But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty

 "Therefore hear the parable of the sower:   When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.  This is he who received seed by the wayside.  But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while.  For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.  Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.  But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces:  some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."

- Matthew 13:18-23

Yesterday we read that Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea. And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: "Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?" He answered and said to them, "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:  'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull.  Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.'  But blessed are your eyes that see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it."

 "Therefore hear the parable of the sower:   When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.  This is he who received seed by the wayside.  But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while.  For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.  Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.  But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces:  some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."  In today's reading, Jesus explains the parable of the Sower to the disciples.  He gives us a picture of the world as a place full of pitfalls for the word that He sows.  Note the synthesis between the inner conditions in us and the obstacles to the word in the world.   We do not understand, and the wicked one comes and is active in the world to snatch away what is sown in the heart.   We may take in the word with joy, but have no root in ourselves -- and tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, and we stumble.  We may hear the word but are surrounded with thorns, which are the cares of this word, and the deceitfulness of riches.  These work to choke the word and make us unfruitful.  But if we receive Christ's word on good ground, we are able to bear fruit and produce, even through the struggles in the world.

I don't think that Jesus means to imply by His parable of the Sower that there are only some people who face tribulation or persecution, or the cares of this world and deceitfulness of riches.   The wicked one doesn't want to snatch away Christ's word from the heart of only a handful of people.  We are given to understand that these things will always be present and with us, that these obstacles to the good root of the word taking hold and producing fruit will always face difficulties and objects to overcome in the world.  We're not given a picture of the world as a friendly place to what Christ has to say and to teach us.  So by the very nature of what's implied in this parable, what Christ teaches us is that His word is going to face challenges within us, that we don't live in a perfect world simply awaiting the word -- the seed of the Sower -- in order to spring up its fruits.  What Christ teaches us is that so much depends upon us tending and tilling our good ground, protecting ourselves against the threats to these seeds of His word taking root within us, and our own steadfastness in guarding ourselves against threats like the cares of this world or the deceitfulness of riches.  He does not come into the world to take these things away.  Rather He comes into our world asking us to join the struggle for the word, to become the good ground, to work at this, and to be smart and aware of what's around and what threats there are to it.  This good and fertile ground is that which is within us, but there are threats to it.  There are struggles involved.  We need to be diligent and smart about it -- not complacent, or sleepy, or lazy.  We have forces that seek to mislead us, dissuade us, trip us up, and choke us with diversions or struggles or a multitude of cares.   In discipleship, then, He calls us to a struggle for something -- and what He really teaches is that despite the trouble and the things that will seek to throw us off, this word is worthy of every effort we make to fight the challenges.  This word, this seed He offers, is above all else prize-worthy to cherish in this contest of life in the world.  We hold fast to it, and our goal is to produce fruits which multiply -- perhaps a hundredfold, or sixty, or thirty.  Everything else, He implies, is worth struggling against or discarding for this prized seed He offers us.  His image gives us a sense of the difficulties of such struggle:  what is a little seed compared to the thorns of the world, or the work of the evil one, or the stony ground that does little to defy tribulation and persecutions?  And yet, it is the treasure of this seed that is worth fighting off, enduring, struggling through all the rest, holding fast to the goal of producing fruit.  Let us consider that Jesus does not minimize the difficulties.  Neither does He make them simply disappear from this world.  He invites us into a contest.  He asks us to weigh what is most important to us.  He asks us to forgo temptations to give in to care and struggle, or to be deceived by riches that seem like better treasure.  He offers us His hand in a journey to follow Him.  He invites us in to face life and take heart, to prize and to cherish what is so much better, to see what we're worthy and capable of in His sight.  Are we ready for that challenge? 

But blessed are your eyes that see, and your ears for they hear

 On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea.  And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.  Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying:  "Behold, a sower went out to sow.  And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.  Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth.  But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.  And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them.  But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop:  some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"  He answered and said to them, "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.  For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.  Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.  And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:

'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,
And seeing you will see and not perceive;
For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.'

"But blessed are your eyes that see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it."

- Matthew 13:1-17

On Saturday, we read Jesus' words as He began to conclude the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:13-21):  "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.  Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.  You will know them by their fruits.  Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?  Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Therefore by their fruits you will know them.  Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."

On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea.  And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.  Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying:  "Behold, a sower went out to sow.  And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them.  Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth.  But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away.  And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them.  But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop:  some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"  As we begin to prepare for the commemoration of Jesus' Ascension on Thursday, the lectionary skips forward to this parable in chapter 13 of Matthew's Gospel.  On Saturday we had read almost to Jesus' final words in the Sermon on the Mount.  But in today's reading, we skip ahead into Jesus' ministry, to a time when He is so well-known that many come to see Him out of curiosity, and so great multitudes come to Him.  Also by this time in Matthew's Gospel, Jesus has begun to have conflicts with the religious leadership, who openly demand to see a sign from Him to prove His identity as Messiah, which He refuses.  They have accused Him of casting out demons by the power of demons.  It is at this point in the Gospel that He begins to introduce a new style of preaching.  He begins to preach in parables.  In contrast to the Sermon on the Mount (which began with the Beatitudes), in which Jesus spoke explicitly of the blessedness of the kingdom of God and God's righteousness, parables are "word-pictures" which illustrate aspects of the Kingdom and rely on the perception of the listener.  My study bible adds that in the Old Testament, metaphors of sowing and harvesting are common (Psalm 126:5, Jeremiah 31:27-30, Hos 2:21–23; Joel 3:12–14).  These are images common to daily life for the people.  In this first parable, which introduces both the disciples and His audience of "great multitudes" to the use of parables in His preaching, Jesus introduces Himself in a particular way.  He is the Messiah who is the sower in the earth, foretold in Isaiah 55:10-13.

