New Thoughts (03/26/09-04/02/09)
The first thing to note about this parable is the opening phrase: “For this reason”. This is a clear backward pointer, indicating that what is about to be said is planted firmly upon what has been said already. It’s not quite an, “in conclusion,” but more akin to, “all of this to say”. What is fundamental to that introduction, though, is that we ought not allow ourselves to contemplate the parable before us without connecting it to what has been said leading up to the parable. The parable ought to serve as commentary on what has preceded, and what has preceded ought to be our first choice of commentary on the parable. Scripture interprets Scripture, and nowhere is this more true than of those points where we find the connecting ‘therefore,’ or, “For this reason.”
Recall that this whole thing began with the disciples asking who was going to be the greatest of them in the kingdom of heaven (Mt 18:1), and that Jesus answers by largely turning the question on its head, saying that it is the servant of all who is counted great (Mt 18:2-4). With that, He addresses the issue of exclusivity that has risen up amongst His students, indicating that the least advanced and the newest to the faith are to be received with open arms, not rebuked and told they aren’t good enough to join, nor to simply forget those who wander from Truth (Mt 18:5-14). Of particular note is Matthew 18:14 – Your Father in heaven is not willing that even one of His little ones should perish. This hints at the idea of He doesn’t give up, so don’t you give up on those you are given charge of.
At that point, the conversation moves on to dealing with sin, punishment and forgiveness, moving from confronting corporate sin (Mt 18:15-20) to dealing with personal affronts (Mt 18:21-22). This is our setting. And, I note that through all of this dissertation Jesus has delivered, maintaining relationship has never been far from the surface. Really! Look at it. Become like children. Stop with this competition and machismo nonsense. Relationship one to another is far more critical. Serve one another instead, that builds relationship, preserves relationship. Indeed, check yourself for sin (rather than the other guy), and don’t just admit to it, deal with it! If you are aware of and working on your own sin issues, you will find it hard to despise the others around you doing the same. It is only when you mask the thing and fool yourself that your arrogance can think less of your fellows. Relationship!
What if you are correct about that one and his sin? What to do? Seek restoration. To relationship! Confront, but with respect. Don’t give up. Even if relationship with the rest of the body of believers requires you to turn this one out for a time, don’t give up. Don’t treat him as one damned, but as one needing salvation. Even in rendering judgment, then, relationship is to the fore. Agree together, and in recognition that God is ever with you, hearing how you choose to translate His rule and His example. Judge in relationship to your Father. Thus far, it has been matters of sin in its truest form: as against God and God alone.
What if it’s personal? Well, preserve relationship! In so much as it lies with you, be a peacemaker. Confront, yes, but forgive. Forgiveness is really more important even than the confrontation. The confronting may feel good to you, but forgiveness, real forgiveness, from the heart, is the thing that preserves relationship, the thing that truly reflects how your Father has dealt with you.
Therefore! Now, we have arrived at the reason, to which Jesus refers with His, “For this reason”. Because God has dealt with you in forgiveness, and expects you to reflect Him in this first and foremost, recognize that the kingdom is to be seen in the story that follows. Indeed, in this story, recognize the great importance that God places on this issue of forgiveness. And, lest we miss the point, Jesus provides it with utmost bluntness as conclusion. It is not the first time we’ve heard this from Him, nor will it be the last. The fact that He brings it up so often ought to register with us, don’t you think? So, that conclusion: If you won’t forgive as you’ve been forgiven, expect to have your full debt of sin restored, and expect to be chained in your punishment until you’ve paid in full. Oh, and by the way, keep in mind that the sin you committed was eternal, and so shall your punishment be. Still worth holding that grudge? I didn’t think so.
Cultural Misconceptions (03/28/09)
For the modern reader coming to this parable, there is a need to deal with what to us seems our natural reaction to the imagery used. We hear Jesus talking about slaves and our heritage leads us to feel a great revulsion for the very concept. Indeed, the rather casual (by our measure) way in which the Scriptures seem to accept and even support the institution is a complaint often leveled against the validity of God’s Word as a moral basis for mankind. Yet, we should surely realize that acknowledging the reality of the times and situations common to our own lives is not in any way to be equated with approving them.
I must, at present, acknowledge trends in society are what they are. I could hardly deny that things are as they are. The dark embrace their darkness and seek to expand it. To deny that fact is to deny my senses. The earthly powers of men that have bearing on my own well being are not terribly concerned with my well being. The ineptitude of those in power is clear, and the willing blindness of those who not only allowed such to be the case but promoted it as somehow being a good thing – these are the data of reality that I must cope with day to day. The state of holy faith in the West, corrupted from within, debased from without, cannot be ignored, except to my own spiritual peril. But, stating these things, admitting that this is the way it is, even drawing on these realities of our time to make a point: none of these activities requires that I condone what is going on. That Jesus uses as His example, a situation that was common to the experience of His listeners, and even the fact that He equates Father God to the master of the slaves He speaks about, does not in any way declare Him as a proponent of slavery. It merely indicates that He was a man alive and teaching in an era and a place where the reality of slavery was just that: the reality.
It cannot be denied, I confess, that there are other references, particularly but not exclusively in the Old Testament, that speak more directly to the institution of slavery. Provisions are made. Rules are laid down. And, yes, from the historical record that God also saw fit to make certain we were aware of, it is clear that there were occasions where the slavery to which the people of God were masters was of a punitive nature. We read of their enslavement of those peoples over whom they were victorious in battle. Those who did not fall to the sword were often left to face a life of forced hard labor in support of Israel’s government programs.
