HoHum:
Author Robert Jeffries writes about a couple who was going to dinner to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. As the husband was driving, the wife began to reflect on their early days and she said: “Honey, do you remember how it was when we were dating and then first married? It was so romantic. We used to sit so close together when we drove anywhere, and now look at us! .You’re on that side, and I’m way over here!” To which the husband smiled & replied, “But, dear, I haven’t moved.” So it is in our relationship with God. If you are not close to him, or have been and are no longer, it’s not because God has moved. He’s still there, still wanting to be close to you. But sin causes us to move away from Him. And that creates the deepest need of our hearts.. God’s forgiveness.
WBTU:
Notice the subtle differences between the Model Prayer in Matthew 6:12 and the Model Prayer in Luke 11:4. “Forgive us our debts” is the best translation from the Greek for Matthew 6:12 “Forgive us our trespasses” is a poor translation from Greek to English. Sounds like I am trespassing on someone’s property. “Forgive us our debts”- This makes it sound like a financial transaction and as far as our debt against God this is accurate. Song: “He paid a debt He did not owe, I owed a debt I could not pay, I needed someone to wash my sins away; And now I sing a brand new song, “Amazing Grace,” Christ Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay.” So true but this makes it sound so financial, not much of a broken spirit here except a negative net worth. “Forgive us our sins” from Luke 11:4 makes this more of a broken spirit, a spiritual bankruptcy. Sin is missing the mark. Romans 3:23- “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Our sin is serious. For our sin Jesus went to the cross. Many times take it lightly but for our sins he died. Romans 6:1-2: “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” Then he talks about baptism but later on in Romans 6:12 he says this: “do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.” Having trouble with some bad habit, some sin, then, for a Christian, a good place to start is with this prayer.
Thesis: Forgive us our sins Luke 11:4
For instances:
A. A Daily Soul Sweep
When Jesus modeled prayer to His followers, He included confession of sin and request for forgiveness (even though he himself was tempted in every way but did not sin Hebrews 4:15). In doing so, He made it clear that praying contritely is an important part of the red letter prayer life. That word contrite is to one we use much these days, but it means both humble and repentant. It is an attitude and a posture God finds attractive, as He told the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 57:15: “For this is what the high and exalted One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.” This is the attitude Jesus commended in His story of the tax collector and the Pharisee in Luke 18:9-14: To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” The tax collector asked for forgiveness, saying, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner”- and went home justified before God. Jesus is recommending a daily soul sweep, one that follows the request for today’s bread with a plea for today’s pardon. This is a daily cleansing, a daily clearing of the air. A request for grace. As Christians, we have already been washed as white as the snow through baptism but we all need a daily touch up, a daily brightening, a spring cleaning.
B. Admit our helplessness
Getting back to the tax collector, he stood far off. He did not gaze up toward heaven as someone who could face his Maker but “would not even lift up his eyes.” He did not stand tall and puff out his chest as someone who could expect some reward or praise but “beat his breast,” humbly and brokenly owning his responsibility for his sin. When Jesus told His followers to pray, “Forgive us our sins,” He was prescribing not only a phrase but an attitude. He is telling us to admit our helplessness. He is urging a humble awareness of our need for mercy and grace. Martin Luther said, “Before God everyone is compelled to lower his plumes.” Praying contritely means lowering our plumes- a reference to the decorative feathers attached to a military headdress, which indicated a soldier’s rank or regiment. It means standing “far off,” lowering our gaze, and beating our breasts. It means owning our helplessness, our utter lack of right or rank before God. Ole Hallesby said: “Listen, my friend Your helplessness is your best prayer. It calls from your heart to the heart of God with greater effect than all your uttered pleas. He hears it from the very moment that you are seized with helplessness, and He becomes actively engaged at once in hearing and answering the prayer of your helplessness.”
C. Confess our sin
According to Jesus, confession is a minimum daily requirement. Unfortunately, Bill Hybels calls confession “probably the most neglected area in personal prayer today.” He goes on: “We often hear people pray publicly, ‘Lord, forgive us for our many sins.’ A lot of us carry that approach into our private prayers. We throw all of our sins onto a pile without so much as looking at them individually, and we say, ‘God, please cover the whole dirty heap.’” Imagine that we go to the dry cleaners with a garment covered in stains. The cleaner says, "Ok, I will look over the garment with you so I am sure to address every stain." We say, "How dare you! I came here to have this garment cleaned and you want me to identify every stain! Isn't that your business?" The cleaner then says, "Yes, but I want you to identify which stains to remove. We have to start somewhere." Many people do the same thing with God. Forgive me and remove my stains. Which ones? God says. We say, How dare you!
