​People in authority and people with power spend a lot of time checking for erosion. So, in today's Gospel, the leaders and elders are less interested in what Jesus is doing, and more interested in who authorised it, especially if it wasn't them! Remember the time Jesus healed the man with the withered arm. They could have said, "Nice Arm!" But they couldn't see the arm. If all you have is a hammer, all you can see is a nail.

They are, of course, looking to set a trap. If Jesus says he acts on Divine Authority, then God help him because that is their area of expertise. So, He resets their trap and springs it on them. Now watch them squirm. And they squirm so much they get all tangled up to the point where all they can say is that they don't know. Not a great answer from those who claim to speak for God.

Jesus, like John, wants Metanoia, a new mind. By profession the priests and elders are expected to be close to God. By profession, tax collectors and prostitutes are expected to be far from God. The only difference being that when the latter heard the call to change, they changed. New Mind, New Heart, New Shoes.

From the Sufi Wisdom stories:

Once upon a time, there was a court case against Mulla Nasruddin.
The judge asked him, "How old are you Nasruddin?"
And he answered, " Of course, you know and everybody knows I am forty years old."
The judge was surprised. "But five years ago, you were also in this court.
When I asked you then how old you were you said forty.
How is this possible? After five years you are still forty?"
Nasruddin said, " I am a consistent man, sir. Once I say I am forty, I will remain forty.
I'm not going to keep changing my mind about that."

Loyalty to the mind is useless. Holding the same position despite the evidence carries a very high price tag. The Sufis say the mind is a good servant but a poor Master. Clinging to what we ' think' robs us of the ability to tune into the deeper rhythms of our hearts. The religious leaders could not listen to Jesus because their minds were already made up.

​I wonder if the same dilemma still plagues us today? 

Jesus speaks to the heart of the disciple and to the community of disciples He has chosen. To them He has given an amazing gift - the gift of working with Him to bring to birth a new humanity and a new community. They sit at His feet, and He clearly hopes that they will grow to be like Him. They think they want the same until a Parable pulls the carpet out from under their feet. It only does this because there is a question, like the elephant in the room, that is waiting to be answered. 'What's in it for me?'

In extravagant prose, Jesus assures His disciples that if they choose to do God's work it will bring them to the pinnacle of human fulfilment. Every sacrifice they make will be restored to them a hundred times over and eternal life will flow into them. If they are worried about a poor pay-off, Jesus overwhelms them with a vision of abundance. But first they have to listen to and try to understand the Parable.

Kingdom workers are like people on a zero-hours contract. They are vulnerable. They have no claim on their employer. The only agreement on the table is that when they awaken each day, they do not waste the gift of a new day in idleness. God will give them all that they need for the day. It will be enough for those who want to continue to rely on Gods' goodness.

Enthroned in the Lord's Prayer is the certainty that God will not give more or less than is needed for the day. "Give us this day our daily bread ....". It is assumed that they are friends of the Landowner and have grasped the truth about God that Jesus is trying to teach them. That when we 'seek first the Kingdom' (Matthew 6,33) and pray to follow God's will (Matthew 6,10) there is no need to ask for what we need. Our Father already knows, and gives what is needed, (Matthew 6,8;32-33) to those who work in the vineyard. But the gift of daily bread bears no relation to the amount of work done. It flows out of the generous heart of God, who is now vulnerable to an accusation of being unfair.

​This feeling of unfairness is rooted in a social construct everyone takes for granted. More work=More pay. In this version of reality, I am the centre of the universe and my job is to promote myself and my own well-being. If I am denied this possibility I am entitled to have a good old moan. But the Parable puts God at the centre of the Universe and we are invited to stretch high enough to see the sacred point of view. Only here can we begin to relish the work that is being done. We are, to paraphrase Gerard Manley Hopkins, "burnished in use". We no longer live in the envious world of comparisons, but in the overflowing world of Gods Generosity. In this world, God gives us good eyes to better see. These eyes connect us to our soul and to the expansive works of the Spirit. Seduced, the labourers flow like liquid light, releasing Grace everywhere they go. 

It might look as if Peter is asking a question about Forgiving. But he is really asking when it is okay to strike back. Rather generously, when most people would stop at two, Peter offers seven chances. Jesus evokes the horror story from Genesis 4,23- 24 where Lamech boasts, 'I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. If Cain is avenged sevenfold, Lamech seventy-seven fold'. Without forgiveness there is an escalation of violence. Violence will only stop where forgiveness is present. Jesus wants us to be unremittingly committed to forgiveness.

