And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors

Christ Pantocrator, 6th century, St. Catherine's Monastery, Sinai

 "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

We are currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chapters 5 - 7).  In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught:   "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. . . . 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."

"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."  Vain repetitions are repetitions which do not express a true desire for communion with God, and thereby cannot establish a state of true prayer.  God does not need our "babble," my study bible says, but our sincerity.  Christ does not condemn the use of many words per se -- it is, instead, the sincere desire the words convey that matters.   In today's reading, Jesus gives us specific words to repeat (the Lord's Prayer, which follows).  It's important to distinguish between repetition and vain repetition, which Jesus emphasizes.  There are many psalms, prayers, and hymns in the Church repeated for countless generations in worshiping God "in spirit and truth" (John 4:23).   What counts in prayer is sincerity, which goes along with Christ's emphasis on secrecy and personal communion in yesterday's reading.

"In this manner, therefore, pray:  Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name."  My study bible says that the Father-Son relationship within the Trinity also reveals our own potential relationship with God  Christ, who is the Son of God, also gives us the privilege of calling God Our Father by grace of adoption (Galatians 4:4-7).  As a "son of God" (and therefore "heir" regardless of gender), every follower of Christ is called to love, trust, and serve God the same way that Christ does the Father.  My study bible also points out that God is not our Father simply by virtue of the fact that God is our Creator.  God is Father to those with whom God is in a saving and personal relationship, which is a communion by grace of adoption (see John 1:13; Romans 8:14-16).

"Your kingdom come.  Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  As children of God, we seek to participate in God's kingdom, or rule, even as we live our lives on earth.  Sonship by adoption implies a way of life, or perhaps more precisely, a way of living in communion with God and God's kingdom.  As did Christ, our desire of for God's kingdom to be manifest in this world, and to follow God's will.

"Give us this day our daily bread."  The word for daily is somewhat misleadingly translated.  The Greek word is epiousios, which literally means "above the essence," or "supersubstantial."  It denotes a kind of superstructure added atop the normal substance of bread.   This makes a strong allusion to the Eucharist, and implies a "supersubstance" which we -- as those who seek to live in loving communion with God -- need for our daily lives which we seek to live as members of God's kingdom.   Daily bread, my study bible says, indicates not simply bread for today and for earthly nourishment.  This request is regarding the bread for the eternal day of the Kingdom of God, for the nourishment of our immortal soul.  The living, supersubstantial bread is Christ Himself.  My study bible sums up this request as not asking merely for material bread for physical health, but for the spiritual bread of eternal life (John 6:27-58).

"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."   This request to be forgiven is in the plural, making it a type of communal request.  My study bible says that it therefore directs us to pray always for the forgiveness of others.  Debts refers to spiritual debts (see 18:21-35).  See also the final verses of today's reading.

"And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."  James 1:13 teaches us that God tempts no one to sin.  Looking at the temptations of Christ (see this reading), we understand that temptation comes from the evil one, the devil.  My study bible adds that temptations are aimed at the soul's giving in to the sinful passions of the flesh (Romans 7:5).   It says that no one lives without encountering temptations, but we pray that great temptations -- that is, tests beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13), should not come to us.

"For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen."  This is a solemn affirmation not only of the prayer itself (Amen), but also of our recognition of the rule, authority, and majesty of God.

"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."  Here Christ instructs us regarding mutual forgiveness between people as a precondition of God's forgiveness.  My study bible says that those who do not forgive are not forgiven -- period.  This is repeated in the parable of the unforgiving servant (18:21-35), cited in commentary above, which concludes with the same teaching.  My study bible adds that to not forgive others is to willfully flee from the forgiveness of God for ourselves.