At the same time, Israel was given to experience long years of just that sort of slavery themselves, and without even the meager justification of being on the losing side of a war. They had come to Egypt at Egypt’s behest. They had served well, doing the jobs Egyptians would not do. They had come following one of their own: Joseph, to whom Egypt largely owed its very existence. But, Joseph was forgotten, and the thriving Israelite community threatened the Egyptians. So, the ruling class determined to enslave that community, put them to forced labor to grind them down and reduce their numbers. Bear this in mind clearly! The purpose of Israel’s enslavement was first and foremost to weaken them, reduce them, make certain that they could not challenge the Egyptians in any meaningful way. And, this treatment came upon the Israelites without provocation. There had been no uprising that needed to be quelled, no rebellion that needed to be punished. Their only crime was being fruitful and multiplying.
In contrast to this, the circumstances under which the Israelites inflicted punitive slavery on the competing tribes of their own region could at least provide some justification. These were the rules of warfare for that era. Had they lost their battles, they would have been no better off, themselves. They did not simply enslave those who dwelt peaceably in their midst as had been done to them. This does not, I must be clear with you, make their actions wholly right, but it does help to see their actions in light of their own time, rather than in light of our own.
Further, taking a comprehensive view of what the didactic portions of Scripture tell us about matters of slavery and mastery make clear that even where slavery was allowed for, the history of the people was to be a particular training ground for them. We may be inclined to ask why God would allow His people to suffer under Egypt’s heavy hand for so long. Perhaps, this issue of slavery ought to be an answer in part. Their own communal experience should have given them a sensitivity to the slave. They had known the abuse, and God’s instructions to them now that they were free was to never lose sight of that experience: to be merciful as they would have chosen to know mercy in their own servitude.
Another aspect of the institute of slavery as it was practiced in that period tends to escape our notice, because it had little or nothing to do with how our own nation experienced the practice. At least, it is not the nature of the practice as we generally hear it taught about. In truth, what America knew of slavery at its start was not all that far removed from the form that does find some support from God’s Word. But, here we must be exceedingly careful. That form of which I speak is, in some degree, a voluntary form. We have come to distinguish that sort of enslavement by mutual agreement as indentured service. It is, or was supposed to be, a temporary arrangement, a means for one in need to gain necessary provision by accepting a period of otherwise unpaid labor for another.
Many of those early arrivals in America arrived by precisely these means. The cost of journeying from Europe to these shores was far beyond their means, but the need or the lure of opportunity was such that they could not bear not to come. So, arrangements were made. There were those who would put up the necessary funds to gain them passage, but at a price. That price would be some number of years of service on behalf of the benefactor. This was a legally binding contractual arrangement, but we should recognize that, apart from the motivations of necessity, it was not a forced arrangement, or not intended to be.
From the Scriptures, we can see how the Israelites were taught to deal with such matters by the God of Creation. For example, strict limits were placed on how long such an arrangement could be continued. “If you buy a Hebrew slave,” they were instructed, “he will serve at most six years, and on the seventh you will free him. Nor shall you make him pay for his release” (Ex 21:2). Now, why would one buy his fellow man in the first place? Well, hear what you just read in light of this: “If your countryman sells himself to you because he is impoverished, don’t subject him to a slave’s service, treat him as a hired man” (Lev 25:39-40a). Is he any less enslaved? No. But, a clear delineation is made between that sort of slavery which comes as a result of battle, and that which comes as a result of need. Indeed, when the system was abused, it was God’s representative that brought the rebuke. “How can this be? We are of common lineage, and yet we enslave their children, and they enslave ours, as the opportunity arises. And, just look at the result of this stupidity! We are becoming a helpless people, and our fields, our vineyards, all our means of provision belong to others because of what we have allowed ourselves to become” (Neh 5:5).
Of course, the New Testament instruction on this is known well enough. First, there is again the acceptance that given a world in which slavery was so common an experience as to be unavoidable, allowances were made. But, note how they were made! If you find yourself enslaved, serve well, not grudgingly, but as if done unto the Lord Himself. If you find yourself in the position of slaveholder, or overseer on another’s orders, then remember that those over whom you hold power are yet your brothers and sisters. In Christ, though your circumstances are ever so different, you are family, and you must never lose sight of that reality! Treat them as you would your own siblings. For in Christ, as we are so fond of recalling, there is neither male nor female, neither slave nor free. We are all on the ultimate level playing field when we come to Him as His own. We are all equally damned if we reject Him and His offer of grace. There’s no favoritism. There’s no special spiritual blessing to be found in poverty nor in wealth. Being in power does nothing to enhance God’s opinion of you, nor does lacking all power. His love for you is not predicated on such things. His mercy towards you is not in response to such things. They are simply the outflow of Who He Is.
Finally, on this matter of the nature of slavery, we should get the sense from this very parable that the sort of slavery of which Jesus is speaking is almost nothing like the form we know from our own history as a nation. Looking back on the sort of slavery that transpired on our shores, who could even begin to imagine a slave who had racked up the sort of debt spoken of here? Even that one with the smaller debt was looking at something in the order of three to six months’ wages owed. As we knew the practice here, where would a slave have found the means to owe so much, particular to his own master? What master would have allowed such a debt? It’s simply unimaginable under the system we once knew, and that should be a clue to us that the system seen by Jesus and His contemporaries was something else entirely.
That system, particularly as practiced under Greek and Roman influence, often entrusted the slave with great responsibility in the household, and often with little to no oversight by the master. Think, for instance, of the life of a Roman military commander. Much of his time, the lion’s share of it, must be spent on campaign, in the field far from home. Yet, there was a home, and most often, that home included lands that needed tending, business that had to be kept up. After all, the Roman officer was expected to pay for his upkeep and his privilege. The rank and file may have been forced into the military, but the officer classes were positions of honor and prestige, as well as power, and the one who would join their ranks must prove himself able to keep up the appearances expected of those positions.
