If there are two conditions available, namely, being lucky or being blessed, how would
you like your life to be? And
why? Luck is not unimportant.
I had a bad luck last month. The
sun roof of my car was seriously damaged by the fallen tree on the day of typhoon
No 10 signal. If I parked my car slightly left, I would definitely avoid the bad luck. Luck
comes and goes on its
own, and it is absolutely brought by chance. We have no obligation to give thanks to the so-called god of luck, for good luck is never consciously
designed and there is no guarantee to have good luck again. Unlike luck,
feeling being blessed
is to admit what we have had and achieved is graciously given. Being blessed
does not exclude the role of our
effort, but our effort alone
would not make things realized. Being blessed reminds us that we are not entitled to, but we are
given graciously. We give thanks for being blessed, and the feeling of being blessed
makes us humbleness, thankfulness and graciousness to others. One common
feature of these two conditions, namely, being lucky and being blessed, is that
we are not entitled to, but they generate different attitudes toward life. Having this brief
clarification of being lucky and being blessed, how would you describe your life, lucky or blessed?
This is the concern of the gospel message today (Matt 18:21-35).
The gospel message today is about forgiveness. It is about
how forgiveness is possible and significant in discipleship. In order to
illustrate how and why seventy times seven times of forgiveness possible and necessary, Jesus
illustrates it in the parable of the unforgiving servant. There are two
features of this parable. First, the master cancels the debt of the servant. The amount is ten thousand talents. One talent is
equivalent to 6000 denarii, and a daily wage of a laborer at that time is one
denarii. It is unbelievable why
the servant is so mean to his fellow, for 100 denarii is a very small amount in
comparison to his debt of 6,000,000 denarii being cancelled. Second, we
Christians have a belief of that the God anyway would forgive. This is partly true, for
God’s judgment would come upon those abusing his graciousness. Abuse is not about not saying thank you, but to keep God’s
graciousness to oneself and
even preventing others to experience God's graciousness. This message of God's judgment is found in
other passages of the Gospel of Matthew, such as, Matt 25. Now let us turn to
the experience of the master and
the servant in the
parable.
How would the servant describe his experience of debt’s cancellation? I would
say that he is inclined to see
himself very lucky. He
would say that he is lucky, for he meets a relatively compassionate master. If the master is mean and tough, he and his family
would be sold, and never have a chance to have their own lives. He is lucky,
for the master has a
good mood. If the trial
is taken on another day and the mood of the master is bad, his debt would not be easily cancelled. He is
lucky, for the master has
a very good income from other sources, and so, he can bear the loss of 1000 talents. Feeling being lucky blinds the servant to see that the debt cancellation
is a gracious deed of the master. Since it is a matter of luck, the slave politely says thank you, but not whole-heartedly. Since luck is purely a chance, the slave is hoping that the good luck would remain in his life as long as possible.
This explains that he does not see any problem not to
cancel the debt of his fellow.
His fellow has a bad
luck, and what his fellow needs
is to have a good luck as his.
For the
master, his cancellation of the debt is a
deliberate act, not arbitrary.
First, the master consciously
and voluntarily gives up the right of entitlement. It is absolutely
right for the master to
request the servant to
settle the account, but he chooses not to exercise his right. Second, the
interest or the benefits of the servant
is taken into account and is given a high priority. This is not about
how goodness the servant
is, but the goodwill of the master
for the servant.
Third, the cancellation of the debt is unconditional. It is free, but free is not equivalent to cheap. It
is true that many free gifts are cheap, but this is not applied to grace. The love and care
provided by our parents to us is unconditional and free. This is precious, not cheap. The master would not consider his
act a gracious act, and it leaves to the recipients to articulate the act of
the master. One of the
significant features of feeling being blessed is to give thanks what you have
received, and more importantly, to be a graceful person, to be gracious to your
fellows.
The major difference between feeling being lucky and being
blessed is that you can’t choose to make your life more lucky, but you can learn and choose to see your
life as being blessed. Seeing your life as a blessing helps you to create a
greater inner capacity to be gracious
to your fellows
and even to forgive seventy times seven. Does it
imply we have to avoid good luck? Definitely no. If it comes, welcome it. If it
goes, let it be. Luck comes and goes on its own. But what we can be is to live
in the midst of good and bad luck with a grateful heart to God and graceful
heart to our fellows. This is what being blessed brings to life.
