Psalm 79:1-9
“Forgive Us Our Trespasses, Sins…and Debts”
Preached Sunday, September 18, 2022
One of my all-time favorite movies is the 1987 movie, “The Princess Bride.” The background for the movie is that a grandpa is reading his favorite book to his grandson while the kid is in bed sick. The book is one of pirates, giants, duels, fantasy, and romance. And at one point in the story, the grandson interrupts the telling cause he doesn’t like the way it’s going! The story can’t end that way, it’s just not fair! Let’s watch:
*see video below*
“Well who says life is fair? Where is that written? Life isn’t always fair.”
Wise words from the Grandpa in The Princess Bride and perhaps every father figure ever on sitcoms - or even in our own lives. “Life isn’t fair.” Have any of you ever been told or told someone “life isn’t fair”?
And I want to propose today that while we inherently want the world to be fair - nowhere in the Bible does it say that life is fair. The Bible is actually not interested in fairness but more so in justice. In right-ing wrongs. In lifting up the oppressed and bringing down the mighty. As followers of Jesus we shouldn’t be concerned with fairness as much as we should be concerned with compassion and forgiveness.
But that kind of rubs against our American values - we want everything to be fair. I think a really good example of this came from various reactions to the recent announcement of student loan forgiveness of 10,000 dollars. 20,000 for those who received undergraduate PELL grants. While many were beyond grateful, still others know that this barely scratches the surface of their student loans, and still others cried out, “that’s not fair!”
“That’s not fair because no one helped me.”
“That’s not fair because other people have managed to pay off their student loan debt.”
“That’s not fair because, because, because…”
Now, I am going to tip my hand a little bit: I do not have student loan debt. Which is an oddity in my generation. But it’s not because I made good financial decisions - it’s because of the unfairness of this world. That I was privileged enough to have family members who had the financial ability to help me pay for school. That I married a spouse who was making financially sound decisions around schooling. That we had family members that were economically privileged enough to leave money to us when they died so we could pay off loans. And that’s not even getting into the systemic ways that everything from my race to my gender to who my parents are to where I grew up influenced how I would be seen by colleges and scholarship committees - all of which worked in my favor.
But when it benefits us we don’t always like to call it unfairness.
But loan forgiveness isn’t about fairness. It’s about justice. That there is an unjust and predatory student loan system in this country that preys on young people, especially young black and brown women.
It’s not about fairness - it’s about a step toward justice. And this small act of 10,000 loan forgiveness is a long way from the systemic changes that would bring about justice.
It’s simply…an act of forgiveness. Debt forgiveness.
Now, as I talked about that, I could tell that some people were getting a little uncomfortable in their seats. First, it’s been a highly politicized issue, which, I have to say, I do not think it should be. And second, we’re talking about forgiveness of debts…of money.
In the church, every single Sunday we pray: “forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.” And we don’t get so hot in our seats. But if I were to suddenly suggest we begin praying “forgive us our debts as we forgive those with debts against us…” Well, we might start getting a little uncomfortable - and not just because the way we pray the Lord’s Prayer is ingrained in us and has deep personal meaning. We do know that there are at least 3 versions of the Lord’s Prayer out there: some pray to forgive sins, others trespasses, and still other’s debts. I could go into the Greek and weigh out why all three are valid or why one translation might be better than another…but I am not going to do that! I will say that all three are valid translations and yet, I would also venture to say that “debts” is by far the least used version. Maybe because while sins and even trespasses certainly have a more spiritual connotation, when we talk about DEBT, we often think of the more worldly associations such as debts of money.
And talking about the forgiveness of debts makes us uncomfortable.
Whether that’s praying for the forgiveness of debt, talking about student loan forgiveness, or in today’s parable told by Jesus about the dishonest manager. This parable is always one that has confounded people.
