A sermon for the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Matt 18:21-35

We have today a difficult text in the Gospel of Matthew. Peter asks: “Should I forgive seven times?” And the answer is: “Seventy times seven.” And that doesn’t mean when you get to 490, then it’s O.K. not to forgive.” It means totally. Then comes the parable of someone who owed ten thousand talents. In today’s terms that’s about twenty-five million dollars. The king was going to sell the servant and his family into slavery but the servant pleaded for mercy and the king forgave him his debt. This same servant then turned around to someone who owed him a mere twenty-five dollars, and when this one asked for mercy, the servant said no and threw him in prison. The point of the parable, which as usual is found in the last verse, is to forgive from the heart. The point is not just forgiving but forgiving from the heart. Lest we think that is just one verse, in one place, recall that when we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we have the sentence which says: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

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A sermon for the season of Pentecost

Matthew 18:15-20

In the Gospel text for today is this verse, Matthw 18:19: “Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.” That’s really great. If two or three agree on earth about anything, it will be done by God in heaven. It’s true that the next verse says where two or three are gathered in my name.” You might say: “Well, it has to be in his name. there am I in the midst of them.” That’s not too difficult. We often pray, as we should, in Jesus’ name. What does this mean? It’s really something enormous.

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A sermon for the Fifteenth Sunday of Pentecost

Matthew 16:21-28

There are two verses in today’s Gospel text that we will focus on:

“Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.’”

That pair of verses, one way or another, is found in the Gospels sixteen times. In other words, this is not one isolated item in a list but is given again and again and again. Nor does it say: “Your intentions are what counts.” Nor does it say: “Try the best you can.” It doesn’t allow for us to say: “I’m not perfect, but I’m doing better than so-and-so over there.”

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Matthew 16:13-20

A Sermon for the Season of Pentecost

In the Gospel text for today from Matthew 16, Simon Bar-Jona confesses: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” And Jesus says to him: “You are Peter.”

What do we make of this famous text? One New Testament professor has said this exchange between Peter and Jesus took place near Caesarea Phillipia where there is a big rock dedicated to the Greek god Pan. What happened is that Jesus was standing there and he said: “You’re Peter and on this rock, that is, on me, not that rock for the god Pan, that huge idol, I’ll build my church.”

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