Friday, March 1, 2013

“In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:9-12).

IDEA: Forgiveness is not a one-way street.

PURPOSE: To help listeners feel the weight of forgiving others.

Let me tell you about a situation that isn’t an uncommon one. I’ve changed some of the crucial details. A mother and her children were attending a well-known church. One of the leaders in the church had behaved in a very inappropriate way with her young daughter. The woman went to the leaders of the church several times to tell them what had occurred. At first they did nothing. They then confronted the offender and he said that he had repented. They told her that as a Christian she should therefore forgive the leader for what he had done to her daughter, but they took no other action.

She had several questions:

I. Two questions about repentance and forgiveness:

Do you think repentance is essential for forgiveness?

How can you know that this leader has really repented?

II. The mother has had difficulty praying “the Lord’s Prayer” and the request about “forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

She knows that Jesus elaborated on that request in Matthew 6:14-15: “For if you forgive others 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.”

Is our forgiveness of others a condition for God’s forgiveness of us? How can this woman know that she has forgiven this man? She still has bad feelings toward him and toward the leadership in the church for what happened and how it was handled. She doesn’t want to lie to herself or to God when she is praying this prayer each week.

Is it possible to forgive but not forget?