Forgive Our Debtors

Passage: Matthew 6:12, 14-15

Last year we reflected on our great debt of sin against God.  This week we find out we all have debts with each other.  Not only are we in debt with others but others have debts with us.

In the providence of God, we come to this text two weeks before we take communion, the sign of our forgiveness with God and each other.

This particular petition of the Lord’s Prayer stands out from the rest in two ways.  First, it’s the only petition with an addendum, with a promise attached.  Second, it’s the only petition Jesus expands on immediately after the prayer in verses 14-15.  There is something serious at stake here.

This is a matter of special importance.  In fact it lies at the center of the gospel and at the center of our heart’s greatest need.  When Martin Luther wrote the 95 Theses, the very first one says the entire life of a Christian is a life of repentance.  This is how you become and stay a Christian.

We are dealing here with one of the most practical and relevant matters to face us in Scripture.  This text as much as any in Scripture affects us and our life together as a community.  In fact our very existence as a church depends on this.  If we can’t forgive then we can’t stay in fellowship.

If we can’t treat each other the way God treats us then something is seriously amiss here.

If we can’t forgive one another then we need to go out front and scratch off some words on our sign, words like Christian and church and even Reformed.  If we can’t forgive, we are not reformed according to the Word, we are not Christian according to the example of Christ and we are not Church according to our calling to be a community of believers who have been called out of the world into a fellowship of the forgiven to be salt and light in a fallen world.  The world will know we are Christians by our love and where does love shine more than when we freely forgive each other our sins.

For two thousand years the Church has prayed this prayer, two thousand years, sometimes every week, some even every day, and then it is forgotten and not done.  We ask God to forgive us as we forgive others, and then we don’t forgive others.

Instead we keep track of others sins and failures.  We are judgmental, quick to point out others debts, but are unaware of our own.  When was the last time spouses, parents, friends, co-workers, church members offered or received forgiveness?

Remember when Peter asked Jesus how often shall my brother sin against me and I have to forgive him?  As many as seven times!?  Do you remember Jesus’ answer?