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On Forgiveness
Sep 14, 2026
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.”
As we come to this great miracle of the parting of the Red Sea we are all holding our breath to see if the Israelites will actually escape Pharoah or not. Will they taste freedom at long last? This scene plays out before our eyes like in the movies. God has done great work in breaking Pharaoh’s spirit and defeating the gods of Egypt to free Israel from slavery which was accomplished through Moses and Aaron. They have left Egypt with their families and their animals; left in such haste that their bread had no time to rise and they left rich with treasure plundered from the Egyptians (Exodus 12:36). But now that they have gone, it seems that Pharaoh’s spirit has regained some strength and he sets his mind on recapturing his escaped slaves. So he sets off in pursuit of the Israelites with his army and 600 chariots; driven by revenge and carrying hate in his heart.
Understandably, the Israelites are terrified to see this great multitude coming up behind them. Just when they thought they were free. Now they are trapped between Pharoah’s army and the Red Sea, between the return to slavery and death by drowning. Which way should they turn?
Once again God comes to their rescue.
Moses – lift up your staff.
The waters part – a miracle!
All of Israel starts walking through this newly created miraculous water way.
But close behind - Pharaoh.
And the Lord saves Israel but not Pharoah.
It seems that in this narrative God takes sides, that God’s saving power is reserved for Israel alone and that can clash with our understanding of the God who loves all people. Of course, Pharoah was a ruthless villain who was oppressing those who were weaker than him. So, is God on the side of the oppressed? I don’t think that’s quite right either.
In today’s Gospel lesson Jesus says that God is against those who don’t forgive (vs. 35), in other words, those who don’t demonstrate the godly traits of mercy and love.
In the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant a king’s servant has racked up a massive debt equal to about $6 billion in today’s money, representing 200,000 years of wages for the servant. Obviously, Jesus is employing hyperbole again to make his point. There’s no way a servant would be allowed to borrow that much money. Nevertheless, in the story, when the king came to collect the debt, the servant could not pay and begged for mercy. The king took pity on him and forgave him the debt.
Wow! What great news! That’s a huge weight off his shoulders. And what does he do with this good will?
He turns around and demands that a fellow servant repay the money he loaned him. And when this fellow couldn’t pay – did he show mercy as he had received mercy from the king? No! He had him thrown in debtor’s prison!
How did that turn out for him?
Because he could not forgive his fellow servant the king revoked his forgiveness and had him tortured until he would pay the debt he owed.
Jesus warns, “So my Heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart” (vs. 35).
We must forgive as we have been forgiven, we must show mercy as we have been shown mercy. Or risk losing it all.
As Paul writes: “So then, each of us will be accountable to God.” (Romans 14:12)
And none of this should surprise you as we say every Sunday: “forgive us our trespasses AS we forgive those who trespass against us.” God will forgive those who forgive others.
Forgive debts and be forgiven.
Forgive trespasses and be forgiven.
Forgive sins and be forgiven.
Like our freedom, our forgiveness is conditional – IF we forgive THEN we are forgiven.
It’s not like I expect the Israelites to have mercy on their tormentors especially so soon after they escaped the trauma. The milk of human kindness tends to curdle in our veins when we are wronged.
That spirit of revenge lies quiescent in our souls until aroused – we share that with all humans too.
Admit it – you love to see the villain punished, tormented, dead on the shores of the sea. Every movie you watch, every book you read, you root for the good and in the story of your life you root for you.
But what about years later – when they recount the Exodus do they ever feel sorry for the Pharoah – is he even human to them or just the big bad boogeyman?
Pharaoh to us can seem just like a character in a story – not real – because it was so long ago and didn’t happen to us, but what about something a little closer to our time. Should a Jew who survived the Holocaust forgive a Nazi who participated in that horror? That’s the question Simon Wiesenthal proposed to several people in his book The Sunflower. As you can imagine the answers varied.
The Dalai Lama says we should forgive but that doesn’t mean we forget.
Harold Kushner writes that forgiving is not something we do for the other person, but it is something we do for ourselves by letting go of our sense of grievance.
Dennis Prager expresses the belief that only the victim can forgive, thus murder is unforgiveable. Not even God will forgive one who is not forgiven by his victim.
Desmond Tutu declares that retributive justice is a thing of the past, forgiveness is the way of the future – the only way to move forward.
Now this question wasn’t purely hypothetical but based on an actual event that happened while Wiesenthal was imprisoned by the Nazis during the war. A dying SS officer confessed his atrocities to Wiesenthal and asked for forgiveness. Like all he needed to hear were those words from any Jew’s mouth to soothe his tortured soul. In the end he was disappointed as Wiesenthal walked away, withholding those sweet words of mercy from the Nazi’s ear.
What about the villains in your life? Can you forgive them?
