Reflection on Matthew 6:7-15

 

There is no question that you know the words to the Lord’s Prayer very well.  You could recite them in your sleep!  But, every single time that I read the prayer out of the Bible, and not by memory, I am caught off guard by Jesus’ immediate reminder following the prayer to forgive. 

Maybe, I am just too used to concluding the prayer with the traditional “for thine is the kingdom…”  But, more than that, it is as if Jesus intentionally stops us in the middle of our settled, calm, and collected mode of prayer, shakes us back into reality, and reminds us of something important.  And, those important words are:

“¹⁴For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; ¹⁵but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14-15).

It is almost as if the words, “and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors,” is not quite enough to get through our heads just how important forgiveness is to Jesus, our Lord.  Just to press the point home, Jesus carefully spells out that we will not be forgiven unless we have forgiven others. 

And, this seems awfully harsh.  “Really, God is not going to show me any forgiveness unless I make up with my neighbor…who is extremely terrible and is probably the vilest, rottenest, and evilest piece of trash that this world has even seen and will ever see?  And, who has shown no remorse by the way!”  In truth, my neighbors are great, but you get the point.

But, then I think about the woman who I heard complaining to a group of five people in the grocery store the other day.  She was talking about her mother and expressing to the group of five around her how she was never going to forgive her mother, and that her mother would never come to know any of her children either.  She was going to make sure of that. 

Now, I did not know the woman, nor did I have any idea who her mother was.  I did not hear why she was so unforgiving and I have no idea what her mother did to her to earn such distain.  But, what I did take note of was that her hatred of this woman was explicitly going to affect her three children, and was already affecting the lives of those five people who were standing, listening, and nodding their agreement.  All I saw was a small community of people being built up by word of hate rather than words that could save or restore.  There was no love being expressed in that small group, and that has to have an impact on this world in some way.

Let me say clearly, though I know nothing about the situation, I am guessing that the mother deserves all of the hate coming her way.  The person doing the hating was her own daughter!  But, forgiveness has nothing to do with deserving it.  Romans 5:8 reminds us: “But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.”  God’s forgiveness comes to us as a gift.  Almost by definition, forgiveness is something that we do not deserve.  The mother does not deserve it.  Her daughter does not deserve it.  You and I do not deserve it.  The forgiveness God gives us is a gift.  And, it appears that Jesus expects that our forgiveness would be a gift also.

In fact, forgiveness is a part of who God is.  It is a part of God’s very being.  God’s forgiveness starts in the very first chapters of the Bible and appears again and again.  So, if we want to have any part in the life of God, then is seems that forgiveness will end up being a very important part of our life. 

Now, what Jesus has to say to us is more than simply chiding us or guilting us into offering forgiveness.  Rather, Jesus reminds us that our very lives with God have everything to do with forgiveness.

It is like when I was really little and was playing kick ball for the very first time.  My very first kick sent the ball flying a whole two feet.  It was quickly picked up by another player, and I was out within mere moments.  I was so frustrated that I had already been tagged out that I declared, “I am not playing anymore!”  I stomped away.

One of the older kids ran after me, held me by the shoulders, and told me to come back.  “How can you have fun playing the game if you are not even willing to play?” 

Forgiveness is not just a thing that we do; it is a reality that we live in.  Either we live in it or we do not.  Either we participate in it, or we do not.  How can we expect to have forgiveness tossed our way if we refuse to even be on the playing field?

Forgiveness is God’s game; if you refuse to forgive you are refusing to be a part of the game. That is just the reality of it all. But, here is the thing, if you want to be a part of what God is up to in the world; the offer to play is always there. In fact, there is a base on the field with your name printed on it already. Play the game. Forgive and you will be forgiven.