Sunday Readings Commentary
Father Andrew Wadsworth offers a short commentary on this week's Sunday Lectionary readings.
To read the relevant Bible passage just click on the reference.
Before reading and reflecting on God's word you might like to use the following prayer:
O Lord,
who hast given us thy word
for a light to shine upon our path:
Grant us so to meditate upon that word
and follow its teaching,
that we may find in it the light that shineth
more and more unto the perfect day:
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity
Anger and wrath, these are abominations,
and the sinful man will hold them fast.
The one who seeks vengeance will be paid vengeance from the Lord,
and he who keeps a record will have his own sins recorded.
Forgive your neighbour the wrong he has done,
and then your sins will be pardoned when you pray.
Does one person harbour anger against another
and yet seek for healing from the Lord?
Does he have no mercy towards someone like himself
and yet pray concerning his own sins?
If he himself, being flesh, maintains wrath,
who will make atonement for his sins?
Remember the end of your life and cease from enmity,
remember destruction and death
and be true to the commandments.
Remember the commandments
and do not be angry with your neighbour;
remember the covenant of the Most High
and overlook error.
Why did the church choose this passage, about the prophet warning sinners, to pair with a gospel-reading about reconciliation? Partly because every person’s sin or failure affects the whole Church. If I fail in my duty to my brother or sister or spouse or child or other dependent, this harms the holiness of the whole Church. I can’t shrug it off as no concern of mine: ‘I can’t be bothered’, ‘too busy, ‘nothing to do with me, anyway’. Of course it is all very well for the prophet Ezekiel to point out other people’s faults: that is the job of a prophet, to show others how God sees them. Heaven forbids that I should go round telling people their faults! On the other hand, just occasionally I can learn some home-truths about myself when someone flies off the handle; that is the time to listen and learn! Jesus did not denounce sinners: he dined with them. For myself, there are countless people and occasions where a healing word, a healing touch can begin the process of growth over the scar-tissue. But it must be a healing in love, and unless there is real, overflowing love, keep clear!
Brothers and Sisters: None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
Paul has described the process of salvation, won for us by Christ’s loving obedience to his Father. Now he gives his instructions how we should live as Christians; he merely slips into the basic command of Judaism: love your neighbour as yourself. Each of these negative commandments he mentions contains a clutch of positive values. If I really love and bond with my spouse, it will never come to adultery. ‘You shall not kill’ implies also the values of furthering life in all the ways we can. ‘You shall not steal’ involves also the respect for the property and well-being of others. The only debt I owe to anyone is love. It is easy to kid ourselves that we are practising love, when in fact it is self-interest, self-justification. It is easy enough to be loving to our friends (most of the time!), but that is not what Paul means. In his earlier letter to the Corinthians he gave us that searching test for true love, ‘Love is always patient, never jealous, not boastful or conceited, never rude, never seeks its own advantage,’ and so on. I can’t look many of those qualities in the face without some embarrassment.
At that time: Peter came up and said to Jesus, ‘Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.
‘Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.” And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, “Pay what you owe.” So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, “Have patience with me, and I will pay you.” He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him, “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?” And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.’
Matthew is a realist. Despite the presence of Christ in the Christian community there are going to be disagreements and misunderstandings in every community and every family. The vital thing is to sort them out and not to let them fester. So here we are given a safe process. Interestingly, it is the same process as is laid down in the Community Rule of the Dead Sea Scrolls found at Qumran; did Matthew take it from them, or was it widespread at the time? One might complain that it is not very Christian of Matthew to abandon the offending brother or sister to be as a hated tax-collector, even after the failure of attempts at reconciliation. But note that just afterwards, this process of attempted reconciliation is supplemented by Jesus’ teaching that we have to forgive not just seven times (the perfect number) but seventy-seven times. That means again and again and again, without limit – even if the attempts at reconciliation have failed.
We also get the reminder that Christ is present always in his community. The same promise is given at beginning (the name Emmanuel means ‘God with us’) and end of the gospel (‘I am with you to the end of time’). Therefore the strength of the community both to reconcile grievances and to make further requests of the Father lies in the presence of Christ within it. It is especially striking that the same promise is here given to the Church as had earlier been given to Peter himself. There is the same assumption as within Judaism, that the Lord is present in the assembled community; in Judaism this is expressed as the presence of the awesome divine presence, the Shekinah; within Christianity it is normally expressed as the presence of the Spirit of Christ.