Matthew 18:23-35; Luke 9:51-56; 10:22-24
Christ the Savior, Berlin, Maryland
August 16, 2026
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
My beloved children in the Lord,
Today, we celebrate the third-day resurrection of Christ, whom we glorify as the Lord who is king and robed in majesty.
We also continue to honor the most holy Virgin on the feast of her Dormition, the last major feast which crowns the Church year, singing of her as the throne and palace of the King.
Finally, we commemorate today the translation of the Image of Christ Not-Made-With-Hands, the patronal feast of this parish, a day on which we remember the well-known story of the miraculous healing of Abgar, the king of Edessa, when he received the image of the Holy Face of the Savior, miraculously imprinted on a cloth.
While we ought to pay attention to this royal imagery – the King of glory risen from the dead, the Mother of God who is the throne of the King, and the earthly king who finds healing in Christ – we should also pay attention to another image that is revealed: that of the face.
We find both of these images: the king and the face, in the two Gospel readings appointed for today. In the first, our Lord offers us a beautiful parable in which he likens the Kingdom of Heaven to a certain king who wanted to settle his accounts. In the second, we are told that our Lord “set his face” towards Jerusalem, an intention that is repeated three times.
So let us first consider the parable in which the Lord likens the Kingdom of Heaven to a certain king who wanted to settle his accounts. One of his servants, who owed ten thousand talents, was brought before this king, and seeing that he did not have enough money to repay him, the king ordered him and his wife and children to be sold as slaves. Who is this king, if not the Good Judge Himself, our Heavenly Father, who does not punish without first judging? And who is the servant who owes ten thousand talents, if not we ourselves, with our countless sins against God and against His love.
We might ask: if God’s love for us is so great, why did He order the servant and his wife and his children to be sold as slaves in order to pay back his debt? Does this reveal God’s desire to punish His rebellious and disobedient servants? Has God become so offended at our sins that He needs to avenge Himself? In no way, for God desires to heal the creature which He has fashioned in His image. When we sin, we darken the image of God in us, and God tries in every way possible to lead us to repentance and to clothe us once more in that image. The king in today’s parable was not acting out of cruelty but out of love, by giving the servant an opportunity to repent.
And the servant indeed did repent by making a prostration before the king and worshipped him, saying: “Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.” Here we note here something significant: the man shows his repentance by means of a face-to-face interaction with the King. The King himself looks to the man as a human being, not simply a debtor who owes him money, and the man looks beyond the outward glory of the King and beholds his magnanimity. In fact, the king was so moved with compassion that he did not merely give him an extension but forgave the entire debt. This is the great love of God for man that He gives us much more than we ask for. And such is His humility, that none of our sins, however great, can trouble the sea of His compassion.
But when we do ask the Lord’s forgiveness, we must do so in humility and with repentance, and not as the servant did immediately after this. For even though the king had showed him so much love and compassion, the servant was not moved within his heart. “The same servant went out” it says in the Gospel, that is, he went out from the presence of God, from the face of the King who forgave his debt. His repentance lasted only long enough for him to be forgiven his debt. Although he had been forgiven a greater amount, he was not able to forgive the small amount that his fellow-servant owed him. And this was in spite of the fact that this fellow-servant likewise made a prostration and cried out with the very same words which the ungrateful servant had used before the king: “Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.” But the wicked servant was not willing to imitate the love that had been shown to him. He refused to see the face of his fellow-servant in the same way that the King had seen him. And so he threw him into prison until he would pay back the money.
How often do we find ourselves doing this very same thing? We seek forgiveness for our sins, but we refuse to forgive our neighbor. We make all kinds of excuses for our sinful actions, yet we judge our neighbor without any discernment. Like the first servant, our sins are great and we need to ask God for forgiveness. However, if our repentance comes only from our lips and not from our hearts, then our actions reveal the insincerity of our repentance. When someone offends or hurts us by his words or actions, we must not condemn him or become angry, but we must use this as an opportunity to show him the same love and compassion that God has shown us. This is often a very difficult thing to do, but we can begin by looking at the face of our brother, to see in him the image of God. We can also humble ourselves by saying a short prayer such as “O Lord, help my brother and me through his prayers” [repeat]. In this way, we see the humanity of our neighbor, we show compassion and love for him, while humbling ourselves at the same time.
In all things, we must be willing to accuse ourselves instead of accusing others. By carrying anger and resentment in our hearts, we are not only harming our brother, but also ourselves. But if we condemn ourselves at all times, the thought of condemning others will leave us. Saint Nectarios of Aegina reveals this in his life. When he was the headmaster of a school in Greece, some boys were brought to him. They had done something wrong and they were waiting their punishment. Saint Nectarios looked at them sternly and said with a sigh: “My boys, for your actions, I am afraid that I am going to have to punish myself. It is my fault that you acted as you did, and therefore I will fast for three days to ask God’s forgiveness.” And indeed, the great Saint ate nothing for three days. The boys were so ashamed at seeing this act of great love, that they never misbehaved again. And all the other students of the school were also greatly moved and were very careful to always act in a God-pleasing way.
By his actions, Saint Nectarios was giving us a living example of our Lord’s teachings in today’s parable. We must carry God’s love in our heart and not cast all our attention on the offensive words of others. If we forgive others from our hearts, and if we ask God’s forgiveness from our hearts, then the grace of God will be with us and His love will guide all our actions, all our thoughts, and all our words. Let us imitate God’s love by always forgiving those who offend us and by always confessing our own sins to God. By so doing may we be granted to dwell with God where the fire of His love will bring us inexpressible peace and joy in His Heavenly Paradise.
And indeed, it is our humility that will bring upon us the grace of God, and it is our humility that will allow us to respond, even to our enemies, with love. If we have Christ in our heart, then what harm can the words of others have on us? If we have joy in our heart, then what interest will the sins of others have for us? And if we see the face of the other rather than judging by external appearance, what reason will we have to become upset at the sins of others?
May our Lord Jesus Christ grant us that peace, joy, and love, so that we might truly become a sea of humility and an ocean of forgiveness; and by our struggle to attain this, may we attain to the likeness of our merciful and compassionate Lord, Who is glorified together with His Father, Who is from everlasting, and this most-Holy, good, and life-creating Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.