Sermon 114

SERMO 114

OF THE WORDS OF THE GOSPEL LUKE 17:3-4
"If your brother sins against you, rebuke him", and so on.
On the Forgiveness of Sins

To a brother, as often as he sins against us and repents, it must be forgiven.

The Holy Gospel, which we just heard being recited, reminded us of the forgiveness of sins. From this, you are to be admonished by our word. For we are ministers of the word, not of ourselves, but indeed of God and our Lord, to whom no one serves without glory, whom no one disregards without penalty. Thus, our Lord Jesus Christ, who remaining with the Father made us, and being made for us remade us; our Lord and God said to us as we heard: If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him: and if he sins against you seven times in a day, and comes and says: I repent, forgive him. Seven times in a day should only be understood as often as necessary; lest he sins eight times, and you are unwilling to forgive. What then does seven times mean? Always, whenever he sins and repents. For this reason: I will praise you seven times a day; which is in another psalm: His praise will always be in my mouth. And as to why seven times is placed for what is always, there is a very definite reason; for with the coming and returning of seven days, all time is encompassed.

Pardon must be given to a brother, so that it may be received from God.

Whoever therefore thinks of Christ, and desires to receive what He promised, do not be lazy to do what He commanded. For what did He promise? Eternal life. And what did He command? Give your brother forgiveness. As if He were saying to you: You are a man, give a man forgiveness, so that I, God, may come to you. But to omit, or rather to set aside for now, those higher divine promises, in which our Creator will make us equal to His angels, so that we may live with Him and in Him and from Him without end: not mentioning this for now, do you not want to receive this very thing which you are ordered to give to your brother, from your God? This very thing, I say, which you are ordered to give to your brother, do you not want to receive from your Lord? Tell me if you do not want it, and do not give it. What is this, except to forgive the one who asks, if you ask to be forgiven? Or if you do not have anything to be forgiven, I dare say: Do not forgive. Although, I ought not to have said this. And if you do not have anything to be forgiven, you ought to forgive; because even God forgives, who does not have anything to be forgiven.

Debts are to be forgiven by the example of God.

You will say: But I am not God, I am a sinful man. Thanks be to God, that you confess there are sins. Therefore forgive, so that it may be forgiven you. Yet our very God urges us to imitate Him. First, the Lord Christ Himself, of whom the apostle Peter said: Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps. And certainly, He had no sin, and died for our sins, and shed His blood for the remission of sins. He took upon Himself for us what He did not owe, that He might free us from our debt. He did not have to die, nor did we have to live. Why? Because we were sinners. Neither was death owed to Him, nor life to us: He accepted what was not owed to Him, and gave what was not owed to us. But since it is a question of the remission of sins, do not think it too much to imitate Christ, hear the Apostle saying: Forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore, be (these are the words of the Apostle, his own, not mine) therefore be imitators of God. Certainly, it is arrogant to imitate God? Imitators of God. Certainly, it is arrogant. As dear children. You are called a son: if you scorn imitation, why do you seek inheritance?

Let the sinner forgive the sinner.

I would say this if you had no sin, which you desire to be forgiven. But now, whoever you are, you are human: you may be just, but you are human; you may be a layperson, but you are human; you may be a monk, but you are human; you may be a cleric, but you are human; you may be a bishop, but you are human; you may be an apostle, but you are human. Hear the voice of the apostle: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. Who said this? He, he, he, John the evangelist, whom the Lord Christ loved above others, who reclined on His chest, he said: If we say: he did not say: If you say that you have no sin; but: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. He joined himself in fault, so that he might join in pardon. If we say: see who says it: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquity. How does He cleanse? By forgiving, not as if not finding what to punish, but finding what to forgive. Therefore, if we have sins, brothers, let us forgive the penitent. Let us not retain enmity in our hearts. For retaining enmity more corrupts our very heart.

Forgiveness is sought from God in prayer with the agreement of giving forgiveness to others.

I will, therefore, you to be forgiving, because I hold one asking for forgiveness. You are asked, forgive: you are asked, and you will ask; you are asked, forgive; just as you ask that it be forgiven. Behold, the time of prayer will come: I will hold you to the words you will say. You will say: Our Father who art in heaven. For you will not be among the sons, if you do not say: Our Father. So you will say: Our Father who art in heaven. Continue: Hallowed be thy name. Still say: Thy kingdom come. Still continue: Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. See what you add: Give us this day our daily bread. Where are your riches? Behold, you beg. Nevertheless, say still after: Give us this day our daily bread. Still say what follows: Forgive us our debts. You have come to my words: Forgive us our debts. Therefore do what follows. Forgive us our debts. By what right? by what agreement? by what covenant? by what declared bond? As we also forgive our debtors. It is little that you do not forgive: you also lie to God. The condition is set, the law is fixed: Forgive, as I forgive. Therefore, He does not forgive unless you forgive. Forgive, as I forgive. You want to be forgiven, forgive the one asking you. These prayers the heavenly Jurist has dictated: He does not deceive you; ask according to heavenly law: say: Forgive, as we also forgive; and do what you say. He who lies in prayers lacks the benefit: he who lies in prayers both loses the cause and finds punishment. And if someone lies to the Emperor, when he comes, he is convicted because he lies; but when you lie in prayer, you are convicted in the very prayer. For God does not seek witnesses from you to convict you. He who dictated the prayers to you is your advocate: if you lie, He is your witness; if you do not correct yourself, He will be your judge: Therefore both say, and do. Because if you do not say, you do not obtain by requesting against the law: but if you say and do not do, you will also be guilty of lying. This verse cannot be passed over unless what you say is fulfilled. Can we delete this verse from our prayer? Or do you want it to be there: Forgive us our debts: and delete what follows: As we also forgive our debtors? You will not delete it, lest you are first deleted. In prayer, therefore, you say: Give; you say: Forgive: to receive what you do not have, and to be released from what you have transgressed. You want to receive, give; you want to be forgiven, forgive. It is a brief summary. Hear Christ Himself elsewhere: Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. What will you forgive? What others have sinned against you. What will be forgiven to you? What you have sinned. And you: Give, and it will be given to you. Those who desire eternal life, support the temporal life of the poor, sustain the temporal life of the poor, and for this very small and earthly seed, you will receive the harvest of eternal life. Amen.