Receiving Grace and Dispensing Something Else - October 31, 2010

Daily Lectionary Readings for October 31, 2010
Psalm 22
Zephaniah 1:1-6
1 Corinthians 12:27-13:13
Matthew 18:21-35

Matthew 18:21-35
A friend was just commenting on the disappointment she felt when she encountered mean-spirited and ugly attitudes and actions from folks who profess to be Christian.  Those sorts of statements are painful because it not difficult to imagine what she mentioned taking place and because it's not all that difficult to imagine being guilty of such behavior.  What she says is important, not because we Christians are ever going to be perfect, but because it would seem that we who have experienced and acknowledge experiencing the awesome depth of the grace of God might, hopefully exhibit that grace in our dealings with others.  Today's Matthew passage makes a similar point.  A man, a slave, owes a great debt which his lord forgives.  That slave, newly free of debt, encounters a fellow slave who owes him money.  With a complete lack of a sense that he understands that magnitude of what the master has just done for him he demands of his fellow slave, "Pay what you owe"(v.29) all the while seizing him by the throat.  How is it, that we who experience mercy and grace from God so often fail to extend grace and mercy in our relationships?