Our Father in heaven

 "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Therefore do not be like them.  For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.  In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.

"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

- Matthew 6:7-15

Yesterday, we read that Jesus preached:  "Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them.  Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.  Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.  And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites.  For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly." . . . [skipping over verses 7 to 15:  the verses which form today's reading] . . . "Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance.  For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting.  Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.  But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."  We are currently in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chs. 5 - 7).

"And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Therefore do not be like them.  For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him."  My study bible notes that mere vain repetitions do not establish the type of relationship to God that Jesus is preaching about here.  It says, "God does not need our 'babble.'  To be made intimate with Him, be humbled, and be reminded of our sins, both silence and words are necessary.  Therefore, we pray always (Luke 18:1), 'without ceasing' (1 Thess. 5:17), and we do use many words -- but words repetitiously (vv. 8-13 [known as the Lord's Prayer]).  When we pray, we do not lecture God or make demands, but we are (1) humble (go into your room, verse 6 [yesterday's reading], (2) personal and intimate with Him (pray to your Father), and (3) sincere (do not use vain repetitions).  It is not repetition per se, but vain repetition which Jesus condemns.  Christian worship, with familiar psalms, hymns, prayers and readings from the Scriptures, brings God the praise 'in spirit and truth' which He seeks (John 4:23).  In no way do these liturgical acts violate Jesus' command against vain words and repetition."

"In this manner, therefore, pray:  'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come.  Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.'"  My study bible has several notes on the Lord's Prayer or Our Father, given here by Jesus.  We read here:  "The Father-Son relationship between God the Father and God the Son reveals the nature of our relationship with God.  For Christ Himself, the Son of the Father by nature, grants us the privilege of calling the Creator our Father by the grace of adoption.  As a 'son' of God in Christ, the Christian is called to love, trust and serve God, as a son would his father.  The emphasis in Scripture is not on a universal Fatherhood of God through creation, but on a saving and personal relationship with Him who is our Father by adoption through the Spirit (see Rom. 8:14-16)."

"Give us this day our daily bread."  A note says, "Daily is a misleading translation of the Greek epiousios, which is literally 'above the essence' or 'supersubstantial.'  The expression daily bread indicates not merely bread for this day, taken for sustenance of life; it is bread for the eternal day of the Kingdom of God, for sustenance of our immortal life.  It is living, 'superessential' bread.  This bread, prepared by God in the beginning for the immortality of our nature, is the Bread of Life which will triumph over the death brought about by sin.  Jesus commands us to seek first the Kingdom of God.  Here He tells us to ask not merely for material bread which keeps us in good physical health, but for the spiritual bread which gives us life -- the Living Bread, Christ Himself, given in the Holy Eucharist to those who receive Him."

"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."  A note says, "We request God to forgive us . . . as we are to forgive others.  By using the plural, Jesus directs each of us to pray for the Father's forgiveness of all, and for all of us to forgive one another.  Although God's forgiveness is primary, Jesus clearly teaches that there is a reciprocal relationship between divine and human forgiveness.  We request God to be to us as we are to our neighbors.  Debts refers to spiritual debts:  when we sin, we 'owe' restitution to our offended neighbor and to God."  To be forgiven and to forgive here is a kind of "letting go" of those debts (this is what the word translated as forgive literally means in Greek), like wiping a debt someone owes off the books.

"And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.  For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen."   My study bible notes that "we pray not only that our sins be forgiven, but that we not yield to temptation.  God tempts no one (James 1:13); temptations are from the evil one, the devil.  They are aimed at the soul's willful yielding to the sinful passions of the flesh (Rom. 7:5).  No one can live without at some time encountering temptation.  But to yield to temptation and commit sin is blameworthy.  Thus we pray that great temptations, tests beyond what we can bear (1 Cor. 10:13), should not come our way."

"For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."  My study bible says, "Once again Jesus insists on mutual forgiveness between people as a precondition of God's forgiveness.  Those who do not forgive are not forgiven.  This teaching is repeated by Jesus in the parable of the unforgiving servant (18:23-35), which concludes with virtually the same words.  The opinion that even unforgiving Christians are forgiven by God is contradicted by Christ Himself.  The moral action of the faithful, when they forgive others their trespasses, is bound with the love of God:  not to forgive others is willfully to alienate ourselves from the forgiveness of God."

What I think is important to remember about forgiveness is the aspect of its word here in Greek:  letting go, as in letting go a debt owed.  If we really think of it that way, then we can see that there is first of all an emphasis here on a lack of retribution, or collecting such a debt by deliberately hurting another back or sinning against another in some way.  Also, forgiveness, it seems to me, does not mean that we don't recognize the injustice or the hurt done to us.  We don't fail to recognize how we might suffer from what has been done.  Perhaps these things, this looking at the full truth of something that has happened, is not only necessary for real forgiveness but also for our healing from these problems in God's hands.  And that's the next thing we have to observe about forgiveness.  Just who do we give these things up to?  Clearly God is the moderator of all things because only God is the true Judge and presides at the ultimate Judgment.  Therefore, forgiveness is letting go to God, giving our affairs over to God, and that would also indicate our turning to Our Father in prayer for guidance out of or through any and all situations, including those in which we've been hurt.  Forgiveness therefore emphasizes the nature of our intimate relationship to God and of our prayer to God.  We place not only our debtors and their debts in God's hands, we also place the whole situation and all negative effects on us and our lives (and the lives of all others affected) into God's hands.  This happens clearly through prayer.  Let us note, also, that it is not incumbent upon us to fix the whole situation.  That is also something we place in God's hands, in the hands of the Judge, because it's not up to us to judge.  It is up to us to follow these teachings as best we can.  We needn't become best friends with someone who is likely to harm us again.  But we can forgive them in the senses in which we're asked to do so.  This is another way to live in peace, with God's peace, as a peacemaker.