Some biblical background:
Rich landowners, like the rich man in our parable, were like loan sharks - charging exorbitant interest rates from peasants - often to the point of forcing them to disinherit property that would then be owned by the ruler - making the poor poorer and amassing wealth for themselves. Jesus tells us in the parable that this money was dirty money - he had become rich by dishonest means - probably exorbitant interest rates which Jewish laws were against. Speaking of student loans and exorbitant interest rates - maybe we can see a connection here… Anyway, the rich landowners, the rulers, didn’t like to get their hands dirty. They weren’t the ones who would go to the peasants and squeeze them for their payment - they had stewards for that. People who oversaw the bills and collections of debts. And, well, it says this one was dishonest too. One way that they could have been dishonest was actually charging additional interest or demanding more money than was owed so they could take their cut. They would skim off the top and get rich in the same way. Now, we don’t know why this dishonest manager was about to get fired - but his master wasn’t happy with the way that he was managing the accounts - perhaps he wasn’t squeezing enough money out of the people. Maybe he was skimming too much off the top. We don’t know. We do know that he was going to be fired.
And it is here that he does an interesting, shrewd thing. Before he can get fired, or before he hands over the books after being fired, he goes around to those who owed his master debt, and he slashes what they owe.
How much do you owe my master? 100 jugs? Make it 50. Cutting the bill in half.
How many containers of wheat? 100? Make it 80.
AND THEN. It says the master commended him for acting shrewdly. Jesus commends him, too.
There has been a lot of ink spilled. A lot of sermons given. A lot of head scratching from people trying to make sense of this parable, what Jesus wanted to tell us, why he would share this story and why he would praise the dishonest steward. I know I have preached on the topic before. I looked back over my sermons here and this is actually my third time preaching on this topic and I think both other times I gave different reasons than the one I am about to give you - and that’s the richness and beauty of the Biblical text, isn’t it? It’s so complex and so layered…and so I do want to suggest here today that one of the reasons Jesus praises the dishonest manager is simply because forgiving debts, with whatever reasoning behind this, is a good thing that pleases God.
Forgiveness of debts is actually a major theme in the Bible. One of my favorite concepts from the Old Testament is the year of Jubilee, that every 50 years - which is every 7th Sabbath year - the land and animals completely rest, all debts are forgiven, all slaves are released, and land returns to its rightful owners.
Talk about forgiveness - of debts and other kinds.
Now, unfortunately, we don’t practice Jubilee. Could you imagine if we did? Could you imagine how many TV pundits or think pieces would exclaim, “That’s not fair!”
So here’s the thing: I want to propose today that generally, we as people and we as Christians, are really not comfortable with forgiveness. And our discomfort with student loan forgiveness, this parable of the dishonest steward, and, really, all money talk, just shows what is is underneath the surface - even when it comes to forgiveness of sins and trespasses.
Take today’s Psalm for example. It is a Psalm of lament, most likely after the destruction of Jerusalem and it’s temple in 587 BCE. The imagery of horror and bloodshed matches so many on the evening news. It’s a terrible and devastating scene.
And then the Psalm goes on to call down God’s vengeance upon those who harmed them.
“Pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms that do not call on your name.
For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his habitation.”
This is a pretty normal human reaction, an eye for an eye. Wanting to see punishment and retribution.
And then the Psalm pivots to ask God forgiveness for their, the Israelites, sins, past and present, and for God to have compassion on them:
“Do not remember against us the iniquities of our ancestors; let your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low.
Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and forgive our sins, for your name's sake.”
The juxtaposition maybe doesn’t surprise us as much as it should. It took me a couple of times reading it to catch it, actually. Cause it’s so human to want compassion on yourself but to ask for fairness for others - like when someone has wronged or hurt you. We are not far from the anniversary of 9/11 and maybe we remember how even as churches were being filled with people looking for answers, people were also crying out to bomb Afghanistan and to turn it into a parking lot. Repaying bombs with bombs. Such is the way of the world.
So maybe we’re not all that comfortable with the idea of forgiveness. Whether it’s debts, sins, trespasses - we are way more comfortable with fairness.
Cause forgiveness, forgiveness is complicated and it’s messy. Every time I preach on forgiveness I do always want to clarify that forgiveness is not the same as forgetting. It’s not forgive and forget. So it’s not allowing harm to still be done in the name of forgiveness. Cause God wants wholeness, health, love, and peace for all of God’s creation. Indeed - forgiveness and repentance go hand in hand - and both are hard. And both have systems stacked against them.
