The Collect for the Twenty Second Sunday after Trinity
Lord, we beseech You to keep your household the Church in continual Godliness; that through Your protection it may be free from all adversities, and devoutly given to serve You in good works, to the glory of Your name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Epistle Philippians 1:3-11
3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
The Holy Gospel of St Matthew 18:21-35
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven.”
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, cancelled the debt and let him go.
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
Bishop Ian’s Thoughts
Today’s Epistle Reading is taken from St Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians Chapter 1, Verses 3-11.
This portion of Scripture forms part of the opening of St Paul’s letter to the Philippian Church.
In typical fashion, St Paul mentions that in his prayers he always gives joyful thanks to God for the new Church, and their partnership in proclaiming the Holy Gospel of The Lord Jesus Christ:
“3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Many families in newly founded Christian Churches would share in the ministry of the Holy Gospel, by providing lodging for St Paul and his companions together with providing gifts of food, clothing, and money to support the preaching and teaching of the Holy Gospel.
St Paul then tells them that he has petitioned God for His grace to be given to the Church to continue as they had begun, and so to grow in Christian maturity until the Day of Christ (the future second coming of the Lord Jesus at the Day of Judgement).
He then informs the Philippian Christians that he always has, in his heart, affection for them whether he finds himself in comfortable conditions or whether he is in prison for his preaching, and testimony, to the truth of the Holy Gospel:
“7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.”
The Grace of God is provided to, and enjoyed by, all Christians whether their circumstances are good or bad. God’s grace will sustain and deliver a faithful believer no matter what befalls them.
St Paul declares that God knows that he longs to be with the Philippian Christians enjoying their fellowship in the Love of the Lord Jesus.
Many of us can identify with this yearning of St Paul for fellowship, when we think of close Christian friends who may be great distances from us. This same yearning for familiar fellowship is felt by many missionaries when they are in faraway countries and find themselves homesick for their own church and close friends.
The Grace of God will always sustain faithful believers in such situations.
St Paul concludes this opening portion of his Epistle with this prayer:
“9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.”
St Paul wants the Philippian Church to grow in knowledge of the Holy Gospel and to see, and understand, its ramifications. He wants them to be “able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.”
This prayer of St Paul beseeches God that the Philippian Church may be equipped with such understanding of the Holy Gospel that they may always choose, and adhere to, those thoughts and actions that are pure and Holy, and that they will so endure until the second coming of the Lord Jesus.
May God ever give us thankful hearts for His Great Gift of the Holy Gospel of the Lord Jesus, and may He give us His Grace to embrace this Priceless Gift, daily, in our lives that, so that like the Philippian Christians, we might be sustained and endure until the Great Day of the Lord Jesus’ Second Coming. Amen.
Today’s Holy Gospel Reading is taken from the Holy Gospel of St Matthew, Chapter 18, Verses 21-35.
In this passage of Scripture we are taught the nature of forgiveness and how we ought to apply it in our daily lives.
In the time of the Lord Jesus, the Jewish Rabbis (teachers of the Law of Moses) taught that forgiveness should be offered three times to those who have committed offences against us.
It is interesting to note that it was the Apostle Peter who posed the question of forgiveness and how many times one should forgive those who have wronged us:
“21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
The Apostle Peter was regarded as the Chief Apostle, yet he would be the one who would deny knowing the Lord Jesus three times, after the Lord Jesus was arrested.
Some commentators suggest that the Apostle Peter was trying to impress the Lord Jesus by declaring that he was willing to forgive anyone who offended him seven times. This was more than twice the number of times that the teachers of the law required forgiveness to be offered.
The Lord Jesus very quickly and decisively dismissed the Apostle Peter’s suggestion that forgiveness should be offered seven times and told him that seventy times seven would be a more appropriate number of times:
“22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven.”
Although we may instantly calculate that the Lord Jesus’ declaration calls for forgiveness to be offered four hundred and ninety times, the real meaning of the Lord Jesus’ response was that forgiveness must be offered without limit.
Four hundred and ninety was a large number which was not easily calculated by the average person in the Lord Jesus’ time.
So, in fact, four hundred and ninety times really meant that forgiveness was to be given continually without keeping track of the number.
The Apostle Peter, and no doubt his fellow Disciples and the other followers of the Lord Jesus, were thinking in terms of the Law of Moses with its prescribed limits, rather than the Lord Jesus’ teaching of Grace and Forgiveness which, in stark contrast, had no limitations.
To more fully show forth the nature, quality and depth of God’s forgiveness the Lord Jesus told a parable (an earthly story with a spiritual message) of the king who wished to settle his accounts with his servants:
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
The servant, in this parable, owed his king an enormous amount of money is brought before the master.
We are told that this servant owed the king ten thousand bags of gold, which in our currency may have exceeded a hundred million dollars.
The servant tells his king that he is unable to pay the debt and accordingly the master ordered that the man, and his wife, and his children, and all that he had, be sold to repay the debt.
The servant, knowing that total ruin was upon him reacted as Verses 26-27 record:
“26 At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, cancelled the debt and let him go.”
This was an amazing turn around for the servant, from utter devastation to complete freedom and a new life, free from debt, for himself and his family.
We would expect that the servant would be overjoyed and most grateful to have his debt cancelled.
We would also expect that the servant, as a consequence of his master's extraordinary, mercy and kind treatment, would show similar mercy to all those who owed him any debts.
Unfortunately the forgiven servant was not as like minded as his Master, in his approach to his other servants:
“28 But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.”
The forgiven debtor found a fellow servant who owed him a hundred silver coins (maybe twenty dollars), and grabbed him and began to choke him saying “Pay back what you owe me!”
The first servant had quickly forgotten the millions in debt that the master had cancelled.
He was so determined to get his twenty dollars back from his fellow servant that he had him imprisoned to ensure the debt was paid, presumably from the sale his family and his belongings.
The other servants of the master, who had witnessed this incident, were outraged and reported the matter to the master:
“31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.”
The master was, quite rightly, most angered by what had transpired, and summoned the servant, whose huge debt had been forgiven, before him:
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
The wicked servant paid a very high price for his failure to show the same mercy and forgiveness, to his fellow servant, that had been shown to him by the Master. His future was a lifetime of damnation and torture in prison.
An unforgiving person has no place in the Lord Jesus’ Eternal Kingdom, and the Lord Jesus gives us this solemn warning:
“35 This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
The Lord Jesus is telling all of us that we must show forth the same quality of mercy and forgiveness, to all who injure or offend us, that God has shown in forgiving us the immeasurable debt of our sins.
The person who has been forgiven by God through the Holy Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ must show, in the treatment of all others, clear evidence of their thankfulness and grateful love of the Lord Jesus, and their faith in His Holy Word.
Forgiveness is not to be given in a stingy manner, counting who, or how many, but rather given in an endless flow, like a mighty river, to all others.
St Paul exhorts us to unlimited forgiveness by ridding ourselves of all anger and its associated sins in his letter to the Ephesians Chapter 4, Verses 31-32:“
“31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
May God give to us, by His Holy Spirit, Grace and Godly Wisdom, to ensure that all debts owed to us, by others, are cancelled in a like manner as our huge debt to God has been cancelled by the power of the Holy Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen
Bishop Ian