The (church) season of Lent is upon us. Which usually takes us in one of two directions:

• Are you giving up chocolate or social media? Or just something you already don’t like such as beets?
• Are you adding more to your daily routine? More prayer or more scripture reading?

[Insert optometrist voice] Do you feel more guilt with number 1 or number 2?

For too many of us, the season of Lent too often ends up being a time when we’re made to feel (more) guilt about all that we have left undone. It’s almost as if Lent is a time for all our abandoned New Year’s resolutions to come back with a vengeance.

Frankly, this week’s gospel lesson from Matthew 18 doesn’t help with that. Who haven’t I forgiven that I need to? How many times have I been the ungrateful one? Gee, thanks for pointing out all my failures, Jesus.

But what if there is way more going on here than that?

What if all these stories are even more connected than we ever imagined?

What if Jesus isn’t trying to make us feel miserable, but instead is helping us to see the world in a whole new — albeit inverted and disorienting — way?

And why does that parable have to be so dang disturbing?

With a return visit to Parable Club, Pastor Dave will wrestle with those ideas and more this Sunday, March 10th, in his sermon, “Forgiving Calculus.”

Response:
"There is an app for forgiveness!
What is the formula for forgiving : 70x7.  In the Old Testament formula for vengeance was 70x7 - Jesus turned 70x7 formula from a negative to a positive." - Faye