Sermon -- Summer Sermon Series: Lord's Prayer, 5th Petition (August 17, 2025)

LUKE 11:1-4

FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US.

In the name + of Jesus.

    Of all the commands our Lord has given, perhaps the hardest one to observe is this one: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ has forgiven us” (Ephesians 4:32).  It is hard to forgive those who have sinned against us.  We have our reasons.  One is that forgiveness is not justice.  Justice says that anyone who commits a crime or a sin should pay a price.  When someone sins against you, it is personal.  Your sense of justice boils over to vengeance.  Our pride demands retribution.  Some call it getting even.  It is not.  It is upping the ante and giving it back worse than you got it. 

     St. Paul tells us what the Lord expects of us and why: “(Forgive) one another, just as God in Christ has forgiven us” (Ephesians 4:32).  God the Father forgives us freely.  That’s because Jesus Christ willingly paid the price for our sins.  If we are Christians, then we are to act like Christ, forgiving people freely and eagerly.  But we do not.

     Why not?  We have our reasons.  Maybe you’ve argued, “They don’t deserve it.”  And actually, that is true.  No one deserves forgiveness.  God’s command is, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  When people sin against you, they do not give you the love they owe you.  If someone does not give you what they owe you, they are indebted to you.  You know it, and you want to make sure that he who sinned against you knows it, too.  If you just cancel the debt, you gain nothing.  If you refuse to forgive, you get to hold his sin over his head, claim moral superiority, and have control over that person.  That sounds much more appealing.

     We pray: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  If you think you have good reasons to not forgive those who trespass against you, don’t you think that the Father has more and better reasons to not forgive you?  God pours out his love upon you daily.  He provides all you need for body and life.  He gave you skills and abilities and opportunities to enjoy your interests.  He fills the world with beauty and creature comforts.  All this he does because he is your good and merciful Father in heaven, and not because you have earned or deserved it.  For all this, you ought to thank and praise, serve and obey him.  This is most certainly true.

     But that’s now how it works out, is it?  God shows us how we can serve and obey him in his Commandments.  But we are convinced that we know better than our Father in heaven.  We ignore what God has to say, either in sinful weakness or in outright defiance.  This is especially true when our Lord calls us to forgive those who trespass against us.  We won’t.  We have our pride.  We’d rather bear a grudge.

     How should the Lord respond when we do not give him the obedience we owe him?  We might think that God should just forgive us.  We have our reasons.  We assume that our sins are not so serious for God to be upset by them.  We believe that God would tell us that our anger is justified and that we are right to withhold forgiveness.  Maybe we think that God really won’t carry out the punishment he threatens and that our sins will suffer no real consequences.  We might want to think that, but God does not. 

     If the Lord does nothing about our sins, then we don’t need to take God or his word seriously.  If there is no price to pay, who cares what we do?  But this is what the Lord says, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he did while in the body, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10).  This is why we pray for our Lord to forgive us our trespasses.  For, there is a price to be paid by any who do not give God the love and obedience he is owed.  If he does not forgive, then we have no hope for heaven.  None.

     Can the Lord be just and still be merciful?  He is both through his Son, Jesus.  Jesus came because the Father does take his Commandments seriously.  He does not set aside his judgment against the guilty.  Rather, he sent Jesus to become the guilty one for us.  This is why Jesus went to the cross.  There, God the Father carried out his justice.  All your guilt was taken by Jesus.  He was made THE guilty one.  Jesus was sentenced, condemned, and put to death—for, that is the wages of sin.  Jesus paid the price for you.  All of God’s punishment was absorbed in him.  You, on the other hand, have received full pardon.  The Lord does not treat you as your sins deserve because Jesus was treated as your sins deserve.  This allows God to be both just and merciful.  As St. Paul wrote to the Romans: “He did this to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so that he would be both just and the one who justifies the person who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26).  Having been shown such mercy, our Lord calls on us to be merciful to others and to forgive those who have trespassed against us.

