1 Forgive Us Our Debts, As We Forgive Our Debtors
Lord’s Prayer series Week 8
Let’s continue today with this story about Johnny. Johnny was a young man who was excited to try out his new slingshot. He and his sister were visiting their grandma on her farm for a couple of weeks and there was no better time to work on his sling shot skills.
First, he’d aim at a row of tin cans he put on the fence, but after about 20 minutes, he only hit one. So, he decided to shoot at something else - a bird in the tree, and thankfully, he missed that too. And as time was passing, he was getting more and more frustrated.
It was getting close to dinner time when grandma called them in to clean up before dinner. But on the way in to the house, Johnny decided to try one more time to hit something and this time it was grandma’s favorite duck. The problem was that this time, he hit his mark. The missile hit the duck and killed it instantly and Johnny panicked! He didn’t expect that to happen. So grabbing the duck’s limp body, he ran behind the barn and hid it behind a wood pile, before going into the house.
After dinner, grandma asked his sister, Sally, to wash the dishes, but Sally turned to her brother and whispered, “Remember the duck!” Apparently, she saw what happened and was blackmailing Johnny into washing the dishes for her.
The next morning, the children were doing their chores when Sally handed her brother the broom, pointed to the back porch and whispered in his ear, “Remember the duck.”
All week Sally blackmailed her brother into doing her chores. Every time she wanted him to do something, all she would have to do is whisper, “Remember the duck!”
Finally, Johnny couldn’t take it anymore. The guilt was killing him and so he confessed everything to his grandma. His grandma held him close as he cried and said; “Johnny, I know you killed the duck. I was standing at the kitchen window when you did it and I saw it all. I could see the fear on your face and I forgave you the moment you did it. I was just wondering how long you were going to live with the guilt before you told me…
Maybe we can see a little bit of ourselves in Johnny. We’ve all done something wrong and it seems like evil comes along and whispers in our ear something like, “You are so guilty, God won’t understand, and neither will anyone else. You can’t be forgiven. There’s no way to overcome it.”
But in the model prayer of Jesus, he captures the spirit of grace and pardon with 4 short words, “Forgive us our debts.” Prayer is in many ways a process. It’s a continuum that moves us into the presence of God. And what we’ve seen so far as we’re moving through the model prayer of Jesus is that:
First of all, God is a loving Heavenly Father and His desire is for us to come to Him just as any kid would look to their parents for guidance, love, acceptance, wellbeing, and forgiveness when we mess up.
Second, He is also a compassionate King and he is worthy of our respect and reverence.
And, God wants us to humble ourselves and to live by kingdom principles.
And, (4) God wants us to know that He will provide for our needs, and that it’s important that we want what He wants.
And with that, Jesus moves on with: “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors”.
You know, when we’ve spent time in God’s presence and have seen him as a loving Father, a benevolent King, a Sovereign Lord and Great Provider, in light of that, we should be ready and willing to take a hard look at our lives – specifically, our shortcomings and sin.
Let’s face it, sin is ugly and can trap us and we can become stuck in doing the same old things in the same old ways. And over time, sin has a way of becoming something familiar and we can become comfortable with it. But what might start out as something alluring or even benign can turn out to be devastating.
2 So when our sin goes unconfessed or worse, excused, there are consequences and we normally experience multiple reactions:
1. We can feel guilty and ashamed.
2. We avoid the topic or people and places that remind us of our sin. And that can very easily drive wedges in between us and build walls around us. Sin can wreck relationships.
3. We can shut God out; even to the point where we sever our fellowship with Him and our fellowship with His people.
4. We often continue in the path of destruction because the evil one is whispering in our ear and were too afraid to go to the Lord.
That’s why it’s so important that we come to terms with it and face it, so we can put ourselves in a position to overcome it. So, here is an essential fact about sin.
3 1. We all sin. We all do it, even God’s Children Sin
1 John 1:8 says, if we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” So, we shouldn’t be surprised that we sin. It’s something all of us have in common. In fact, given the right circumstances, anyone is capable of anything (and incidentally, that can be a positive or a negative thing).
But in this context, we’re talking about sin. 1 John 1 (10) continues, “If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”
Rom. 3:23 says that all have sinned.
So, when we say in the Lord’s Prayer, “Forgive us our debts”, we are acknowledging and admitting our sin. We are recognizing that we have done things, said things, thought things, or not done things that we should have done. In other words, we are taking responsibility for our actions before the Lord.
Now, the word “debt” is an interesting term. It represents how much we owe someone. A debt is an obligation. If we borrow money, we’re obligated to pay it back. So, in essence, we’re praying, “Lord, forgive our obligations.” But why did Jesus use the word “debt” instead of “sin?” Why not just say, “forgive us our sins?”
Well, there are some interchangeable terms for sin in the Bible. Besides describing the word, “sin,” like Romans 3 does, where it says,” 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;” it’s talking about our inability to do good consistently.
4 And sin is also called:
• transgression- which is more like personal rebellion. David wrote in Psalm 51 (1-3), “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.”
Paul talked about being dead in transgressions (Eph 2:4-6). It’s personal sin.
• Lawlessness is another way to say sin, too. 1 John 3:4 says, 4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.
