The Mercy of God and Human Hardness of Heart

A Sermon on the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

Today, beloved brethren, there was read the Gospel parable of the Savior, in which He, our Lord God, likened the kingdom of heaven, or His righteous judgment upon men, to a king, «who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. And as he began to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents», that is, twenty million! Or—simply a sum beyond counting, for a definite number is set here in place of the indefinite. «And since he had nothing with which to pay, his master ordered him to be sold, and his wife, and his children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. Then that slave fell down and, bowing before him, said: Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you everything. The master, moved with compassion for that slave, released him and forgave him the debt. But that slave, going out, found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii», by our reckoning no more than twenty rubles, «and, seizing him, he throttled him, saying: Pay me what you owe. Then his fellow slave fell down at his feet and begged him, saying: Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything. But he would not, but went and threw him into prison until he should pay the debt. His fellow slaves, seeing what had happened, were greatly distressed, and came and told their master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said: Wicked slave! I forgave you that whole debt because you pleaded with me; ought you not also to have shown mercy to your fellow slave, as I showed mercy to you? And in anger his master delivered him over to the tormentors until he should pay all his debt. So also will My heavenly Father do to you»,—thus the Lord concluded His discourse — if each of you does not forgive his brother from his heart his trespasses[1]. I have repeated the whole of the Gospel reading so that you may remember it the better.

It is not to our credit that in today’s Gospel there is depicted the extreme hardness of heart and malice of the human heart toward our neighbors. From the very time when men through sin gave themselves over to the chief of malice, the devil, he has woven himself a firm nest in their hearts and planted his hellish malice within it, and ever since he has manifested it very often in very crude and violent forms. Biblical and civil history, and the journals of our own time, are full of examples of this malice and hardness of heart among men—out of greed, out of the desire to prey rapaciously upon a neighbor’s property, or out of wounded self-love, out of a savage whim, out of unsatisfied animal passion; many, and that very often, do not hesitate to plunge a knife into a neighbor’s heart or throat, or otherwise in some way take his life—to say nothing of quarrels, disputes, curses, lawsuits, and other expressions of human malice.

Let us take note of the conduct of the hardhearted moneylender mentioned in today’s Gospel. He owed his sovereign himself an enormous sum, one he could never have repaid, and, by the justice of the land, he was to be sold with his wife and children and all his property, so as to pay at least part of the debt. A calamity beyond which none could be greater. The debtor began to beg the king for forgiveness—and he was forgiven. It would seem that such an unparalleled mercy ought to be remembered, and a like mercy extended to a neighbor when the occasion arose. But this very occasion with a neighbor revealed the dark side of the former debtor, his extreme malice and hardness of heart: scarcely had he received the greatest mercy from the king when he met a fellow servant who owed him a most insignificant sum of money, and at once he fell upon him with fury, throttled him, and said to him: pay me what you owe. The man asked for patience. The lender would not be patient, and cast him into prison. Is this not extreme hardness of heart? Is this not the utmost insensibility and ingratitude? Yet very many of us are inclined to it, and capable of it. We are sometimes exceedingly harsh in taking vengeance on our neighbors, those who owe us anything in any way, whenever the opportunity offers! Yes, our nature is exceedingly prone to evil and to self-judgment—that is, to taking justice into its own hands—probably because this satisfies our self-love and wickedness more quickly and easily than the established courts. But for us Christians, who have been reborn in the font of baptism by water and the Holy Spirit, adopted as children of God, and who have received from God grace—that is, heavenly aid toward every virtue—this must not be; we must cultivate within ourselves a spirit of meekness, humility, guilelessness, patience and long-suffering, and moderation in all our actions. And in order to have such a disposition of spirit within us, we must remember the common weakness of humankind, the common inclination toward sins—and in particular our own great infirmities and sins, and God’s infinite mercy toward us, which has forgiven and still forgives us many and grave sins for our repentance and entreaty. Indeed, the very feeling of gratitude to God for His countless mercies toward us obliges us to be forbearing and merciful to our neighbors, who are of one flesh and blood with us and have the same infirmities, passions, and stumbling blocks. But the greatest motive for our forbearing and gentle treatment of our neighbors must surely be, above all, the extreme condescension toward us of the Son of God, who for us men and for our salvation came down from the heavens, was incarnate and became man—His example, His commandments and counsels, His meekness and guilelessness toward sinners, His long-suffering, His sufferings and death for us all. If He laid down His life for us, then we also ought to lay down our lives for one another[2], says the apostle. Another apostle says: Be to one another kind, merciful, not rendering evil for evil, or insult for insult[3]; bearing with one another in love[4].

The Lord says to us: I want mercy, and not sacrifice[5]. He, rich in mercy, wants from us as well mercy or compassion toward our neighbors, freedom from malice, and patience; and He is always ready to help us in every good work. If you have an evil heart, ask Him in repentance to soften your heart, to make it meek and patient: and it will become so. He says to us: My son, give Me your heart. Nothing is impossible for one who believes and prays sincerely. Only make up your mind, make up your mind firmly to abandon your malice. We must, at the very beginning, curb in ourselves every passion as it arises, especially spite and anger, never letting the spark become a fire, which is of course far harder to put out than a single spark. So, to conclude this word: let us forgive our neighbors their offenses against us from the depths of our souls, remembering our common weakness, frailty, sinfulness, and God’s infinite mercy toward us. Amen.