Scripture: Then Peter came and said to Jesus, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but I tell you, seventy-seven times.” (Matthew 18:21-22)Reflection:Jesus’s disciples, Peter, probably thought he was being very generous in suggesting that forgiving someone who wronged him seven times was a good thing. Just think about how we react when someone does something to wrong us. They do it once, and you can find it in your heart to forgive them. They do it again….it’s getting harder to forgive. They do it a third time….can you forgive, or do you want nothing to do with them?! (Or even, if we’re honest, seek some sort of revenge?!) So Peter’s forgive seven times is very magnanimous! But Jesus’s response is: seventy-seven times. (Or in other versions, “seventy times seven times”.) The number actually isn’t important; the message from Jesus is a really tough one….keep forgiving them…again, and again, and again………..and again! Don’t stop.Sometimes Jesus’ teaching is really tough. Whoever thinks being a Christian is easy, well, think again! (And again, and again, and again!) Revd David
Scripture & Reflection: Sunday 6th September & for the week ahead: Scripture: Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet’; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law. Romans 13.8-10. (6.9.26) Reflection: Paul devotes most of his Letter to the Christians in Rome to thoughts about the Law, based on the Commandmentsgiven to Moses, but endlessly expanded and complicated by later scholars to cover every detail of life. Imagine the burden of anxiety, fearing that one might offend, however inadvertently, against any one of these man made Laws. But by showing love to all our fellow human beings, says Paul, we achieve the peaceful and just society which the Law cannot bring about. All we need is to love all our fellow human beings. Simple? Easy? No! But this love is not a feeling. an emotion, but a deliberatecommitment to a compassionate and unselfish way of life, following the teaching and example of Christ.Revd RosemaryJesus said: This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you (John 13.35)