…Maybe at about this time in the sermon your going, Pastor, where is the Good News?
The Good News is that even though we need to admit, confess even, that we are not as comfortable with forgiveness as we’d like to be - the Good News is that God is a forgiving God. Much much more forgiving than fair.
God does not give us what we deserve. God gives us love, compassion, and mercy.
God does not have a ledger of sins or debts - God offers us forgiveness.
God is not a God of fairness at all - and thanks be to God for that. God is a God of restoration of justice and of forgiveness…
So what are we to do with all this?
When we realize that, well, maybe as individuals and also collectively as a people, that we’re not where we should be with the concept of forgiveness - it opens our eyes to the ways our world is stacked against forgiveness and justice and restoration. How our systems for rehabilitation are more so designed as systems of punishment. How our penchant is often to ask judgment or fairness upon others and compassion upon ourselves…that very first step is crucial. Because from there we can ask God to open our eyes to the way we can make our world and our lives more like God’s Kingdom - more loving, more compassionate, more just, more forgiving.
The world isn’t fair - but through us doing the work of God, it can be forgiving.
Amen.
Now, as I talked about that, I could tell that some people were getting a little uncomfortable in their seats. First, it’s been a highly politicized issue, which, I have to say, I do not think it should be. And second, we’re talking about forgiveness of debts…of money.
In the church, every single Sunday we pray: “forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.” And we don’t get so hot in our seats. But if I were to suddenly suggest we begin praying “forgive us our debts as we forgive those with debts against us…” Well, we might start getting a little uncomfortable - and not just because the way we pray the Lord’s Prayer is ingrained in us and has deep personal meaning. We do know that there are at least 3 versions of the Lord’s Prayer out there: some pray to forgive sins, others trespasses, and still other’s debts. I could go into the Greek and weigh out why all three are valid or why one translation might be better than another…but I am not going to do that! I will say that all three are valid translations and yet, I would also venture to say that “debts” is by far the least used version. Maybe because while sins and even trespasses certainly have a more spiritual connotation, when we talk about DEBT, we often think of the more worldly associations such as debts of money.
And talking about the forgiveness of debts makes us uncomfortable.
Whether that’s praying for the forgiveness of debt, talking about student loan forgiveness, or in today’s parable told by Jesus about the dishonest manager. This parable is always one that has confounded people.
Some biblical background:
Rich landowners, like the rich man in our parable, were like loan sharks - charging exorbitant interest rates from peasants - often to the point of forcing them to disinherit property that would then be owned by the ruler - making the poor poorer and amassing wealth for themselves. Jesus tells us in the parable that this money was dirty money - he had become rich by dishonest means - probably exorbitant interest rates which Jewish laws were against. Speaking of student loans and exorbitant interest rates - maybe we can see a connection here… Anyway, the rich landowners, the rulers, didn’t like to get their hands dirty. They weren’t the ones who would go to the peasants and squeeze them for their payment - they had stewards for that. People who oversaw the bills and collections of debts. And, well, it says this one was dishonest too. One way that they could have been dishonest was actually charging additional interest or demanding more money than was owed so they could take their cut. They would skim off the top and get rich in the same way. Now, we don’t know why this dishonest manager was about to get fired - but his master wasn’t happy with the way that he was managing the accounts - perhaps he wasn’t squeezing enough money out of the people. Maybe he was skimming too much off the top. We don’t know. We do know that he was going to be fired.
And it is here that he does an interesting, shrewd thing. Before he can get fired, or before he hands over the books after being fired, he goes around to those who owed his master debt, and he slashes what they owe.
How much do you owe my master? 100 jugs? Make it 50. Cutting the bill in half.
How many containers of wheat? 100? Make it 80.
AND THEN. It says the master commended him for acting shrewdly. Jesus commends him, too.
