In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

     It's kind of tough, looking at a Biblical passage in which our Lord speaks so directly and firmly about the need for forgiveness, on September 11th. It's tough, because I'm not so sure most Americans are at all ready to begin talking about forgiving the terrorists who attacked us-the World Trade Center, our nation's capital. Certainly, it's not helpful or godly for us or our nation to continue to act out of anger or bitterness or desire for revenge-but then, I'm not sure we've been acting out of such emotional responses. Self-defense, yes. Firm response to attack, yes. Forceful, pro-active military actions to deter future terrorist attacks, yes. But it doesn't seem we're acting out of anger or bitterness or need for revenge. Still, don't ask us to forgive. My guess is we are no where ready to forgive. Nor should we be. Which might be a strange thing to say, given Jesus' harsh words about God's judgment upon the unforgiving. But let us say a couple of things about that.

     First, according to rabbinic teaching, as well as biblical teaching overall, forgiveness comes when the offending party repents. According to Jewish teaching, according to Rabbi David Blumenthal "teshuva" is the word used to describe the Judeo-Christian understanding of sin, repentance and forgiveness. It comes from the biblical notion that when one offends another, whether the other is God, or another human person, the relationship is broken. For restoration to happen, the first thing that must take place, is that the offending party, the one who has caused the offense, must acknowledge he or she has offended another, and ask for forgiveness. In fact, according to rabbinic tradition, repentance involves five elements: recognition of one's sins as sins, desisting from that sin, restitution where possible, and finally, confession of one's guilt. Then, the offended party is to forgive. Our gospel lesson for today does not deal with Jesus' attitude toward forgiving those who have not repented-Peter's question of Jesus regards the Jewish understanding of forgiving one who has repented. According to Jewish law, one was required to forgive the repentant three times. The rabbis taught, "When one repents and asks forgiveness the first time, you must forgive; the second time, you must forgive; even a third time, you must forgive. The fourth time", the rabbi's taught-"there is no forgiveness required." So, having heard what Jesus has been saying all along, from the Sermon on the Mount forward about the need for forgiveness, Peter asks Jesus a question that, in Peter's own mind, must have shown him to be quite a generous and merciful fellow. Peter asks Jesus, "Lord, if my brother sins against me, must I forgive-say, seven times?" Here, Peter goes far beyond the rabbinic requirement of three-suggesting the biblical number of divine completeness...seven! Surely, Peter thought, seven times would be enough. But Jesus will have none of that kind of limitation on forgiveness. Jesus affirms that when one repents of his or her offense, there is to be no limit to the number of times you must forgive! This is the first thing we can say about Jesus' teaching about forgiveness.

     But, here is the second thing we learn from Jesus in our gospel text for today. Jesus is speaking specifically, here, about repentance and forgiveness within the Church. You remember from last week's sermon that the Gospel of Matthew presents Jesus' teaching about how his followers are to live in community with each other. We see this immediately before our present passage, when Jesus teaches about how to regain sinful members, but we see it again in Peter's question, framed in terms of an offense caused by one church member against another. Peter asks Jesus, "If another member of the church sins against me...how many times must I forgive him?" So what Jesus is saying here is directed at members of the Church, and how relationships are to work, within the Church. Which is not to say that his instruction wouldn't be useful for those outside the Church, it's just that the impact of Jesus' words and the severity of them are intended, intended by Jesus to hit his disciples HARD! Because how else can you explain the parable, and his final words, other than that they are meant to hit hard? After telling the parable of the unforgiving servant, wherein the unforgiving servant is handed over to be tortured, Jesus concludes, "so also my heavenly Father will do to each of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart."

     Now, there have been various and sundry attempts to explain away, or soften Jesus'words here-but the fact remains...the Church is the community of those who have received and acknowledged the forgiveness of the King-a debt not unlike that of ten thousand talents, or roughly millions of dollars-- unfathomable, to most of us. You and I, as members of the Church, have been forgiven such a debt, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ-through His own sacrifice on the cross, for us and for our salvation. We are the servants who have received this overwhelming, unimaginable grace and mercy, and we, of all people in the world, are to be ready, then, to forgive our human brothers and sisters the meager debt they owe us, by trespassing against us. Oh, it may seem a great big deal, when a brother or sister offends us-but really, Jesus says, when compared with the offense we have given to God, and when compared to the immeasurable gift of forgiveness we have been given by God-is it so hard to forgive the repentant? When one has recognized one's sins, when one has expressed remorse, when one has desisted from his sin, and confessed guilt-are we unable to forgive, once, twice, seven times, seventy-times seven times? Because we have been forgiven, Jesus says again and again, we are to forgive. He teaches us to pray, "forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us"...but it is indeed, the forgiveness we have already received, that empowers us to forgive in turn. And, Jesus says-now that God has forgiven you so great a debt of sin-now that you have received such manifold mercy, NOT to forgive, will be unforgivable. Within the community of the followers of Jesus, Jesus says, the unforgiving, will not be forgiven. The unforgiving within the Church, Jesus says, will face a harsh punishment. Simply put, for followers of Jesus, the repentant, are always to be forgiven-the repentant are always to receive mercy, that reconciliation and restoration may take place. The unrepentant, are a different matter. Those who refuse to acknowledge their sin, confess their guilt and make amends-that is a different sermon. But when forgiveness is sought within the Church, forgiveness is to be granted-for the sake of the unity of the Body of Christ, and to give glory to God the King, who grants to us, mercy and forgiveness. The God of grace, expects no less of his children, than that we forgive the repentant, as we have been forgiven. Period. End of discussion.

     In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.