Sunday, September 10, 2017





A Poem a Sunday
Pentecost 15 –A
September 17, 2017
Matthew 18:21-35 - NRSV

Forgiveness

21 Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church[a] sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven[b] times.

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents[c] was brought to him; 25 and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. 26 So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii;[d] and seizing him by the throat, he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. 31 When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. 32 Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. 35 So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister[e] from your heart.”

Footnotes:

[a] Matthew 18:21 Gk if my brother
[b]Matthew 18:22 Or seventy times seven
[c] Matthew 18:24 A talent was worth more than fifteen years’ wages of a laborer
[d] Matthew 18:28 The denarius was the usual day’s wage for a laborer
[e] Matthew 18:35 Gk brother


By the Numbers

1
1490 – 1900
Indigenous Americans
slaughtered by the thousands
or herded into Reservations.
Father, forgive…

2
1526
First slaves brought to America
at San Miguel Guadalupe (Georgetown S.C.)
by slave trader Lucas Vazquez de Ayllon
Father, forgive…

3
1692-1693
20 people (mostly women)
executed as a result
of the Salem ‘Witch Trials’
Father forgive…

4
1942
In the Spring of that year
120,000 Asian Americans rounded up
and placed in Internment Camps
Father forgive…

5
1975-1979
Cambodia ‘Killing Fields’
over 1 million people slaughtered
Father, forgive…

6
2003 - 2011
Iraq War – no WMD
Yet 210,000 innocent Iraqi civilians
killed to protect USA from a false threat
Father, forgive…

7
2011 - Present
Syrian ‘Civil War’ - 470,000 murdered
by the Bashar al-Assad Regime
while the world watches…
Father, forgive...

 Father forgive us 
for we know not what we do.

70 x 7

Copyright 2017 @ A Poem a Sunday
May be used with permission
kennstorck@gmail.com


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