There has been a lot of ink spilled. A lot of sermons given. A lot of head scratching from people trying to make sense of this parable, what Jesus wanted to tell us, why he would share this story and why he would praise the dishonest steward. I know I have preached on the topic before. I looked back over my sermons here and this is actually my third time preaching on this topic and I think both other times I gave different reasons than the one I am about to give you - and that’s the richness and beauty of the Biblical text, isn’t it? It’s so complex and so layered…and so I do want to suggest here today that one of the reasons Jesus praises the dishonest manager is simply because forgiving debts, with whatever reasoning behind this, is a good thing that pleases God.
Forgiveness of debts is actually a major theme in the Bible. One of my favorite concepts from the Old Testament is the year of Jubilee, that every 50 years - which is every 7th Sabbath year - the land and animals completely rest, all debts are forgiven, all slaves are released, and land returns to its rightful owners.
Talk about forgiveness - of debts and other kinds.
Now, unfortunately, we don’t practice Jubilee. Could you imagine if we did? Could you imagine how many TV pundits or think pieces would exclaim, “That’s not fair!”
So here’s the thing: I want to propose today that generally, we as people and we as Christians, are really not comfortable with forgiveness. And our discomfort with student loan forgiveness, this parable of the dishonest steward, and, really, all money talk, just shows what is is underneath the surface - even when it comes to forgiveness of sins and trespasses.
Take today’s Psalm for example. It is a Psalm of lament, most likely after the destruction of Jerusalem and it’s temple in 587 BCE. The imagery of horror and bloodshed matches so many on the evening news. It’s a terrible and devastating scene.
And then the Psalm goes on to call down God’s vengeance upon those who harmed them.
“Pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms that do not call on your name.
For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his habitation.”
This is a pretty normal human reaction, an eye for an eye. Wanting to see punishment and retribution.
And then the Psalm pivots to ask God forgiveness for their, the Israelites, sins, past and present, and for God to have compassion on them:
“Do not remember against us the iniquities of our ancestors; let your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low.
Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and forgive our sins, for your name's sake.”
The juxtaposition maybe doesn’t surprise us as much as it should. It took me a couple of times reading it to catch it, actually. Cause it’s so human to want compassion on yourself but to ask for fairness for others - like when someone has wronged or hurt you. We are not far from the anniversary of 9/11 and maybe we remember how even as churches were being filled with people looking for answers, people were also crying out to bomb Afghanistan and to turn it into a parking lot. Repaying bombs with bombs. Such is the way of the world.
So maybe we’re not all that comfortable with the idea of forgiveness. Whether it’s debts, sins, trespasses - we are way more comfortable with fairness.
Cause forgiveness, forgiveness is complicated and it’s messy. Every time I preach on forgiveness I do always want to clarify that forgiveness is not the same as forgetting. It’s not forgive and forget. So it’s not allowing harm to still be done in the name of forgiveness. Cause God wants wholeness, health, love, and peace for all of God’s creation. Indeed - forgiveness and repentance go hand in hand - and both are hard. And both have systems stacked against them.
…Maybe at about this time in the sermon your going, Pastor, where is the Good News?
The Good News is that even though we need to admit, confess even, that we are not as comfortable with forgiveness as we’d like to be - the Good News is that God is a forgiving God. Much much more forgiving than fair.
God does not give us what we deserve. God gives us love, compassion, and mercy.
God does not have a ledger of sins or debts - God offers us forgiveness.
God is not a God of fairness at all - and thanks be to God for that. God is a God of restoration of justice and of forgiveness…
So what are we to do with all this?
When we realize that, well, maybe as individuals and also collectively as a people, that we’re not where we should be with the concept of forgiveness - it opens our eyes to the ways our world is stacked against forgiveness and justice and restoration. How our systems for rehabilitation are more so designed as systems of punishment. How our penchant is often to ask judgment or fairness upon others and compassion upon ourselves…that very first step is crucial. Because from there we can ask God to open our eyes to the way we can make our world and our lives more like God’s Kingdom - more loving, more compassionate, more just, more forgiving.
The world isn’t fair - but through us doing the work of God, it can be forgiving.
Amen.
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