“A Prayer for Jubilee”
Dr. Charlie Durham
Leviticus 25:8-17 Matthew 18:21-35
April 2, 2017
As we continue our Lenten journey with the Lord’s Prayer, we come to the hardest petition of all: Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
Some of us find it difficult to pray this petition because we were brought up to say trespasses. Most denominations do while we Presbyterians stubbornly hand on to debts. But the confusion between the words is a matter of translation. “Trespasses” is the word used in the Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England which came out before the KJV. It has had a profound impact upon the Christian world. On the other hand, we Presbyterians find our roots in the Westminster Confession of Faith which quotes the KJV translation in its catechisms using the word “debts.”
The difference is not theological but historical. The meaning is exactly the same. More recent ecumenical versions of the Lord’s Prayer read: “Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.”
Luke’s account of the Lord’s Prayer literally records: “forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us…” Matthew’s version, upon which our memorized Lord’s Prayer is based offers: “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” But after the last petition is the verse: “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
The greatest difficulty is not in translation but in reality. So hard is human forgiveness that Jesus explains this portion of the prayer alone. Here is where you need the most help, Jesus says, with your sin. The Bible is rich in its vocabulary for sin. Sin is owing a debt, trespassing on forbidden ground, missing the mark, overstepping limits, straying from the way, making idols of things or others, falling to the side, setting up a stumbling block, disobeying, rebelling, acting unjustly, treacherously, profanely or being twisted, perverse, evil, wicked, worthless, foolish. Add all those up and we all have a huge pile of sin, a great debt against God. King David, after being caught in adultery confessed: “Against you alone I have sinned and done that which is evil in your sight…”
Sin is brokenness. A relationship has been broken. There is hurt, deep hurt by what others have said to our face or behind our back; by what others have done to us in meetings or business or in the home. We have been hurt by what people have not done: indifference, ignoring, rejecting reconciliation.
What do we do with that pain? Do we hold a grudge? Choose to stay bitter, holding on to wrongs committed against us? Remain filled with resentment and rage so we almost have a pride of being the one in the right and the other in the wrong?
What happens to us when we do not forgive? I’m reminded of the episode of Amos and Andy. A big man had constantly been slapping Andy on the chest in a way that degraded and annoyed him. Finally Andy said, “I’m gonna fix him. I’m gonna put dynamite in my vest. Next time he slaps me, he’s gonna get his whole hand blown off!” But, of course, this bright idea also blows out Andy’s own heart.
That’s what happens to us when we do not forgive others. Bitterness eats away at us. Anger builds a wall to protect our hurt heart but it also walls out others. Divorce brings this on. Child and spouse abuse brings this on. In-fighting in the office brings this on. Broken friendships and love relationships brings this on.
How often have I had people come to me and say through barred teeth: “I can’t ever forgive…” as if forgiveness is a human impossibility? Perhaps it is impossible. Wasn’t it Pope in his “Essay on Criticism” who said, “To err is human, to forgive is divine?”
So we pray: Forgive us our debts… Whenever we pray, we are to focus on our own sinfulness, become aware of the depth of our own sins. What have we done to bring the painful situation upon ourselves? What have we failed to do? What is it that they say about the pointing finger…three more are pointing back at us!
Here’s where the word, “debt”, “opheilma” in the Greek is important and more expressive than trespasses. It means the failure to pay what is due by all accounts. We are personally responsible for our sins just as we are for what we charge on a plastic card. We can’t say that our sins are an accident. We can’t blame other people for our sins, because our sins are debts and we are personally responsible for them.
What happens when the debt grows and we cannot keep up the payments? Our doom is sure as it was for the servant in the parable Jesus told who owed millions of dollars to the King. Yet the entire debt was forgiven. We pray to a God who is the prodigal Father, wasteful with loving forgiving grace, lavished upon the son who finally returns to open arms. Our God is in the forgiveness business. Even if we return for the wrong reason (even the servants have it better than I do here among the swine), our God wants nothing more than for us to come home to him.
