Introduction
As previously mentioned I have often thought this to be the core of the Lord’s prayer as it takes us to the core of our faith. At the very heart of what it means to be a Christian lies the simple fact that God has forgiven us. The very act of becoming a Christian involves repenting of our sins, receiving forgiveness from God and being re-born into a new life with him. This is another of those “both ands” it is both a one-off act at the start of our Christian life (marked by baptism) and an ongoing experience as this side of eternity we are bound to continue to sin. As Paul puts it “we have died with Christ” – the one-off event and yet we must still “go on offering our bodies as living sacrifices”. So forgiveness is central to our Christian lives and central to this prayer.
I suppose most of us have no problem with asking God for forgiveness. We all sense our own sinfulness from time to time and particularly as we become aware of the intense holiness of God. It is as we approach the throne-room of heaven that we become aware of our own failings and unworthiness. Like Isaiah we cry out “Woe is me…”. A brief aside about sin vv. Trespasses. I suspect sin was used in the modern language version because people associated the word trespass with “Trespassers will be prosecuted” a specific trespass. In today’s world sin and sinfulness are equally archaic notions, I have no idea how one could put it in today’s language. There is some debate as to whether it should be sins / trespasses ie specific acts or sinfulness / wickedness ie our general tendency towards wrong-doing. My own view that in the context of the Lord’s prayer where in a sense we are dealing with headlines then sinfulness might be better but in a prayer of confession then calling to mind specific sins is better.
Be it as it may time and time again we find ourselves at the foot of the cross seeking God’s forgiveness. It is a wonder and a mystery quite how Christ’s offering of himself has procured forgiveness for us suffice it to say that Christian experience throughout the ages has found it to be true. There is huge theological debate about all of this but I believe at its heart this forgiveness is a profound expression of God’s love. It is out of love for the world he had made that Jesus entered into our humanity and offered himself for us. As Jesus himself taught those who have been forgiven much love greatly too.
If we have no problem with seeking forgiveness from God for ourselves then why do we struggle with the second part – as we forgive those who have sinned against us. We are left in no doubt that this is what was intended in the prayer as we look a bit further on in Matthew 6:14-15. Jesus also illustrated this with the parable of the unforgiving servant Matt.18:21-35 which concludes with “This is how my heavenly Father will treat you unless you forgive your brother from the heart”.
Again we move into challenging territory here. It is so easy for us to harbour unforgiveness in our hearts. It may be we have been abused or the victims of great injustice. It maybe we have suffered cruel fate such as a devastating accident or illness / disability. I wonder which three words you find harder to say: “I am sorry” or “I forgive you”.
The act of forgiveness requires firstly a recognition that we have been offended. This can be quite hard but try asking God to reveal this to you. It could be something from way back in the past or it could be current. Having identified any such people it then requires an act of the will to say “I forgive you”. In some circumstances it may not be possible to do this face to face. This is particularly difficult if the “sinner” doesn’t recognise their sin. (eg blasphemy). As we pronounce forgiveness we begin to notice a change of heart.
So far we have looked at this whole area of forgiveness on a more personal level – as if the prayer said “forgive me my sins”. Just as with the supply of daily necessities forgiveness has a corporate dimension. As a community / nation we sin and need forgiveness and need to forgive others. Some of the ways in which we as a nation have sinned and need to repent are: our attitude to abortion, our wanton destruction of the environment and our unfair trade rules. Part of our response to these issues is to seek forgiveness as well as to take action by involvement in such groups as Choices, Arocha and Christian Aid