Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
September 13, 2026
Matthew 18:21-35

It seems that nearly every headline, every story, every conversation nowadays, is about Artificial Intelligence. We’re talking about its use, the ethics of it, the politics of it, and the economics of it. 

Since everybody has something to say about A.I., I believe that the Church can say something, too. And so, acknowledging that I am just a priest, I want to share with you about how I am thinking, as a Christian, through the reality and the implications of artificial intelligence. I ask for your grace as I make my way through this. 

Now first, we must remember, that humans make tools. Humans are not the fastest or the strongest animals in the world, we cannot breathe underwater, we cannot fly, we cannot soak up energy from the sun like a tree. We have to think our way through problems. That means inventing tools. And for the vast majority of human history, these tools have replaced human muscle. Say we want to move some heavy object, from one place to another. We invented wheels for carts, then wagons, then railroads, then automobiles, then planes, then rockets. When we wanted to communicate, we started off by speaking and then writing on clay tablets. Then we wrote on papyrus, then we printed books, and then we talked on phones, and then we started typing on our phones. In my lifetime, I’ve seen phones go from things on the wall that you would spin around, yes, I remember rotary phones – to these things we carry around in our pockets.

But at its core, A.I., I think, is different. The wheel, or the printing press, or the telephone were simply about making human life easier and quicker. Each invention, certainly, had its challenges. But this, artificial intelligence, it has the capacity to challenge the meaning of humanity, of consciousness, and of the soul.

  Because artificial intelligence doesn’t replace human muscle – it has the potential of replacing the human mind. If we had artificial intelligence to only do the dishes and fold the laundry, whatever. But we’re thinking about A.I. because this technological power is now composing music, and writing poetry, and making art, and teaching classes in schools. It mimicks the good parts of being human. We also know, that A.I. can break into things and steal things, and disobey the rules we set for it; the bad parts of being human.

So, we are confronted with the most basic question – what does it mean to be human? 

I promise you, I’m getting somewhere with this. 

I believe that empathy is one thing that makes us human. It’s one of the key parts of us that sets us apart. Humans have the potential, given to us by God I believe, to take ourselves out of our own minds, and to consider what it must be like to be someone else, and to act accordingly. 

Think about our gospel lesson. That’s what makes the character of that slave so distressing. He owes an amount of money that is impossible to ever repay, and his master lets him off the hook. His debts are forgiven. Then, he turns around and demands repayment for a minor debt, and shows no mercy. No forgiveness. Why does this parable make us cringe? Because we’re humans, and humans are supposed to have empathy. He’s hypocritical and it bothers us. That’s the message that Jesus is trying to get across. Just as you have been forgiven, you should forgive. God has forgiven us, we ought to forgive each other. You know what it’s like to have received grace, so give grace away. Empathy. 

Now, just because we humans have the capacity to empathize, doesn’t mean that we always do it. Again, that’s what makes the parable so troubling. But it’s also what makes the parable so relatable. Because I could see myself doing the same thing. In fact, I do see myself doing the same thing. God has forgiven me, I know. And yet, I still hold grudges. I could be empathetic, I could forgive people who have wronged me, but there are parts of me that would rather be resentful. I’m human. And that’s what it means to be human. We are good, and we are bad. And we know the difference. 

This is what sets us apart from our tools. Because they are not human. No matter how powerful the computer chip is, no matter how many math questions it can answer or problems it can solve – it doesn’t know us. It doesn’t know what it’s like to have lost somebody we love. It doesn’t know what it means to work through a difficult relationship. It doesn’t know the joy of holding a newborn baby, or accomplishing something big at work, or falling in love. We do – for all the beauty and for all the hardness – that is what it means to be human. We can feel that pain and that joy from ourselves, and from other people. That’s how we were created by God. See, we were made in the image of God. So we reflect God’s very being.

A.I. – it’s just another tool. So, I do not believe that the A.I. chatbot actually cares for you. It doesn’t know how to. It doesn’t care one way or another how you feel, or what you’re going through, or what you’re struggling with. It can’t. A.I. can’t celebrate with you or send you a birthday card or sit by your hospital bed or say it’s sorry. I don’t think that the artificial intelligence models would understand this parable of Jesus. Because it’s about empathy. It’s about what it means to be human. It’s about how humans struggle with grace and forgiveness, it’s about how we struggle to follow Jesus when it seems that it should be so easy. Empathy, or the capacity to have empathy, is what sets us apart. And, I believe, it is the root of God’s love for the world. At Christmas, the Lord God Almighty who dwells eternal in the heavens, became a human, to live one like of us. That’s empathy. On the cross, the Lord Jesus Christ took upon himself the hardness, and the shame of being human. That’s empathy. And, on Easter, Jesus rose again, as the ultimate sign of what humanity will become. Empathy. Empathy is what sets humans apart because it’s what sets God apart. And we are made in that image. 

I know it took us a long time to get there, but that’s how I can start thinking through the use and the implications of artificial intelligence at this point in human history. First, I’m fully aware that it is a dim, imperfect reflection of humanity. Second, I realize that, as a tool created by humans, it has the potential to change how I work and what I do. And I’m certain that we will embrace some parts of it, and reject other parts of it. Because that’s what humans do. Third, and most important, I know that humans are humans, made in the image of God. 

I must also say that I’m giving this sermon at a very particular time. I know not what the future holds, and when I look back on this sermon, I could well be very wrong. Be that as it may.

All in all, this is a call to empathy. To claim that part of us that makes us distinctly who we are. It seems that so much of the world’s harshness, and brutality, and anger, could be resolved by doing to others what God has done for us.

And mostly, this is a call to set our hope on Christ. No tool, no matter how impressive its computing power, is going to care for me. No matter how much artificial intelligence learns about me, it’s not going to know what it’s like to be me. That is the property of God alone. And as we were created by God, that’s what we can do for each other.

See, we must remember whose we are. We belong to the One who made us – the one, true, living God, who knows us more than we know ourselves.