The unmerciful servant in today’s Gospel,
who holds his fellow servant
to a strict accounting of his debts,
despite having his own debts forgiven by his master,
engages in actions that are, at the same time,
so malicious and so self-defeating
that they seem to border on the inexplicable.
who holds his fellow servant
to a strict accounting of his debts,
despite having his own debts forgiven by his master,
engages in actions that are, at the same time,
so malicious and so self-defeating
that they seem to border on the inexplicable.
My wife always tells me that, when confronted
with someone’s seemingly inexplicable actions,
whether inexplicably stupid or inexplicably cruel,
you should ask yourself,
“in what world does this make sense?”
People don’t act without a reason,
even if their reasoning seems nonsensical
from within our understanding of the world.
And while seeing how someone understands the world
does not condone their bad actions,
is can, perhaps, help make us
a bit more compassionate toward them.
So it is worth asking ourselves,
in what world do the actions
of the unmerciful servant make sense?
Notice that what he asks for from his master
is simply an extension on his loan,
so that he has time to pay it back,
but what he gets from the master
is complete forgiveness of his debt.
But it is as if he simply can’t accept
that someone would really forgive another’s debt,
that his master isn’t going to show up later
and demand repayment,
so he immediately goes about trying to collect
the debts that are owed to him by others,
so that when his master shows up
demanding repayment,
as the servant is convinced he inevitably will,
he will have the means to pay back what he owes
and avoid the cruel penalty that the master
would undoubtedly inflict.
The unforgiving servant’s action make sense
in a world in which no one
is ever truly compassionate,
no one is ever truly forgiving;
his actions make sense
in a world in which the best we can hope for
is to buy a little time in order to grab what we can
from those who are weaker than us
so that we can pay off those who are stronger.
The book of Sirach tells us,
“Wrath and anger are hateful things,
yet the sinner hugs them tight.”
Actions that are malicious and self-defeating,
can seem like reasonable options in a world without mercy.
The unforgiving servant lives in a cruel and ugly world,
a world in which we must live only for ourselves,
we must trust only ourselves,
we must look out only for ourselves,
because nobody else is going to look out for us.
He lives in the same world than many today live in:
a world of zero-sum competition
in which another’s gain is always my loss;
a world in which there is never true forgiveness
but only debt-extension,
usually with compounded interest;
a world in which I have no choice
but to be merciless
if I want to survive,
whether in business
or politics
or international affairs.
“Wrath and anger are hateful things,
yet the sinner hugs them tight.”
Actions that are malicious and self-defeating,
can seem like reasonable options in a world without mercy.
The unforgiving servant lives in a cruel and ugly world,
a world in which we must live only for ourselves,
we must trust only ourselves,
we must look out only for ourselves,
because nobody else is going to look out for us.
He lives in the same world than many today live in:
a world of zero-sum competition
in which another’s gain is always my loss;
a world in which there is never true forgiveness
but only debt-extension,
usually with compounded interest;
a world in which I have no choice
but to be merciless
if I want to survive,
whether in business
or politics
or international affairs.
But Jesus offers us a different world to live in.
Jesus offers us a world
in which we are not left on our own
to survive as best we can.
Rather, Jesus offers us a world in which
the master is moved with compassion
and forgives our debts.
He offers us a world in which
we do not need to fight and claw to survive,
we do not need to trample down those in our way,
we do not need to forego mercy and compassion
lest someone take advantage of us.
Jesus offers us a world
in which we are not left on our own
to survive as best we can.
Rather, Jesus offers us a world in which
the master is moved with compassion
and forgives our debts.
He offers us a world in which
we do not need to fight and claw to survive,
we do not need to trample down those in our way,
we do not need to forego mercy and compassion
lest someone take advantage of us.
It is not some fantasy world he offers, however.
People will still try to take advantage of you.
You will still have to deal with people who see the world
in the cruel and ugly way that the unforgiving servant sees it.
Your mercy will not always be met with mercy.
But, as St. Paul reminds us,
we are not left on our own:
“None of us lives for oneself,
and no one dies for oneself.”
If we belong to Christ,
if we seek to live in the world of mercy he offers,
we do not need to fight and claw for survival,
“For if we live, we live for the Lord,
and if we die, we die for the Lord;
so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.”
If we are the Lord’s whether we live or die,
then we can take the risk of accepting mercy
and take the risk of showing mercy.
People will still try to take advantage of you.
You will still have to deal with people who see the world
in the cruel and ugly way that the unforgiving servant sees it.
Your mercy will not always be met with mercy.
But, as St. Paul reminds us,
we are not left on our own:
“None of us lives for oneself,
and no one dies for oneself.”
If we belong to Christ,
if we seek to live in the world of mercy he offers,
we do not need to fight and claw for survival,
“For if we live, we live for the Lord,
and if we die, we die for the Lord;
so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.”
If we are the Lord’s whether we live or die,
then we can take the risk of accepting mercy
and take the risk of showing mercy.
But what about the end of the parable,
when the unmerciful servant is
“handed… over to the torturers
until he should pay back the whole debt”?
Does this mean that, at the end of the day,
God’s mercy comes to an end?
Not necessarily.
I believe that the world of the unmerciful servant
the word of cruelty and ugliness,
wrath and anger,
is itself a painful, torturous world in which to live,
and the unmerciful servant is tormented
by his own inability
to accept the mercy of his master.
God wants to free us from that torment.
But, having trapped himself in that world,
the unmerciful servant’s torment will not cease
until he learns to see and accept
the mercy offered to him at every moment.
when the unmerciful servant is
“handed… over to the torturers
until he should pay back the whole debt”?
Does this mean that, at the end of the day,
God’s mercy comes to an end?
Not necessarily.
I believe that the world of the unmerciful servant
the word of cruelty and ugliness,
wrath and anger,
is itself a painful, torturous world in which to live,
and the unmerciful servant is tormented
by his own inability
to accept the mercy of his master.
God wants to free us from that torment.
But, having trapped himself in that world,
the unmerciful servant’s torment will not cease
until he learns to see and accept
the mercy offered to him at every moment.
Let us pray for those who live
in an ugly, cruel world
of debt without mercy,
that their torment may be lifted.
Let us pray for those who suffer
the wrath and anger of those
who live trapped
in a cruel and ugly world.
Let us pray for ourselves,
that we may be made free
to live for the Lord
and to die for the Lord.
And may God have mercy on us all.
in an ugly, cruel world
of debt without mercy,
that their torment may be lifted.
Let us pray for those who suffer
the wrath and anger of those
who live trapped
in a cruel and ugly world.
Let us pray for ourselves,
that we may be made free
to live for the Lord
and to die for the Lord.
And may God have mercy on us all.