• Another familiar term for sin is trespass- Paul talks about it in Romans 5 (18). Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people.
• Here’s another one: wickedness- Paul gives us a working definition of what wicked looks like in Romans 1. Here’s just a partial list… 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”
• And last, but not least, we have the word, “debt.”- Matt. 6:12 and Deut. 15 are the places that connect debts with sin. But it’s always described as owing something to someone else. The roots of “Forgive our debts,” are from the OT where debts were cancelled every 7th year. But now, in the model prayer of Jesus, that’s something available every time we pray about it.
So even though we have all these different words for sin, Jesus chose the word “debt” in his model prayer. Some Bibles say “trespass” because they’re similar. So why did Jesus use “debt?”
5 Maybe the reason Jesus used this word for sin is because “debt” involves others. When we pray “forgive us our debts” we are praying forgive me of what I’ve done and the consequences of it with all of its ripple effects. It’s saying, “Lord, forgive me of what I have done, and the harm, the hurt, the distrust I caused, and the damage it’s done to someone else.”
It ties in to the obligation we have as Christian people. It means that we’re taking responsibility for our actions and behavior. Jesus just hit on that same point a little earlier in Matthew chapter 5 (v. 23) "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
If you remember right before saying “Forgive our debts,” Jesus said, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. That meant that I am submitting to God’s sovereign lordship in my life and I’m choosing to live by His rules.
So having just prayed that, affirmed that, and recommitted our lives to it, we are now applying perhaps the most primary of all self-disclosing, self-revealing prayers there is; “let me now come clean and make things right with God and with those around me that I have hurt, judged, or taken advantaged of….”
I believe that Jesus chose the word “debt” and put it in this context, in this prayer of prayers, because it is so vital to our spiritual health and well-being. It lies at the very core of Christianity: finding God’s grace.
Now we also have to understand, simply praying “Forgive us our debts” does nothing in and of itself. They are not magic words. When we pray “forgive us our debts”, we are beginning a process of forgiveness and it is a process.
2 Cor. 7:10 says that “Godly sorrow brings repentance”. Now, repentance by definition means “to turn away from.” And Godly sorrow means “to grieve over what grieves God.” So what we’re saying is that I am turning away from what grieves the heart of God and now as His child, grieves me.
Johnny came to his grandma with Godly sorrow. The Prodigal son in Luke 15 came home with Godly sorrow. David in Ps 51 had Godly sorrow.
And the other side of that is that we’ve all seen people who are sorry they got caught, but have no sorrow for what they’ve done. But as we pray, “Forgive our debts,” we pray that, knowing full well that God, by his grace, has already taken care of it and his pardon is there for the asking.
And when we pray “Forgive us our debts,” it must be followed with an outward change or determination to change. I love what Micah 7:18 says about it, “Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. 19You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.”
A big consequence of carrying around unresolved guilt is that keeps us from a right fellowship – a right relationship with God. We’re still His children, He still loves us but there is a wedge in between us. Johnny had a hard time looking grandma in the eye. He loves her, but it feels awkward, and uncomfortable and he feels guilty around her and that affects their relationship. The same principle happens with our Heavenly Father when we don’t or can’t ask Him to “forgive our debts.”
Now Jesus also says that we need to “forgive our debtors” as well as asking to be forgiven ourselves. Why? Because when we pray this, we’re asking Him to treat us in the same manner that we should treat other people. It’s connects really well with the Great Commandment, “To love God…and love our neighbors as ourselves.”
Forgiveness is a circle—we get what we give. To be loved, we must love others. To make friends, you need to be a friend. To be forgiven, we must forgive.
During a Sunday School class, the teacher asked the students, "What must you first do before you can be forgiven?" Anyone what to take a guess what one of the kids unexpectedly answered? "…Sin." Sinning is universal.
So when we forgive other people of their obligations, we understand that we are doing it because Jesus did it for us, and that is what will help us get past whatever someone else’s debt to us is.
And besides, Jesus was pretty clear about it. In Matt. 6:15 he said, “if you do not forgive people of their sins, our Father will not forgive our sins.” So, what Jesus is saying here is that He is going to hold us responsible for our actions. If we say that we are going to come under His authority and live by His rules, then we need to cancel the debts of others as He has canceled our debts when we do something wrong.
But perhaps one of the greatest problems with unforgiveness is that it gives Satan an entry point to disrupt our lives. Eph. 5: 26 says, "In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27and do not give the devil a foothold.”
Satan loves it when we bicker and fight and don’t get along because if we’re doing that, then we’re not loving, and serving, and living like Jesus has captured our hearts. And Jesus gave the example of how it ought to look.
1. Jesus sets a pretty high bar- Luke 23: 34, Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
2. We are commanded to forgive- Paul said, Col. 3:13 Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
3. Matthew talks about the consequences of unforgiveness- Matt. 18: 34, “In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 35"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
4. And when we can forgive we remain in fellowship with God- Matthew 6:14 says, “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”
5. But unforgiveness cuts off fellowship with God- Matthew continues: (6:15) “But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
So often we think that forgiveness is an option that we can pick and choose. However, forgiveness is not an option, it’s something that has to be cultivated and learned and practiced continually.
