Daily Devotional • June 20
A Reading from Matthew 18: 21-35
21 Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if my brother or sister sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.
23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him, 25 and, as he could not pay, the lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions and payment to be made. 26 So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him by the throat he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. 31 When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. 32 Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. 35 So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
Meditation
God has forgiven us. Out of gratitude, we show our appreciation by being ready to forgive others. We are so indebted to God! He has forgiven us for ALL our sins. The Father even paid the price for us with His own Son’s blood. How can we ever pay Him back? How can we ever love the Lord enough in return for what He has done for us? When we are told to forgive others, we still hang on to our grudges.
We can “turn them over” to God, allowing God to take care of a situation. But we are secretly hopeful that the Lord will punish the person for what they have done to us. We relish the thought that “God will get them!” Perhaps that is our way of coping. Instead, we should ask God to help us forgive and pray for God to have mercy on the person who hurt us. Remembering what Christ has done for us helps us to do this. Christ did not wait for us to confess our faults or get it all right before He died for us (Romans 5:8). He knew we needed saving. We do not deserve nor are we in any way worthy to receive this from God, but we receive it anyway.
The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery (John 8: 7-11). To test Jesus, they said, “The law of Moses commanded us to stone her; what do you say?” Jesus replied, “Let anyone among you who is without sin cast the first stone at her.” They all walked away; not one of them was without sin to throw the first stone and kill the woman. Similarly, we are not without sin, and we have no stone to throw. God calls us to forgive others as we have been forgiven.
We are to forgive and keep forgiving — not to count the times someone has wronged us. This does not mean we are a doormat or do not have boundaries. It doesn’t mean that we forget what happened. It doesn’t mean there are no consequences. What it does mean is we have no stone to cast at the person, and we pray for God to have mercy on them. Sometimes, the prayer is to have the desire to pray for mercy. That is a start.
The Rev. Sara Oxley is the rector of The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Maitland, Florida.
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
The Diocese of Garissa –The Anglican Church of Kenya
The Diocese of Garissa –The Anglican Church of KenyaThe Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi