Matthew 18:21-35
Did you ever hear the story of Alvin Straight? Alvin lived in Laurens, Iowa. When he was 73 years old he set out on a 240-mile journey to see his estranged brother, Henry, in Wisconsin. Henry had recently had a stroke, Alvin heard. They had not spoken to each other in 10 years. But now Alvin felt the need to reconcile with Henry.
The only problem was Alvin didn’t have a driver’s license anymore. But he did not let that stop him. He hopped on his John Deere lawn tractor and hit the road. People thought he had gone off his rocker, but Alvin was determined to make his way to his brother somehow. It took him six weeks.
There was a movie made about Alvin, called The Straight Story.
There’s a scene in the film where, as he gets near Henry’s home, he has an encounter with a priest who knows Henry. The priest says, “Henry never mentioned he had a brother.” Alvin says, “Neither one of us has had a brother for some time.”
We might call this the parable of the lawn tractor. Because I imagine if we really look, we can see ourselves in Alvin and Henry. Who among us has not, on occasion, found it easier to withhold forgiveness that would take what Alvin describes as “A hard swallow to our pride?”
Who among us has not mulled it over and decided, maybe I will call her tomorrow to say I’m sorry, but I don’t really care to have that conversation today?
Who among us has not nursed hard feelings and, every now and then, trotted the story out again to tell someone new so we can experience the outrage all over again? It happens between friends. It happens in families. It happens in workplaces. It happens in churches.
When we replay these things in our memories, we might make slight alterations to the stories, so that the ones who are wrong are more clearly and completely in the wrong. And any fault of our own is gently erased and forgotten. Who among us has never done that?
The parable of the lawn tractor is not a bad one. Hearing it, we might remember times in our own lives where we have let some resentment grow between us and someone in our family or community. And when we do remember, the parable might help us realize that life is finite. And resentment is long. And forgiveness is … mysterious.
Alvin feels suddenly compelled to seek forgiveness from his brother Henry. Now, for ten years it has been easier to push this problem into the background, but this news of Henry’s stroke has forced him to realize he will not have infinite time and opportunities to do the thing that, deep in his heart, he knows he must do.
Alvin knows it so deeply, so completely, that he makes this risky and uncomfortable journey so he can do the right thing at last.
The parable of the lawn tractor together with Jesus’ parable of the unforgiving slave provide a rich context in which to consider the problem of forgiveness.
So let’s consider this story of the unforgiving slave.
There was a kingdom where the ruler decided one day that he would reconcile accounts with all his slaves, and he had many, many slaves. One by one, the slaves were presented to him. There was one man who approached him who, according to the ledgers, owed the king a ridiculously huge fortune. He owed him more than he could earn in 150,000 years. I’m not kidding; that’s how much it was. There was no way in heaven or in hell or on earth that this man could repay it.
But he falls on his knees and says, “Please, lord, give me time – I will pay you back, I promise!”
The ruler is thinking, “I could sell him and his family and all their possessions and at least get something out of it.” But then, instead, he is moved with compassion, and he lets him go. He says, “The debt is forgiven.” The slave has a clean slate.
And, in a way, we see this as like the unfathomable forgiveness bestowed on us by God. We are forgiven, thanks be to God. Even though God could hold us accountable for every shortcoming, flaw, and plain act of evil we commit, God chooses forgiveness.
Now. This forgiven slave leaves, free of his burden. But on his way, he encounters a fellow slave who happens to owe him some money – it’s a considerable sum, a few months wages. Frankly, in comparison to the debt he has just been forgiven, this is nothing. But it is something to this guy. It might mean the difference between being able to remodel his kitchen, or not … taking that dream vacation, or not.
And just like that, he has forgotten his own debt and the fate that he just narrowly escaped. He has forgotten that just moments ago he was on his knees begging the very same thing this man is begging him now.
How easily we forget our own need for forgiveness. Especially when we have the opportunity to withhold forgiveness from someone else. In our own minds we are always the victim, until something shakes us out of it and opens our eyes.
For Alvin Straight, it was the recognition that his brother could die, and that he could die too. And that changed the way he looked at life. Why had he withheld forgiveness for all those years? Why had he refused to ask for forgiveness? What could he possibly have been thinking?
How much richer could Alvin’s life have been if he had not waited so long? If he had enjoyed the pleasure of having a brother all those years?
The fact is, the thought of death can scare us into doing the right thing, and the end of Jesus’ parable shows that he is not above using a scare tactic now and then. And I know that God can forgive anything, including the ways we drag our feet about reconciliation. But the point I want to draw from both these parables – the lawn tractor and the unforgiving servant – is this: why wait?
In the prayer Jesus teaches his followers, he says “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” Forgiveness received is always tied to forgiveness given. But this parable teaches us that it isn’t necessarily an exchange, like “You forgive me and I’ll forgive you.” Sometimes forgiveness is one-sided. But always, forgiveness moves us forward.
My daughter shared some words of wisdom recently that capture this message perfectly. Living well is knowing that you have received far more than you could ever repay. You will never be able to call it even. And the only thing to do then is to keep paying it forward.
Your community needs you to do this. And God’s desire is for you to do this. In God’s realm, God’s community, forgiveness is free and abundant – and, really, essential. Because it is only by forgiveness that there is community. It is only in forgiving that we are free.
So what are you waiting for?
Photo: from the David Lynch film, The Straight Story.