They were men of means, but not men with a great deal of time to administer the means. So, they would employ slaves. However, among the slaves employed, there would be those who had proven themselves trustworthy and able administrators. Who, after all, would leave their fortunes unattended in the hands of one who knew only resentment towards them? Who would willingly place themselves in the power of one who hated them and all they stood for? It’s unthinkable! The one who was left in charge, then, was not of this nature. Maybe he had begun on that footing, but good treatment and humane at the hands of this master had changed his views. He had experienced that ‘do unto others’ that Jesus requires of His own, and so, he was willing to do back to them.
If you went back to the Old Testament system, this one left in charge would likely have been one of those marked in the ear. You recall: there was a provision made for the slave whose time of service had come to an end, but who chose to remain as a servant of that household. This was a lifetime commitment. But, that sort of lifetime commitment, we must recognize, was made by choice and not by force. This, we should also recognize, most properly reflects the bondservant relationship we have with Christ, though He is also our Brother and even our Husband. You were once the unwilling slaves of your sins, Paul wrote, but now! Now, you are willingly bound to service unto righteousness. You have chosen it! You have recognized the unmatched worth of your Righteous Lord and would have it no other way. Your ear has been marked. You bear the inerasable stamp of His ownership upon you. Let me just note in aside that this should give us to understand the very real permanence of our salvation in Him. Once marked as His, it is, as He said from the cross, finished. If ever there was a covenant that could not be broken, this was it, and this is yours, to your eternal benefit!
So, as we come back to this parable, let us recognize that these are not the whipped and broken slaves who are trapped in a life they would not have. These are trusted, longtime slaves of a benevolent master. They are largely left to their own devices, enjoy a degree of freedom that would seem at odds with what we understand of the situation. And, it should be noted, the system such as it was practiced then always provided for an avenue by which the slave could purchase the status of a freed man. It was not necessarily a dead end for those who did not wish to remain, but it was a means of provision.
Odd though it might seem to our ears, it was frankly not that much different than employment as most of us know it. By and large, we do work out of any great love for our employers or our toils. We work because it is our means of provision. Not many would go to work day by day if there were not a certainty of getting paid for doing so. Yes, the necessity of living, of having food, clothing and shelter, is a pretty strong motivator, too. But, consider: Were those necessities removed from the equation, would even the promise of pay be sufficient to draw you back to work? No, the truth is that most of us, for all our independence, are little more than slaves to the business of business. It simply pleases us to delude ourselves into viewing it otherwise.
Relative Magnitude (03/29/09-03/30/09)
As this is a parable that we are reading, we should bear in mind that the specifics of detail are not the point. Much can be made, for example, of the value of the talents owed by the first, and the value of the denarii owed by the second. The simple point being made, though, is that of relative magnitude. Neither sum was inconsequential. But weighed one against the other, the latter debt is as nothing.
That said, let’s briefly set the terms in a fashion we might better comprehend. The denarii is said to be the daily wage of a laborer. Well, let’s make it simple, and say it’s your daily wage. This would make the second slave’s debt equivalent to 100 days’ pay, call it 20 weeks, or approximately five months’ wages. In other words, that debt was something not far off from half of your annual salary. As I said, it is not inconsequential. We all know how long it can take to pay down such a debt, and knowing that, we can be thankful that things like debtors’ prison are in the past, or at least not in the present.
As I said, though, the image here is one of relative value. So, let’s do a bit of math. The denarii, I am told, was worth something like 16 or 17 cents at the time. Let’s make it easy, and call it 20 cents. The talent, depending on which talent one had in mind was worth something on the order of 237 dollars for the local, Syrian form, or, if we’re thinking in Attic talents, 1000 dollars. That makes for a ratio of 1185:1 Syrian, or 5000:1 Attic. So, if the lesser debt was something like half your annual salary, the greater debt was nearer to 600 to 2500 times your annual salary. But, wait! We’re not finished yet. There’s also that second ratio to consider. 10,000 talents, vs. 100 denarii. So, another 100:1 to factor in. That leaves us nearer to 60,000 to 250,000 times your annual salary.
Put that in perspective: A house is likely a purchase that will require 2 or 3 times your annual salary, at least such a house as banks would normally consider loaning you the funds to purchase. And that purchase is expected to require thirty years to pay off. So, how believable to you suppose the king found that first slave’s promise that he would repay the whole of his debt?
This is what it’s like to come to God with your sins and promise that somehow you’re going to make it up to Him. It’s absurd to think you could, and He’s not so foolish as to believe you when you say you can. He knows it’s panic talk. He knows that there is absolutely no chance that you could ever pay off your debt of sin, even if you were truly so inclined. It is beyond you. The balance owed is so high that you could never, no matter how hard you tried, earn your way back to grace. That, really, is the whole purpose of the Law God handed down through Moses: to make it painfully obvious to us that we could not hope to earn our way to heaven on our own efforts. He who is guilty on one least point of the Law, we are reminded, is guilty of all (Jas 2:10). And, the plain fact is, we are all guilty on at least one point, and “I’m sorry” is not penalty paid. The wages of sin is death (Ro 6:23), the price of redemption is blood price. It always has been, and it ever shall be.
That is the debt that has been forgiven you in Christ, and the reason is just as we see it with the king in this parable. It is solely because he felt compassion for you. It is not because you promised to make it right. It’s not because you promised to be a better person. It’s certainly not because you made amends for your past. You’re still alive, aren’t you? Then, that debt wasn’t paid off. In Christ and in Christ alone is that debt paid in full. His life was given up willingly on your behalf. It is because He covered your legal costs, because He made payment on the fines you owed, that you are given leave by the court to walk out a free man.
