September 11, 2011
Matthew 18:21-35
Today we remember two tragedies. This is the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Buildings and the Pentagon. And it is six months after the huge earthquake-tsunami-nuclear power plant disaster in Eastern Japan. We remember those who are still suffering and grieving. We pray for them. We give what aid that we can give. The terrorists did not attack here in Okinawa and the tsunami did not hit us here, either. And yet we grieved in our hearts for those who died. We were sad with those who have lost loved ones. We were awed by the scale of the devastation. We too were horrified by the pictures we saw on TV. We too were afraid of what we saw. And so today in our prayers we remember also ourselves and the people all around the world who were equally shocked and saddened by the great tragedies and the aftermath.
First letfs think about the simultaneous terrorist attacks in the US. How do we respond? Revenge and retaliation and retribution, I think, are the God-given job and responsibility of the Government -- to find those who are responsible and to punish them. That is their God-given job. Romans Chapter 13. What should be the religious, the Christian response? Repentance and restoration and forgiveness, I think, are the God-given job and responsibility of every Christian. Can We Forgive? Should We Forgive? Even after ten years, or 60 years? Forgiveness is the center of Christianity. Our symbol is the cross, the symbol of love and forgiveness.
@@@Today's appointed Gospel lesson just happens to be about forgiveness. It is the parable from Mt. 18 about the man who was forgiven a huge debt but then refused to forgive a man who had only a small debt. The first man had a debt of ten thousand talents. A talent is a measure of weight, 75.5 pounds. If the debt was in gold, a talent would be almost 3 bars of "Fort Knox" gold (@ 27.5 lbs/bar, 400 Troy ounces.) At todayfs gold rate ($1875/oz) that total debt would be $21 billion dollars. The other manfs debt of 100 denari is like $5000. It would be like a countryfs national debt was forgiven and then that country sent the IRS to track down people who had not paid their taxes. Jesus is telling this parable to show how much God has forgiven us, and that gratitude should move us to forgive others. Jesus died to forgive us, we should live to give that forgiveness to others.
Should we forgive the terrorist? The government should not. The government should seek justice. But as individual Christians, we must have so much love in our hearts that we can even forgive our enemies. In other words, we must not let hate and fear control our lives. We must not let Satan continue the work of the enemy in our lives. Forgiveness is trust in God. God will take care of revenge and retaliation and retribution. Our job is to pray for and work for peace. I am not saying that that is easy. It was not easy for Jesus to die on the cross. Forgiveness is humility. Repentance is not just being sorry for our sins, in the New Testament, repentance means to change and live a new life. So repentance is trusting fully in God because we know our weakness in the face of evil.
Now letfs think about the disaster in East Japan. It is called a "natural" disaster or "an act of God." Is God a terrorist? Does God actively decide to send an earthquake or flood or fire to a certain place? In the Old Testament of the Bible, plagues and disasters and wars are sent by God to punish evil-doers. For example, Noahfs Flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the defeat and destruction of the City of Jerusalem. God was punishing those sinners. But was God punishing East Japan? Are those people who died in East Japan worse sinners than the people in Tokyo, or the people in Okinawa? They were not worse sinners.
One time people told Jesus about some Galileans whom Pilate had killed. Jesus responded, Luke 13: 2-4. "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them?do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."
Sometimes there is no reason to give for evil or accidents or disasters. There are no humans to blame for earthquakes and tsunami. So when there is a so-called "Act of God," does that mean that we blame God? People often do. When a loved one dies, people ask why God did not heal or protect their child. People get angry at God. They think that God does not love them and they refuse to "forgive" God for not answering their prayers. Have you ever heard of anyone talking about "forgiving God"? It sounds stupid, but many people do not like God. They think that Jesus is the enemy. They think that religion is the cause of repression and hate. They refuse to forgive the church. They refuse to forgive God. People wonder why God allowed the earthquake to strike East Japan. Can we forgive God for not saving the Christian Believers on that day?
Faith and trust and forgiveness go together. We trust God. We do not explain the disasters of September 11, 2001 or March 11, 2011. We trust God. We know what we as Christians must do in the face of any disaster. First, we pray. Then we offer whatever material and emotional support that we can. Then we go back to prayer. We pray for the victims, and we pray for ourselves because we too have been affected. We were frightened. We were horrified. We remembered our weakness. We know that all we can do is trust God. Since Jesus died and rose on the third day, we know that we can trust God.
Whatever the word "forgiveness" might mean, we know that it is necessary. It is the only thing that will make world peace. It is the only thing that will bring peace to our hearts and lives. And so in the spirit of humility and repentance and trust and faith, we pray today for those who suffered because of these two tragedies. We pray that God will give them comfort, strength, hope and peace.
Amen.
Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church