The thing that came the hardest to me was forgiving my mom for what I perceived as emotional neglect. My mother turned a blind eye to my suffering – she didn’t want to see what was happening because then she would have to do something about it. It was disappointing to me when I realized that she failed to protect me and that pain became even more acute when I had children of my own and felt that fierce motherly love that commanded me to care for my children. I couldn’t understand why my mother didn’t act in the way I expected and it was too easy to come to the conclusion that she didn’t love me.
It took me many years of prayerful consideration before I realized that love is complicated and so are human beings. My mother had her own emotional problems and that hindered her responses to my plight. I came to the conclusion that she loved me in the best way she could and was finally able to let go of my expectations for her behavior and love her the way she was. This forgiveness felt like freedom – the heavy burden that I carried for so long lifted from my heart and I was able to enjoy a good relationship with her for a few years before she passed away.
How do we arrive at this place of forgiveness?
Now here is a silly example but I think it demonstrates the steps necessary.
Once upon a time everything people did while driving annoyed me. I couldn’t tolerate someone following me too closely or cutting me off or slamming on their brakes right in front of me or not using their turn signal. Yes, I was in the grips of road rage. Now, as a rule I didn’t express anger in my ordinary interactions, so this new feeling was completely unexpected. At first, I reasoned that maybe I SHOULD express my anger – it couldn’t be good to hold it all in. Besides, it wasn’t hurting anyone, the other drivers couldn’t hear what I was saying about them. So I did that for a while but then I felt like I was turning into a person I didn’t like and I put a stop to these expressions of annoyance. But that doesn’t mean that I didn’t still FEEL annoyed.
Oh, I was annoyed – VERY annoyed. And I stayed annoyed for many years while driving until one day I cut someone off in traffic. Me, the perfect driver, made a mistake! I just didn’t see the car back there in my blind spot. I apologized profusely – of course, they couldn’t hear me – but I apologized all the same.
And then it hit me – if I could make a mistake, maybe these other drivers are just making mistakes too. Maybe they aren’t maniacal self-centered jerks who never learned how to drive properly. Maybe they are just people like me who are sometimes distracted and not paying enough attention to the road.
That’s the first step – recognize that the other person is human. Not a villain. Not a monster. A flawed human being like the rest of us.
The second step is to recognize that YOU are human – that you make mistakes. Maybe you’ve made the VERY SAME mistake you are mad about. Or maybe you could IMAGINE yourself making that same mistake. At the very least, deep down you have the capacity to commit this wrong if circumstances were different. This is the hardest step, especially for those really bad things like murder or abuse.
The third step is to remember a time when you made a mistake and someone forgave you. Oh, the sweet relief…
Vengeful hatred is a burden. Forgiveness is freedom.
Jesus said: “Come to me all who are heavy laden and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
Now, who do you have to forgive?
Prayer
Gracious and Merciful Lord, hear our prayer. We ask for the blessing of forgiveness as we confess our sins to you and to those we have wronged. We also ask for the blessing of being able to forgive those who have wronged us. As we have been forgiven, let us forgive. As we receive your mercy, let it flow through us to others; let us be a conduit of your love. Let us not hoard all the goodwill for ourselves but share it with the world for the sake of your son who showed us this gentle way to freedom. AMEN
PASSOVER – THE LAMB OF GOD
Sep 12, 2026
Exodus 12:1-14
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you. 3 Tell the whole congregation of Israel that on the tenth of this month they are to take a lamb for each family, a lamb for each household. 4 If a household is too small for a whole lamb, it shall join its closest neighbor in obtaining one; the lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people who eat of it. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a year-old male; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembled congregation of Israel shall slaughter it at twilight. 7 They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. 8 They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 9 Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water but roasted over the fire, with its head, legs, and inner organs. 10 You shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn with fire. 11 This is how you shall eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand, and you shall eat it hurriedly. It is the Passover of the Lord. 12 I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from human to animal, and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. 13 The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live: when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague shall destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. 14 “This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance.”
When we last left Moses back in Chapter 3 of Exodus, he had just met God in the burning bush and received his divine appointment to bring the Israelites out of Egypt. He is to deliver them out of slavery into freedom, but this freedom is not what you may think. It is not the freedom to do whatever they might wish to do or to go wherever they might wish to go. No, this freedom has strings attached. Moses is instructed to bring them to the mountain so that they might worship God.
If you were to read further – I hope you are all familiar with this story – but as you read further in Exodus you will find out that God has not sent Moses alone to face Pharaoh - but has promised to go with him and has given him signs to show Pharaoh. Moses will also be accompanied by his brother Aaron, a Levite, who will be the spokesman.
