Forgive Us Our Trespasses, Sunday, 7/31/16 1 As we continue with our worship series on the Lord s Prayer, this morning we re going to wrestle with another of those uncomfortable areas of our lives that Jesus insists on meddling with: Forgiveness. Last week we saw how our gratitude for God s daily provision forms the foundation of a humble dependence on God that leads us into the world to become daily bread for others. This morning we ll look at two sides of the same coin- the forgiveness we receive from God, and the forgiveness we offer other people. 2 How many of you will admit to downloading the Pokémon Go app on your smartphone? How many of you have at least heard of it? Pokémon Go is a crazily popular game that has people of all ages walking, biking, and driving around their neighborhoods trying to catch imaginary creatures that they train and then use in videogame battles. What makes Pokémon Go interesting is that in order to capture the creatures, players have to physically travel to the random places that the creatures spawn. It doesn t take much imagination to anticipate that this might lead to some unfortunate situations, including trespassing on private property. A man and a woman were arrested near the Toledo Zoo s tiger exhibit recently after jumping the fence to play Pokémon Go. In Florida, a man reportedly shot at two players outside his house, saying he awoke to a loud noise outside. He saw a white car outside his home with the brake lights showing, so he picked up his gun. As he approached the car, he heard someone say something along the lines of "Did you get anything?" He then stood in front of the car and said not to move, but it accelerated towards him. He got out of the way and started shooting after the car. Fortunately, nobody was hurt in either of these incidents. But just like we saw in the exploding egg demonstration this morning, our trespasses often do result in injury, both to those we trespass against, and to ourselves. And so it s no wonder that Jesus includes by example and by teaching many lessons on forgiveness. Our next Bible reading comes from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 18, verses 21-35. I m reading from the New Living Translation. {Read Matthew18, 21-25 NLT). 3 Have you ever wondered why some Christians, like Presbyterians, say debts when praying the Lord s Prayer and others, including United Methodists, say trespasses? It s even more puzzling if you read Biblical Greek, because Matthew clearly records Jesus as 1
praying, Forgive us our debts, while in Luke s account, Jesus prays, Forgive us our sins. The short answer is that in the Lord s Prayer, Jesus uses the concepts of being in financial debt and trespassing on someone s land as metaphors for sin. Which metaphor you prefer really doesn t matter. Of much greater importance is that we live within the spiritual tension that s implied by this prayer. For now, let s roll with the metaphor of debt, where the amount of debt is signified by the weight of bags of money owed. Imagine that the money bags are placed on two sides of a crazy teeter totter, except this teeter totter doesn t operate the usual way. When one side goes down, the other goes down, and vice versa. Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. I think what makes us most uncomfortable about this part of the Lord s Prayer is not that we all have debts that we need God s forgiveness for. We all can admit at some level that we have brokenness in our lives and that we ve failed to live up to God s highest calling for how we live our lives. I also don t imagine that the problem is recognizing that others owe us debts for the various ways they ve hurt us and so failed to live up to God s highest standards for their love of neighbors. Our biggest problem is the way that Jesus linked these two accounts- our debt, and the debt owed to us. You see, in God s crazy, mixed-up kingdom, the way to get our side of the teeter totter off the ground again is not to weigh down the other side- to let sins against us go unforgiven. Instead, we pray, Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. As we work through forgiveness to jettison the debt that s weighing down the accounts of our family, friends, and enemies with us, we actually make room for God s Spirit to remove debt from our own account with God. You know, I ve never seen a teeter totter that worked like that. Maybe we could get one for the new playground! What are some of the debts that you hold unforgiven against others? Have you felt the weight of that debt on your heart? Don t you realize that holding onto that debt is also keeping your side of the teeter totter stuck on the ground? Releasing the debt you re holding against others is the only way to free your own debt. 4 The other metaphor Jesus gives us is trespassing. Just as almost every adult in this sanctuary knows what it means to be in financial debt, all of us are familiar with the idea that there are places where we simply aren t allowed to go. Sometimes the boundary is a matter 2
of time, like the many parks in our area that close at sundown. Sometimes the boundary has to do with our status with a group, like those signs in stores that say, Employees Only. Sometimes the boundaries are a matter of age, like the signs that say, You must be over 21 to enter. Crossing those boundaries is what we call trespassing, whether it s an intentional or an accidental border crossing. As Christians, our most basic boundaries are defined by the Great Commandments: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and strength; and Love your neighbor as yourself. When we pray Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, we re really talking those Great Commandments, which Jesus said perfectly summarized all the Law and Prophets. It s easy to put together a list of ways in which others have trespassed against us. The thank you or the invitation never received; the careless words that hurt; unfaithfulness; thoughtlessness; downright vindictive meanness. Unfortunately, while it s easy for us to see the trespasses against us, it s much harder to see our own trespasses. 5 I had an interesting realization this week about the well-known phenomenon, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. I was standing in my yard feeling somewhat dismayed by all the weeds and dead spots where neighbor dogs had stopped to visit. At the same time, I was admiring all the plush, dark green sod that three of my nearest (and newest) neighbors had just planted. I walked over to one of my neighbors to chit chat and mention how nice the new sod looked, when she surprised me by saying how great our own lawn looked. I couldn t believe it. I turned to survey my yard, wondering if perhaps she had mistaken which yard was mine. But of course, she hadn t. The truth is, my yard looked completely different- ten times better- from where I was standing across the street. I wonder if there isn t a similar but opposite thing happening for us with our trespasses. Isn t it true that our own thoughtless actions often look better from our own perspective- somehow more excusable- than from the vantage point of the neighbor we ve trespassed against. I once trimmed a branch off a neighbor s tree without talking with him about it and he understandably was a little mad about it. After feeling a little miffed that he called me on it, I realized that I might have been angry if he had done the same thing to me. If the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, then trespasses always look 3
worse on the other side of the fence. What are some of the trespasses that you hold unforgiven against others? Have you looked carefully on your own side of the fence to see if you ve committed the very same trespasses? 6 Jesus must have known how hard it is for us to forgive others, because he kept telling us to do it- not once, but seventy times seven! In fact, in the Gospel of Matthew, this is the one part of the Lord s Prayer that Jesus immediately repeats to emphasize it: For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Only one chapter earlier in Matthew, Jesus taught, Blessed are the peacemakers and also, If you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister. There s absolutely no doubt that forgiveness and reconciliation are a foundational part of the same will and kingdom that we ve been asking God to bring when we pray the Lord s Prayer. Who knows? Maybe offering and receiving forgiveness is also a part of the daily bread we receive and offer to the world. 7 We re going to watch a music video now by Matthew West. As you watch it, you re invited to reflect on any debts and trespasses that you re still holding onto unforgiven. Pray that God s Holy Spirit might open your eyes, soften your heart, and enable you to release these burdens and even reconcile with the person or person who hurt you. {Play Forgiveness DVD, 4:25} 8 It s the hardest thing to give away, and the last thing on your mind today. It always goes to those that don t deserve. But as forgiven people called to heal the world, we truly were forgiven to forgive. Please join me in prayer. Holy God, because of Jesus, you forgive us. Speak to our hearts this morning about the burdens we are carrying around with us. Give us the courage and strength to release those burdens through forgiveness. On our own we know this is impossible, but in the power of your Spirit and love, all things are possible. Amen. 4
Buffalo United Methodist Church serving people for Jesus Christ so that we all may know joy! 609 8 th Street NW Buffalo, MN 55313 763-682-3538 Bill Reinhart, Pastor pastorbill@buffaloumc.com 5