But, go one step further. Why did He do that? Well, we could say that Jesus did this because the Father determined it should be so, and that would be true enough. But, the Lord our God, He is One. Father and Son, while separate in our thoughts, are One in and with the Spirit. The choice was not made by the Father alone, but by the Trinity in Unity. Why? Why was God willing to lay down His own life for the likes of me? I can assure you it was due to nothing I hold in myself to recommend me to His consideration! No, it was compassion, His compassion, and solely His compassion that moved Him to act. You see, He is not some remote, emotionless being who created and then wandered off after some new project to occupy Himself with. He is deeply, intimately concerned with this creation of His. He is deeply, intimately concerned with you. He is this king who, instead of laughing at your clearly impossible promise to make good on your debt, feels Himself moved to His very bowels by the pain of knowing you quite simply cannot ever hope to make good on even the least part of that debt.
It is compassion that moves God to forgive. It is the breaking of His own heart over the effects of sin on His creation. It is His own determination that in and through His mercy that damage will be repaired, and the true perpetrators of that damage be brought to full justice. Now, as with the whole of creation, we must recognize a secondary (or perhaps primary) purpose in God’s actions, which is to reveal Himself to His creation, and thereby to glorify Himself. This is not said as if God were some egotistical twit so wrapped up in Himself that He needs for everybody to know how great He is. No! It is again that same compassion that moves Him to this revelation and glorification. Honestly! He already knows how great He is. He doesn’t need us lowly creatures to tell Him that. He doesn’t need the ego strokes.
No, it is we who have a desperate need of recognizing His greatness. It is we who stand in need of knowing our Creator, our Father. It is we who, having lost memory of home, need every possible reminder we can get of our true heritage. For, there is this enemy combatant that holds too much sway over our environment, and he does all that he can to keep us in our ignorance. He has all but convinced us that our sinful ways are the right ways, the natural ways. He will even play at representing our true King, pronounce his lies in such a way as to suggest to the suggestible that he has God’s backing on his nonsense. He is evil, but he is not stupid. He doesn’t present us with things that are so obviously wrong in every way that we are made ill to think such a thing. No, he twists the truth ever so slightly, a little off this way, a tad askew that way, but not enough to set off alarms in us. Then, as we acclimatize, he can increase the skew, and before we are aware it has happened, we are miles away from our true heritage, despising it for lack of knowledge in ourselves. And, a merciful God, seeing our situation, is moved in His inmost parts. The depth of His compassion for the plight of man is so great upon Him that He cannot stand apart. Our plight is His plight, for He feels it as such. So, being moved, He moves. He moves not because we deserve it, but because He loves us. Plain and simple, that’s all there is to His motivation. It is not narcissistic vanity, it is an abundance of love for His creation, His children, and let us never forget: His children by choice!
He makes certain we are aware of Him, aware of what He has done for us. He makes certain we are aware of our sins, but simultaneously aware of His forgiveness, lest we despair. Then, He instructs us to reflect His ways. As I have forgiven, forgive. Now, we arrive at the nut of this parable.
We know of that Golden Rule that defines the horizontal aspect of the Christian life. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Here, Jesus lays out the vertical support for that rule, saying, do unto others as you would have God do unto you. Indeed, He is making the point that God has already done it. The question is twofold: do you recognize what God has done for you, and would you like it to remain done?
The clear message here is that compared to the sins you have committed against an eternal God, the insults and wrongs done to you by your fellow man are as nothing. If your neighbor owes you a few weeks’ pay and refuses to pay up, what is that compared to the penalty of your very life that you owe to God, and of which He has forgiven you? Listen! Quite simply put, your bill was far and away beyond your capacity to ever repay. Even if you refuse the gift that Christ Jesus has given and insist on seeing your crimes through to the end, even if you are determined to face God’s justice in your own power, you cannot ever repay all you owe. Oh, you can choose the payment plan, if you feel you must. But, an eternity will not suffice for that jailor to extract your debt to God from you. The only way you will be free of your crimes is the one way God has provided: repentance from the heart followed by forgiveness from His heart.
We who are right in calling ourselves the called of Christ stand in that forgiveness. We therefore have upon us the command of our Lord, that we will forgive all who sin against us (as if that were even a reasonable statement) as God has forgiven us. Honestly, I know that there is a degree of Scriptural support for this concept that we can and do sin one against another, but still, it strikes me as an accommodation for our dimwittedness. David had it right. Against You, and You only have I sinned. Sin cannot, at the end of the day, be against any other. Sin is the broaching of God’s Law, the failure to abide by His principals, and to pursue His purposes. Notice that everything about that is His. As He is the giver of the Law, the definer of the Good, against whom else could my sins be counted?
Oh, I can certainly offend you. I can certainly act in ways you would not condone. And, to be sure, you can do likewise by me. Yes, even in our breaking of God’s Law, there are likely to be offenses against one another. God’s Law does, after all, speak to our inter-personal relationships. If I fail to heed the Law against murder, then somebody’s been hurt, haven’t they? If covetousness has flowered into theft in my life, then somebody’s lost property, haven’t they? Yet, my sin remains against God and God only. Oh, I have caused offense against my brother, yes. I have trespassed upon his rights. But, sin is rightly reserved to my status with God.
