[Propertalk] FW: Sermon Resources for September 11 - Part 1

Wed Sep 7 23:31:07 EDT 2011

Resources for Proper 19  

Matthew 18:21-35 - "Forgive Us Our Debts"

Romans 14:1-12  - "Make a 119 Call" by Leonard Sweet

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Matthew 18, the sermon title "Forgive Us Our Debts"  

As with so many of the stories of Jesus, the parable of the debtors arose
out of a question that was posed to Jesus. Simon Peter said to him: "Master,
if my brother sins against me, how many times should I forgive him? Seven
times? Even as he asks that question my mind cannot help but think about
children and how they will sometimes confess something they do wrong
expecting to get praise from a teacher or a parent because they were so
honest.

In the same sense, Simon Peter by asking this question is not expecting
rebuke but praise. He is expecting Jesus to say: "Excellent Peter. You go to
the head of the class. You get A+." According to Jewish law, Peter had the
right to think that he had done something good. Scribal law clearly read:

"If a man transgresses one time, forgive him. If a man transgresses two
times, forgive him. If a man transgresses three times, forgive him. If a man
transgresses four times, do not forgive him." What Peter has done is to take
this law of limited forgiveness, multiply it by two and add one, and then
sit back with a smile on his face and say: Now how is that for being a great
guy? And he surely must have been taken aback when Jesus said you must
forgive seventy times seven.

Then Jesus proceeded to tell a story. There was a certain king who had a day
of reckoning for his servants. He found one who owed him 10,000 talents and,
because he could not pay, he was about to have him thrown into jail and his
wife and children sold into slavery. In response to the man's pathetic
pleadings, however, he forgave him the entire debt.

Whereupon that forgiven servant went to a fellow servant who owed him 100
denarii, a very small sum of money, and demanded payment. He pleaded for
extra time, an extension, but the man would not hear of it and he had him
thrown into jail. This story got back to the king who went into a rage. He
called in the forgiven servant and said that because of his conduct, he was
now to be thrown into jail. His original debt was reinstated.

Now the question is, what was Jesus attempting to say to Simon Peter?

1. First, forgiveness carries a heavy price.

2. Second, a forgiven soul should be a forgiving soul.

The rest of this sermon following the outline above can be obtained by
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Romans 14 the sermon titled "Make a 119 Call" by Leonard Sweet] 

 "God hath not promised

Skies ever blue,

Flower-strewn pathways

All our lives through;

God hath not promised

Skies without rain,

Joy without sorrow,

Peace without pain.

"But God hath promised

Strength for the day,

Rest for the labor,

Light for the way,

Grace for the trials,

Help from above,

Unfailing sympathy,

Undying love." - Annie-Johnson Flint 

When I went to seminary, we were required to learn "active listening"
skills. One required exercise was to interview another student and draw out
of them a conflict story of a family member. 

My interviewee, "Bob," talked about conflicts with his Dad. They were as
different as chalk and cheese. Bob was Triple A: athletics, academics, arts.
What's more, he was the "life-of-the-party" kind of guy. "Bob's" dad had
dropped out of high school, worked a series of hands-on, bent-back jobs
throughout his life, and had many physical problems. He was quiet and rarely
showed his emotions - positive or negative. 

But despite their differences, Bob and his Dad always watched a weekly
football game together on the saggy old family room couch. And at some point
during the game, Bob's Dad would reach over and hold his son's hand for a
few moments, squeezing it a couple of times and then releasing it. Those
football games were Bob's Dad's way of communicating the love he had for his
son, the love he could not express with words.

Today is the 10th anniversary of 9/11. It is also the first day of official
NFL Sunday afternoon football. I confess to you this morning that I am not
up to the task of giving you words that will address the horror and heritage
of 9/11 in any way that is consoling or convincing. But as we struggle to
find images and stories that might reveal the depth of our emotions on this
tenth anniversary of that day of infamy, believe it or not we can connect
with some of those feelings by holding hands and watching a football game. 

The first four televised games of the 2011 NFL season were specifically
chosen to commemorate the events of 9/11. 

*At 1 p.m. there is a game between Pittsburgh and Baltimore - midway between
those two cities is Shanksville, PA, the site of the crash of flight 93,
which the terrorists had destined for the White House. 

*Later in the afternoon there is a game between the New York Giants and the
Washington Redskins, played only a few miles from the site of the Pentagon
plane crash/attack. 

*This afternoon there is also a game between Carolina and Arizona, which
will feature ceremonies honoring Pat Tillmon, the Cardinals player who left
a lucrative pro-football career to join the military after the 9/11 attacks
and who was killed in action in Iraq. 

*Finally the Dallas Cowboys will play the New York Jets just across the
Hudson River in full view of where the Twin Towers fell.

Whatever game you see it is a good day to hold hands with your loved ones as
you enjoy the simple act of being together and watch a football game. 

There is only one way to get through the horror of an event like 9/11: day
by day. "Twelve Step" recovery programs, like Alcoholics Anonymous or
Gamblers Anonymous, all emphasize that recovery is a day-by-day, sometimes
even an "hour-by-hour," journey. That is why alcoholics and addicts are
always "recovering," never fully "cured." They know that every single day is
a chance to move forward and resist the undertow of the old demons. 

But every day is also a day where weakness or despair might lead to a slip
up, a stumble, a bad choice. Since 9/11 we have all been on a "day-by-day"
journey of recovery. Recovery from horror. Recovery from hatred - both the
hatred of our enemies and of our own crop of bile. Recovery from the
realization that the world does not love us. Recovery from a fear of the
future. Recovery from vengeance. Recovery from grief and despair.

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