Forgive Us
Notes
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Series Review
Series Review
“This, then, is how you should 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 today our daily bread.
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Example of rote repitition: J crew: Thank you....hearings it constantly, enthusiastic waning, supervisor encouraging, sensitivity towards customers service, less so towards telemarketing
Habit of saying again
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Sermon Introduction
Sermon Introduction
J crew
Thank you....hearings it constantly, enthusiastic waning, supervisor encouraging, sensitivity towards customers service, less so towards telemarketing
first visit to a UMC: fellowship meal afterwards; woman praying quietly, we can’t hear you; she wasn’t talking to you. prayer is talking with God: we can do that;
Forgiveness is hard
Forgiveness is hard
I preached last week about that part of the Lord’s Prayer: give us our daily bread; that’s probably the easist part of the prayer; this morning is the most difficult: forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
I preached last week about that part of the Lord’s Prayer: give us our daily bread; that’s probably the easist part of the prayer; this morning is the most difficult: forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
When I was in high school I had a great pentecostal youth leader
pentecostal youth leader
how did i end up methodist
he was a dry teacher (groan when he got up to teach) but we were drawn to him because he was a deeply spiritual man; his greatest contribution to that youth group and to me as a youth was how he taught us to pray; he would gather us around him, teach us Scripture, listen to us talk about our days, and he would teach us how to pray; not tell us what to pray, but tell us how; here are things to ask for, not ask for; here are ways we can and can’t address God;
sometimes he would use the Lord’s Prayer.
sometimes he would use the Lord’s Prayer.
He would take us through it one phrase at a time; he was doing that with a group of us when someone paused at that part of the prayer: what’s wrong? I can’t say that. God knows I don’t mean it. Angry at bullies at school. Angry at his dad.
I can accept God’s forgiveness, but I can’t give it. Not to those people.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Forgiveness is a barrier to prayer.
Forgiveness is a barrier to prayer.
explain debts;
Forgive us God. (Forgive me for losing my temper. Forgive me for not being generous when you gave me the opportunity. Forgive me for my sinful thoughts). Forgive me, God, of these debts. You know, like the way I forgive other people.
Forgive us God. And then we give God an example. You know, God. Like the way we forgive other people.
Forgive us God. (Forgive me for losing my temper. Forgive me for not being generous when you gave me the opportunity. Forgive me for my sinful thoughts). Forgive me, God, of these debts. You know, like the way I forgive other people.
If forgiveness is absent in our lives, then our prayers will be ineffective. Dry. Boring. Superficial. We need forgiveness, and we need to be forgiving.
Yet Jesus says if we can’t give it we can’t receive it.
But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Purpose of the sermon: How to remove this barrier?
The purpose of this sermon is to give us pause when pray this part of the prayer. Seriously pause when we ask God for forgiveness. There is a condition for receiving forgiveness, and we may not like it. There are many reasons why we can get stuck in prayer: boring; distracted; frustrated; lack of discipline; apathy; anger with God; Maybe we can get stuck in prayer if we can’t forgive others.
The purpose of this sermon is to give us pause when pray this part of the prayer. Seriously pause when we ask God for forgiveness. There is a condition for receiving forgiveness, and we may not like it. There are many reasons why we can get stuck in prayer: boring; distracted; frustrated; lack of discipline; apathy; anger with God; Maybe we can get stuck in prayer if we can’t forgive others.
The deeper question:
, why is it so difficult to give the thing we are asking God for in our prayers? Why can’t we forgive? The story of the unmerciful servant can help us answer that question.
There was a reason why Jesus tells this story of the unmerciful servant.
context for parable: 1) how to deal with sin in the church when [not if] it happens, 2) how many times to we have to forgive someone
how to deal with - parents setting rules “just in case?” A plan for household discipline is not a contingency plan; we are born in sin, we live in a sinful world
Ever avoid someone in the fellowship hall. sit on the opposite of the sanctuary;
It was a response to a question from the Disciple Peter:
There was a reason why Jesus tells this story of the unmerciful servant. It was a response to a question from the Disciple Peter:
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
Do the math: that’s alot. the church is a place that requires perpetual forgiveness: 2 unpleasant realities of life that are assumed in the Scriptures: we will be sinned against; and we have to keep forgiving.
context for parable: 1) how to deal with sin in the church when [not if] it happens, 2) how many times to we have to forgive someone
how to deal with - parents setting rules “just in case?” A plan for household discipline is not a contingency plan; we are born in sin, we live in a sinful world
Ever avoid someone in the fellowship hall. sit on the opposite of the sanctuary;
When we pray for forgiveness, we do so with the assumption that we have forgiven others.