Today's Parable is stunning. It is the story of a king (God) and a servant (sinner) who is mercifully forgiven. The servant has made a "huge" mistake which, when found out cannot be repaid. This mistake will cost him, and all those he loves, everything. When you're about to lose everything, you will promise anything. He is on his knees and his back is against the wall. He pleads for justice and for time, when suddenly Compassion appears. Mercy comes as a shock and, when it arrives from the future, it changes everything. The servant is suddenly in the first day of the rest of his life. The classic forgiven sinner.

Of course, Jesus wants all of us to see ourselves as this servant. We have sold ourselves into slavery and cannot get out. We say that all we need is more time when the truth is that no time will be enough. We think we can sort ourselves out but our cleverness betrays us. We need the new start and it can only happen by opening our heart to the Heart of God from where mercy flows. He can't believe his luck and he should be filled with joy .......

But then a terrible thing happens. Oh no! The servant still sees himself as a creditor. He pleads for himself but continues to be violent to others. He cannot see, hear or feel himself in his brother, even when he uses the same words! So he throttles him, consigns him to bondage, destroys his family and puts him in a place where he can never make the situation better.

Then a startling thing happens! The Kings mercy vanishes. It recedes back into him, leaving the man with all the consequences of his huge mistake. Divine Mercy may be freely given but if it is not passed on it ceases to be effective in the lives of those who have received it. It seems that for Jesus, Divine Forgiveness and human forgiveness are movements in the same dance.

So, when Peter asks Jesus when it is okay to strike back, the answer is clear. We can only live if we have the mercy and forgiveness of God. Never, Never, Never, Ever forget that! The more we show mercy, the more we will receive it. The more we fail to show mercy the more it will recede. Dear Peter, if you understand this, you will never ask again, "How many times?" We are all bound by our past failures until a future is gifted to us. But all is lost the moment we put our hands around the throat of someone who is in debt to us. All is lost, and we are back in a world of revenge, reprisal and retaliation.

​If you don't believe this, just watch the news! 

​​When we are in an empty room, it is easy to convince ourselves that we are a loving person. But when that room begins to fill with other people, we may have to humbly admit that we are not as loving as we thought we were!  Worst still, when we listen to the teaching of Jesus, it begins to dawn on us that He is not talking about ‘A Hollywood Romance’. The Love which Jesus delivers with such Passion is the Love which supports us to 'lay down our life' for friends and our enemies.

In the meantime, Jesus teaches and gives a wonderful example of the need for us to be committed to the work of reconciliation. Relationships in families, in the workplace, in schools, in neighbourhoods, in parishes and in our nation are fragile. They can and they do break easily. The moral imperative to keep working for Peace comes with a menu. Follow the suggested steps and it just might be possible to put Humpty Dumpty together again.

Step One: seek a meeting with the person who has wounded you. If the relationship is restored, no need to go the step two. If not, Step Two: invite witnesses, who have a history of being able to mend broken things, to help sort out the truth of what really happened. If this doesn't work go to Step 3: bring in more people to support the search for truth and reconciliation. If this does not work, move to Step Four: where the offender is seen as someone who needs missionary work in order to become a full member of the community once more.

The Teacher reminds the disciples that they are the mediators between earth and heaven. They are not to model their behaviour on those who exclude and alienate others. What we let go of and what we bind to ourselves is dictated by our allegiance to heaven. It is our spiritual identity which informs our actions. Heavens' agenda insists that the new humanity not only has the freedom and the strength to find new ways to make peace, but the power to make heaven come to earth. This happens when those who gather, in twos', or threes', tens or hundreds, gather
around more than what has hurt them. When we gather in the name of Jesus, He is with and for all who are gathered. He is in the heart of all, breaking down the walls that separate and restoring the flow of the Love which loves all that exists.

We all need to learn how to work through conflict. We all need the courage to do it. When we are struggling to find our lion heart, the temptation is to hand the problem over to the 'higher ups'. When we are in the wrong, we need to have the ability to listen to what other people are telling us about ourselves. To listen without becoming overly defensive or overly protective of our need to be right all the time. Honest self-examination is worth much more than we know. Listening attentively protects us from rigid self-defence and from flippant apologies that
are meaningless.

For Saint Matthew, reconciliation is a spiritual activity. Left to ourselves, hurt spirals beyond our control. But when we ask Jesus, in the power of the Spirit for help, we are creating a new art form. Human skill is woven by the spirit into a new tapestry.