Context No. 4246 of 4322 · Sirach

Sirach 28:1-16: in context

1He who takes vengeance will find vengeance from the Lord, and he will surely make his sins firm. 2Forgive your neighbor the hurt that he has done, and then your sins will be pardoned when you pray. 3Does anyone harbor anger against another and expect healing from the Lord? 4Upon a man like himself he has no mercy, and does he make supplication for his own sins? 5He himself, being flesh, nourishes wrath. Who will make atonement for his sins? 6Remember your last end, and stop enmity. Remember corruption and death, and be true to the commandments. 7Remember the commandments, and don’t be angry with your neighbor. Remember the covenant of the Highest, and overlook ignorance. 8Abstain from strife, and you will diminish your sins, for a passionate man will kindle strife. 9A man who is a sinner will trouble friends and sow discord among those who are at peace. 10As is the fuel of the fire, so it will burn; and as the stoutness of the strife is, so it will burn. As is the strength of the man, so will be his wrath; and as is his wealth, so he will exalt his anger. 11A contention begun in haste kindles a fire; and hasty fighting sheds blood. 12If you blow on a spark, it will burn; and if you spit upon it, it will be quenched. Both of these come out of your mouth. 13Curse the whisperer and double-tongued, for he has destroyed many who were at peace. 14A slanderer has shaken many, and dispersed them from nation to nation. It has pulled down strong cities and overthrown the houses of great men. 15A slanderer has cast out brave women and deprived them of their labors. 16He who listens to it will not find rest, nor will he live quietly.

Sirach presses a searching question: forgive your neighbor the wrong he has done, and then your sins will be pardoned when you pray. Does anyone nurse anger against another and yet expect healing from the Lord? He shows the inconsistency of holding a grudge against a fellow sinner while asking God to forgive our own sins. If he, being flesh, holds fast his wrath, who will make atonement for his sins?

What stands out is the tight link Sirach draws between forgiving and being forgiven. We cannot cling to our resentments, refusing mercy to those who have wronged us, and at the same time expect God freely to forgive us. To ask God for a mercy we withhold from others is inconsistent. Sirach calls us to remember our own end and our own need of pardon, and so to let go of our anger and forgive.

This is a challenge Jesus himself would make central. We who ask God to forgive us our debts are called to forgive those indebted to us. To nurse a grudge while pleading for our own pardon is to live a contradiction. Remembering how much we ourselves need God's mercy should loosen our grip on the wrongs done to us, freeing us to forgive as we hope to be forgiven. The way to receive mercy is, in part, to give it.

Am I nursing anger or a grudge against someone while asking God to forgive my own sins, and will I let go of that resentment and forgive as Sirach urges, remembering my own need of mercy and forgiving others as I hope to be forgiven?

Sources

Sirach 28:2: "Forgive your neighbor the hurt that he has done, and then your sins will be pardoned when you pray."
Sirach 28:3: "Does anyone harbor anger against another and expect healing from the Lord?"
Matthew 6:14: "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you."