Forgive us our trespasses
As a Christian, do you ever attain a level where you outgrow your need for forgiveness?
What we’ve explored so far in the Lord’s Prayer underscores who God is. Our loving, merciful Father. The Holy One who is has all power. Now that we are clear about who we are turning to with our needs, God reminds us who we are… people in great need. Not self-made, strong, self-reliant people who just need a little help from God. Instead, we confess that we are helpless, hopeless sinners – who stand naked before a holy God with nothing to offer Him.
Our good and gracious God promises to provide our daily needs – our daily bread – so we have the energy to praise his holy name than thank him for his gifts to us. That rich promise should free us from fear – fear of not having enough today and free from fear of tomorrow. God promises to provide. Yet, we worry. We are anxious.
Why do we do this? Why do we doubt God’s promises? Why do we fear we’ll be left without?
We live in a culture filled with jealousy over not getting our fair share. We think we have something coming to us. But God knows us too well. Where our treasure is, there our heart will be also. So we struggle.
In this petition of Lord’s Prayer, we are pleading that the Lord not look at our sin and treat us as our sins deserve. Instead, we are pleading that God has mercy on us! Forgive us our sins and tune his ears to our desperate prayers. Not because we have deserved God’s help or mercy. But solely because he is our good and gracious father in Heaven – who is limitless in mercy. We plead that the God who has promised to provide for us – will even provide the forgiveness we desperately need!
Pastor Aaron Goetzinger writes about the symbol for the fifth petition: God is gracious and compassionate and delights to show mercy. Instead of dealing with us as our sins deserve he shows us love and forgiveness given to us through Jesus the righteous one who is the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Since we have been shown so much mercy we can show our appreciation by being forgiving of those who sin against us.
This seal features a central heart with a cross. Our hearts which were once filthy with sin have been cleansed by Christ’s death on the cross. We now bear his righteousness. Surrounding the central heart is a design which features smaller hearts. The love and forgiveness which God demonstrated to us we now show to others.
Listen to Luther’s explanation in the small Catechism: What does it mean when we pray, “and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
We pray in this petition that our Father in heaven would not look at our sins, or deny our prayer because of them. We are neither worthy of the things for which we pray, nor have we deserved them, but we ask that he would give them all to us by grace, for we daily sin much and surely deserve nothing but punishment. So we too will sincerely forgive and gladly do good to those who sin against us.
The problem of forgiving others
But there’s a problem. I don’t forgive very well – and maybe you are stingy with your forgiveness too. I argue and wrestle with God about forgiving others. Do you hear yourself saying things like, “But God, you don’t realize what they did to me! And they did it after all that I have done for them!” If I have such a hard time forgiving the mole-hill sins others commit against me – compared to the mega-mountain sized sins I committed against God, how then do I dare expect that God will ever forgive me anything?
What a lesson God teaches in this petition of his prayer. He calls me to forgive others as God has forgiven me.
What a gift God gives in his full and free forgiveness. The more I appreciate this gift that God has graciously given to me, the more I grow in forgiving others as God has forgiven me.
So dear Father – grant me the grace to treasure all the more the gift of forgiveness that I both receive and give in church every Sunday. For here I confess with all my brothers and sisters in Christ that I have sinned. And here your called servant forgives me in your name. And I say “Amen” as he forgives also those around me who have made the same confession; I say “Amen” to acknowledge that indeed my sins are forgiven and so are their sins, forgiven by you and yes, forgiven by me too!
Adapted with permission from a sermon on the fifth petition by Pastor Kevin Hundley.
Michael Zarling
For the first 8 years of my ministry, I served at Faith Lutheran Church, an exploratory congregation in Radcliff, KY. I presently serve at Epiphany Lutheran Church and Wisconsin Lutheran School (WLS) in Racine, WI. I am also very involved with our youth as the WLS head soccer coach and the head counselor for WELS Training Camp, a youth camp for 3rd – 9th graders. I have been married to Shelley for 20 years. Together we have 4 beautiful daughters – Abigail, Miriam, Lydia and Gabrielle. We also have 2 dogs – Messi and Mia – named after Lionel Messi and Mia Hamm (the Zarling family really likes soccer!)
