Today is the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attack of 9/11. Our gospel reading is on forgiveness!

Peter thought he was making progress.
He thought he was beginning to understand what Jesus was trying to teach him.
His question about forgiveness, and his suggestion, was a genuine one.
There were other religious teachers, rabbis, who taught their disciples differing things about forgiveness. One Rabbi said ‘He who begs forgiveness from his neighbour must not do so more than three times’. Another said ‘If a man commits an offence one, they forgive him; if he commits an offence a second time they forgive him; if he commits an offence a third time they forgive him; the fourth time they do not forgive.

Peter wanted to know what Jesus thought. When he wondered if seven times would be enough he thought he was being generous and would be warmly commended by Jesus. Jesus answer was seventy seven times. Some translations say ‘seventy times seven’. The meaning is that there is no reckonable limit to forgiveness.

Then Jesus told a parable of two men who were in debt. And he exaggerates to make the point. The first, who owes what was the equivalent to the National Debt - which he could never pay, was let off. But he, in turn, roughly refused to let off a man who owed him a few pounds.  Jesus graphically spells out the consequences of such unfairness. The implication is that if we have received the forgiveness of God then we are duty bound to show forgiveness to others in turn. Indeed, if we do not forgive then there is no room within us to receive forgiveness. Jesus, suggests that the unforgiving servant will be handed over to be tortured until he paid the whole of his debt. Which is a graphic way of alluding to the self torture of the unforgiving heart. The kind of unforgiving heart which deliberately nurtures an unhealthy and poisonous mix of hatred, vengeance and resentment. It has been said that to nurture unforgiveness is to allow the person to hurt you twice over.

We all know, and pray, the Lord’s prayer. We say ‘forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us’. This is such an important part of the Lord’s prayer, and here, he expands upon it.  Forgiveness is the life blood of any Christian Community. We cannot live together without upsetting one another, unwittingly, or even sometimes, sadly, deliberately. So forgiveness is an essential thing.

There are no limits to God's love and no limits to God's forgiveness.

What do we do about this most crucial yet most difficult of Jesus teachings? It is all so counter-cultural, and goes against the grain. For a start we should not be in the business of nurturing or cultivating unforgiveness. or brooding on it. Nor should we think we are perfect and have never hurt anyone. At best we need to think about God’s love for us, despite what we do, which forgives and reconciles us to him. To think about the love, and forgiveness shown by Jesus on the Cross, for it was not the nails that held him there but his love.  And then at least try to forgive our brother or sister, ask God to help us to forgive, or that we might participate in God’s forgiveness of them. Jesus once said that what we bind on earth is bound in heaven and what we loose on  earth is loosed in heaven. Food for thought.

How will in be in the ‘New Creation’ which God has promised and which is called ‘Heaven’ - the place where God is fully present and to which Jesus has opened up the way? It will be many things beyond our imagining. But one thing it will be: it will be the kingdom of the forgiven, a place where unforgiveness simply cannot be. Jesus teaching is about preparing us, making us ready for that kingdom, by bringing its characteristics into the here and now.

Here are two different stories on the theme of forgiveness.
The first comes from the Second World War. Corrie ten Boom, with her sister, was imprisoned by the Nazi’s. Her sister was badly treated and eventually died from her wounds. Years later, after the war, and after a religious meeting at which Corrie was speaking a man approached her and asked her forgiveness.

‘What for’, she wondered.

‘For what I did to your sister’, he said. She then recognised the man as one of the sadistic guards who had been responsible for her sister’s death. Corrie knew Jesus’ teaching on forgiveness but she could not bring herself to forgive this man. ‘Help me, Lord’, she prayed. ‘Shake his hand and say the words’ came the reply and I will supply the rest’.

Finally, an illustration from the life of John Wesley who, when he was sailing to America witnessed the keel-hauling of a member of the crew for an offence on board ship. This was a particularly cruel form of punishment as it meant being tied to a rope, thrown overboard, drawn under the vessel and out the other side. There was always the chance that you would drown or perish in some other way. The captain said to John Wesley as they watched, ‘You see, Mr Wesley, I never forgive’. It was not for John Wesley to question the captain’s power of command but he could and did question the statement. He replied, ‘Then, sir, I hope that you never sin!’