TRINITY xxii
THE error of the unmerciful servant in Christ’s parable
is that he asserts his rights. He has a right to the recovery of his debt,
and a right to the assistance of the law. He insists on having what is
due to him, and he gets his due--he gets the prison and the torment. Perhaps
hell is for those who ask for it; to those who claim their rights God gives
their deserts, the rest he handles not in accordance with their merits
but in accordance with his mercy. We all think we have rights--rights to
so much pleasure and ease, rights to be let alone, rights to spend most
of our money on ourselves, rights to receive apologies, rights to get our
own back, rights to neglect other people's cares and concerns unless we
have a fancy to meddle with them. Having rights is damnation; salvation
is the receiving of Christ’s body and blood, as paupers existing on the
dying charity of the Son of God. We are not our own; we are bought with
a price.
