August 30: The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Lamech said to his wives: “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say: I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. If Cain’s revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech’s is seventy-sevenfold.†–Genesis 4:23,24
Lamech, a ruler of the City of Man, boasts that a young lad bruised or grazed him, and so he took off the child’s head. What a guy! But what’s striking is that he boasts that his unforgiveness will be perfectly unrelenting and he isn’t going to slip up and forgive somebody someday. His grudge will be not just sevenfold, but seventy-sevenfold. That phrase rings a bell, doesn’t it?
Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?†Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven. –Matthew 18:21,22
Wow! It looks like Jesus is thinking about Genesis 4 when he answers Peter’s question. You see, it’s in the City of Man that people are perfectly unforgiving; it’s in the City of God that people are perfectly forgiving. In the City of Man people hold grudges and smear others’ names; they vilify people; in the City of God, people forgive each other even when accused of evil. That’s how you know which city holds your citizenship.
But that’s not the gospel because nobody has the power in themselves to live such perfect forgiveness. Well, except Jesus, who has promised: “blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” –Romans 4:8
That’s the gospel! Come hear it preached and enacted in the Supper with Jesus this Sunday.
The related hymns we’ll sing are:
Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise
Thy Works, Not Mine, O Christ
Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken
Sunday school for children (in Genesis) and adults (on Reformed Treasures) is up and running! Coffee and other treats are served at 9:15, teaching begins at 9:30, and we break to get ready for worship at 10:15.
Visitors are always welcome!