The most shocking thing for us may be that even in such severe cases as I suggest, even where there has been wrongful death, even malicious murder, the command of God is unchanged: Forgive. Even there, even the loss of your loved one to this great evil, does not measure up as anything when it is set alongside your own sins against God. They have been forgiven, now you forgive. Show them what I AM is like. I have appointed you as My ambassadors, so represent Me, not yourselves. You are not your own man. You have been bought at the infinitely great price of your justification in My sight, by My blood. As you were once a slave to your sins, you are now a bond-servant sworn to My household – for life! So, then, do as I command. Do as I do.
I have to say that it is rather shameful for mankind in general that this forgiving God, this God who went so very far out of His way to rescue us, has to resort to threats to convince us of the seriousness of this matter of representing Him properly. “If you do not forgive from your heart, My Father shall do the same to you.” I notice that Jesus reverts the clause to My Father in this instance, for if this applies to you, you have as much as given proof that He was never your Father. You were but a poseur, in it for your own gain and pleasure. You were that proverbial wolf amidst the sheep, but this failure to forgive has found you out, and you shall indeed be put outside the fold once for all. If you do not forgive, neither will My Father forgive you. The underpinning of that whole message is that this is truth because you are not His child. He is under no obligation to forgive the child of the devil. It is grace and grace alone that causes Him to adopt from the devil’s children and take the adopted as His own. But, His children, adopted though they may be, will reflect His own character. They will love as He loves and therefore they will forgive as He forgives.
Slavery of Imprisonment vs. Slavery of Choice (03/31/09)
Returning to the subject of slavery, there is that aspect of the practice, particularly as it existed in that time and place, which is worth bearing in mind. I know I have touched on this already, but consider it once more. There were assuredly those in slavery whose situation was a form of punishment. It might be punishment for being on the wrong side in battle. It might be punishment for offenses against somebody with power and authority. It might be punishment in the form of forced labor required of one who has failed to make payment on his debts.
Whatever the condition of that slave whose story Jesus tells before he is brought before the king the second time, it is this slavery of forced labor that is declared to be his future. Imprisoned until you repay every last cent: that’s the unforgiving judgment he passed on his fellow, and thus it became the judgment he received upon himself. As you measure, so it shall be measured out to you. That may be a blessing or a curse. Which it is to be is largely dependent upon you, excepting of course that if it is to be blessing you are dependent upon Him to shape you for blessing.
This concept of a debtor’s prison is something we have rather lost sight of. To us, the idea of imprisoning somebody until they can pay their bills seems crazy. If you remove a man from his employments, how do you expect him to earn anything by which to pay his bills? Ah, but you see, that man in debtor’s prison isn’t simply incarcerated to keep him separate from a society he’s unfit to join. No! It’s a way to keep an eye on him, to ensure that any income he earns (and trust me, he shall be required to earn) is accounted for and given over to those to whom it is due. It’s like the government garnishing your wages for one reason or another, except that in this case, the garnishing is pretty much 100%.
So, inasmuch as the one thus imprisoned is required to labor for another’s gain, even though it be justified, that one is certainly a slave. He has no rights. He has no means. He is wholly submitted to the will of the jailor, and that is the most basic definition of slavery: to be wholly submitted to another’s will. If that imprisoned debtor sleeps, it is because the jailor permits it. If he works, it is because the jailor demands it. If he eats, it is because the jailor provides it. He has no say in the matter.
Again, I have touched on this already, but there is that other form of slavery which God set out for His people. Recall that the one form that is in any way condoned by Scripture, and even that is not truly condoning, but merely making concession to it, is that by which the destitute might preserve themselves alive. If your brother, being down on his luck, as it were, is so desperate for provision that he agrees to serve you, willingly to submit himself to your will even to the point of slavery, accept this. But, it shall only be for a fixed time and at the end of that time you will give him is freedom and you will give it to him freely and without charge. His servitude in your house was not, after all, for your benefit or your profit. It was for his sustenance. You have, in this matter, been granted to be the hand of God in providing for him. If you make it anything else, if you take advantage of this man’s situation to better your own accounts, you have failed your Lord in your own duty, and it shall be required of you. It is mercy which is to motivate you in all this, not greed.
But, what if, when the time for freedom comes, that one has no particular desire to be freed? What if he has found he rather likes these arrangements? He has found his master to be a good man and fair. He is treated well. He has a warm, comfortable home, the food is plentiful, and the work, if not entirely fulfilling, is not onerous. If he cannot expect as good as this on his own in the world, what cause does he have to leave? Well, provision is made for just such a case. That man is free to choose for himself a more permanent position. He is free to choose for himself to be a slave for life in the employ of this master.
Why would God condone such a thing? How could He be pleased to see one man lord it over another? These are questions that come naturally enough to us with our modern perspective and experience. But, look again at that form He has condoned. It is an expression of mercy. It is a means of provision. It is, furthermore, a matter of mutual consent. Both slave and master, in this case, have of their own free wills entered into the arrangement and both, if in the course of time they should so choose, can of their own free wills terminate that arrangement. There is submission in the relationship, but not subjugation. There is provision, but not punishment.
It is in this light that Paul takes the institution of slavery to describe our condition. Indeed, it is in both of these forms that he presents the Gospel to us in a revelation of our own slavery. The truth is, considered in light of his message, every man is a slave. The only question remaining is what master we serve. This motif is one that Paul repeats often in his letters, but let’s consider it as we have it in Romans 6:17-18. You were slaves of sin, but having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
Notice this clearly: In that past slavery there was no freedom. You were not in a position to choose whether you would be so enslaved or not. Yours was the slavery that could be expected by the losing party in battle, for you had lost the battle for your soul, and the cruel victor in that battle had you enslaved: chained to your workbench and given no choice but to sin and sin some more. Yes, and to his own Overlord, he could point to your sins and by them declare his rights over you. See, that Overlord is good, righteous and true, and your actions (coerced though you may feel them to be) are none of these things. They are violation of His just rule, and therefore worthy of punishment. And here, in your cruel taskmaster, is the one who metes out that punishment.
