Sermon in Kigali 24

God’s grace makes all the difference!

Sermon in the Massai church near Arusha/Tansania on April 1, 2012

Text: Mt 18,21-35

Dear sisters and brothers,

it is a privilege for me to preach here this morning. That a minister from Germany – this little country somewhere in the middle of Europe, would give the message today here in Arusha/Tansania, which many Germans would probably simply see as one of all these countries in Africa, is in itself a message: We are one in Christ. Christians all over the world read the same stories in their Sunday worship services. They pray the same Lord’s prayer, they break bread and drink wine in the presence of the same Lord. We are a worldwide community because our inspiration comes from the same stories. They become our common story. They become part of our own personal story. When Jews say: “we have been delivered from Egypt”, this is not an insight on the past. It is an affirmation of the presence. And we as Christians join in saying: God has set us free through the life death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And therefore we are all one in Christ.

The biblical text, I would like to reflect upon today is a parable. And as all the parables of Jesus it gives us a powerful insight in God’s ways with us. As all the parables it shows very well how the gospel doesn’t know any borders between nations between continents, between different people. It speaks to all of us wherever we come from because we are all humans. We all have the same strengths and weaknesses.

Read Mt 18,21-35:

Then Peter came and said to him, "Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?" 22 Jesus said to him, "Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times. 23 "For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; 25 and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. 26 So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.' 27 And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, 'Pay what you owe.' 29 Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you.' 30 But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt.

31 When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. 32 Then his lord summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?' 34 And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. 35 So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart."

This parable is about the terrible consequences of human forgetfulness. It is about how we as humans are. It is about how God is and about what difference that makes for us. It is about having eyes for God’s grace. It is about how God’s grace makes all the difference!!

The story of the servant who has forgotten in one second the mercy and grace he has just experienced from his Lord, has a clear message for us today. It says to us: Look at all the gifts in your own life! You are what you are because of the gift of others! Have you born yourself? It was your mother who has born you!! Have you gone out in the fields to find something to eat when you were a baby? No! You couldn’t even walk. You were basicallylieing around, sleeping, waking up, screaming, eating, maybe smiling. And you were especially smiling because even as a baby you knew there was somebody caring for you, somebody taking care of you. You could do nothing! It was God’s grace through the hands of your parents which made all the difference!

And then, when you started learning things, maybe you went to school. Was it you who taught yourself reading and writing or other things that are usefull in life? It was the teachers who taught you, who were God’s hands in letting you discover the world and how it works! It was God’s grace which made all the difference!

And maybe when you grew older you started to work and earn some money. Maybe you even gained some wealth – a house – a car…And you are very clear that it is yours, because you might have worked hard for it. Was it really just your own achievement? Who gave you the air to breathe and keep your body running? Who gave you a night’s sleep and woke you up healthy enough to go to work? You know it! God’s grace makes all the difference!!

All of us who are wealthy, who have good jobs, who have good education, who have possessions to lead a good life and who say: it is mine because I worked hard for it! All of us who refuse to share our possessions because we think it is our own achievement, we deceive ourselves. If we open our eyes, if we open our senses, if we open our hearts we know exactly that in the end there is only one factor that really makes a difference: God’s grace makes all the difference!!

The parable is a powerful reminder of our constant tendency to deceive ourselves. When the servant comes to his lord to ask for a break with his debts, he is completely occupied with his own cause. It seems like he doesn’t even think of his fellow servant who ows money to him. He simply wants to get away with his own debt. He strongly asks for mercy. And his request is fulfilled.

And now comes the surprising continuation of the story. And it fascinates me and troubles me again and again how that can happen! He simply forgets about what just happened. It seems like he doesn’t even notice this very blunt contradiction. When his brother just like himself comes to him in trouble and asks him for a break with his debts, he gets a harsh No.

How can this happen? How can the guy who has just had a powerful experience of grace not do the same to his brother? I think the answer is: he has simply already forgotten. He doesn’t even realize this contradiction! He thinks he is only asking for his right, because he forgets about his own experience of grace, about his own neediness of grace.

This is what all Christian ethics is about: remembering our own neediness and simply give to others what we wish to be given as well.

Maybe you have already recognized this rule. It is a biblical rule, and since it is so important they have started to call it “The Golden Rule”: In everything do to others as you would have them to do to you. And then follows a sentence which shows that Jesus thinks of this rule as the whole summary of God’s way for us: This is the law and the prophets! And there is only one other place in the New Testament where this sentence shows up again and that is the commandement of love of God and your neighbour: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind. and your neighbour as yourself.” And then follows this same sentence: This is the law and the prophets. The love commandment and the Golden Rule are the one big summary of all Christian ethics that we find in the New Testament. It is a very simple rule but if we would just follow this simple little rule, the world would be a better place! In everything do to others as you would have them to do to you.

The hard hearted servant in our parable certainly forgot that rule. He knew exactly that as much as he needed the mercy of his king, he would have been called to be merciful to his own fellow servant asking him for a break in repaying his depts.

Why did he not forgive? Because he did not understand this one decisive truth which is the message for us today: God’s grace makes all the difference!! If we let God’s grace enter our hearts we are not the same anymore. We are new. We know why we live. We know why we love. We know why we laugh. Because it is such a joy to know that we are God’s good creature, that God’s love is stronger than all our misdoings, that we may live in peace with God.

“Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have obtained access to his grace in which we stand…” (Rom 5,1). Paul says it all in today’s epistle reading: God’s grace makes all the difference!!

It opens a new door in our lives. It gives a new perspectiveto our lives. It brings a firm hope into our lives. As Paul continues: “Hope does not disappoint us because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us…” (Rom 5,5).

Can you imagine how the world would look like if it only started to understand this message? Can you imagine what dynamite for world politics this is? Dynamite for a world economic system in which the forgiving of depts is in a very direct way the prerequisite for human development. Dynamite for a world in which the language of revenge and retaliation leads to wars and fights with uncountable victims! It is dynamite for the old, and the same time it is the seed for something new: for a world in which justice, love, forgiveness and reconciliation are like North and South and East and West, in which Shalom is the sun and the moon.

The heard hearted servant has not become a happy person. He ended up in the torture that we put unto our souls if we close the doors of our hearts for love and mercy. It is a terrible life that we put onto ourselves, if we close our hearts.

With his parable Jesus opens the door for a different life, for the only really happy life: a life of faith, love and hope. Would you want to let this life pass by? I wouldn’t! Let’s accept the invitation to this new life. Because we know and affirm: God’s grace makes all the difference!!

AMEN