Episode 5

Forgive us as we Forgive

In part 5 of the Sermon on the Mount, we explore what Jesus meant when He tells us to forgive as we forgive others.

Transcript
Speaker:

Microphone (ZOOM P4 Audio): I

think I should introduce this one.

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Go ahead.

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All right.

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We are on part five of the Lord's prayer.

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And we're looking at this, trying

to understand, not just the words

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which are repeated so often.

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But the meaning of them, the

template that Jesus gives us.

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And today we come to the fifth part.

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Forgive us, our debts, as we

also have forgiven our debtors.

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Yeah, I like this one.

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Cause, I mean, I've heard of God

forgiving us of our sins, of course.

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Sure.

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But debts, I mean, As a recent

college and seminary grad.

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I like the sound of this one.

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Yeah.

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Please forgive me of my.

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relinquishing me and my dad's.

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That'd be a nice letter

to get in the mail when.

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Yeah.

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Uh, so for real though,

why does Jesus instruct us?

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To ask God to forgive us

of our quote unquote debts.

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What does that mean?

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Yeah.

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Can you help us understand

that a little bit, please?

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In the Bible, there are three

main words for the moral wrongs.

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We commit.

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The first is sin, which basically

has the idea of breaking.

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A rightful command and the second is

trespasses, which speak of going beyond.

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Our rightful limits,

just like trespassing.

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And the third is debt, which has the idea

of not fulfilling our rifle obligations.

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Hm.

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No.

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These are often tied together.

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They're kind of different ways

of looking at the same action.

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But together they show why

it's wrong in one emphasizes.

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that in ways youngers don't perhaps.

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For example.

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Adultery is a very obvious, moral, wrong.

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But why.

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Well, first it's a sin.

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Because it breaks God's

command against it.

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Secondly, it is a trespass.

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For the person who does this

is using the gift of sex beyond

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its rightful limits in marriage.

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And the third is a debt.

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Because faithfulness is what our

spouse has a rightful expectation for.

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So why does Jesus in this passage say

we were asking God to forgive our debts

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instead of our sins or trespasses.

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I think.

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To remind us that we owe something to God.

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And we often fail in that obligation.

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So, what does that mean?

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What does it mean that

we owe something to God?

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Well, it means that God, by the

very fact of who he is and what he's

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done for us has a rightful claim to

some sort of response on our part.

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And that idea shouldn't

be too strange for us.

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People in our lives often have

a rightful claims upon us.

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Based on who they are.

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Based on what they've done.

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My wife has a rifle claim.

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I have my faithfulness.

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Yeah, but also my kindness, my

help, my time and attention.

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Right.

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But I made a random woman in the store.

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She doesn't.

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Because she's not my wife.

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So if that's true, well, God

certainly has rightful claims upon us.

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Because of who he is.

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And because of what he's done.

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He is our creator.

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We are here at the will of another person.

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And not only that he is also our savior.

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Jesus has given.

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His own life to save us from since.

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So if we have rightful

obligations to anyone it's got.

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Yeah.

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Now there's a little bit of

the flip side here too, though.

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Right?

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He goes on to say.

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That we, uh, forgive others as well.

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Yeah, you ties those two together.

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We forgive others, their debts against us.

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Yeah.

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People in a sense are also indebted to me.

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My wife, in a sense, owes

me faithfulness in love and

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kindness of intention and time.

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She owes me that in the right way, in

the same way that I heard those things.

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Yeah, not that I'm trying to control her.

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But just that my covenant

with her in marriage as well.

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So I've done for her.

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Has created that same rightful response.

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That her covenant with me and the way

she's treated me so well over the years.

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That's created on my side.

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My friends.

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You could say.

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Also owe me some sort of behavior,

to be honest, to be kind.

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That's what friendship is all about.

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My parents and children, you

know, parents of children.

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Oh, each.

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Oh, the things by virtue

of their relationships.

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but here's the thing.

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They will fail.

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We all will fail.

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They will fail either not to do

directly with this should not do.

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Or more commonly failed to do

something that they should.

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Your husband.

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Your wife will fail.

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You.

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Your parents build you.

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They were not completely all that

they should have been in that role.

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Even the best periods your children

will appeal to give you the honor

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and gratitude and help they should.

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Your siblings, your friends are

going to fail to speak to you

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and kindness and grace and love.

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You're going to say hurtful things.

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How do you respond?

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Yeah.

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So it's important to not just seek

the forgiveness of God, but also to

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extend that forgiveness to others.

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I think in doing that, we are.

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Being God-like because we're

forgiving just as he's forgiven us.

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Yeah.

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We are.

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And we're also showing

that we have entered now.

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Into that kingdom of God,

the kingdom marked by grace.

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I remember preaching this

passage once many years ago.

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And I wanted a visual

illustration, so I bought some.

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Blank poker chips.

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And then I designed.

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It arborous and reverse the face and

the tails for each of those chips,

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because I was going to make them a coin.

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The point of the kingdom of grace.

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And on the one side, it said.

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You are forgiven entirely by grace.

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And the other side said.

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You are to forgive

others entirely by grace.

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And my point was is I handed

those out to everybody.

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This is the coin.

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Each of the kingdom.