The much sadder truth is that, even as we become aware of our situation, we still have that tendency to continue with those things we were previously forced to do. The habits learned in our slavery are hard to break. But, pay attention to what has transpired here!
You have been freed. You were in chains, bound to that sin and the practice thereof. Your choices had been abrogated. As better minds than mine have pointed out, up until that point your much vaunted free will was all but nonexistent! How could you think yourself free to choose when only one option was ever presented to you? What slave in bonds such as you were in is free to determine his actions? The whole point of slavery is that your actions are determined by another. You may go along willingly or you may go along grudgingly, but you will go along.
But, now you have been freed. Now, by the moving of God’s Spirit upon you, your eyes have been opened, the choices made clear. Now, you have been given a say in your actions and, with that say, you have chosen to become slaves of righteousness. Your situation is in many ways like that one who finds himself at the end of the term of servitude he signed on for, and decides he’d just a soon stay on. The one difference is that in our choosing, we have chosen a new and infinitely better Master. We have accepted His right over us (not that He really needed our acceptance of that right). But, there is that in us which, though in no way earning us merit in His sight, in no way determining our salvation in Him, still has willingly set ear to His doorway and accepted the mark of His ownership upon us.
I have to be exceedingly clear, at this point, in insisting that we understand that this act of our will is solely a response. It is in no way causal. We must not construe this picture as suggesting that we chose Him. No, no, no! He has chosen us! He has freed us, else we would never have noticed the chains that bound us, so blind were we. He has moved. He has done it by His own right arm, and we, in as much as we act of our own free will, act in response to His love, act in gratitude for His sovereign choosing of us. We act because, having received such a love, it were impossible we should not act. We love because He first loved us. We serve because He first served us. Our Master, Who willingly came to be servant of all, has called us His own, and thus we are, and that right gladly.
In what we are reading in Matthew, I find it hard to think that we could lose sight of the meaning, but in case that is possible, let’s be clear about things. The prisoner in that debtor’s prison is not free. He has no least chance of departing his servitude until his debt is declared paid. And, bear in mind, that the whole time he is in there, his keep is as interest accumulating upon his debt. There are but two ways out of that prison: with the debt legally satisfied, or in a box.
As Jesus tells His parable, the setting is that of this man who is settling accounts with his slaves. It is clear that these slaves of his have had great liberty to see to their owner’s business. They are not menials, for what menial could have ever managed to accumulate such a debt? He is not come to punish, but simply to balance his books, to hear the reports from his business units. When, therefore, we hear about his forgiving this man’s debt, we should clearly recognize the imagery of accountancy in that scene. It would be as if, finding yourself with shrinking income, you went to your banker seeking terms by which you might continue paying on your mortgage – even were that mortgage one you were foolhardy to take on in the first place. It is as if, having thus approached your banker, he did not choose immediately to start foreclosure procedures, and neither did he simply start working out terms of a new loan that might prove more feasible for you to keep up with. It is as if he simply took out the records of that mortgage, stamped it paid in full, and notarized it. Legally, that debt is erased. Legally, he has relinquished all recourse for recouping his money from you, and you are free to depart and to continue enjoying that home.
That aspect is clearly present in our parable. But, in that term of forgiveness, there is also a deeper connotation which the Hebrew usage of the Greek language had imparted. You see, this was the term that had come to express the expiation of sin. This was the term to describe the purpose of the sacrifice. Atonement expiates sin. The blood of the sacrifice was given as payment for sin, and by God’s acceptance, that debt of sin was expiated. God had marked the account paid in full to that point. Of course, the sacrificial system could at best hope to provide a temporary balancing of that account, and the debt of sin was forever restarting almost as soon as it had been paid. But, in Christ, in the eternal sacrifice of the Lamb of God, that stamp of “paid in full” has been put on the books, and the books have been closed!
That is the forgiveness we have in Him. That is the incredible dimension of the debt He has written off His books on our part. That is the measure of the mercy He has manifested towards us. Yes, and we understand that when God forgives, He throws those things forgiven into the sea of forgetfulness. He is determined that they shall be remembered no more. It’s like a juvenile offense and we, the ones who have reached maturity. Those juvenile records are sealed and not admissible as evidence.
And yet, there is this stiff warning given to us: It can come back. The books could be reopened, and that stamp removed from our account. If His forgiveness is not sufficient to make of us a forgiving people, then the balancing promise remains: As you have measured, so it shall be measured out to you. If you are unforgiving and judgmental, then expect the judgment against you to be equally unforgiving. If you are tempted to behave as the cruel and unyielding judge, just bring back to mind how great is your own debt compared to that slight you are thinking to avenge. Indeed, consider how your very act of exacting that revenge is overstepping your bounds, treading on the private property of God Himself and therefore adding to your own, already infinite debt for criminal acts against the King.
Is it worth it? Is it worth that pointless licking of your wounds to put yourself on a path to eternal wounding? Is it worth returning that unbearable burden of debt onto your own back to insist on your penny of satisfaction from another? Is your grudge worth holding onto when you see how just and right your Lord would be in holding a grudge against you? Or would you be acquitted of your crimes, granted liberty to serve in freedom? Or would you have your debt erased? Then, forgive as you have been forgiven – freely and completely. Then, choose to live your life in a way that will give you no cause for fear when you pray as Jesus taught you: “Forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors”.
