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Debits
and
Credits
By the Rev. Lee Woofenden
Bridgewater, Massachusetts,
November
9, 2003
Readings
Deuteronomy
15:1-11
Be
generous
with
your
neighbor
At
the
end
of
every
seven
years
you
must
cancel
debts.
This
is
how
it
is
to
be
done:
Every
creditor
shall
cancel
the
loan
made
to
a
neighbor,
not
requiring
payment
from
the
neighbor
or
community
member,
because
the
Lord's
time
for
canceling
debts
has
been
proclaimed.
You
may
require
payment
from
a
foreigner,
but
you
must
cancel
any
debt
that
a
member
of
your
community
owes
you.
However,
there
should
be
no
poor
among
you,
for
in
the
land
the
Lord
your
God
is
giving
you
to
possess
as
your
inheritance,
he
will
richly
bless
you,
if
only
you
fully
obey
the
Lord
your
God,
and
are
careful
to
follow
all
these
commands
I
am
giving
you
today.
For
the
Lord
your
God
will
bless
you
as
he
has
promised,
and
you
will
lend
to
many
nations
but
will
borrow
from
none.
You
will
rule
over
many
nations
but
none
will
rule
over
you.
If
there
is
a
poor
person
among
your
community
members
in
any
of
the
towns
of
the
land
that
the
Lord
your
God
is
giving
you,
do
not
be
hard-hearted
or
tight-fisted
towards
your
needy
neighbor.
Rather
be
open-handed
and
freely
lend
enough
to
meet
the
need,
whatever
it
may
be.
Be
careful
not
to
harbor
this
evil
thought:
"The
seventh
year,
the
year
for
canceling
debts,
is
near,"
so
that
you
do
not
show
ill
will
towards
your
needy
neighbor
and
give
nothing.
Your
neighbor
may
then
appeal
to
the
Lord
against
you,
and
you
will
be
found
guilty
of
sin.
Give
generously,
and
do
so
without
a
grudging
heart;
then
because
of
this
the
Lord
your
God
will
bless
you
in
all
your
work
and
in
everything
you
put
your
hand
to.
There
will
always
be
poor
people
in
the
land.
Therefore
I
command
you
to
be
open-handed
towards
the
members
of
your
community,
and
towards
the
poor
and
needy
in
your
land.
Matthew
18:21-35
The
unmerciful
servant
Then
Peter
came
to
Jesus
and
asked,
"Lord,
how
many
times
shall
I
forgive
my
brother
when
he
sins
against
me?
Up
to
seven
times?"
Jesus
answered,
"I
tell
you,
not
seven
times,
but
seventy
times
seven
times.
"Therefore,
the
kingdom
of
heaven
is
like
a
king
who
wanted
to
settle
accounts
with
his
servants.
As
he
began
the
settlement,
a
man
who
owed
him
ten
thousand
talents
was
brought
to
him.
Since
he
was
not
able
to
pay,
the
master
ordered
that
he
and
his
wife
and
his
children
and
all
that
he
had
be
sold
to
repay
the
debt.
"The
servant
fell
on
his
knees
before
him.
'Be
patient
with
me,'
he
begged,
'and
I
will
pay
back
everything.'
The
servant's
master
took
pity
on
him,
cancelled
the
debt
and
let
him
go.
"But
when
that
servant
went
out,
he
found
one
of
his
fellow-servants
who
owed
him
a
hundred
denarii.
He
grabbed
him
and
began
to
choke
him.
'Pay
back
what
you
owe
me!'
he
demanded.
"His
fellow-servant
fell
to
his
knees
and
begged
him,
'Be
patient
with
me,
and
I
will
pay
you
back.'
"But
he
refused.
Instead,
he
went
off
and
had
the
man
thrown
into
prison
until
he
could
pay
the
debt.
When
the
other
servants
saw
what
had
happened,
they
were
greatly
distressed
and
went
and
told
their
master
everything
that
had
happened.
"Then
the
master
called
the
servant
in.
'You
wicked
servant,'
he
said,
'I
cancelled
all
that
debt
of
yours
because
you
begged
me
to.
Shouldn't
you
have
had
mercy
on
your
fellow-servant
just
as
I
had
on
you?'
In
anger
his
master
turned
him
over
to
the
jailers
to
be
tortured,
until
he
should
pay
back
all
he
owed.
"This
is
how
my
heavenly
Father
will
treat
each
of
you
unless
you
forgive
your
brother
from
your
heart."
Heaven
and
Hell
#357
Rich
and
poor:
literal
or
spiritual?
There
are
various
opinions
about
acceptance
into
heaven.
Some
people
think
that
poor
people
are
accepted
but
not
rich
people;
some
think
that
rich
and
poor
alike
are
accepted;
some
think
that
rich
people
cannot
be
accepted
unless
they
give
up
their
assets
and
become
like
the
poor--and
all
of
them
support
their
opinions
from
the
Bible.
However,
as
far
as
heaven
is
concerned,
people
who
differentiate
between
the
rich
and
the
poor
do
not
understand
the
Bible.
At
heart,
the
Bible
is
spiritual,
though
it
is
material
in
the
letter.
So
if
people
take
the
Bible
only
in
its
literal
meaning
and
not
in
some
spiritual
meaning,
they
go
astray
in
all
kinds
of
ways--especially
regarding
the
rich
and
the
poor.
Sermon
The
kingdom
of
heaven
is
like
a
king
who
wanted
to
settle
accounts
with
his
servants.
(Matthew
18:23)
This
morning
I
am
going
to
talk
about
debits
and
credits.
In
other
words,
I'm
going
to
talk
about
money.
I
will
also
talk
about
that
paper
stuff
that's
in
your
pocket
or
pocketbook.
There
is
a
great
misconception
floating
around
that
money
has
little
or
nothing
to
do
with
religion,
the
Bible,
and
God.
But
in
fact,
one
of
the
Lord's
favorite
topics
was
wealth
and
poverty,
great
treasures
and
small
pittances,
gold
and
silver,
and
little
copper
coins.
More
than
once
he
compares
the
kingdom
of
heaven
to
treasure.
And
in
today's
parable,
he
speaks
of
heaven
as
a
king
settling
his
accounts.
You
don't
have
to
be
an
accountant
to
know
that
account
books
consist
primarily
of
debits
and
credits.
Debits
are
everything
that
goes
out,
or
debts
that
are
(or
must
be)
paid
by
us.
Credits
are
everything
that
comes
in,
or
debts
that
others
pay
(or
owe)
to
us.
Debits
go
on
the
minus
side,
and
credits
on
the
plus
side.
And
even
though
it
doesn't
make
much
sense
in
reality,
at
a
gut
level
we
like
credits,
and
we
don't
like
debits.
In
other
words,
we
think
money
coming
in
is
good,
and
money
going
out
is
bad.
That
is
because
we
tend
to
focus
on
the
money
itself,
and
not
on
its
usefulness.
After
all,
what
is
money?
Today
we
do
not
actually
have
money
in
our
pockets--except
the
coins.
Instead
we
have
"notes,"
or
"bills,"
both
of
which
mean
debts.
In
our
current
monetary
system,
it
is
hard
to
figure
out
exactly
what
debt
is
represented
by
a
"dollar
bill."
However,
the
bills
are
issued
under
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