77 or 70x7?

Proper 19A   Sept 17, 2017 Pentecost  15

 In the Great Thanksgiving today we say, “we give thanks to you, O Lord God Almighty, not as we ought, but as we are able.”  In our gospel reading Peter asks Jesus, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.”

Because Jesus died on the cross for us, God forgives us all our sins – all our sins – unconditionally and eternally. God forgives us many more than 77 times. The Greek text says ebdomekonta’kis epta, translated in the King James Version as 70 times 7 or 490 times.

Two passages of Hebrew Scripture relate to today‘s gospel. One is about 77 times and the other about how many times we should forgive. In Genesis 4:24 Cain’s 6^th generation descendant Lamech says to his wives “If Cain is avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”  The Hebrew text has 77; the Greek version of the Hebrew bible, the Septuagint, has the same words as St. Matthew, ebdomekonta’kis epta, translated 70 times 7. 

The second passage is at the beginning of the prophet Amos, “For 3 transgressions of Damascus and for 4 I will not revoke the punishment.”  From that passage the rabbinic tradition drew the rule that one must forgive 3 or at most 4 times. So when Peter said forgive 7 times he was doubling the usual number.

And 7 is a biblical number of perfection. God created the world in 6 days and on the 7^th rested. “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and the 7^th rest. Luther’s comment on this commandment is, “We are to fear and love God, so that we do not despise preaching or God’s word, but instead keep that word holy and gladly hear and learn it.” (Page 1160 in the Worship book.)

God forgives us our sins against him, and as we are forgiven sinners, God gives us grace to forgive those who sin against us. We can pass only what we have received. Because we know God’s forgiveness we also know that God makes it possible for us to forgive others. We don’t have to hold on to grudges; we really can let them go. And when they come back to bother us in the middle of the night we can let them go, and let them go, and let them go again  And so the circle of God’s love in Christ Jesus expands wider and wider to include more and more lost sheep.

This is grace, free grace. It is not cheap grace. It costs. It cost Jesus his life on the cross. It costs us the effort and the shame of climbing down from our peak of moral superiority and letting go – taking the sting out of the memory. Forgiveness does not excuse evil. Forgiveness recognizes evil.  Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery, but Joseph forgave them and his forgiveness served to save the people of Israel.  Forgiveness recognizes that bad things have been done, recognizes that people have been hurt, and sometimes badly hurt. Forgiveness recognizes that we have done bad things, that we have hurt other people, and ourselves. Forgiveness recognizes that bad things have been done to us, that we are hurt, sometimes badly hurt. And forgiveness lets it go, and lets it go, and lets it go. Forgiveness lets us out of our debtor’s prison of mind and memory and soul.  

In Jesus Christ God makes it possible for us to break the cycle of evil and revenge for evil. Cain’s 5^th great grandson Lamech could not do that. He said, (Genesis 4:23b) “I have slain a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. If Cain is avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”  Lamech’s way is the way of “don’t get mad, get even,” the way of reciprocal wrong-doing, tit for tat, eye for eye until all are blind.

God in Jesus offers us the gift to see how to break cycles of sin and revenge. Because we are forgiven, we can forgive. God in Jesus forgives eternally and unconditionally. God’s love is unconditional and eternal.

But we are not God. We have limits, reasonable limits. Scripture can be misinterpreted, and this teaching of Jesus has been misinterpreted to mean that we must set aside issues of reasonable safety and self-protection. We can forgive sins done to us, but we don’t have to put ourselves in situations where we are likely to be injured again. God has given us a precious self. We are to preserve it. On rare occasions some of us may be called to dangerous situations, but only with great care and for the sake of others. We forgive and we continue to forgive up to our limit. That limit is different in every person and every circumstance. We don’t judge one another.

So in Holy Communion “we give thanks . . . not as we ought, but as we are able and in life we forgive “not as we ought, but as we are able.” We forgive because we are forgiven, and we forgive as much, and as often, as we can, with no arbitrary limit, but because God in Christ forgives us eternally and unconditionally.