Today, we look at a Day 4 text from this year’s summer curriculum, “Boundless: God Beyond Measure.”
Reading Then Peter came and said to him, “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 Did you know that some infinities are bigger than other infinities? Or rather that some infinities could fit inside other infinities with room to spare? Like, there are big infinities and little infinities just floating around out there. It all feels a little oxymoronic, but it’s true! In fact, some infinities are so big that they could fit an infinite amount of little infinities inside them! This, my friends, is the totality of what I remember from my high school calculus courses. Sorry, Mr. Smoyer. I’ve probably held onto it, though, because it seems like a totally ridiculous and irrational notion (because it is)! The thought that there are different infinities that can compound and divide one another out there simply does not make sense! In fact, it makes about as little sense as what Jesus is telling Peter about forgiveness in the passage from Matthew! Wait, what? What do infinities have to do with forgiveness you ask? Well, strap in! Because the question that Peter brings to Jesus here is one that seems rather incomprehensible. His leading inquiry is almost meant to be tongue in cheek. “How often should I forgive, Lord? As many as seven times?” Seven might not seem like all that many times to extend forgiveness (I can still count to it without using my toes), but to Peter and Jesus, the number carried weight! Seven is the number of completion, of totality. It’s a number that implies a certain sort of perfection and wholeness. Though not exactly paralleled, it’s a number that almost acts like a big infinity that could contain any number of smaller infinities within it. Which is what makes Peter’s question so ludicrous. Could anyone really truly forgive to such perfection? Could anyone genuinely be called upon to forgive so (w)hol(l)y as that? Turns out, Jesus calls for even more. Not just seven times, he says, but seventy-seven (or seven times seven) times! Your perfect forgiveness should be compounded by perfect forgiveness, he says! Grace must abound! Mercy ought to win the day! Following this Jesus, there are no bounds to reconciliation! New starts, new possibilities are always close at hand! The limit simply does not exist! Looks like we’re going to need a bigger infinity. ~ Justin Lingenfelter Prayer Infinite God, you call your people to radical grace and forgiveness. Empower us to extend to others the perfect love with which we have been met through your Son, Jesus Christ, our forgiving Lord. Amen.
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