A Consistent Message (04/01/09)
The importance of this business of forgiveness in God’s view is clear. It is clear in that Jesus makes it part of His model prayer when He teaches His disciples what prayer should consist of. “Forgive us as we have forgiven” (Mt 6:12). As I have noted, that can often prove a very difficult clause to pray in earnest. Do I wish to be forgiven only in that degree to which I forgive those who offend me? Not really!
Perhaps it would be helpful to hear that verse in this form, “forgive us, for we have forgiven.” Now, we dare not hear that as if our having forgiven has somehow earned His forgiveness. Is a slave rewarded for doing only that which was required of him? No. It is what is expected. Should he fail to do that much, he could expect punishment, but his having done it draws no reward. So it is with our forgiving of those who offend against us. It is required. It is expected. And, as we read here and elsewhere, our failure to do as we are expected to do will draw punishment. Rather, when I place my having forgiven as a reason for seeking forgiveness, it is more by way of declaring that things are such that God can forgive not only in mercy but in justice.
It is akin to that marvelous verse from John’s letters: “If we confess our sins, then He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us” (1Jn 1:9). We have satisfied His requirements by our confession. He was, of course, free to forgive us even apart from that confession. Indeed, had He not done that at least once, I doubt any of us would be numbered amongst His own. But, with confession, we open the way for that merciful gift of forgiveness to also evidence justice. Again, I suppose I must make a matter clear here. It is not as if God is unjust to forgive apart from this precondition. It would be impossible that any act God takes should be unjust. But, just as we find in ourselves that the aspect of our character most evident in one action or another varies, so with God. Certain actions of His more fully reflect His love than anything else. Others are clear manifestations of wrath. Yet, in wrath He does not cease to be love, and in love He does not cease to be wrath.
So it is with justice and mercy. I have heard it said, in this regard, that the judge who forgave every single criminal to stand before him in the court would be considered neither merciful nor just. Foolish, perhaps; more likely worthless. He is not judging. He is simply letting one and all get away with whatever they wish. There is no law, nothing upon which one can depend when this is the way of things. Yet, a just judge may choose to pardon. He may, on occasion, even choose to do so where there is no clear justification for it. When done judiciously, we do not find cause in this to suppose the judge unjust, merely merciful. When, however, the actions of the accused, or the sum of the evidence presented in his defense show that there were extenuating circumstances, or show that he has clearly accepted that his actions were wrong, and that he is committed to reforming his actions along more acceptable ways; then the justness of a merciful judge in forgiving the man his crimes is evident.
Playing this idea out within the courtroom of God, He is perfectly within His rights to forgive us as He sees fit, whether our condition would seem to be fitting for forgiveness or not. But, He is a just judge. He may forgive without clear cause on some rare occasion, where He deems it likely to have a correcting influence upon its recipient. But, more often, He will forgive only where it serves justice, only where it will clearly display justice in its giving.
To that end, He has laid out the preconditions. Among these: confess your sins. I note that John is not specific as to how such confession must be made, whether to brother, to pastor, or to God alone. He is not specific because that is not the point. All confession is before God, whether any other should hear or not. It may be beneficial to us to have that earthly witness of our confession by which we may be held more accountable in future, but it is not a requirement placed on the process, at least not by this verse.
Of greater import is this matter of our own forgiveness. If you doubt me, consider the number of times that precondition is spelled out in no uncertain terms. It is hinted at in that model prayer, but Jesus spells it out clearly immediately thereafter. “If you forgive men for what they do, your Father will forgive you. If you don’t, neither will He” (Mt 6:14-15). Here in this parable, the risk inherent in unforgiveness is spelled out more plainly still. Not only to you risk His refusing you forgiveness in future, you risk His rescinding that forgiveness you already received! Is that a gamble you care to make? Is your grudge worth losing your citizenship in heaven over?
Listen, this was no new thing that Jesus was declaring, only forgotten. It was one of those matters that had been more or less glossed over. Go back to the wisdom literature and you will hear the same message in different terms: “If you will not hear the cry of the poor, neither will your own cry be answered” (Pr 21:13). Oh, the formally religious were careful of their alms-giving, to be sure. They were careful, in particular, to have witnesses to their giving. They were careful that all their fellows should see how generous they were, that they could have the commendation of their acts lavished upon them by their fellow man. To which God said, “you have your reward in full.” You did it for show, for applause, and you have received your applause. Yet, you have shown no mercy.
What do you mean, no mercy? Did they not help? Yes, they helped, but their heart was not in it. Yes, they helped, but had there been nobody to witness their actions, they might just as easily have kicked the one they helped. Mercy, we must recall, is so closely tied to compassion as to be its twin. It is a matter of heart, a matter that hits us in the gut and will not admit of being ignored. It is the result of a soul so deeply moved to sorrow over this other one’s misfortunes that the very idea of doing nothing is inconceivable. And our dear Lord says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5:3). It is the poor in spirit, far more than the poor of means, who most need the mercy of God, and need to find it in evidence in God’s children.
So important was this, and so clear to these early disciples, that James, the brother of Christ, would write most sternly of the implications. “Judgment will be merciless to the merciless” (Jas 2:13). As you sow, so shall you reap. As you judge, so shall you be judged. As you measure out, so shall it be measured to you. Are these not all the same concept? To the merciless, mercilessness. But, James notes, there is something we ought to know in all of this: Mercy triumphs over judgment. So it ought to be with us, for so it is with our Father in heaven.
You are not required to await having sound legal cause to forgive any more than He is. It is in your hands and within your rights to forgive even where no apology is heard. It is in your hands and within your rights to forgive even where no reconciliation is possible. Perhaps that party that so wounded you has moved to distant lands. Perhaps you’ve simply lost touch. Perhaps they’ve departed this life. It matters not. You might feel better had you been able to see them face to face once more, to remove that wall of unforgiveness and feel the warmth of their response. But, it’s not necessary to forgiveness. Just forgive. Let mercy triumph in you. There’s enough judgment in the world, and there’s enough in yourself to occupy your judgment for years to come. Just forgive.
