September 11, 2011

Pentecost 13 A 2011 Text

September 11, 2001 is one of those dates which is a hallmark for people in a
conversation. It joins December 7, 1941, and November 22, 1963 as dates on which
everyone remembers where they were when they heard the news of the bombing of
Pearl Harbor, the assassination of President Kennedy, and now the attacks on the
World Trade Center twin towers. We may not remember much after that for that day,
but I can guarantee that most, if not all, of you were in a particular place during that
day and possibly in the days immediately following. You were at church, and so was

In the days following September 11, 2001, people flocked to churches. I’m not talking
about church members; I’m talking about those in society who hadn’t been in a church
in several years, if at all. They came to churches throughout our land, seeking a caring
community, a community to soothe their heart and heal their wounds.

I can remember at Concordia in Cottage Hills on September 11, and later that week at
a special prayer service, with folks I’d never seen before coming within our walls for
prayer and meditation. Yet, on Sunday morning, none of those who had sought the
caring community had come to the Divine Service.

Last week, we began a two-Sunday series of sorts in chapter 18 of Matthew. Last
week, we learned that even the least, the depend-everyone-for-everything child is
important is valuable to our Lord Jesus. Everything in the text centered around the one
who is the most vulnerable to danger, right down to the erring brother or sister, is the
one to be safeguarded in the faith. I think it’s interesting that, when we talk about that
erring brother or sister, Jesus tells us to treat that one as a Gentile or a tax collector,
the very people who came to hear and heed John the Baptist and Jesus Himself. Even
those foreigners and wayward cheats are valuable to our Lord.

Today, the text continues with Simon Peter, coming to Jesus with a valid question.
Okay, with this troublesome brother, how often does he offend, repent, and I forgive
him? Simon’s generous: seven times, when the rabbis had said only three.

Now, we could talk about Jesus’ answer and the extravagant forgiveness with which
He instructs Simon. But, in reading the accompanying parable, we learn that Simon,
and probably you and me, too, have a flawed understanding of the Church, the people
of God.

I think Simon Peter and all those folks who filled the pews of our churches following
September 11, 2001, had something in common. You see, the problem is not with the
churches, but with the view of the Church that had come from society. It’s the same
way Simon Peter views the Church in his question to Jesus. It’s viewing the Church in
a secular way. The Church is simply a voluntary association of individuals. That’s the

reason folks didn’t continue coming to our churches in the weeks and months after
September 11, that’s the reason why it’s easy to bypass worship if we have something
really important to do or because we might have to face someone with whom we’re not
playing well. It’s the way society views the church, as a voluntary association of
individuals. Are we that kind of Church?

But, is the Church ours to view in such a way? And, if it isn’t ours, then whose church
is it and how does He understand the Church? Maybe this is a good time to reexamine
that parable of Jesus and see how He talks about His people.

Jesus tells a parable. “The Kingdom of Heaven is like,” Jesus says. This is how His
Kingdom works, and how the Master, the King, works, and how the bondslaves work.
As the first bondslave pleaded with his King, the King shows His extravagant mercy,
forgiving the bondslave an insurmountable debt. Yet, when that same bondslave
refused to forgive his fellow bondslave, it is the company of bondslaves who report it to
the King.

I’ve got to be honest here: This parable is frightening. For Jesus to sound the threat of
being handed over to torment if we’re not willing to share forgiveness is just
unthinkable. But, then again, there’s that understanding that Simon Peter, the people
who came after September 11, and you and I all share. It’s a common understanding
of Jesus – that’s he’s here to meet my needs and give me good advice.

But our Lord Jesus isn’t like that, and the Church, HIS Church, isn’t some cool little
club to join when it’s needed. In fact, Our Lord Jesus is a redeemer. Sometimes folks
get crossed up and wonder why Jesus gets to make this determination on the
unforgiving bond slave. Or, why is it that Jesus gets to be the one who comes to be
the judge of the living and the dead? The answer’s pretty clear: He’s the one who IS
the extravagant mercy of God! He is the one who has suffered and died and risen. He
is the true God in the flesh who has come to save His creation from the destruction it
has brought upon Himself.

The kingdom of Jesus the redeemer, the Church that is built upon Christ is made up of
bondslaves, those for whom a price has been paid. That price is the life’s blood in the
sinless death of the Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth, the very King of the parable. In
His suffering and death, He does not redeem only part of the people, but all. His is the
Kingdom, and His is the Church. This is extravagant mercy!

There is none of this, “Just me and Jesus” stuff. All who are joined to Christ the
redeemer by faith are joined one to another by faith, a common confession of Christ as
Lord and Master to the glory of the Father by the Holy Spirit. This is Christ’s Church.
The language is not that of power or of arrogance. The language is that of humble
submission, repentance, and forgiveness. Are we that kind of Church?

In the days after September 11, 2001, the airwaves on television and radio were filled
with pundits and preachers who were trying to make sense of the horrific attacks on
our nation. Some said it was because of the runaway sin in our land, that God was
punishing the United States for its immorality. When folks would bring these
comments to me, I’d simply say that this was misguided at best.

Like I said before, Jesus’ parable in the text is downright frightening, and it’s supposed
to be. Whether it be the events of September 11, 2001, or financial trouble at the
church, or any other kind of hardship, Jesus’ words are not a directive for us just to get
along with each other. Rather, the parable is a call to repentance and forgiveness, to
speak the language our Lord Jesus Christ has given His Church. Are we that kind of
church that speaks that kind of language?

You have been purchased at a price, and therefore YOU are bondslaves of Christ.
This is not some voluntary organization of individuals; it is the company of those who
confess a common Lord Jesus and speak a common language. As the bond slave
experienced the extravagant mercy of his master, the desire of the master was that the
slave share that mercy with fellow slaves, recognizing that he is no better than anyone
else. And, why? What did the master desire such a thing, and why does our Lord
Jesus desire us as Christians and us as His Church to speak this language? It’s
because our Lord Christ who has shown us mercy desires us to be like Him, to give
testimony to Him through mercy, His mercy in us shared with those who sin against us.
Are we that kind of Church?

Going back to Simon Peter’s question, what about the brother who continues to hurt
and repent. The fact is, under our King Jesus, and in His language of forgiveness, we
are always called to repentance and faith for our failures, called back to the
extravagant mercy of King Jesus that forgives again and again. In His kingdom, we
GET TO share His mercy.

The Small Catechism teaches us well about the Church in the explanation to the Third
Article: In this Christian Church He, the Triune God, daily and richly forgives all my sins
and the sins of all believers. That’s the Church, and the language of the Church. Are
we that kind of Church? Are we that kind of Christians?

Join me in prayer:
O God the Holy Spirit, as You brought us true faith and gift of forgiveness in the waters
of our Baptism, now stir us up and strengthen us that, by Your guidance, we may
become THAT kind of Church, where the language of forgiveness is shared not just
from our Lord to us, but with each other. Amen