Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 22C)
October 5, 2025
Luke 17:1-10
“If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents,
forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to
you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him” (Luke 17:3-4;
ESV).
A hard saying from our Lord this afternoon. But let’s do a little exercise of our
imagination: Think about a person who has sinned grievously against you; a
person you have struggled, for some time, to forgive. Honestly, you’ve tried. You’ve prayed for the ability, the strength. You’ve prayed for the person (you should
always do that). But the sin is so
serious, and the pain of it haunts you so deeply. And there is always, in the back of your
mind, that nagging cry for justice. The
sinner must pay. Because, perhaps,
that would make things right.
But here, your Lord says to you, “you must forgive.” It’s hard, isn’t it? With the disciples, you pray to Jesus: “Increase
our faith!” (v. 5). Because this is
going to take something more than we have, something from outside of
us. Jesus says, if you have faith
like a grain of mustard seed… small, but containing within it all
that is necessary for growth into a large plant… “you could say to this
mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you”
(v. 6). Of course, don’t try that at
home. Don’t tempt the Lord your
God. The point is not that your
faith can do magic tricks. The
point is that faith of any size or strength… because it receives the
Lord Jesus Himself… can, and will, receive from the Lord
whatever else is necessary for God’s Kingdom to come and His will to be done. But, mulberry trees aside, forgiving this
one who has sinned against you? The
one you are imaging right now? See,
that’s even harder than moving trees.
Lord, help us.
What is Jesus’ answer to the prayer? It’s actually not that you need more
faith. A little faith… any
faith… if it is the faith given by the Holy Spirit, receives the whole Jesus. That is comforting. It means your faith is never
inadequate. It can’t be, because
it is God’s gift to you, by His Spirit, in His Word. It is rather that you need to recognize, once
again, what that faith receives.
The cross. Christ crucified for
sins. Christ crucified for sinners. The blood and death of God that washes away
all sin.
See, that takes the sin seriously. Jesus is not asking you to simply excuse
the sin perpetrated against you. In no
sense is He telling you to sweep it under the rug, or pretend it
didn’t happen. The sin is real,
and it demands a real solution.
But you can’t solve it by your own power or strength. Not by holding your neighbor responsible and
pinning him to the wall, nor by your own self-generated efforts at
forgiveness. What to do, then? Okay, back to our exercise of
imagination. Imagine that person,
and imagine the sin they committed against you. Imagine that burden that you’ve been
carrying on your shoulders, maybe even for years. Hang it, now, on the broken and bleeding
body of Jesus. His arms are open
wide to take it into Himself. Where He…
and now, this part is not imaginary, understand… where He puts it to
death. Where He takes all the pain of
it, all that pain you’ve suffered over it, upon Himself. Where justice is meted out… on Him!
Do you see what you have in the faith that receives the
crucified Jesus? How can you possibly
forgive that one who has sinned against you?
Recognize that the guilt of that sin has been paid in full. Jesus took the debt away from the
sinner. Jesus paid the debt with His own
blood. That makes things right. That is why, when you pray, “Forgive us our
trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us,” you are, in
fact… whether you know it or not… whether you feel it or not… forgiving
your neighbor’s sin. That sin
of that sinner… the one you are imagining during this exercise. Because those words have all the
power of Jesus’ blood behind them.
So, it is done. And it is done
again and again, every time you speak those words. Even if you have to say them seven times in a
day, because your neighbor sins against you and repents seven times in a day. Frankly, even if they don’t repent. Even if the hurt of your neighbor’s sin
against you keeps pressing on you. Say
the words. Pray the words. They are a Holy Absolution for your
neighbor. Not an excusing of your
neighbor. An application of the blood
and death of God’s Son upon your neighbor.
What about the hurt?
It still hurts. Yes, it
does. No question. But that doesn’t change the objective
reality. Now it’s just a matter
of your feelings catching up with that new reality. And how are we supposed to do that? Seems like that’s impossible. Lord, increase our faith! Well, the answer once again is the
cross. Christ crucified. Pour your pain out there, upon Him. He knows it.
He feels it even more deeply than you do. But what happens as His blood covers it over (this
pain you feel so deeply), is that He transforms it. He turns it to your good, and the good
of your neighbor. He redeems it. He heals the wound, such that it
becomes a scar. That is to say,
the pain may never entirely go away. But
it can, and will, get better.
There is comfort for you in Jesus, even as you hurt. And that scar is a mark that testifies
to the healing. It is a testimony
of the healing power of the living crucified Christ. “You must forgive him,” Jesus
says. There is only one way to do that. Christ.
Okay, another exercise: Think about a grievous sin you
have committed… against God… against a loved one… someone in your family,
someone in the Church, someone who was a friend… Maybe you’ve asked for forgiveness, and that
request has been denied. Or, perhaps,
it’s been granted, but you struggle to receive that forgiveness, or believe it,
trust it. Or, perhaps it’s been granted,
but the relationship has never been the same.
Honestly, you’ve tried. But the
sin is so serious, and the pain… your own, and the pain you caused to another… it
haunts you so deeply. And there is
always, in the back of your mind, that nagging cry for justice. The sinner must pay. I must pay. Because, perhaps, that would make things
right.
I bet you’ve been there.
I certainly have. There are still
things that creep into my mind at the most inopportune moments… guilt, sorrow,
grief. I remember one particular episode
when I was seven years old, when I had so deeply disappointed my parents. I’ll spare you the details, but it lives
vividly in my mind to this day, and it still breaks me to pieces when I think
about it. You have similar
memories.
What is Jesus’ answer?
The cross. Christ crucified. Back to the exercise. Imagine that sin that still haunts
you. Imagine the burden you’ve
been carrying on your shoulders, maybe even for years. Hang it, now, on the bloody corpus of your
crucified God. Again, His arms
outstretched to receive it into Himself.
Where He puts it to death. Yes, that
sin. That one. And all the others. Where He takes all the pain of it, all
the pain you have suffered over it… all the pain others have
suffered over it… all of it… upon Himself. Where justice is meted out… on Him!
Do you see what you have in the faith… whatever amount,
whatever strength… the faith that receives the crucified Jesus? In no way is He excusing you, or your
sin. He is not sweeping it under the
rug. He is forgiving you, and
that means taking it to His death. He makes
atonement for you on the cross. Recognize
that the guilt of that sin has been paid in full. Jesus took the debt away from you, the
sinner. Jesus paid the debt with His own
blood. That makes things right. The Holy Absolution stands as God’s
announcement that it is finished.
The sin has been atoned. So you
can release it, too. It need haunt you
no more. “I forgive you all your sins,”
He says, by the mouth of His called and ordained servant. “I forgive you, in My thrice-Holy Name.” And the sin is done. Done to death.
And then, a mystery.
He says to you, “Dear child, come and recline at My Table, and let Me
wait on you.” And He feeds you. Himself.
His body. His blood. Amazing.
Because, in Christ, our duty has been done. Done perfectly, because He has done it,
and atoned for our not doing it, or doing it poorly. And we unworthy servants, he declares
“Friends,” and invites us into His joy.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
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