Please continue standing as we read what is most commonly known as “The Lord’s Prayer”
Matthew 6:9-13 (KJV)
“Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread.
“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”
Over the last couple of weeks we have taken a look at the first half of this section of Scripture and we have found …
1) The Lord’s prayer, while actually a prayer, is also a pattern for prayer. When Jesus went out to pray for an entire night He didn’t just repeat this prayer over and over but if you look at His prayers recorded in Scripture you can see where different elements would fit in to almost all of these broad types of prayer.
“Our Father in heaven …”
2) We pray to God the Father in heaven and Him alone
“Our Father in heaven, holy is Your name!”
3) We come to Him in an attitude of humility, reverence and awe
“Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
4) The first priority on our prayer list, even the major emphasis of our very life, is His Kingdom and that He has chosen us to be the conduits of His Kingdom coming to earth as it is in Heaven.
“Give us this day our daily bread.”
5) We see that our provision for everything we need comes from God but part of His will be done is that we participate in the kingdom work of God on earth just as we will one day do in heaven!
God gives us life for another day - we get out of bed
God gives us work or school or other activities for another day - we do what He has given us to do
God provides pay for our labors - with that we buy food - in this way in His kingdom He provides our daily bread.
As a result of this we come into contact with those who do not know the joy of knowing Jesus and we get to share that great truth with them and hopefully many of them come to know Christ as their Savior as well! PTL!!
And, so, today we arrive at the next portion or phrase in the prayer which says
“And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”
Just as a side note; I had gotten use to using the word “trespasses” instead of “debts”. I checked 10 different translations to see if any of them said “trespasses” and none of them did.
The “trespass” wording comes from the 1549 Book of Common prayers which was based on the 1526 Tyndale Bible which says:
“And forgeve vs oure treaspases eve as we forgeve oure trespacers.”
Aren’t you glad that they’re not still putting THAT version in hotel rooms???
C. S. Lewis was right when he said,
"We all agree that forgiveness is a beautiful idea until we have to practice it."
Two little brothers, Harry and James, had finished supper and were playing until bedtime. Somehow, Harry hit James with a stick, and tears and bitter words followed. Charges and accusations were still being exchanged as mother prepared them for bed.
The mother instructed, "Now, James, before you go to bed, you're going to have to forgive your brother." James was thoughtful for a few moments, and then he replied, "Well, OK, I'll forgive him tonight, but if I don't die in the night, he'd better look out in the morning."
So, as we look at, “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”
This is NOT talking about financial debt but the spiritual debt owed to God and to the person we have sinned against. It would be just as accurate to say, “And forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us.”
How do we know this? Jesus goes on, almost immediately to explain it further in verses 14-15 when He says,
“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
This “debt” is “An offense, a trespass which requires the making of amends for wrong or injury done.”
This is NOT talking about taking out a loan and then asking permission not to pay it back. If these verses were actually talking about money they would be referring to stealing and the forgiveness that would be associate with such a sin.
But, this is not talking about only money it is any sin offense.
One thing we must note is that Jesus NEVER had to pray for the forgiveness of sin!
So, just what is all the big deal about forgiveness?
Well, unforgiveness is a sin! Sin is conscious rebellion against the will of God!
God says we should forgive. If we don’t we’re sinning. It’s as simple as that!
God is all about relationships! What did Jesus say were the two great commandments?
Matthew 22:37-40
“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.
“And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
This is God’s will for us! Love heals relationships; unforgiveness damages relationships! Therefore, unforgiveness is sin!
Now, when we take the commandments of love and combine them with the top priority in the Lord’s prayer which is, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” It is easy to see why it is a sin, damaged relationships do not help to build the kingdom of God!
Unforgiveness is not just a one time sin, it is a perpetual sin that remains until forgiveness takes place. Some people have made it into a lifestyle in which they dwell day after day after day; repeating the offense over and over and over in their mind and to anyone who will listen!
From time to time someone will offend us!
Illustration: you all see this pitcher of pure clear water and have probably been wondering what it is for. Imagine that this tea bag is an offense caused to you by someone in church and that you have harbored it and dwelt upon it and it has filled your life with all sorts of rottenness. In the meantime you have continued attending your church which is a church filled with the goodness of God, pure and clean. Now, you are where you should be but you refuse to forgive that other person. Here you are and you are in that church. Let’s just put you there and see what happens over time …
They may not have even intended to offend you! I remember one associate pastor who told me that if you need to get somewhere quickly from one part of the church to another part that you should go around the outside of the church. Because, even though you care deeply about the people of the church if you walk quickly through the church and you do not take the time to greet them personally some of them will take it as a snub and be offended. “The pastor didn’t say Hi to me! He walked right past as if I wasn’t there.” And that offense, intentional or otherwise, will be repeated over and over until everyone in that person’s circle of influence has heard about it.