As the Apostle Paul proclaimed, “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not counting our sins against us and entrusting to us the ministry of reconciliation…” As Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote and lived, such grace is costly. Jesus paid the cost of our sin on a cruel cross. Paid in full.
But do we not turn around and demand repayment of a trifling amount from others? How many times shall I forgive we ask expecting once or twice so we can then condemn. As many as 7times? No, says Jesus, seventy times seven…not 490 times but 7 the number for infinity: infinity times infinity. Jesus has already paid more than this amount for our sins.
So, we pray to the one who alone can answer, Forgive us our debts…but the next part is so very difficult…as we forgive our debtors. If I am not forgiving, will the Father not forgive me? Is my salvation based on my ability to forgive? If so, I am doomed for sure. No, this prayer calls us first to remember Christ’s saving work so that we can and must forgive others.
“Forgive and forget…” is the platitude we have heard often. My research yields no author for these words. It certainly is not Scriptural. Forgetting is condoning by saying, “What you did wasn’t really all that bad. It’s all right. Forget it.” This goes along with injustice and destroys the moral fabric of the universe. True forgiveness begins by establishing justice: You have wronged me and you own me…” But then forgiveness transcends justice with mercy: “Your sin is painfully real but it shall not stand between us, says the Lord, I will not exact payment from you. It has been paid in full by another.”
The cost is what kept the Israelites from instituting the year of Jubilee we read about in Leviticus when all property reverted back, all debts canceled. The Jubilee was never observed because it was impossible for humans to forgive, but the yearning, the praying is for Jubilee, release from revenge, to replace revenge with reconciliation.
We all know, however, that often all attempts are reconciliation are refused. The other refuses to communicate, period. We are left holding the whole rotten baggage…still praying for Jubilee’s reconciliation even if it never comes to pass.
Don’t we need that in our lives, in our church? There are more hurt feelings among church members than almost anywhere else. In the heat of debate, words are spoken that cannot be taken back. Wounds are inflicted. Many know. Angry walls are erected at great personal cost not only to those offended but also to the whole church.
During the long agonizing debate over sexuality and ordination, devoted Christian leaders on both sides reverted to name calling and back biting…making this last presidential race look calm. Then a conference was called to meet in Dallas with the leaders from both sides. Dr. Laura Mendenhall, then president of Columbia Seminary, let the opening worship. When it came time to confess our sins, she ask everyone to silently consider the sins they have committed…and then directed everyone to turn to those around them and confess out loud…this went on for almost an hour. Everyone looked at their own sin and then saw that they were not alone. The powerful forgiving grace of Jesus Christ ruled that day. No one changed their theological position but they claimed that they were all forgiven sinners. Some were even reconciled.
However, I remember a man in my first church who 20 years earlier had been very active. He was our Bill Christian who was always at the church fixing this or that. Then someone questioned his judgement and repair of the church’s boiler. From that day he refused to come anywhere near the church. When I visited him, I discovered that we shared a love for woodworking and that despite his crusty personality he had a twinkle in his eye. About a year of dropping by his shop, I asked him about why he never came to worship God. He began talking about what bad things all those folks had done to him. “You know, Clarence, I haven’t met any of those folks. Are they still around?” “No, he replied, they’re all dead.” “So there’s no reason to stay away from church!”
Lo and behold the next Sunday he came down the center isle only to be smothered with attention and appreciation. For a month he came every Sunday before being struck down with a massive stroke. A year later he just slipped peacefully away as if it was finally a day of Jubilee, all debts canceled and his church gathered to give witness to the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The story is told of Lenorado da Vinci who was painting is famous Last Supper. He depicted one of his enemies on the face of Judas, but then for a long time he could not conjure up the face of Christ to complete his masterpiece. Then he forgave his enemy by painting a different face on Judas. That very night he saw the face of Christ in a dream and finished the masterpiece. It was finally a day of Jubilee.
That’s what we pray for: Forgive us our debts and we forgive our debtors…