The Rev. Robert Lundquist XVII after Pentecost 9/11/05 St Paul’s, Ft Collins

Ecclesiasticus 27:80 – 28:7 -Online Text -

The Life of the People. Last Sunday our Music Director Ken Shrum led the Adult Forum in an exploration of our worship life. He noted that the word “liturgy” means “the life of the people.” That means that our worship around God’s table is meant to be a reflection of our life, the things we do and say during the week. This past week I’ve been privileged to see the life of this people in and around St Paul’s. I’ve seen the life of the people in our gathering more than $3000 in your gifts to Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) for Hurricane Katrina recovery, and I have been told of additional directed gifts. You responded to our Bishop’s appeal with great generosity!

I saw the life of this people in the preparations for the Outreach Action Team’s annual Yard Sale. So many folks worked together to pull this event together, and more than $2400 was raised, to be split between hurricane relief and local charities. I’ve seen the life of this people in your outpouring for our “adopted” family from New Orleans, and in your offers of more help as the needs become more apparent. They are here this morning, and I hope you get to meet them.

This is our life, people of God. It is a rich and holy life that we offer to God, both in extraordinary times and in the daily events of life – living with the ones we love, eating, sleeping, going to work or school with our hearts fixed on Christ.

Liturgy is, in part, saying to God, “See what you’ve enabled us to do! Thank you for the grace to live in your light.” In one of our Eucharistic prayers, we say, “We offer our selves, our souls and bodies – to be a reasonable, holy and living sacrifice…” We offer to God our very lives:

Our money, each dollar representing work or wise investment,
Our time, which is more than what money can buy when offered freely to the Lord;
Our talents, our unique and God-given gifts, which are multiplied like loaves and fishes in service to our Creator.

Liturgy – the life of the people. Responding in love, and growing in grace.

We Christians believe that grace happens. Regardless of what you may have seen on bumper-stickers or in other places, it is grace that happens. And forgiveness is an integral part of grace. As we pray, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.”

“Lord, how often should I forgive? As many as 7 times?” asks Peter. You can almost see the wheels turning in Peter’s head – “Well, I get the part about forgiving… so, how much? Let’s quantify this so I can understand it…” If we put a number on it, we can follow the letter of the law.

What happens when you something, anything, 77 times? That’s right, it becomes a habit. You do it without thinking. This is what Jesus is saying, in essence – your forgiveness should have no limit. You should love count of the number of times you forgive.

In other words, we have a parable. It’s been said that when we cut ourselves off from grace working through us, we lose the awareness of grace working in us.

So there is a servant who owes his master $2.5 million! That’s translating into modern currency. The servant begs for mercy, and receives it. Did he earn it or deserve it? Of course not. But he acted as if he had won that mercy through his charm, good looks, or winning personality.. Now he is owed $3500 by another servant. And he grants no mercy. “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

The story Jesus told is over the top, painted broadly to make a point. Jesus law forbade torture for any reason, so his hearers understood. It is the author of Ecclesiasticus who points our that anger and unforgiveness are poisonous.

A brief history of forgiveness:

In pre-Biblical times the rule was total vengeance. If your horse stepped on my foot, I would gather my kinsmen together and annihilate your entire extended family.
Moses presented “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” as the maximum retribution allowed. No more than an eye can be taken for an eye. This was quite an improvement, though it has been twisted in more recent times. I’ve heard it argued that “the Bible says you must take an eye for an eye.” Not true, not true.
This is the context in which Jesus instructs, “Forgive 77 times.” Make your forgiveness countless, limitless, endless.

So, here we are, 4 years later. How are we doing with forgiveness? Thousands perished in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania combined on this day 4 years ago. Included in those lost are some 450 Muslims, which is often forgotten by those who cannot forgive and who last out in anger. How does one deal with anger at dead killers? Lashing out is but one of the symptoms.

Perhaps it is too soon, too raw. I still feel shock when I see the pictures. Just this morning I foolishly turned on the news, only to see the clouds of dust from the collapse engulfing the streets of Manhattan once again. We all have vivid memories of the day – where we were, what we were doing when we heard. Psychologists call these “snapshot experiences,” moments shared by an entire people. Four years later – how are we doing? Have we forgiven God? Though it sounds shocking, it’s an important question. It’s not that God is guilty, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t angry…

2 weeks later – how are we doing? Many feel a righteous anger with our leaders over the human catastrophe in New Orleans and on the Gulf Coast. How many deaths could have been prevented by a timely response? How much misery, confusion and sorrow were needlessly caused by incompetence? Do we actually trust our government to do the right thing? Already the no-bid multimillion dollar contracts for recovery are being signed; Haliburton has received several. And our fellow citizens – some launched scam websites and spam attacks within mere hours of the disaster.

The challenge for us in this culture is: How do we forgive and hold accountable? Because forgiveness is not passive, forgiveness is not condoning, forgiveness must be more that simply tolerating. Most importantly, though, forgiveness takes practice. 77 times worth.

How are we doing with this forgiveness thing? What does it cost? Remember, Jesus forgave his executioners, and it wasn’t cheap. His forgiveness was bought with the cross.

Only the Holy Spirit can allow that kind of forgiveness. Truly letting go of the wrongs done to us only comes from the Spirit. Forgiveness is a discipline, forgiveness is a sacrifice, forgiveness is a life saver. God, I pray, let forgiveness and grace fill the life of this people. In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

A Parish For All People!