St Mary's

Today Talk from Samuel

13th September 2026

“May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you O Lord my refuge and my redeemer amen.”

A young couple was married in a church, and after the service, they stepped outside to have photographs taken with their loved ones. Later that evening, when they shared those photos at the reception, a verse inscribed on the exterior of the church was clearly visible in every single picture: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

Today is the fifteenth Sunday after trinity, and today we heard two readings from the Word of God. First reading was taken from the letter of Paul to the church in Romans, and the second one was from the Gospel according to Matthew.

If we set aside the reading to the Epistle to the Romans for a moment and focus our attention on today’s Gospel passage, we can say with great confidence that—even if not all of us—many of us are well acquainted with the Gospel account read today.

If we look at the context of the Gospel passage read today, we see that at the beginning of the eighteenth chapter, Jesus had a child stand in their midst and said that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a child. Subsequently, He speaks about sin, immediately followed by the parable of the lost sheep. Then, from verse 15 to verse 20, Jesus explains to His disciples that if your brother or sister sins against you, you should admonish them in private; at the same time, Jesus teaches them that whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven—meaning that God will answer your prayers. Then Peter asks him the question we just heard in the Gospel account:

“Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if my brother or sister 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."

And when Peter and Jesus' other disciples fail to fully grasp what Jesus is saying, He attempts to explain His point through a parable. The parable of the unforgiving servant.

If we look a bit deeper into today’s parable, we could see two different people, with two different attitudes. There is a king who is willing to help, to forgive, but at the same time there is person who was forgiven by the king, but the same person was not ready to forgive his debtor.

In today’s Gospel reading, we could see that the debt is mentioned in today’s reading, and while I was doing my morning devotion from one of my mobile applications, I read it there that,

“The servant in today’s Gospel reading faces a debt far beyond anything he could ever repay. No amount of effort, work, or time could settle what he owed. He stands before the king with nothing to offer that could make things right.”

While thinking about this parable, if we ponder on our lives, personal, family, social, church, emotional, or spiritual lives, we could see that, there were or still there are some moments when we may feel something similar before God. We may remember our mistakes, the times we have hurt someone, or the time when someone hurt us, and we are still having grudge on that person. We can remember the choices we make, and we wish we could go back into our lives undo them, or the ways we have failed to live as a true follower of Christ, and the way he taught us to live.

But let me share with you bad news that, we cannot go back, that is why at the same time let me tell you the good news, we still have time. I don’t how much time we have, but since we are still alive, we have a chance.

In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus is teaching through this parable to Peter and the disciples, and at the same time to us that, this is not about redemption, rather this reading is about our personal relationships. Our personal connection with God and with his creation. Our personal association with the Christ, and with his church. Our personal affiliation with God the Holy Spirit and with other.

In today’s parable Jesus is making one thing very clear that, if we want to be right with God, we have to be right with other fellow human beings. If we ask God for forgiveness, we should forgive others, no matter who that person is.

In today’s Gospel reading Jesus is showing us that how much God loves us, what can be the pinnacle of his mercy. But we do need to remember that, we as human are not that holy that we can earn God’s forgiveness and mercy, by somehow making ourselves worthy of it first. We do need to come before God knowing we need his mercy, and he gives what we could never provide for ourselves, which is, a redemptive work from Christ crucified.

But also remember that, receiving God’s mercy no doubt is a blessing, but this also carries a responsibility. Responsibility to forgive others. We simply cannot ask God to forgive our sins, while we are still keeping a strict account of every wrong doing, another person has done to us.

I was reading is somewhere and it is absolutely right that forgiveness can be difficult, especially when the hurt is real. It does not mean pretending nothing happened, rather it means remembering how much mercy we ourselves have received before deciding what another person deserves form us.

And that is what this parable is talking to us today. In the parable, we need keep our focus the king. It is clear the slave’s thinking was very narrow, he was just thinking about himself, but the king was not just thinking about one slave, rather he was carrying a burden for all the people he rules. And that is what Christianity is all about. To think about others, to care for others, and to love others, no matter who they are, but to love and forgive one another. And that what we need to it to others, so show them the God’s love, forgiveness, mercy and care, so others may know more about Christ through our lives.

And that is what Paul is talking about in his letter to the church in Romans, and that is why he is mentioning to the church in Romans that personal obedience is very important in Chrisitan life, but at the same time it also important not just to get our life sorted with God, but also manifest God’s love to other so they may also believe on Christ crucified.

But the question is, how are we spending our lives. Are we like the servant who did not reflect God’s love, or are like others who with their deeds and words are sharing God’s blessings with others.

Let’s thank God for his mercy he gives us even when we cannot make up of our human power and nature, pray to him that he helps us to remember how much we have been forgiven, especially when we struggle to forgive others, and may he give us true and sincere heart that we can share and extend his mercy to others to his name will glorify through our lives.

May God bless you all.

Amen.