now, all are worthy of the grace, mercy, and
forgiveness of Jesus simply because they have a body, like Jesus does.
In forgiveness, we are given Faith. And this Faith moves and
teaches us to love our neighbor. If your enemy is hungry, feed him, says Romans
12:20. Help, support, and have compassion. Be kind and aid your neighbor in
keeping His own soul pure from the evils of the body in this world.
On top of this, Faith now reveals our God in the flesh to
us. He is hidden behind our fellow man, yes, so that what you do to your
brother reflects what you would do to God. But Jesus is not only on the cross.
The cross has been brough forward to us and the Crucified has placed Himself in
front of us, to do now as the Law demands and as the Gospel gives.
As the Law demands, we recognize the pierced and slain Body
of God, for our transgressions, confessing them. As the Gospel reveals, we also
recognize the Body and Blood shed for the forgiveness of sins. Not only on the
cross long ago, and not even only at the Right Hand of God forevermore, but on
this altar today.
The fulfillment of the Fifth Commandment stands Himself
before you today. He has created and cared for your body even to this day. He
has neither willed or wished your hurt or harm, but has sustained you on your
way. His help and His support of your bodies has carried you to His Divine
Service.
In God’s Service to you, your body is given His Body. In
communion with His Body, you are now given His mercy and His forgiveness. Your
murderous heart is His, His merciful heart is yours. Your anger is His, His
kindness is yours. Your neglect is His, His eternal care and concern is yours,
of which you handle, eat, and drink today, for the forgiveness of sins.
Who is God? We will recognize God by His body. His Body,
full of grace and truth, given for you.
Amen.
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