Judgment and Forgivness

September 15th 2026

Scripture: Romans 14:1-13 & Matthew 18:21-35

The texts this morning are rich in wisdom on how we live together. I chose the First Nation’s Translation of Romans not only because we are about to be in Native American History month, but because of the way it more accurately translates ‘brother and sister’ as ‘sacred family.’ We are all part of one big sacred family.. and if we can begin to speak and believe this to be true, we will hopefully begin to act as though this is true.. and acting as though this is true.. is the only thing that will save us.

Paul, the writer of Romans, was a first-century Jewish Roman who came to believe that Jesus was the Messiah. He then spent his life traveling the empire, telling people about Jesus and helping them to create what we now call the Christian Church.

However, the Church didn’t exist yet. Paul and all of the disciples were Jews, just as Jesus was a Jew. Then there were those outside the Jewish faith that came to believe and follow the way of Jesus, who were called the Gentiles. So, Paul took upon himself the impossible mission of bringing together the Jews and the Gentiles into one body of Christ. As you can imagine, there was a lot of judgement, prejudice, and even hatred between these groups. They had different customs, cultures, languages, and laws. One of the biggest questions of the time was whether or not the Gentiles had to adhere to the Jewish laws, such as the Ten Commandments, in order to follow the way of Jesus.

There was a lot to learn and a lot to be worked out. Not to mention, this was ancient Rome, so the Roman people, whether they were Jew of Gentile, if they were educated, were taught to make critical, informed judgements of both issues and people. Jews were also judgmental, as they were taught to judge everyone’s actions against strict Jewish law. How could they settle their differences? Well Paul thought it was as simple as reminding them of their roots. What is rooted in us far deeper than what we eat or which day we take Sabbath rest or what language we use to speak? God of course! We are all ONE sacred family, made by the same Creator, made of the same stuff, equal in the eyes of the Lord. Therefore, Paul asks, can we begin to look upon one another not as sinners, but as siblings?

However, it is a natural human tendency to pass judgment. Every day we judge what people wear, how they sound, what and how they eat, who and how they love and how they live. This is our human nature, because we want to know where WE stand. We are constantly judging our own place in the hierarchy of things. Am I better than them or are they better than me? Are they a threat or just someone to tolerate or ignore? But just because something is human nature, doesn’t make it right. Both Jesus and Paul are trying to help us push past this initial wave of judgement, so that we might move beyond our human nature into our God center that helps us see the world as God sees it. What does God see when God looks upon the same people we are looking at? Does God see a sinner to judge or a child to love?

Traditionally, I’d say the Church we have come to know says that God sees sinners to judge. I think our ancestors who wrote the creeds and the doctrine may have been a bit more mathematical than spiritual. Which, I understand; again, it is our human nature to want things to make sense, to be clear and precise. If 2+2=4, then there is nothing to argue; the world is black and white, everything makes sense and there is no mystery. Our brains don’t do well with mystery and the unknown. So, for millennia, equations and calculations determined our behavior. For example, the translation of debt and debtors we use in the Lord’s Prayer. Or the way we use an eye for an eye to mean one sin cancels out another. Or the way in which we speak of Jesus as the ransom paid for humanity’s sins, because God is the calculator of both sins and good deeds and Jesus’ death was the only way to balance the scales.

This is the God we get from parables like the one Jesus shared in our gospel today. God is the King who forgave his servant’s debt, but then the sinful servant goes out and refuses to forgive those who owe HIM money. The King then imprisons him until the debt is paid. Sounds like purgatory to me! However, what if the parable wasn’t meant to be so literal? Perhaps what Jesus’ parable teaches us is how important unconditional forgiveness and mercy are in God’s kin-dom.

You see in God’s kin-dom the question is never ‘should I judge this person as a sinner?’ nor ‘should I forgive this person’s sins?’ Rather the only question relevant in God’s kin-dom is ‘how can this relationship be transformed so that life and love can flourish?’ In Paul’s mixed communities, they had to overcome many differences in order to transform their relationships from enemies to members of one sacred family. In Jesus’ teaching, he had to convince people to stop holding things against one another that lead to death and start learning to forgive, which leads to new life.

Dr. Charlotte vanOyen, a psychologist studying forgiveness, defines forgiveness as an act of ‘willing the well-being of the other’ or ‘wishing a positive transformation of the other person.’ This is exactly what I think Jesus meant when he was trying to teach people a new way of life. How often should we wish the well-being and positive transformation of our fellow sacred family members? At least 77 times. But won’t be lose track along the way?! Absolutely, which is the whole point! God doesn’t keep a tally of our sins, so why should we keep a tally against one another? Just live and love and wish the best for one another!

It’s so simple and yet we make it so complicated.. mostly because I think we have forgotten that we are all members of one sacred family. If we are members of rival nations or tribes or groups of any kind, it becomes so easy to judge, condemn and hold grudges, keeping track of all the times we have been wronged. However, if we are kin, forever bound to the same family, there is an urgency to figure out a way to live together in such a way that life and love can flourish. We must forgive one another’s faults and will positive transformation that leads to the end of participation in destructive behaviors. Only then will we have a fighting chance at ending wars, living in healthy diverse communities, and healing the damaged Earth we call home.

We must learn to forgive as God forgives, AS OFTEN as God forgives. We must meet everyone as siblings rather than as sinners. We must invest in mutual transformation. And this is essential, because forgiveness can be one sided, but reconciliation requires mutual participation. All parties must participate in finding our way back to our God-center; the deepest part of us, the core that reminds us we are all one body. What a different world we would be living in.. a world that reflected the way of Jesus, for which he died to make reality. To follow in the way of Jesus is to live in such a way that this BECOMES our reality.

You might be wondering, well pastor how many times do we have to give this a try before we give up and give in to the fear that such a world just isn’t possible!? 77 times seems like a good number. If each of us, individually made at MINIMUM 77 attempts.. wow I think that could be mutually beneficial for all involved.. in fact, it might go so well you’ll lose count and have to keep starting over. What a life that would be.. to look upon everyone and all of creation as your sacred family member and will their well-being. God might make possible what you once thought impossible, right before your very eyes. One might even call it a miracle. May it be so/Amen.