What’s another Scripture that speaks to this issue?
Hebrews 12:14-15
“Strive for peace with everyone, and for holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no "root of bitterness" springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled …”
“Strive for peace with everyone” - peace is impossible with unforgiveness
“and for holiness” - holiness is impossible with unforgiveness because unforgiveness is sin
“See to it … that no root of bitterness springs up” - a root of bitterness will spring up if unforgiveness is present
What happens when a root is alive? It produces a plant and that plant grows and matures and finally produces fruit. When it is a plant grown from the sin of unforgiveness will the resultant fruit be good or bad? Well, what does the next little phrase say?
“and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled” - maybe you’re not getting enough sympathy, maybe you start enhancing the story a little more to your favor. Stirring the pot …
You know what this stirring the pot is like. If the unforgiving spirit is in you the event is replayed over and over and over in your mind. It consumes you. Whenever you hear that persons name you recall the situation. Sometimes if you are willing to let it out into the open you tell everyone you can think of about what they did that hurt you so badly, and by it many become defiled.
Just like this previously clear pitcher of water … (at this point take a tea bag (black tea) and place it into a clear pitcher of water - as you continue to preach the water color will gradually change showing the effect that the unforgiveness of one person can have on the body of a church)
OK. So, I think we’ve adequately defined the problem.
Unforgiveness is sin.
Unforgiveness destroys relationships
Unforgiveness goes against our highest priority which is glorifying and serving our Father who is in heaven by accomplishing His will on earth as it is in heaven
Unforgiveness put us outside the will of God.
Well, we can’t just drop it there, can we?
How do we stop unforgiveness? How do we forgive?
We can’t just shove it down deep inside and say, “That’s the end of it!”
That’s like a toxic waste dump. Have you ever heard of Love Canal?
Love Canal was the first ever man made environmental disaster and it’s not far from here. Huge amounts of toxic waste materials were buried in containers and home and parks built above it. The containers leaked. The contaminants went everywhere. People became sick and died. The place was abandoned.
Unforgiveness is like that. You can try to bury the hurt deep inside but your soul will leak and it will get out, your very soul may die and you may take others with you.
(At this point take out a second clear pitcher of water and show the difference that has already taken place in the pitcher with unforgiveness.
Forgiveness must be a cooperative effort, you and God, just like the remedy for any sin. The forgiveness may come quickly or it may take time. For me it took years.
(At this point pull out a 9x13 baking pan and place a goblet containing dark tea water into the pan. As you talk about taking the unforgivness to the Lord every time pour some of the clear water from the pitcher into the goblet. This clear water represents the Holy Spirit and gradually replaces the dark, stained water of unforgivness.)
Each time I would remember the hurt I would ask the Lord to help me not to relive the event and to forgive the offense and the offender and the Lord would pour a little bit of healing and forgiveness into my soul.
Then it would surface again and I would ask the Lord to help me not to relive the event in my head and that I could forgive the offense and the offender and the Lord would pour a little bit of healing and forgiveness into my soul.
This happened over and over and over and over and then it started to happen less often and the joy of the Lord was returning to my heart and the anger and bitterness was ebbing away.
How I wish it could have happened instantly but that was not God’s plan for me or I was just too foolish to allow it, I don’t know. What I do know is that it was a work of God and not of me. My only responsibility was to call on the Lord for help faithfully.
(Finally, all of the dark stained water of unforgiveness is displaced by the pure presence of forgiveness enabled by the Holy Spirit and the living water of Christ can overflow out of you to others.)
Now, whenever I have been the offender more was required. I had to make restitution where possible and ask forgiveness but we are talking about forgiveness today; forgiving others.
Oh, there are some things you must do with God’s help.
1) You must stop reliving and mulling over the event(s) and churning them up
2) You must stop repeating them to others
3) Whenever you stumble in either one of these pray for forgiveness for your unforgiveness and seek God’s help in not repeating the sin
Agnes Sanford said, "As we practice the work of forgiveness we discover more and more that forgiveness and healing are one."
And, George Arthur Buttrick, noted preacher of the last century, said,
"God does not wish us to remember what He is willing to forget."
Are you tired of carrying around the weight of unforgiveness?
Are you tired of the heaviness in your soul that is the result of unforgiveness?
The fact is that after years of unforgiveness you may become accustomed to it and not even realize that your spiritual life is dead and that you’re only going through the motions.
The remedy, the only remedy, is right here in the very words of Christ we’ve been studying today. The remedy is found in Our Father Who is in Heaven, Holy is His name.
Invitation