Reality Only (04/01/09-04/02/09)
It remains to recognize what is probably the single most important factor relayed to us in this entire parable. Forgiveness, to be forgiveness, must come from the heart. It must be heart-felt, and heartily approved by the one who would forgive, else it’s no forgiveness at all. Just as the apologies we receive (and those we give) so often fall far short of repentance, so it can be with our forgiveness. We know well enough that in many cases the, “I’m sorry,” we receive is not sorrow over the apologist’s actions, but sorrow over the consequences. But, how often do we think to consider the veracity of our mumbled forgiveness? How sincere was that, “oh, it’s alright,” that we answered them with?
Let me ask it another way. How often have you replayed the events that led up to that apology in your mind. How often have you found yourself counting up the number of times you’ve suffered that very same wrong, heard that very same apology? How often do you think to yourself that this one you supposedly forgave will never change? How carefully are you counting your way to that seventy times seven, just waiting for that one more that puts you over the top? In all these cases, your forgiveness has been no more sincere than that apology, perhaps even less so.
The problem is so bad that there are now self-help books out there for the unforgiven, teaching them ways to act, ways to make the offended one feel more like forgiving them. Well, that’s nice and all, but what it has to do with Christian behavior I’m not clear. The instructions that have led up to this parable said nothing about forgive when you’re convinced the offender is sincere enough in his apologies. The instructions don’t go on about how, if your brother has aught against you, figure out what his forgiveness language is and approach the matter by those means. It says, go make it right. Perhaps we could find some support for this whole business in the idea that we are to be peacemakers in whatever degree that goal lies within our power. But, then, the same could be said of the other party, true?
For the offended party, the instructions are clear enough: forgive. If your brother repents, forgive. Indeed, if we are called to forgive as our Father forgave us, can we not see that there ought to be no conditions upon that? He loved us while we were yet His enemies. He forgave us before we even considered turning to Him for help, let alone salvation. If He had not, we would never have approached Him at all. If He had not first forgiven, we would never have found it in our heart to repent. Yes, there remains that sequence of sin-rebuke-repent-forgive between us an our God. Yes, that sequence, with or without the interior pair of steps, is still our common experience between one another. But, our duty, our clear and consistent duty before the God who saves us, is to forgive.
Note well the guarding clause included by that command: from your heart. Don’t play the game of pronouncing a forgiveness you don’t really have and thinking that suffices. Let me be careful here. This matter of forgiveness from the heart, forgiveness that keeps no record of wrongs, even unconditional forgiveness, if you will: it is not something that comes naturally to most folks. You may find it necessary to practice at it for a time before it really becomes heartfelt. But, you know: as I list out those descriptions of what forgiveness is supposed to be like, it really is a reflection and an outflow of love, isn’t it?
Love, real love as opposed to the emotional passion we mistake for it, is much the same in that it is not something that comes naturally to us. Oh, we know how to like. We know how to develop attachments to. But, to truly love in this wholly unconditional fashion, in such a way as would cover a multitude of sins in the object of our love, that takes practice.
All of this is to say that we may, for a time, have to forgive on training wheels. We may, out of an earnest desire for righteousness, have to more or less fake that ‘from the heart’ part, at least as our emotions feel it. But, even there, the key ingredient is present and accounted for. You see, a forgiveness that flows from an earnest desire for righteousness does indeed come from the heart, even though the heart may not feel all that forgiving yet. It is, as I said, forgiveness on training wheels, but in spite of the feeling of doubt it may engender in the forgiver, it is from the heart of the forgiver. Time and practice will so train that one that his forgiveness truly flows from a heart’s desire to forgive, to love. It may begin from the seed desire for righteousness, but as the Righteous One trains us in His ways, then we will surely mature in the practice of forgiving as He forgives.
The warning included here is not one against those in training, but rather a hedge set against returning to the errors of the Pharisee, the Christian for show. Don’t allow yourself to drop into that place of mouthing the empty, “I forgive you.” This is as dangerous and self-deceiving as praying the Lord’s Prayer without a thought to what your tongue is saying. It is playing at the social graces without experiencing grace whatsoever.
There will be times, you may be certain, when you are approached with a request for forgiveness in a matter in which you see nothing to forgive. There will be times, you can be equally sure, when the presentation of the matter will leave you feeling accused by the request for forgiveness. There will be times when these requests are going to be such an offense to you that you may struggle not to rise up in anger at the whole matter. What to do? Forgive. Indeed, forgive the matter that is brought to you and then, in your prayer closet, as it were, forgive the way in which forgiveness was sought. The first is basic. The first ought really to require little to no thought or effort from you, if you have matured at all as a son of the Holy God. The second, however, may test your maturity more thoroughly: especially giving that forgiveness from your heart, silently, without seeking the little vengeance of rubbing the offender’s nose in it.
This is what God is seeking in us. When we see the God Who is Love, we need to see that He is necessarily therefore the God Who is Forgiveness. When He speaks of extending His mercy down through generation upon generation, to thousands, He is expressing that same Love and Forgiveness which is His essence. That He warns us that even so, His patient forbearance has its limits, that Justice and the wrath of Vengeance are also in His hands, and He will employ them as He must to preserve Himself Righteous, is also, don’t you see, an expression of His Love. It would be most unloving to leave us unwarned, to face the sudden judgment of patience come to an end. Love can be a stern master.