Forgiveness can be a difficult road to go down.  Offenses that have caused great harm seem impossible to even begin to address in the spirit of forgiveness.  But if we think about the language that Jesus has used here -- which is the language of debt, of financial transaction -- then we may be able to make a start at understanding what is asked of us.  A debt is "forgiven" when it is wiped off the books.  That is, we no longer expect payment.  Therefore, in the context of debt in this sense, we have to ask what "payment" we may be expecting from an offender when we withhold forgiveness.  Someone who has caused us harm or hurt may not, in any sense, be able to render payment equal to the offense.  Even if we could think up what payment would satisfy us, it is rare indeed that it could restore what we feel has been taken away.  For example, slander may cause a great deal of lasting harm that no "correction" can make disappear in the minds of those who've believed a false tale.  Moreover, to forgive in this sense of the prayer is mentioned in the context of our relationship with God.  That is, the idea of forgiveness, as directed by Christ, expands relationship from simply one-to-one (offender and the one offended) to a three-way relationship which is, additionally, described within the context of the community of believers ("forgive us our debts").  So Christ's prayer has the effect of widely expanding the pool of interaction within which forgiveness is asked.  If I am harmed by something a person has done, it is no longer simply myself involved in the hurt.  This is rather expanded to an entire community which is, moreover, in relationship to God the Father.  When I choose to "forgive" or rather "give up" or "let go" that debt (as the Greek word more literally means), then I release it to God and to community.  I am, therefore, through the act of forgiving, relying upon God and community not only to direct my response, but also to be the Source from which my healing or restoration will come.  In other words, to release the debt to God becomes a way of expanding one's own sources of healing and restoration, recompense and guidance for how to properly and best conduct oneself in response to any form of harm.  If this seems too much to take in, consider how an offender may "pay us back" for hurts as some form of debt they owe.  It makes us consider what retribution we might demand or extract in relationship to what God and community can do for us.  If I suffer abuse, am I helped by holding onto that debt myself?  If I release that debt to God in prayer and do so within a community of believers, are my chances of finding a better way forward for my life increased?  Are not God's help and guidance more likely to lead us somewhere good than our own immediate response?  Let us consider how we may find ways to transcend suffering within this framework of "giving up" something, a debt or trespass.  Perhaps our prayer and forgiveness will lead us to a just settlement, even within a legal framework.  Perhaps those things which will need a deeper source of forgiveness and reconciliation will only give us real help through faith and our relationship to God.  Perhaps we will find a pathway whereby our experience is put to better use than staying stuck in a pattern from the past.  All of this, put into the context of God and community, may be used for a much greater healing, for insight and meaning, and for the depth of character that is better able to help others and to move forward in life with positive plans.  We free up our own energies for healing when we start to bring in those things that are greater than ourselves, help and assistance with more wisdom and insight, and the One who loves and knows us better than we know ourselves.  What is most important to understand about forgiveness is that when we turn to God, there is nothing left out.  It is not a sweeping under the rug of past hurts.  It is, rather, a way to ask for the fullness of healing, a restoration of our energies, repair of the soul, so that we may be free to find greater fulfillment in our own potentials for a better and more creative life than staying stuck only in an identity of hurt.  God never forgets the truth of who we are, even when we do -- and neither are our needs ignored, even when we might prefer to do so ourselves.  Christ offers us a way to find ourselves in right-relatedness, to remind ourselves Whose children we really are, and to find identity in the one place where we are truly known.  Let us begin and end with His prayer!  The icon above was one of the few to survive the Iconoclast movement.  It is Christ Pantocrator, meaning "Almighty."   It shows us Christ's identity which is both human and divine, but perhaps even more importantly implies those human experiences and suffering which were glorified in His Ascension into heaven.  We see this in the trace of a tear, the gray hairs, and the facial wrinkles on the right side of the icon.  We see His hand raised in blessing, and holding His Gospel for us.  If Christ's suffering may become glorified, designated for the very purpose of salvation for the whole of creation, imagine the implication for those "debts" which we, in turn, give up to the kingdom, to God our Father?  In God's redemption, then, we trust -- and this is truly the salvation of Christ at work in us.