Parable of forgiveness - Matthew 18

Matthew 18:21-35 is a parable of Jesus only found in the Gospel of Matthew in which there is an servant who after just being forgiven of a great debt, is unforgiving toward a servant of his own for a minor debt.  I have encountered this parable as a proof of God sending people to hell, as per the final verses in which it says, 

Then his lord summoned him and said to him, “You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow-slave, as I had mercy on you?” And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he should pay his entire debt. So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.’

Perhaps this is indeed a story of God punishing those who are unforgiving.  It seems weird to me that God would not forgive but punish those who do not forgive.  Does that mean that God should be punished until God forgives the unforgiving people?

It is for these reasons that we need to remember this is a parable.  As such there is great symbolism in these stories and to quickly literalness them blinds us to potential deeper meanings.

So in an effort to help open imagination of parabolic reading, I would offer this idea. 

When I live my life and am not forgiving my neighbor, then I find that I am tormented by the grudges I am holding toward those who I am called to forgive.  

Could it be that God allows us to be handed over to the one responsible for punishing prisoners when we do not forgive not because God is punishing us, but because we are punishing ourselves?  In my life I find that I am my own worst critic and hardest on myself.  When I hold grudges and refuse forgiveness when I know I should not, I feel terrible.  I feel tormented.  

And I will continue to feel this way until my debt is paid off.  That is to say that I will be tormented by my lack of forgiving until I forgive.

Free and Cheap

A couple of weeks ago my senior minister made a comment in her sermon about grace being free but not cheap. For those theology students out there, you may recall this is not a new idea and was popularized by Bonhoeffer.

It got me thinking some about the difference in free and cheap, which I open to the larger wiser community.

This is where I have been musing...

Cheap things are cheap on both sides of the relationship.  Things are cheap to make and thus become cheap to sell.  Something that is "cheaply made" is "cheaply sold" and has little value to both the producer and the consumer.  Cheap costs little for both parties.

Free things, however, cost a great deal to the provider and cost nothing to the recipient.  For instance, hospitality is free.  It costs a great deal for those who are providing the meal, the place, the entertainment, the conversation, the drink and on and on.  But it is free for those who receive this hospitality.  Make no mistake, hospitality is not cheap - but it is free.

Likewise, in the church we are called to share all things free.

But make no mistake free is not cheap.

Perhaps this is why the Church is in decline?  We have made what is free cheap and thus it costs little to everyone involved.

How can we as a Church reclaim the idea of a free that costs and discard the idea of cheap?

14 Things Older Leaders Should Know About Younger Leaders part 3

I did not write this, but I want to share it with not only the older leaders of the Church but also for the younger leaders of the church.  Also for anyone who has ever entered into Church.

I am going to pull a few of the points from the original post and add some comments.

13. Inspire us- cast vision for us. Motivate us through painting a picture of where we are headed. Lead us. But don’t manage us. Managing to you means something completely different than it does to us. You were schooled on the management theories of the '80s. Major generation gap here. And a source of lots of tension that is difficult to manage. Connect us too. we are drawn towards community and relational networks through which we can make an impact and affect change. Community is incredibly important to us, in any context. We want to climb the hill together, not by ourselves.

We live in a culture that truly thinks that it can change the world.  Just look at how often that phrase has become more popular in the books published.  We have tools at our disposal, but what we do not always have is inspiration and leadership.  This is where older and wiser generations come in.  
In case you are unsure what we mean by lead us - here is a classic definition.

14. Kick us out. Release us- literally, kick us out. Not only give us permission to leave, but actually encourage us to leave and pursue other things. Once it’s time for us to move on, we might need your encouragement to pursue what God might be stirring up in us. Especially during the last couple of years, when it was much easier to just hang on than to really let go and chase after our dreams. We’re not leaving because we’re “giving up” on your vision; we just want to make ours a reality.



This axiom is nothing short from greatness.  We are a generation who grew up on feedback and as such some of the best feedback is in the form of forcing us out and into the world.  Do not allow us to sink into our pews as the world needs us to be what we should be.