Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 22) – October 5, 2025
“If (your brother) sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” 
- Luke 17:4 -
A Christian is Duty-Bound to Forgive
As a pastor, every time I preach about forgiveness, it never fails that someone will catch up to me after worship saying, “I hear what you’re saying about forgiveness, but ... .” It seems to be our natural inclination to want to find a loophole around Jesus’ teaching on forgiveness. Perhaps that is because it is one of the hardest things for us to do in this life of faith. It’s no wonder that upon hearing this instruction, the disciples said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” Please, help us! We can’t do this on our own!
And isn’t that the point? On our own, we do not have the ability or the will to forgive the sins that others commit against us. Our pride and our feelings are at stake. It’s so much easier to hold on to grudges and be angry than it is to let it all go and be free of it. But Jesus knows that carrying a grudge is a burden on us. He simply wants us to be free from all distractions so that we might live life abundantly and in that joyful “shalom” that comes only from the God who forgives without ceasing. 
Luther wrote about this in his explanation of the Lord’s Prayer:
For just as we daily sin much against God, and yet He forgives everything through grace, so we, too, must ever forgive our neighbor who does us injury, violence, and wrong, shows malice toward us, etc. If, therefore, you do not forgive, then do not think that God forgives you; but if you forgive, you have this consolation and assurance, that you are forgiven in heaven, not on account of your forgiving, for God forgives freely and without condition, out of pure grace, because He has so promised, as the Gospel teaches, but in order that He may set this up for our confirmation and assurance for a sign alongside of the promise which accords with this prayer. (Large Catechism)
And so we see that it is our duty and obligation to forgive. When we need help in that area of our lives, we simply say what the disciples said: “Lord, increase my faith!” We know we cannot do it alone, but the good news is that the Holy Spirit is always willing and ready to assist us in our duty. We cannot wiggle out of it — for we want others to know the grace of God in the same way we do.
Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 22) – October 5, 2025
“If (your brother) sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” 
- Luke 17:4 -
A Christian is Duty-Bound to Forgive
As a pastor, every time I preach about forgiveness, it never fails that someone will catch up to me after worship saying, “I hear what you’re saying about forgiveness, but ... .” It seems to be our natural inclination to want to find a loophole around Jesus’ teaching on forgiveness. Perhaps that is because it is one of the hardest things for us to do in this life of faith. It’s no wonder that upon hearing this instruction, the disciples said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” Please, help us! We can’t do this on our own!
And isn’t that the point? On our own, we do not have the ability or the will to forgive the sins that others commit against us. Our pride and our feelings are at stake. It’s so much easier to hold on to grudges and be angry than it is to let it all go and be free of it. But Jesus knows that carrying a grudge is a burden on us. He simply wants us to be free from all distractions so that we might live life abundantly and in that joyful “shalom” that comes only from the God who forgives without ceasing. 
Luther wrote about this in his explanation of the Lord’s Prayer:
For just as we daily sin much against God, and yet He forgives everything through grace, so we, too, must ever forgive our neighbor who does us injury, violence, and wrong, shows malice toward us, etc. If, therefore, you do not forgive, then do not think that God forgives you; but if you forgive, you have this consolation and assurance, that you are forgiven in heaven, not on account of your forgiving, for God forgives freely and without condition, out of pure grace, because He has so promised, as the Gospel teaches, but in order that He may set this up for our confirmation and assurance for a sign alongside of the promise which accords with this prayer. (Large Catechism)
And so we see that it is our duty and obligation to forgive. When we need help in that area of our lives, we simply say what the disciples said: “Lord, increase my faith!” We know we cannot do it alone, but the good news is that the Holy Spirit is always willing and ready to assist us in our duty. We cannot wiggle out of it — for we want others to know the grace of God in the same way we do.