PROPER 29-C -- November 21, 2004

If I were to say to you this morning "I am the most powerful person in the world", what would you think? Well, you might have several thoughts. First of all you might think that I have finally lost it, that I am crazy. Or, you might think that I must certainly have delusions of grandeur. Or, if you don't doubt my sanity and are certain of my humility, you might think that I know something that you don't know. Or maybe it's a case of all of the above or none of the above.

The truth is that I am the most powerful person in the world. But I am not crazy; I have no delusions of grandeur; my humility is still in tact, I am proud to say; and I do not know something of which you are not already aware about me. Yet, all that notwithstanding, I can still maintain that I am the most powerful person in the world.

I am the most powerful person in the world because I can say the three most powerful words in the world. And when I say and mean those words to someone, I make that person very powerful as well. I make that person just as powerful as I.

What are those words? How about "I love you"? Those are indeed very powerful words. But those words, when I say them to someone, don't give me power over the other person. Quite the opposite, they give the person I love power over me. When I say to Arlena, "I love you," I am giving my life into her hands. I take the risk that she might reject that love or take advantage of that love. Those are very powerful words: I love you. But those words, when we really mean them, do not give us power over another but rather give the other power over us.

How about "I thank you" as the three most powerful words in the world? Any person in power needs to say them. At first thought we might assume that powerful people do not need to say "thank you" to anyone. After all, they have control. They’re in charge. But for how long? Without thanks for a job well done, the job will soon not get done well or done at all. We cannot take for granted the people over whom we may have some power or authority.

If I, for instance, always take for granted everything you do for me or for Christ Church, and if I never, ever say thank you, I will soon have no one to thank. It does not matter that you may freely be giving of your time or talent or treasure. It does not matter that what you may be doing you feel you should be doing as a way of saying "thank you" to God for God’s many blessings. What you are doing is helping me be your pastor, your priest, your Rector. I need to thank you and you need to be thanked.

"I thank you" are three very powerful words but not in the sense of having another in one's power. Again, quite the opposite. The one who is to be thanked is the one who has power. For the one who is to be thanked is the one whom the person in power needs to do what has to be done. For whenever you and I find the need to say thanks to someone else, we also find out how weak we really are. We discover that we need other people to help us be the person we are to be. That may sound a little confusing, but it is very true.

Then there are those other three little words: I am sorry. We all make mistakes, even those in power. When we do, we must admit our guilt and say that we are sorry. "I am sorry" may not be the three most powerful words in the world, but they are probably three of the most difficult words to say. When we do something wrong, when we hurt another, when we sin, we must admit our wrong and say we are sorry. We may choke on the words because of our pride, but choke we must. "I am sorry" are three very powerful words, but they do not give the one saying them any power. What they do is admit our weakness, our lack of power over ourselves.

No, the three most powerful words in the world are "I forgive you." You see, until I forgive you for hurting me, you are in my power. An ex-convict, no matter how sorry he is, no matter that he has paid the price for his crime by going to jail and serving the time imposed, is usually never forgiven by society. Until we forgive that person, we have total power over him. The same is true for you and for me. If I do something wrong, then admit my guilt and ask your forgiveness, I am in your power. You can either forgive me or not. If you do, I am free. If you do not, I am still in your power.

In today's Epistle Paul says that redemption, freedom, is the forgiveness of sins. You and I are free because Jesus has set us free from our sins with his death on the cross. When Jesus had the choice of healing a cripple or forgiving that person's sins, he always chose to forgive. We can live forever with a bodily deformity. It is impossible to live, really live, with a spiritual deformity -- living unforgiven.

In today's Gospel Jesus had the power, and he knew he had the power, and his executioners tempted him to use that power, to come down from the cross and save himself and the two thieves that were being executed with him. He chose not to. Instead, he chose to forgive his executioners. Instead of saving the life of the thief, he chose to forgive him and promise him new life, promise him, in St. Paul's terms, redemption, the forgiveness of his sins.

I am the most powerful person in the world whenever I have it in my power to forgive someone for hurting me. You, too, are the most powerful person in the world whenever you have it in your power to forgive someone for hurting you.

This is the last Sunday in the Church's year. It is also called the Feast of Christ the King. What made Jesus a King was that power to forgive. And as the Gospel points out, even in death Jesus forgave. He was King even in death. Next Sunday begins Advent. This week might be a very good time to examine our own lives to see if there is anyone we should forgive for hurting us whom we have not forgiven, really forgiven, whether they have asked for forgiveness or not. It is also a good time for you and for me to ask for forgiveness from those whom we have sinned against, whom we have hurt this past year.

It takes a powerful person to say "I forgive you." We take the risk of being hurt again when we forgive. Others take the risk that we might hurt them again once we are forgiven. Yet we really have no other choice but to forgive. As Paul reminds us in the Epistle and as today's Gospel so clearly points out, Jesus has already forgiven us through his death on the cross. We can do no less to one another.

Besides, it is only because God has already forgiven us that we can love others, say to another "I love you." It is because we have already been forgiven that we can be thankful for what we have been given and say, "I thank you." It is because God has already forgiven us that we can have the courage to say, "I am sorry for not being so loving and thankful." It takes a very strong, a very powerful person to say, "I forgive you." But we can say it and mean it because we have first been forgiven ourselves by God. I am the most powerful person in the world because I can say, "I forgive you." And so are you. But first we must say it.