Praying With Jesus: Forgive And Be Forgiven Series

PRAYING LIKE JESUS: FORGIVE AND BE FORGIVEN—Matthew 6:9-15, 18:23-35

How do people deal with their sins?

Some will say, “What sins? There you go again, always trying to make me feel bad. Sure, I’ve made some mistakes; but after all, I’m only human. I’m basically a good person, and you have no right to judge me.”

Others admit they have made mistakes, but would rather not think about them. It just makes them feel bad about themselves. Why look to the past? Focus on the future, and try to do better.

Others try to make amends--especially religious people. They go to church, try to be nice, and do good deeds. Balance the bad with good. What they can’t balance with good deeds—Well, if you really, really sorry for what you’ve done… (Most people wouldn’t say that, but they sort of feel like if they are sorry enough, their pain can pay for their sins.)

Other religious people act like they have won the lottery. They think God’s grace gives them a free pass on sin. “God forgives, you know. We try, but if we mess up or sin because it works for us, God’s job is to forgive.”

Jesus tells us that sins must be forgiven, and can be forgiven—but we must ask for forgiveness. Read Matthew 6:9-15.

“FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS…”

If you memorized the Lord’s Prayer at some time in your life, you might have learned it as either, “Forgive us our debts,” or “Forgive us our trespasses.” Matthew has “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,” and Luke has “Forgive us our sins, as we forgive everyone who owes us.”

When we think of trespasses, we usually think of sins like lying, stealing, swearing, or cheating. These are breaking a commandment or crossing a line. At a deeper level, they are an offence against a holy and righteous God, who cannot condone evil. Forgiveness is required.

Yet sins are not only wrong things that we do, but also right things that we fail to do. The Episcopal Book of Common Prayer says, “Most merciful God, I confess that I have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what I have done, and by what I have left undone.” Wrong things that we do are sometimes called “sins of commission,” and things we should have done but failed to do are “sins of omission.” The wife needed a hug, or the husband needed to be asked how his day went, but it didn’t happen. A son needed five minutes of undivided attention, or a daughter needed encouragement. A lonely person needed a friend, a poor person needed some help, or a ministry needed our support. There were opportunities to put in a good word or shine for Jesus, and we missed it. We missed the target of our lives being all they could be.

Sins of omission can be viewed as debts we owe to God. We owe God our obedience, our best efforts, and our acts of gratitude in worship and service. When we look at what our lives could be, and compare that to what we make of them, we come up short. We are behind with God—more and more each day—and we can’t catch up. We need his forgiveness.

Whether viewed as trespasses or debts, the only solution is for God to forgive us, so we can move forward with our lives and our relationship with him. That is what God does for us, through the death and resurrection of the Son, Jesus!

Colossians 2:13-14, “When you were dead in your sins…God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.”

When Jesus died on the cross, it was to forgive the sins of all who believe in him—past, present and future sins—every sin we commit and every righteous act we leave undone. Hebrews 7:27 says. “He sacrificed for their sins ONCE FOR ALL when he offered himself.”

If all of our sins—past, present, and future—are already forgiven, why do we keep praying, “Forgive us our debts”?

We don’t ask for forgiveness because our sins won’t be forgiven if we don’t specifically ask God to forgive each one. Martin Luther struggled with that. As a young monk, he would stay up half the night, going over his day, in fear that he would forget to confess one of his sins, which would be unforgiven, because he did not ask for forgiveness. It nearly drove him crazy, until he realized that forgiveness did not depend upon his confession of sin, but upon the righteousness of Christ, received by faith.

Confessing our sins is not a legal issue (thinking of God as our Judge); our “legal indebtedness” has been canceled. Confessing our sins is a relationship issue with our Father-God.