Forgive as We Have Been Forgiven

2.9.25

John & Barbara Davis

Thank you for coming today. For those of you who don’t know us, I am John Davis, and this is my lovely wife, Barbara.  We are the proud parents of two lovely girls, Elizabeth and Christine and to one very advance granddaughter, Maisey.

Barb

Is from Houston, TX

She graduated from University of Arkansas with a BA in Health Science

She went on to graduate from University of Texas Dental School.

She served in the US Army as a dentist achieving the rank of Major.

Barbara and I met in Germany while serving with the US Army.

Barbara outranked me at work and at home!

John

Was born in Butte and raised in Dillon.

He graduated from University of Montana with a BS in Business Mgmt.

He served in the US Air Force as a photographer and in the US Army as a personnel officer.

He is a veteran of Desert Storm.

Before moving back to Dillon to assist with his mom’s care, John was the Director of Distribution for Zep Inc.

 When Daniel asked us to do this, we were both kind of mortified.  What did we do to deserve this?  Are we worthy?  Are we qualified? 

According to my mother, I am not.

The big question was: How do we do this?

As with many of you, we want to do our part to help with the transition, so we dug in and are about to make it happen. 

Have you ever prayed that the pastor would have a nice short sermon that was to the point?  Well, hold on to your seats…

Today, we will be continuing the series on the Lord’s Prayer.

Previously, Pastor Daniel covered “Give us this day our daily bread”.

Today we are covering “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors”.

DEBT

What does that mean?

I thought I knew until I heard it used in the Lord’s Prayer, “Forgive us our debts, as we Forgive our debtors. I was confused.  I grew up in the Methodist Church.  We didn’t have “debts”, we had “trespasses”. 

Question.  Who grew up using Debts?  Who grew up using Trespasses?

So, what’s the deal?

Well, we Googled it….

The website, Households of Faith, says this…

The Scottish church followed John Wycliffe’s translation from the Latin Vulgate in the 1300’s which used the word debts.  Wycliffe was a theology professor at Oxford and a Catholic priest.

Along came William Tyndale, a biblical scholar and protestant reformer in the 1500’s.  He translated the bible into English directly from Greek and Hebrew text.  His translation used the word trespass.

The independent Scotts would be hard pressed to adopt anything English!  That is most likely why the Presbyterians have used debts and not trespasses.

So, who’s right?

The word trespass suggests we have violated a rule or committed an infraction.  The word debt suggests we owe God something we cannot pay.  As it turns out, both words refer to the same thing…sin.

In one church we attended, the version of the Lord’s Prayer that they used said, “Forgive us our SINS as we forgive those who SIN against us.”

So, the question arises, is this portion of the Lord’s prayer referring to our salvation?  Is our salvation dependent upon our forgiving others?

Forgive us our debts does not mean believers need to ask daily for justification, since believers are justified forever from the moment of initial saving faith.  Rather, this is a prayer for the restoration of personal fellowship with God when fellowship has been hindered by sin.  Those who have received such forgiveness are so moved with gratitude toward God that they also eagerly forgive those who are indebted to them.

“Forgiveness is like breathing.  We breathe in God’s forgiveness and breathe out forgiveness to others.”

Jesus told his disciples the parable of the unforgiving servant to illustrate this point.  When we receive God’s forgiveness for our sins, we need to ”pay it forward”, so to speak.  The Gospel could be described in one word: Forgiveness.

Unfortunately, we are not very forgiving people.  The scripture that we just heard is a prime example of someone who is unforgiving.  But there are also excellent examples in the bible of forgiveness.

Take, for instance, the story of Jacob and Esau. Jacob and Esau were twins, but Esau was born first.  This entitled him to a birthright to inherit his father’s possessions and authority. 

Jacob, whose name means “He Cheats”, cheated his brother Esau out of his birthright.  As if that wasn’t enough, he then tricked his father Issac into blessing him when Issac thought he was blessing Esau, who was the rightful recipient according to tradition. 

When Esau discovered this, he threatened to kill Jacob, so Jacob fled his home landing in Haran, about 500 miles away.  Jacob went to work for his uncle for many years, obtained wives and was told by God to return Canaan. 