Here is an idea from the book of common prayer: “Almighty God, my Father, I confess that I have sinned against You through my own fault, in thought, word, and deed, in what I have done and in what I have left undone.” We need to go back and review our day phrase by phrase: “In thought, I harbored bitterness toward that person in the store. I lusted, I doubted,” and so on, ending with a review of things I left undone that I should have done, such as the apology I should have given but did not or the helping hand I should have given but did not. This may seem too much. It may sound negative toward ourselves. But daily confession is actually a blessing, reviving our spirits and hearts as Isaiah 57 says. As the old adage goes, “Confession is good for the soul.”
D. Accept God’s forgiveness
1 John 1:9 says: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. Had a professor who said that our confession does not save us, the blood of Jesus saves us. 1 John 2:2 says, “He (Christ) is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” Our confession would be meaningless without the blood of Christ but again confession is good for the soul. Philip Keller wrote: “‘Forgive us our debts’ may well be the four most important words that ever cross our lips, provided we really mean them. Any person who comes to the our Father in heaven with a genuine attitude of contrition is bound to find forgiveness. There will fall from the shoulders the old burden of guilt, and, in its place, there will be wrapped around our hearts a radiant sense of warmth, affection, love and acceptance. Visualize God saying, ‘You are forgiven. You are mine. You are my child. You are home!’ This is the reception which the Father gave the prodigal son when he came home asking forgiveness (Luke 15). Little did he know that, despite his misconduct, his father’s love and concern for him had never diminished. Little did he recognize the yearning outreach of his father’s heart toward him, even when his behavior shamed the family name. This is perhaps the most touching picture portrayed for us in all of Scripture, depicting the loving forgiveness of our Father. The son’s forgiveness was freely bestowed and gladly given simply because he had come home, willing to admit his wrong and accept pardon. The very character of God our Father can do no less than extend this kind of forgiveness to all who turn to Him for it.”
Some people struggle to receive God’s forgiveness because they cannot forgive themselves. If God forgives us, can’t we forgive ourselves? When we pray, “Forgive us,” we can accept the Father’s forgiveness and claim His cleansing work in our hearts. We can leave our past in our past. We can check our baggage and walk away unencumbered. Psalm 32:5: “Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin.”
E. Do It Again Tomorrow
Jesus instructed us to pray for daily bread, He wants us also to make a daily confession and experience a daily cleansing when he tells us to pray, “Forgive us our sins.” This is a necessary daily exercise. It is necessary, because, as the Holy Spirit works in us and refines us, we may experience deliverance from sins that “so easily entangles” (Hebrews 12:1). Praying contritely- sincerely and specifically confronting the sins we have committed- not only increases our awareness of our weakness but also heightens our awareness of our need for God’s moment by moment presence and power in our daily lives. This is a progressive exercise because while we are experiencing victory in one area, the Spirit will shine a light on another area. Things we might never have noticed a year ago suddenly become a focus of our conviction and confession. As we grow in grace, we grow in awareness and sensitivity to sin. Shakespeare seems to have known this. In his play Hamlet he inserted a scene in act 3 in which Prince Hamlet pleas with his mother to turn from her scandalous relationship with her late husband's brother. He begs her: “Confess yourself to heaven; repent what’s past; avoid what is to come… Refrain tonight, and that shall lend a kind of easiness to the next abstinence; the next more easy; For use almost can change the stamp of nature, and either master the devil or throw him out with wondrous potency.” In plainer English, Hamlet’s point was the repenting and refraining from sin can make it easier to refrain tomorrow, and even easier the next day. In that way, “use” or practice can “change the stamp of nature,” transforming a habit that once seemed “natural” into “unnatural.”
So sin sick unable to see the seriousness of our sins, love wallowing in the mud- 2 Peter 2:22. "Forgive us our sins" will help us see the seriousness of our wallowing in sin and help us to repent and refrain.