     To illustrate this, Jesus told a parable (Matthew 18:21-35).  He said that the kingdom of heaven is like a king whose servant owed him millions of dollars.  The servant begged for mercy, promising to pay back everything.  This servant never stood a chance to repay the debt.  So, out of mercy, the king cancelled the debt.  The servant was free.  That servant went and found a fellow servant who owed him 100 days’ wages.  He demanded to be repaid what he was owed.  Just as the first servant did, the fellow servant pleaded for mercy and promised to repay everything.  The first servant refused.  He demanded what he was owed.  He had his fellow servant and his family hauled off to debtor’s prison.  When word got back to the king, he said, “‘You wicked servant!  I forgave you all that debt when you begged me to.  Should you not have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had mercy on you?’  His master was angry and handed him over to the jailers until he could pay back everything he owed.” (Matthew 18:32-34).  Jesus, then, gives us this warning: “This is what my heavenly Father will also do to you unless each one of you forgives his brother from his heart’” (Matthew 18:35). 

     Every sin we commit is against our Lord.  Every lustful thought is about using our neighbor for our own gratification.  This is an abuse of the neighbor God has given you.  Every complaint despises God’s provisions and promises.  Every selfish act exalts our own will over God’s will.  Every spirit of revenge usurps God’s role as judge.  Every sin we commit is against our Lord, but not every sin is against you.  Not every act of violence is against you.  Not every snide remark is against you.  But some sins are.  Sin is love that is owed you but denied you.  It is like the debt of 100 days’ wages which was owed by a fellow servant.  It is substantial, and we don’t need to pretend it’s not.  But it is minimal compared to what we owe God and have denied him.  Our debt to God is not only substantial, it is insurmountable. 

     And yet, the Lord Jesus Christ was pleased to pay that debt for you.  He paid a debt he did not owe because you had a debt you could not pay.  And he continues to do this.  The blood which was shed for your sin is delivered to you here again and again to cleanse you of your sin.  The body which bore your guilt at the cross is delivered to you here and continues to pardon you of every offense.  The Lord does not grow weary of forgiving the penitent.  His grace is greater than your sins. 

     If we bear the name of Christ, then we are called to be Christ-like in how we treat other people.  We pray, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  Is this forgiveness deserved?  No.  Grace, mercy, and forgiveness are never deserved.  Grace, mercy, and forgiveness come from the giver.  They are given freely because the giver desires to be compassionate, longs for reconciliation, and peace—just as God, in Christ, treats you, loves you, and forgives you.

     We pray, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  In some cases, you will find it hard to do that.  Some sins against you are especially painful.  They have damaged reputations and relationships.  They cannot be undone.  How can you forgive someone who has inflicted such harm?  First of all, you do not have to pretend that sins are not painful or evil.  When Joseph addressed his brothers about their sin, he stated, “You meant evil against me” (Genesis 50:20).  He did not tell them, “Oh, it’s okay,” because it wasn’t.  It was evil.  There is nothing wrong about acknowledging that.

     Secondly, you do not need to follow the adage, “Forgive and forget.”  Can you really forget the pain that was done to you?  Do you think the first Christians ever forgot the harm that St. Paul had done to them?  Do you think Bethsheba ever forgot David’s arranged murder of her husband?  Joseph surely did not forget his brothers selling him into slavery.  So, you may never forget.  Forgiveness is not forgetting.  Forgiveness is pardoning the offense.  It is relinquishing your right to avenge yourself.  It is choosing to not hold it over another and to remind him what he did over and over again—which tells him that you have not really forgiven anything.  Psalm 103 declares, “(The Lord) does not treat us as our sins deserve.  He does not repay us according to our guilty deeds” (Psalm 103:10).  Forgiveness means that we treat people likewise—again, not because it is deserved, but because it is needed.

     Thirdly, it should be noted that there is an immense chasm between refusing to forgive and struggling to forgive.  If you refuse to forgive, that means you are insisting upon justice and vengeance.  If you insist on that, the Lord will concur with your desire, and he will carry out justice and vengeance upon you.  Jesus warned, “With the measure you use it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:38).

     If, however, you are struggling to forgive those who trespass against you, that shows you know it is right to forgive from the heart.  You are doing battle with your sinful nature which would rather bear the grudge.  These battles are usually hard.  The only way to overcome is not to focus on the wounds you have received, but to focus on the wounds which Jesus has received for you.  Only Jesus’ mercy can stir up mercy within you.  Only Jesus’ compassion can make you compassionate.  Jesus loves you with a love that is undeserved, but it is also undeniable and unending.  When he pours that into you, it will spill over onto others, even upon those who have trespassed against you.

     “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  Rejoice that God does not base his forgiveness upon ours.  Rather, we base our forgiveness upon God’s.  We get to be merciful, because he is merciful.  And his mercy endures forever.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.