A Sunday Sermon

The Gospel this morning focused on debt, sin and forgiveness in the form of a wicked servant who owed his king the vast sum of 10,000 Talents and was forgiven, only to throw a man into gaol (debtors' prison) who owed him a far smaller sum. The king was justly furious and threw the wretch to the jailers till he should "pay the last penny." This, of course, he could never do.

We get the point of the story on a purely human level, the behavior of the servant "just ain't right." In spiritual terms? How can we,  who owe such a weighty debt of sin to God and have been shown such merciful love by Him, turn 'round in vindictive, merciless fury on people who owe us so much less in comparison.

You don't need to be a world class ethicist to work it out, it just ain't right. And Christ warns us, unless you forgive your neighbor from your heart you'll be thrown into the prison of Hell. That sounds harsh but divine math is clear; a person who harbors merciless, vindictive wrath against another person has no place in paradise. Love and hatred cannot coexist.

So forgive, 70 x 7 or go to Hell. Does that mean we have to like or condone the behavior of people who grievously offend us? By no means, their actions may well be unconscionable and I do not say that lightly. But even so, banish hatred and merciless anger from your heart, it is toxic, poisonous, and utterly incompatible with God and heaven. So hard to do! Especially if we've been on the receiving end of evil, but do it we must. I find this helps, you may too. 

Start with God, reflect or meditate on his person, on his perfection, and on Christ, his character, teaching and, above all, what he has done for us, how he has given his life on the cross that we, utterly unworthy, might be forgiven.

Stand in humility before God, in the humility from which contrition and mercy flow, which in their turn drive out pride, hatred, malice, hardheartedness and a vindictive spirit, all the non-qualities abhorrent to God. Then offer the person or persons who have offended you to Christ, praying that his good will may be done in them. 

Well done, you've made an act of love for the person who's sinned against you and in the process opened yourself up to be a channel of his love in the world.

Having done that, pray fervently that Christ will grant you a forgiving heart. He will hear that prayer, made sincerely, and with it we will be forgiven as we forgive those who trespass against us, and find the gates of heaven opened. Yes, even to us who are not worthy ut intres sub tectum meum .

Here endeth the Lesson,

LSP

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Postscript, via Kobiessi Letter:

The U.S. Now Has:

1. Record $17.1 trillion in household debt

2. Record $12.0 trillion in mortgages

3. Record $1.6 trillion in auto loans

4. Record $1.6 trillion in student loans

5. Record $1.0 trillion in credit card debt

The average house payment is about to hit $3,000/month for the first time in history.

All as oil prices are up ~40% in 3 months, mortgage rates hit 7.5% and credit card rates are at a record 25%.

Borrowing more debt is not the solution to high inflation.

This is unsustainable.

Who will forgive this debt? God?  The bankers who issued it at interest? But who cares, maybe it'll all magically disappear and everything will be trans unicorn bathrooms and rainbows forever as we live into our stunningly brave new secular utopia where the debtor will never be punished by their bankster gaolers. Sure, go right ahead and believe that, and good luck to you.

You Murderous Hypocrites

 

Semi keen-eyed readers will have noticed the appallingly millionaire socialist Atlantic crying out for pandemic forgiveness. "Let's Declare an Amnesty," writes prof Emily Oster, suggesting we all just forgive and forget COVID crimes:

"Let’s acknowledge that we made complicated choices in the face of deep uncertainty, and then try to work together to build back and move forward."

But some aren't convinced, perhaps they remember the Atlantic's owner sailing down the Riviera on her mega yacht even as her magazine was pushing for the strictest lockdowns. Don't say ultra-rich leftist hypocrite. Here's Zerohedge on the response, a snapshot:

In one epic Twitter thread, Claremont Institute Senior Fellow Matthew J. Peterson (@docMJP) excoriates Oster's entire premise;

Hey—sorry you lost your job b/c of the vax that doesn’t work and your grandmother died alone and you couldn’t have a funeral and your brother’s business was needlessly destroyed and your kids have weird heart problems—but let’s just admit we were all wrong and call a truce, eh?

It’s too bad we shut the entire economy down & took on tyrannical powers that have never been used before in this country—looking back, you should have been able to go to church and use public parks while we let people riot in the streets—but it was a confusing time for everyone.

Hey I'm sorry we scared the hell out of you & lied for years & persecuted & censored anyone who disagreed but there was an election going on & we really wanted to beat Donald Trump so it was important to radically politicize the science even if it destroyed your children's lives.

OK, yes we said unvaccinated people should die & not get healthcare while never questioning Big Pharma once but we are compassionate people which is why even though we shut down the entire economy we also bankrupted the nation & caused inflation. You're welcome! Let's be friends.

As QTR's Fringe Finance notes, Oster’s plea for the decency that her ilk failed to offer up to most Americans during the throws of the pandemic comes at a point where the Covid narrative has been all but lost by the Democrats and the mainstream media.

  

Above emph mine. In related news and again via Zero, Democrats supported this during the COVID freakout, which was, remember, a virus with a 99% survival rate:

• Fines for the unvaccinated: Fifty-eight percent (58%) of voters would oppose a proposal for federal or state governments to fine Americans who choose not to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

• House arrest: Fifty-nine percent (59%) of Democratic voters would favor a government policy requiring that citizens remain confined to their homes at all times, except for emergencies, if they refuse to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

• Imprisonment for questioning the vaccine: Nearly half (48%) of Democratic voters think federal and state governments should be able to fine or imprison individuals who publicly question the efficacy of the existing COVID-19 vaccines on social media, television, radio, or in online or digital publications.

• Forced quarantine: Forty-five percent (45%) of Democrats would favor governments requiring citizens to temporarily live in designated facilities or locations if they refuse to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

• Stripping people of their children: Twenty-nine percent (29%) of Democratic voters would support temporarily removing parents’ custody of their children if parents refuse to take the COVID-19 vaccine. That’s much more than twice the level of support in the rest of the electorate – seven percent (7%) of Republicans and 11% of unaffiliated voters – for such a policy.

Forgiveness is a virtue. Does it mean that murdering, hypocrite, psychotically rich people and their bought and paid for satraps shouldn't be held accountable for their crimes? All in light of faux repentance? 

BTW, I haven't seen my youngest boy in three years, thanks to this totalitarian, State Stasi insanity and the sockist fool in Ottawa. Whatever, personal concerns aside.

You be the judge,

LSP