Forgive us and Help us to Forgive - Confession and Reconciliation

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Matthew 6:9–13 (ESV)

9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Before this morning we’ve talked about some really fascinating topics. (previous weeks)

Now this week we find ourselves faced with the hardest part of the Lords prayer. the one-two punch “Forgive us our debts, (ouch) as we also forgive our debtors.”(KO) We are faced with the reality of sin in our lives and the hurtful acts that have been committed against us. And Jesus says that we can’t just skate over them, but that we must sort them out.

Sin is simultaneously is single handedly the most agreed upon ad hated subject in Christianity, inside and out.

Everyone, no matter the religion or world view agree that there’s something wrong with the world, and that even they themselves aren’t always who they ought to be. Even atheist use words like “ought” “ought not” to categorize certain actions right or wrong, while simultaneously having no foundation to believe in such a thing, yet they still twist their brains in to philosophical pretzel every time they justify it. Consistently confirming the verse:

Romans 2:15 (ESV)

15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them

Sin is an undeniable reality of what we are constantly warring with in this life and Jesus in His instruction on Prayers advises us to meet it head on daily, not just when we’re caught, when we’re at our lowest, or just the “big” sins. But in the daily rhythm of communion with our Heavenly Father we are to confess.

But before we dive into that lets go over a brief biblical definition of sin and all of it’s implications.

Genesis 3:1–7 (ESV)

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

At this point in the story we see Adam Eve living in peak creation, swelling with God in absolute perfection, until the Adversary comes along and twists some words that God had said previously. Which is Satans common tactic. Here’s some tactics that Satan often uses

Brings into question Gods good commands.

The serpent asks “did God really say ____?”. this is his most frequent habit to begin to bring into question Gods good commands. (Examples)

2. Twists Gods gifts and promises.

Satan says that god told them that they cant have any tree which is complete misrepresentation of what God. Adam and Eve had every tree available to them except one, but Satan knowingly distorts this (Examples)

3. Calls God a liar and that God is holding us back.

Satan boldly calls God a liar and claims that God is some how limiting our satisfaction and holding us from who we were really meant to be.

And then he claims that if we were to break the command that God has generously given us then we’d be free. Then we know/realize our true potential and selves.

Satans ultimate aim in this particular Biblical scene and every moment of temptation aimed at ourselves is to fracture our trust in God. He seeks to make us not trust how good God actually is. That the way God designed the world couldn’t be the most satisfactory. That God is actually holding out on us. In fact, if we were just like God and had the privilege of knowledge and realization then we could decided somethings for ourselves. We could be in control, we could rule.

And this is all incredibly silly because of what we’ve discussed in previous weeks, mainly that we were already created like God or rather in His image. We were already given the privilege of rule. But Satans false promise is that the only way for us to completely have those things is apart from God.

So then sin comes down to, not biting a silly apple, not just breaking God’s version of that one speed limit that seems frustratingly low. Or the tax laws that seem to take so much but not accomplish a lot in return. But Sin in-fact, is a rebellion against God Himself. We choose not to trust Him, we reject His loving ways, and thus purposefully choose life away from Him.

“Sin isn’t just breaking rules. It’s picking sides.”

- Unknown

And unfortunately to the detriment of us all we choose to distrust God. We choose to ignore His commands tath our designed for our maximum pleasure, and ultimately reject the most precious thing, Himself.

This fractures God’s creation in two distinct way:

Our Relationship with God.

Obviously rejecting a person causes the relationship to deteriorate rapidly. After their sin God must banish them from the dwelling place that He created for them. Now there is guilt and shame (covering themselves). On top of that they are separated from God and now must interact with Him in a more disconnected way.

2. Our relationship with others

When adam and eve cover themselves before God they also cover themselves from one another. The beauty that God had for them to enjoy through one another was now interrupted and more challenging, and it would only get worse from there. (Cain and Abel (Threats) & Lamech (Ends to a Means))

This is why when Jesus came to the earth He said the greatest thing that you could do to undo the curse of sin is to 1. Love God 2. Love People. He said that everything good that you could do in life hangs on those two commands.

So thats the bad news… Whats the way out? As Jesus says in His instructional prayer, Confession

So lets look back at our portion of the the Lords Prayer for this week

“Forgive us our debts”

Debts = Non- Religious - Commercial term

“something which is owed, something which is due, something which is a duty or an obligation to give or pay.”

-William Barclay

Like wise the term Forgive = Commercial term = Wipe the slate clean

Calling your credit card company to forgive your debt

This is the was that Jesus tells us to pray expecting that God will do just that. Wipe away the enormous debt that we have with Him if we but simply ask.

Prodigal Son

It doesn’t matter what you’ve done or haven’t done. It doesn’t matter what you’ve said or haven’t said, thought or haven’t thought.

“There is more grace in God than sin in us.”

-Pete Greig

So then we must take Jesus words again to heart when he said “Keep asking and you will receive.” You can’t be to broken to receive God’s overwhelming love, but you can be too proud.

“God never tires of forgiving us, we get tired of asking.”

-Pope

So we must continue to ask. Keep running home to the Father. Keep embracing him day after day. He will forgive. He will always forgive.

1 John 1:9 ESV

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Confession through Examen

Explain Examen

Replay - Recap your day

Rejoice - Rummage through the day and look for the gifts

Repent - More repentance not less - getting closer to a light

Reboot - Having received the gift of fresh grace enter into your next day with the Joy of the lord

2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV

18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

In the midst of this process that we must pursue reconciliation with others as Christ pursued it with us(Lk 23.34). This is in fact a primary way that we bring the Kingdom to bare on our world.

When we 1. reconcile our relationship with God (our father) 2. and then wholeheartedly pursue relationship with others (forgive those) we can see the kingdom come here on this earth.

Ruby Bridges

Gordon Wilson

Practice

Daily Prayer Rhythm

Morning - Pray for a good day

Midday - Intercede for the lost

Evening - Gratitude

Prayer Framework

Pause

Rejoice

Ask

Yield

Prayer Posture

Find a posture that works for you that intentionally sets your entire self. Body and mind pointed at God. These examples might help.

Running

Sitting in your living room chair with a cup of coffee

Rocking chair on the porch

Walking in the woods

Kneeling

Sitting

Standing

Whatever gets you to a place of your heart set on things above…Thats where your should be.

Tone

When you pray this week, remove all the common Christian jargon, and truly approach the Father like His child. When you pray imagine the Father relaxed and eager to hear your requests.

Prayer Through Examination

Replay the events of the day. Where was God in the midst of those moments

Rejoice over every little gift no matter where you find it.

Repent and release every moment that didn’t bring you closer to the Father

Reboot and pray for more grace tomorrow!