Forgive Us our Debts, As We Have Been Forgiven - Matthew 6: 9-13

We can probably all think of someone who has hurt us. Someone who has wronged us. Someone who owes us something - maybe a thank you or an apology. Maybe something much more. Some of us are carrying around the weight of wounds from several years ago. The wounds of debts that we feel that someone owes us. Maybe you even have a list of “should haves”. People that should have treated you differently. But have you ever stopped to consider the times that you have been on someone else’s debt list? Times that you have hurt someone else?

For the past several weeks we have been discussing the Lord’s prayer. Next week we will conclude our series, but this week I want to focus on a difficult part of the prayer, forgive us our debts as we have been forgiven.

Because of the Fall, we hurt each other. We may not mean to. We may try our very best, but angry words still slip out. Intentions are misunderstood. And other times we intentionally hurt each other. We live in a broken world as broken people. It is easy to see how we accumlate debts against each other. Hold grudges. But we owed another type of debt as well. A debt to God. For all of us have sinned against God and fallen short of the glory that was prepared for us. When we don’t follow God’s leading. When we purpoesly do something we know we shouldn’t. This is sin. This is a debt against God. Its the debt that a simple apology and future good intentions couldn’t erase. A spiritual debt the wage of which was death.

And yet, Christ paid our debt for us. A debt that he did not owe. He paid our debt out of loving kindness.  Because of the cross and resurrection our debt is covered by the grace of God. If we return to the anaology of the house of God, grace is the roof. My guess is when people come to visit your home, the roof is probably not the first thing they notice. In fact, guests can probably go through their entire visit without ever commenting on your roof. But it is essential for your safety. Your warmth. Your protection. 

Brothers and sisters, far too many of us go through life without realizing the grace of God. We may understand in our minds that Christ died for our sins, but that truth hasn’t sunk into our hearts and changed us. During the months of September and October the parish had an eye-opening Bible study on grace. One of the reoccuring comments seemed to be that grace isn’t something we can ever earn or have taken away. God’s paid for our debts, yet somewhere along the line we got it into our heads that if we sin enough times then we lose God’s grace. Friends, that is like saying that Christ’s death was not enough to cover the weight of our sins. It’s simply not true. But in a world that expects everything to turn out balanced in the end, grace just doesn’t make sense.

Another lie that we tell ourselves about grace, is that we need to forgive others in order to have God’s grace. Looking at the prayer this morning it is easy to see how we jump to this conclusion, but we cannot earn grace by giving grace. In fact, we can never earn God’s grace. Instead, it is a gift freely given, we simply need to choose to unwrap it. 

Pastor Adam Hamilton told the story of a Christmas gift that got misplaced one year. It wasn’t until he and his family were taking down the tree in January that they found the gift. They could have chosen to throw the gift away along with the stumble of the old tree. But that wouldn’t make it any less of a gift. The intention of the giver was for it to be a gift, but they had to unwrap it in order to put it to use. Friends, we need to unwrap the gift of grace. Choosing to accept God’s gift in our life. Not fearing that we are going to loose it or that it is going to become any less powerful or meaningful of a gift as time goes on. 

But if we don’t need to give grace in order to earn grace, since it is a gift, why would we need to forgive others their debts? We know that God has forgiven our debts, isn’t that enough? Because God knows the pain that can come when we try to get even. Forgiving debts, doesn’t mean forgetting them. Christ knows the hurts and pains that we all carry. Times when others have wounded us with their words, actions, and inactions. In fact he deeply feels those pains, since they were some of the sins he went to the cross to overcome. But that doesn’t meant that we are excused from answering the question, “what are you going to do with those who have debts against you?”

Are you going to hang on to those pains? Are you going to try to make others earn their way back into your good graces? Are you going to try to get even? Will any of those things bring you true peace and joy?

Pastor Max Lucado was also the author of the parish study on grace. During one of the lessons he told the story of a woman who had her life drastically altered one evening, unexpectedly. She was driving home prior to thanksgiving, when a teenager for absolutely know reason other than his own amusement, through a frozen turkey out the window of his car. The turkey smashed the windshield and this woman's face. She will never look the same again. It was months before she could even look at herself in the mirror, and to do so today is still painful. And yet. And yet when it came time to go court, the woman plead for the teen to have a reduced sentence. Others in the courtroom were appalled, but she choose to show him grace. Nothing could ever restore her face again, or make that fateful night not happen. She choose to forgive this young man.

Its hard to place ourselves in that story, isn’t it? But if it was you, would you argue for a lesser sentence for one who so deeply wounded you? Would you choose to forgive the seemingly unforgivable? For this woman it was an expression of her faith and months of personal healing. She will never forget what happened to her, but she choose not to let it define her. She forgave the young man’s debt.

Brothers and sisters, when we pray “Forgive us our debts as we have been forgiven” we remember the powerful truth of the cross. We remember the undeserved and unearned grace that we received through Jesus Christ and we desire to show others that grace, letting it shine through our lives. Who knows how that young man’s life changed because of this woman’s decision. Maybe he came to believe in Christ because of her. Maybe he simply ignored the gift he was given, choosing to disregard its power and meaning. We cannot control what other’s do with the forgiveness we offer them, we are simply admonished to forgive. To not let things eat us up or define us, for in the end that will harm us even more. 

When we pray this prayer, we remember the people that we have hurt in our lives. We seek reconciliation. But even if they do not forgive us we know we are forgiven by God.

When we pray this prayer, we essentially say “Treat me as I treat my neighbor”. Think back to the parable Jesus told about a man who could not pay his debt to the King. The King graciously repaid his enormous debt and did not throw the man into prison. But then the same man, the forgiven man, came across someone who owed him so little and he threw him in jail. All too often we forget how much we have been forgiven. We fail to unwrap the gift of grace, so we don’t act as forgiven people, forgiving others. But we are called to seek to forgive others because we have been forgiven. Brothers and sisters, who do you need to forgive this day? What debts do you need to let go of? Let us grab firmly hold of the grace, the forgiveness of God, remembering our debts have been forgiven, and finding the strength to forgive the debts of others.  Amen.