As Moses and Aaron confront Pharaoh and request that the Israelites be allowed to leave and worship the Lord in the desert, Pharaoh refuses to submit to this God of the Israelites and so then the Lord begins to show his might through signs to Pharaoh so that Pharaoh would acknowledge the superiority of the Lord and let his people go.
In the Exodus video series I am watching, as the discussion turned to the Ten Plagues, one person said that the plagues are demonstrations of God’s power over different Egyptian gods and I had never heard that before so I looked it up and that is pretty fascinating. The Egyptians, like most ancient cultures, were polytheists which meant they worshipped many gods. So, when the Lord sends Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh with his demands – I’m sure Pharaoh was pretty confident because he had a whole pantheon of gods backing him up.
Now, the number ten symbolizes completeness in the Bible, and so ten plagues shows that this was a demonstration of the complete power of God, just as the Ten Commandments contain the complete Law of God. These marvels have come to be called plagues - but really, they are miraculous signs of the power of the Lord. It took a complete demonstration of God’s might before Pharaoh would submit.
The final plague, the killing of the firstborn is the ultimate horror, and, in the end, it brings the full power of God to bear and finally breaks the will of Pharaoh. But in some ways, Pharaoh has brought this terror on himself. Remember back to the beginning of the Book of Exodus - why did Moses have to be placed in his little papyrus ark, set out upon the Nile River with a prayer for his safe deliverance? Because Pharaoh was ordering the death of all the Hebrew male babies. His fear and uncertainty caused him to implement the harsh work conditions for the Hebrew slaves and also this unthinkable decree - and now his pride and stubbornness, his unwillingness to bend to the will of God, has brought this ultimate plague upon all of Egypt, himself included.
So, through this story you can see that sometimes we are the authors of our own disasters.
I wanted to read you this description from a commentary on these events which I found interesting:
Events unfold under the Providence of God, yet the unfolding is always according to the motives of the human actors through whom God’s will is done without their realizing it…God had determined that Pharaoh should act as he did, indeed [God] saw to it; but Pharaoh conducted himself throughout conformably with his own motives and his own godless view of his status. God made it so, but Pharaoh only had to be himself to do God’s will.
Because the final plague, the death of the firstborn, was a plague against Pharaoh himself. Remember I told you that the plagues were directed against the gods of Egypt? Well, Pharaoh himself was the greatest god of Egypt. As the son of Ra, the sun god, Pharaoh was god in the flesh. Does that remind you of anyone? Of course, Jesus!
The reading today in Chapter 12 interrupts the telling of the plague story to introduce the institution of Passover. Passover is the most important festival of the Jews. Every year they gather together for the Seder – a ceremonial meal which recounts the events of the Exodus. This night of Passover is the main salvation event in the Old Testament.
The Passover is the remembrance of the night that God unleased the power of death and struck down all of the firstborn. The tenth and final plague. The blood of the Lamb on the doorposts was a sign so that the spirit of death would pass over that house and those within would live. The lamb was sacrificed as a substitute for the firstborn who otherwise would have died.
It is important to note that you would have to believe the Word of the Lord – which came through Moses - in order to participate in this ritual of lamb slaughter and blood painting. You would have to have faith. If an Israelite neglected to participate in the ritual, neglected to eat the roasted lamb with bitter herbs and unleavened bread and paint the lamb’s blood on his doorposts but relied instead on the fact that he was a member of the chosen people he would have been subject to the effects of the plague. His firstborn would have died. And so, from this we can see that it is not enough to agree intellectually with the principles of your religion – you need to complete the actions that demonstrate your belief – you have to do what God tells you to do. Additionally, you cannot rely on your membership and neglect to participate in the communal life of the people.
Notice the Lord tells Aaron to tell the whole congregation of Israel about the Passover (vs. 3). The Hebrew word ey-dah which is translated as the whole congregation is the first instance of this word in the Old Testament and it is an important word – a word which if used in the New Testament would be translated as church. Properly translated it should read: the company assembled together by appointment. A church is that which is by divine appointment assembled together with the purpose of worshipping the Lord.
This is the very beginning of the idea of group worship. If we look back at the stories of the Patriarchs in Genesis, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, they were men who heard the voice of God and made individual sacrifices as they struggled to do God’s will but there are not any mentions of people gathering together to worship.
Now, here I can tie in the Gospel reading today where Jesus says, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them” (Matthew 18:20). He seems to be encouraging us to worship together. I will also say that Dietrich Bonhoeffer draws a hard line here – he does not believe you can be a true Christian without participating in church. So, this is something to consider – can you be a Christian outside of a church? Is what you do at home or in nature considered worship? Because if you are a Christian you are required to worship the Lord. You can’t just be a good person and call yourself a Christian. Like the Israelites, we are not free to do as we please. Christ bought our freedom by his death on the cross, but the freedom has strings attached. We are only free to worship and obey the Lord.
