Proper 19 (A) + Let it go! + 9.13.20

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M. Campbell-Langdell

All Santos, Oxnard

(Exodus 14:19-31; Psalm 114; Romans 14:1-12; Matthew 18:21-35)

“For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves…”

In the retelling of this parable by Jesus in the radio play “Un Tal Jesus,” by Maria and Jose Lopez Vigil, Jesus begins a story to Peter just after he has got into a dust-up with James:

“The kingdom of King Shaddai was enormous like the Great Sea. One had to undertake a hundred journeys to go from one end of the territory to another. In order to manage the affairs of the kingdom, he had assigned officials all over the provinces who were tasked to distribute the money of the kingdom... Some of these officials, however, were crooks, as in the case of Neriah....”[1]

And he continues, relating to us the story of the first man, who owes a ridiculous amount – ten thousand talents is equal to one hundred million denarii. When you consider that in Jesus’ time people were generally paid one denarius a day, there is no way on earth the man could ever pay back what he owed.

And then he shows us how this man, rather than feel grateful that he is spared, in fact feels upset that he has lost his money, and goes after his friend who owes him one millionth of what he owed the king- one hundred denarii. This friend promises to pay, but he does not have mercy. And so the king learns of this and summons the first slave to whom he forgave the debt.

The story ends with this exchange between Peter and Jesus:

“Peter: How did the story end, Jesus?

Jesus: Well, the king got so furious he sent Neriah to jail.

Peter: Right. If I had been the king, I would’ve grabbed this man and torn him to pieces!

Jesus: Really? … But that man is you, Peter. You’ve become like Neriah.

Peter: Me..? Oh, of course..... I know where that leads to.....

Jesus:Look.... You and James and all of us owe the Lord a lot of debts and he forgives us all of them. Yet, we can’t forgive the small things that other people owe us.”[2]

And Peter begins to understand that he needs to forgive all the small slights that he is holding in his heart. So often in the gospels, the disciples are foils for us. And this is no different. We may never owe a great sum of money to another but we might find ourselves slowly, over the years, secreting away little thorns of resentment. We remember that harsh word someone said, or the way we were embarrassed, or the event to which we were not invited. We store those up. And every week or indeed for many of us every day we pray “forgive our sins as we forgive” but it is hard to truly let go.

And so in the words of that song that very few of us ever want to hear again (although Idina Menzel’s voice is amazing), we must learn to “Let it Go.” Whatever you are storing up in your heart against another, let it go. Give it to God.

Now forgiveness isn’t a simple thing. As Christians, it is one of the more complex topics we cover. Because sometimes a hurt has gone deep. Sometimes a hurt feels so deep that to forgive it seems like we are somehow ignoring or condoning the action. But we are not. We are simply making sure that the past no longer defines us. Just like with the servant who needs to forgive in the parable, we cannot be free until we forgive others, and what we feel they owe to us. Because as long as we hold into it, we are never going to move forward.

So let it go. And then let it go. And let it go again. Because this is a process. You aren’t a bad person if that minor slight or major injury keeps coming up for you. You may indeed need to talk to the person involved if it is safe to do so, physically and emotionally, and try to work it out. I don’t think Jesus was far off when he said that we have to forgive seventy seven times. Because we may feel like we are over something, and it comes up again. Forgiveness is a muscle. We work it, and we build strength as Christians. Strength to be kind to others, and to model how others can be kind to each other.

Why do we do this? We do this for our own spiritual health. But more than this, we do this because of Paul’s immortal words in Romans: “We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord.” And how do we serve God in this world? Jesus says that we serve God by loving our neighbor. So let us live for God, not tied down by the past, but able to fly free into a new future, even if tomorrow is a new opportunity to let it go!


[1] Maria and Jose Ignacio Lopez Vigil, “A Certain Jesus” scriptbook, https://radialistas.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/a-certain-jesus-maria-y-jose-ignacio-lopez-vigil.pdf, p.406.

[2] Ibid, p. 407.

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