As Jacob and his wives and children were journeying toward Canaan, he got word that Esau was on his way to meet him with 400 men!  Can you imagine what went through Jacob’s mind? 

 Long story short, after sending gifts of livestock and preparing for the possibility of being attacked, Jacob was greeted and embraced by Esau who invited him to journey with him to his home.  As it turned out, Jacob told Esau to go on ahead and then he went somewhere else because he still wasn’t sure he trusted Esau. 

But the point is: Esau forgave Jacob for his heinous deeds. 

One of my favorite Old Testament stories is one that I am currently reading.  (I read the New Testament last year with the group.  This year I went rogue, and I am reading the Old Testament in chronological order.) 

The story I love most is about Joseph.  If you remember, Joseph was Jacob’s favorite son, much to the dismay and annoyance of his brothers.  After tattling on them and then recounting his dream of them bowing down to him, they had had enough and conspired to get rid of him.  They threw him into a pit.  Reuben suggested that they not kill him but leave him in the pit. 

While they lunched, Midianite traders passed by, and Judah suggested that they sell Joseph to the Midianites.  They did and he was taken to Egypt and sold into slavery.  The brothers took his tunic which they had removed from Joseph and dipped it in the blood of a goat that they slaughtered.  They showed it to Jacob and let him believe his favorite son had been killed by a viscous animal. 

Many years later when Joseph was reunited with his brothers, he was able to forgive them and rebuild relationships with them. 

I have to wonder: if my siblings sold me into slavery and told my parents I was dead, how willing would I be to forgive?

Consider the wrongs you have suffered in your life.  Did you have trouble forgiving any of them?  I know that I can answer that in the affirmative. 

1.    One of the hardest things for me (and probably most parents) to forgive is when someone hurts my child, physically or emotionally.  That one takes a lot of prayer!

 Now consider all of the despicable things humans do to each other.  Jesus died so that even the most wicked of us had a chance for forgiveness and we find it hard to forgive even one thing.  WE NEED HIS HELP.

What does it mean to forgive?  According to a video by the BibleProject, “To forgive is to give up the right to get even.”  This includes praying for the wellbeing of those who have sinned against us.  That is HARD!  Be gracious and patient with yourself.  And keep in mind that forgiving someone is NOT excusing or endorsing their behavior.  It is still wrong, we are just forgiving them for it.

From Pastor Daniel’s 2019 sermon:  in Matthew 18, Jesus tells us this simple yet important step towards forgiveness and reconciliation when he says, “If your brother or sister sins against you, go and tell them their fault, between you and them alone.”  Pastor Daniel stated, “So many of our world’s problems would be solved if we simply obeyed him on that one.”

It’s helpful to start by praying.  Ask Jesus for help, wisdom and guidance for the conversation.

Ken Sande, in his book The Promise Keeper, says that there are four promises that we are making in the moment when we forgive someone.  He says, we promise and say to the other.

1.    I will not dwell on this incident.  

a.     “Forgive and forget is a great idea, but not very likely to happen.  So, perhaps the best we can do is to try not to focus on the incident.” 

b.    As an added bonus, medically speaking, the act of forgiving has been shown to reduce blood pressure and anxiety.

2.    I will not bring up this incident again and use it against you. (Remember the cilantro incident, John.)

3.    I will not talk to others about this incident.                          (Remember the cilantro incident, Barb.)

4.    I will not let this incident stand between us or hinder our personal relationship.

(Love you; mean it.)

 This is how God forgives.  When we have confessed our sins, He doesn’t dwell on our sin, He doesn’t remind us of our sin or use it against us, and He Still Loves Us.

Psalm 103:12 says, “as far as the East is from the West, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” This is what He wants us to emulate.

 The early Christians struggled with this.  Paul wrote this to the Colossian Church…

Colossians 3:12-13

So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so you must do also.

Lastly, when you struggle with forgiveness, first look to Jesus and remember what he has done for you.  To truly live, you must forgive…

Please pray with me:

Heavenly Father, as we reflect on your word today, we come before you humbly, acknowledging our shortcomings and asking for your forgiveness.  Wash away our sins, cleanse our hearts, and renew our spirits with your grace.  Help us to let go of any bitterness or resentment and to extend forgiveness to others, just as you have forgiven us.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.