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This is the currency

of the kingdom of God.

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And if you accept this

as legal tender for you.

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You have to also stepped giving that

kind of legal tender to other people.

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I love that.

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That's a, but that's not easy.

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No.

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It's not.

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I feel like this gets to the question

and that is, is worth, I think getting

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a little bit of clarity on, and that is.

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So, what is.

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Forgiveness.

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What does it mean to forgive?

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Others.

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cause I feel like there's a

lot of confusion about that.

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How do I know if I've forgiven now?

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If I'm still upset or yeah.

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just forgiveness being, I have to.

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Invite that person back into my

life and restore the relationship.

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At restore the relationship.

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It just feels like there's

a lot of confusion.

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So.

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Um, What does it mean to forget?

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Yeah.

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I'm glad you asked that because.

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When we are hurt, our emotions

are probably born and charts

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that are logic, right.

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And so we can respond emotionally

interpret things by our emotions.

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But forgiveness primarily

is an act of the will.

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And now to the emotion.

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It is simply this.

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You are choosing.

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To not respond to them.

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Based on what they have done.

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Or are doing to you?

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Or what they fail to do for you.

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You let them off the hook.

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You choose to want and seek their best.

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Despite what they've done.

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Or what they're doing to you.

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Now.

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This is not minimizing the offense.

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If it's not a real offense,

you don't have to do this.

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It's just an annoyance.

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this is a minimizing the offense.

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This is picking a seriously.

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It's not saying, well, what they did to

me, wasn't that bad or anything like

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that, and it's not necessarily restoring.

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Trust.

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Yeah.

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Or restoring the relationship.

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It may.

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, it may clear away the rebel enough so

that the relationship can be restored.

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But it takes two to tangle, right?

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Yeah.

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And sometimes.

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The other person doesn't want to.

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Yeah.

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And then lastly forgiveness does not

mean that it won't hurt or that your

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emotions will immediately get in line.

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You might forgive someone,

but you're still hurt.

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You're still angry.

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You're still feeling all

kinds of negative emotions.

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But you're choosing to reject the

desire to give back in some way.

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Um, one illustration I've.

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Thought of with this.

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Is turning off the oven.

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So, what I mean by that is.

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thinkable light switch, right.

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Yeah.

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You turn off the light

switch and the NLS grew dark.

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And if the room is not lit, otherwise.

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The room goes dark.

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And sometimes we think that when we

forgive someone that that's, what's

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going to happen with our emotions.

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Just going to go away.

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But it's more like turning off the oven.

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So if you've got that oven up at four 50

and you turn that off, does it immediately

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go back down to room temperature?

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It does not take the time.

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Exactly.

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Yeah.

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And the hotter it was the longer it takes.

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Yeah.

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But.

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It will get back there.

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Right?

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Yeah, it will get back there because you

made the decision and after the will.

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To turn off the switch.

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To quit feeding it more heat.

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And that's what forgiveness is.

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It's looking at what God has done for us.

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And on the basis of that same,

I am choosing to let go of this.

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I want God to bring in.

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Whatever.

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Payback or justice that he determines.

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But My will is free in this.

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I want through bets.

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I really don't necessarily want

them to get payback because

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I've been forgiven so much.

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I'm just going to leave that all the guy.

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And I'm going to try to love them.

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As best as my emotions.

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Well, that would be to do.

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That's really helpful.

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Because Sometimes it feels like if we

don't stay mad at that person, then.

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They're off the hook.

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It's like, I'm an acting

justice through my own.

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Anger or bitterness towards them.

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And that's hard because

that, that feels good.

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And especially if they don't do

something that's illegal, then

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it's like, it's not, they're gonna

go to jail for what they did.

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Right.

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You know, but, think.

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That, what you just described

is really good because it

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allows us to be free from it.

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But not because what they did

wasn't bad or didn't hurt, but

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just that we're interesting.

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That the justice and the goodness

of God to bring about his right

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response in this situation.

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Right.

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And so in that There is freedom.

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And we're able to relinquish that to God.

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Yeah.

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And that is so freeing because it

allows you to let go of the bitterness.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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And I know that there's all

kinds of, Not just spiritual.

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Challenges to that, holding on to

bitterness and resentment, but physical

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ailments that can come from that.

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Yeah.

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Giving into that.

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And so what a gift that God has

forgiven us and that we understand

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that, and that can free us to.

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Forgive others.

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Yeah.

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I heard someone say, an old

proverb, not, not a biblical

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proper, but some sort of proper.

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That, Bitterness or unforgiveness

or the poison that we drink.

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Hoping the other person dies.

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Wow.

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Wow.

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It was a lot to that.

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Yeah.

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Well, thank you.

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Yeah.

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And let me go back to the

one thing that you said that.

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It feels wrong to forgive sometimes.

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I get it.

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It seems to trivialize

the fence in the Hertz.

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But the alternative is worse.

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And ultimately we have to trust.

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We have to trust that when we

forgive and let them off the hook.

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We are not losing.

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It may feel that way sometimes.

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But the feeling and the

reality are different things.

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After all.

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If that feeling is true,

then the gospel is false.

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Because no one has forgiven

more than Jesus himself.

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And he didn't lose.

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