The details of the slaughter of the lamb and the painting of the blood on the doorposts is very detailed and specific, like many of the temple rites described later in the Book of Leviticus. The intention though is to recall this moment in time – to tell the story of God’s salvation of the people of Israel. This event was to start a new history. Their year is to be organized around the celebration of the Passover. It will be the beginning of a new year, a new chapter in their history.
The Passover is a salvation event. This recalls, for me, the greatest salvation event, the death of Jesus on the cross.
I am sure you have heard Jesus referred to as the Lamb of God. You may recall that his Crucifixion took place during the Passover festival in Jerusalem. I hope you can see how an understanding of the meaning and origins of this festival can bring us greater understanding and appreciation of his death.
Jesus was the spotless lamb slaughtered so that we may be saved. We are saved by his blood, as the Israelites were saved by the blood of the lamb they sacrificed. His death on the cross paved the way for our freedom – just as after the night of Passover – Moses led the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery to freedom. We participate in the remembrance of the Last Supper and recall the events of Jesus’ death on the cross the same way the Jews remember the events of the Passover in their ritual meal, the Seder.
Our obedience to the Lord is an outward sign of our faith. As we complete the tasks set before us by God - even when we don’t think we are ready, even when we don’t completely understand why - our faith in the Word of God becomes the means of our salvation. We must not rely on our own understanding, we must not be prideful and stubborn like Pharaoh. We are called to submit our will to God – to see and understand that he is indeed powerful and worthy of worship. That is the whole point of these miraculous signs – to show Pharaoh the power and glory of God – to get him to admit that he is not a god that only the Lord is God. For it is only when we come to the end of ourselves, admit that we are not powerful enough and place all of our faith in God’s Word that we will be saved. When we remember the death of the Lamb, through our participation in the ritual of the Lord’s Supper and gather together with other Christians in worship - that is when we will truly be free and experience the presence of God.
Prayer
Almighty God – we worship your holy name and come before you with reverence. May our worship please you as we gather with our friends in the name of your Son Jesus Christ. Help us to receive your Word into our hearts as we seek to do your will. We come before you today in a spirit of contrition…we think we are gods…we are so much like Pharaoh, help us to recognize this tendency in ourselves…we think we are the authors of our lives…but under our direction our lives are headed for destruction. Forgive us, we pray, and free us for joyful obedience. For it is only through obedience to your will that we will experience true freedom.
AMEN
Pastor's Bookshelf
This is a new feature. You are welcome to contribute any books that have personal, spiritual meaning for other readers to consider as they look for books to inspire and strengthen their knowledge and faith. This month we feature some from Pastor Dawn's bookshelf.
Bible Study Resources
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
I have long admired Stoic philosophy and this book, written by a Roman Emperor and Stoic philosopher is a leading example of this helpful way of looking at the world. This book is full of one great quote after another. I find this philosophy full of wisdom and inspiration for living a good life.
52 Hebrew Words Every Christian Should Know
I love this little book; it is beautiful and full of good knowledge! Each Hebrew word has one page dedicated to enriching the English speaker’s understanding of the depth of meaning contained in the original language. It is educational and inspirational.
Harper Collins Concise Atlas of the Bible
This is an introductory book of maps which are organized around the Books of the Bible. I love to look at the maps so that I can locate where the action is taking place. Lots of in-depth articles with details from history and archaeology. Great starting place to learn more about the Ancient Near East.
Immortal Diamond by Richard Rohr
In my sermons I will often refer to our False Self vs. our True Self. This book delves into the meaning of the True Self which I equate to the New Creation Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians 5:17. Richard Rohr is a Franciscan Priest who writes about Christian mysticism and one of my favorite authors.
Strongest Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance
Another word study resource. If you want to know how many times a word appears in the Bible and where this is your book. It also includes short definitions for the original Hebrew and Greek root words. This has been the standard concordance since its original publication in 1890.
A Harmony of the Four Gospels
This book is an invaluable resource for discovering which Gospel accounts contain certain passages. I use this all the time to see how each evangelist tells the story. I also think it is interesting to know which stories only appear in one Gospel.
The Gift by Hafiz
This book of poems written in the 14th century by Sufi master Hafiz explores mystical themes of universal love and mystical union with the Divine. This poetry used down-to-earth images to convey highly esoteric concepts. I find this approach to be surprisingly enlightening. Hafiz is one of my favorite poets.
Plato’s Republic
This is one of my favorite philosophical texts, I find it quite accessible, entertaining and thought provoking. It is Plato’s utopian vision. There are many good ideas in here but obviously set in a different time and place. The influence of this book on Western philosophy cannot be overstated and I feel this is one of the most influential books in my thinking as well.