Grudges. Pay backs. Misinformation. Then and today. It feels as if we’ve been stewing in such menacing juices for quite some time now. I bet many of us are already thinking of a particular partisan party. I’m also guessing that some of you reading this may not like what I’m about to say. In truth, these types of injurious tactics and rhetoric have been utilized by both sides of the aisle. If we dare wade even further into the river of honesty, can any of us truthfully pick up a stone and throw it? The conclusion of Joseph’s narrative at the end of Genesis speaks to the reality of our human sinfulness. It appears Joseph’s brothers felt it was only their father standing between them and Joseph. It also seems they expected a measure of wrath to be unleashed. Fearing that Joseph still held a grudge and how he might vent it now that their father is dead, they tell Joseph their father pleaded for him to forgive them. Is that true? Or were they feeding him misinformation again in order to avoid accountability? Perhaps I’m reading their intention too harshly. Either way, we don’t actually know. It’s not included in the writer’s account. Silent tears are Joseph’s first response. At this they fall down, weeping, and offer another appeal. “We are here as your slaves.” In a move that seems to be becoming rarer in the public sphere these days, Joseph proclaims a different way. God’s way. As I read this text, I was struck not only by this awareness, but also how the rest of Creation remains faithful to the Lord’s way. While we may assign human emotions to animals in various situations, they don’t hate like we do. They, like Joseph in this situation, don’t hold grudges. And they, like Joseph at this point in the story, don’t seek to pay back for harm done to them. What could we learn from them?

The psalm asserts that it is the Lord who works vindication. Not the type, though, that we assume. For, as it too reminds us, God does not deal with us nor repay us according to our sins and iniquities. In addition, the Lord works justice for all who are oppressed. Most times when I read the word “oppressed,” images of both our human and more-than-human kin flash across the screen of my mind. Images of their heartbreaking subjugation for the benefit of some. Like the psalmist, I am so grateful for God’s forgiveness and its fiery power to break the chains and mend the brokenness within me and within our world. For holy love that is undying. For divine faithfulness that has shown up and acted throughout history. But. But I also feel frustrated by what feels like a slowness of divine response to urgent cries for justice. Subsequently, like another psalmist, I ask, “How long, O Lord, how long?”

The theme of forgiveness continues in the gospel text as well. Ever since childhood, obeying rules was a way for me to reduce anxiety, pacify my people-pleasing tendencies, and feel valued. So, I can see me asking a similar if not the exact same question that Peter posed. “How often should I forgive?” I have to know the parameters in order to abide by them. Bypassing for a minute that Peter is only asking about forgiving other followers within the body of Christ, I pull the same move he does. I miss the point altogether. I misunderstand that it’s less about the letter of the commandment and more about the spirit of it. Utilizing a shocking parable worthy of drama TV, Jesus impresses upon Peter, and all of us disciples, the serious force of forgiveness in life. Freed from his debt, the first slave had two choices. Empowered by his liberation, he could pay it forward and forgive his fellow slave. Or he could exact what he felt he was owed. He chose the latter. The caustic ripple effects were evident. When forgiven, we are freed, and in that freedom there is power. What we do with it impacts the whole, the common good. Not just our relationships with other humans, but with all of our earthly kin. I can’t help but wonder, what would the world look like, feel like, sound like, be like if we took forgiveness more seriously? If, in the liberation God gives us and we share with others, relations with all life might be healthier, more sound? This in turn, I imagine, would make room for greater flourishing for all as God designed and desires.

Our second lesson for the day comes from the portion of Paul’s letter to the church in Rome in which he exhorts them to holy living. I don’t know about you, but for me there are two definitions of “holy living” at play. One I inherited. It accentuates moral, intellectual and physical purity. Emphasis on the purity. It focuses on the individual and their inner “cleanliness.” Another I’ve adopted. It has come to me in bits and pieces as I’ve discovered God in the ordinary and in the unexpected. In the tame and in the wild. In the similar and in the diverse. What I gather from Paul’s exhortation is that holy living is primarily about how we are in relationship with one another. This characterization centers more on community and our blossoming, together. Chapter 14 concentrates on specific observances: special days and distinctive diets. As Paul argues, both ethnic groups of Christians, the Gentiles and the Jews, were, in their own way, trying to live in honor of the Lord. Yet, they were trying to dictate the manner in which that honoring took place. Then comes Paul’s main thrust: our life and our death, as individuals and as faith communities, are in the Lord. We belong to God. So, who is anyone to play judge? That role lays solely with God, before whom we will all come and to whom we are all accountable. As I continue to reflect on holy living and the communal characteristic and implications of it, two observations. One, similar to our faith ancestors from Rome, we too try to impose upon others how they should be honoring the Creator. Or we prevent them from doing so. For instance, factory farming. Not only are the conditions and treatment horrendous, but we are denying these beloveds the ability to exalt the Lord as they were created to do. Two, I circle back to the Spirit’s widening of the word “community.” As science, history, experience and biblical witness teach, all of creation is one meta community. Interconnected and interdependent. So, our imperfect efforts of holy living must include all of our relatives.