Why forgiveness is so hard. It is hard to forgive, and its hard to be forgiven. Barriers to forgiveness.
The first has to do with...
Denying Guilt
Denying Guilt
“At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’
unhealthy shame
It’s hard to forgive when there is no guilt or shame or regret by the person whom we need to forgive. It’s hard to receive forgiveness when we deny our own guilt.
When we pray asking God to forgive us, do we do that with a certain dgree of sorrow and shame, or are we in denial?
We live in denial all the time. Just ask someone, “Would you like to know the ingredients in that food you’re eating.” “I don’t want to know. Don’t ruin it for me.” Type in “hotdog ingredients” on the internet when you get home. We don’t want to know.
But we live in denial in more important ways.
Our health - should we see a doctor? Our financial situation - I’m not saving. Our relationships - are things deteriorating? The world: too many problems to think about. Our relationship with God? Do we live in denial of sin?
In the world of psychology, they talk the different levels of denial:
Denial that the problem, symptom, feeling or need exists.
Minimization or rationalization.
Minimization or rationalization.Third degree: Admitting it, but denying the consequences.Fourth degree: Unwilling to seek help for it.
Admitting it, but denying the consequences, but unwilling to seek forgiveness for it.
Unwilling to seek help for it.
It’s hard to forgive, it’s hard to receive forgiven when there is our grief, our regret over sin?
We can’t live in denial.
Focusing on the Offense
Focusing on the Offense
“But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.
Matthew 18:
When we ask God for forgiveness, are we consumed by unforgiveness?
(e.g. man hurt by pastor…20 years ago; apparently a finance committee gone wrong; unethical handling of $, resignation of committee chair - for over 20 years he carried this anger (family told me) he was consumed by it; bring it up and his whole demeanor changed; [at the bare minimum, don’t cringe]; carried that into his prayer life;
not “get over it,” or “deal with it”, or “let it go” - these are catch phrases we use;
forgiveness is active; (things just drift away, we open our hands and it floats away) intentional, controntational [going to the person]
we hurt, we go into self-protect mode; we get bitter, resentful, and we are consumed by it, our thoughts are consumed by it; it affects our relationships with people / God. (been betrayed, hard to trust); our bitterness, anger is human, but...
how to overcome this: see the big picture:
see the big picture: yes, I’m in pain. I’ve been betrayed. I’ve been injured. I have been insulted. I’ve been lied to. I’ve had a disagreement; it hurts. but if that becomes are focus, we haven’t stepped back to see the wider picture; we have been forgiven so much. (comparing sins?) God is a limitless forgiver.
we don’t see the big picture: yes, I’m in pain. I’ve been betrayed. I’ve been injured. I have been insulted. I’ve been lied to. I’ve had a disagreement; it hurts. but if that becomes are focus, we haven’t stepped back to see the wider picture; we have been forgiven so much. (comparing sins?) God is a limitless forgiver.
Not Appreciating the Magnitude of God’s Grace
Not Appreciating the Magnitude of God’s Grace
“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to.
yes, I’m in pain. I’ve been betrayed. I’ve been injured. I have been insulted. I’ve been lied to. I’ve had a disagreement; it hurts. but if that becomes are focus, we haven’t stepped back to see the wider picture; we have been forgiven so much. (comparing sins?) God is a limitless forgiver.
When we ask for forgiveness, do we remember how we were forgiven? When we need to forgive, do we remember how much we have been forgiven?
This is where our prayers can under appreciate the grace of God for granted. This is where we can under appreciate the gravity our own sin.
Anger, hostility, separation. We can be different.Makes me feel good to see people love, elderly woman hugged by a young African woman. Regular customer. Hospitality, warmth, grandma homey, thrift store, isolation,
The kind of person I want to be:
Let's be that place, I want to be that person. Place to be loved, place where my flaws can be exposed and I can be forgiven, 70x7. Not a tolerance for sin, but a place people can become whole
Conclusion
Conclusion
Praying and meaning it? (grow into that reality)
Let’s remember this morning that we pray to a Father who cares deeply about us, but this father is holy and his name is not to be used casually. Like a gracious Father, he is always ready to forgive and see us become whole. But if we can’t forgive others, it is very hard for us to be forgiven by God. Remembering this
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,
For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.