 And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"  He answered and said to them, "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.  For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.  Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand."  The mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, my study bible notes, are not simply obscure concepts or some religious truths only for the elite.  Neither is the understanding of the parables just an intellectual process.  My study bible remarks that even the disciples find the message hard to understand.    Even as Jesus  taught the same message to all, it is the simple and innocent -- at whatever level of personal education or sophistication -- who are open to its message.

"And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:  'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.'"    Jesus quotes from Isaiah 6:9-10.  According to St. Chrysostom, this prophesy of Isaiah does not mean that God causes spiritual blindness in those who otherwise would have been faithful.  He explains rather that this is a figure of speech which is common to Scripture as giving people up to their own devices (as in Romans 1:24, 26).   That people will hear and not understand and will see and not perceive means that God permits self-chosen spiritual deafness and blindness (compare Exodus 8:15, 32 with Exodus 10:20, 27).   They did not become blind because God spoke through Isaiah; rather Isaiah spoke in prophecy as he foresaw their blindness. 

"But blessed are your eyes that see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it."  This statement has echoes of Jesus' comparison of John the Baptist, considered the last and greatest of the prophets, to those who are least in the kingdom of heaven:   "Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he" (11:11).  It is a tremendous blessing, far greater than we can commonly count it, to be a part of this Kingdom and experience its truths.

In our next reading, Jesus will address the meanings hidden in the parable He has taught of the Sower.  But one thing we can notice right off, and that is that Jesus promises that the seed that fell on good ground and yielded a crop:  some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.  This is a teaching that gives us an idea of exponential growth somehow contained in this Kingdom, and in this work of the Sower.  We might call it "magical" -- as if these seeds are magical seeds from a fairy tale.  But that would be entirely missing the point.  There is not magic in the work of God, but something greater and more potent than what might be called magic.  The work of God is precisely that:  it is God's work in us.  It is the work of the holy, and this Kingdom will be accompanied -- even as it continues through our faith today -- with the promise of the Holy Spirit among us.  We are to be reminded here of the opposite of the purpose of the practice of magic that this work is the work of God.  What is produced is not merely something that comes of our own effort, but with the help of God, by the grace of God, and by the nature of the Kingdom which is divine.  Jesus gives us a picture of what is often called synergy, which means that those who struggle through the difficulties of faith and allow that seed to take root in the good ground of the heart and soul do not produce results solely on their own.  It means that our fruitfulness is not ours alone, but the work of God who works in us with our assent.  That is, with our hearts capable to receive this mysterious reality, we may watch it equally mysteriously grow in our lives.  Many decades ago, I prayed for God to make God's presence known to me because, being a very hard-headed person, I needed to know for myself, and not simply because someone else told me so.  My prayers were answered to the extent that what you now read as part of this blog is a continuation of several years' practice, and which is still ongoing.  It is the last thing I could and would have expected when I embarked on an honest simple prayer to God.  My writing skills have been used in journalism and other forms of more commercial writing, and there are other talents I have developed in life and worked at.  I often wonder myself why I do not pursue other forms of writing at this time.  But this is where God has led me, and the course of several years of writing -- through which ideas and insights continue to unfold, such as they are (and I hope worthy of reading and in some way helpful to my audience) -- continues to lead me forward, especially through prayer.  It is one small example of the power of God at work which we can't expect, can't predict nor plan, and which I say truly I cannot claim essential credit for.  It is something which is given, a gift one dare not refuse even when it is entirely different from one's expectation and/or social milieu of value.  The long and the short of it is that this growth is surprising, unexpected and unplanned, and in the hands of God as our faith grows.  Let us consider also Jesus' words when He teaches that "many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it."  Let us consider the astonishing ways in which we are blessed and given every day grace and the gift of the possibility to experience this Kingdom.  We must open our eyes to realize how rich we are, and how we have been blessed with Christ's promise -- even when we live among those who have eyes and do not see, ears and do not hear, and hearts that have grown dull.

Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it

 "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.  You will know them by their fruits.  Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?  Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."

- Matthew 7:13-21

Yesterday we read that Jesus taught (as we read through the Sermon on the Mount):   "Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.  And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye?  Hypocrite!  First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.  Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.  Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone  Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!  Therefore, whatever you want men to do for you, do also for them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."

  "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it."  My study bible says that the description of the two ways was widespread in Judaism (Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Psalm 1; Proverbs 4:17-18, 12:28, 15:21; Wisdom of Sirach 15:17).  It prominently appears also in early Christian writings (Didache, Barnabas).  Luke's version (Luke 13:24-30) is more eschatological, set in reference to the end of the age.  My study bible says that as we wrestle against sins and human weaknesses, as well as spiritual forces of evil (Ephesians 6:12), entering the Kingdom is the more difficult way.

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.  You will know them by their fruits.  Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?  Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Therefore by their fruits you will know them."  My study bible comments here that, because they can easily deceive others, those who put on a show of virtue or religion are more dangerous than those who are evil outright.  So therefore, we must be all the more cautious among those who are outwardly virtuous!  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire:  John the Baptist made this same statement in 3:10.

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven."  Jesus here calls Himself Lord, which refers to the divine name "Yahweh."  He also speaks of the will of My Father in heaven, and thereby refers to Himself as Son.  He openly speaks of His identity as Son and therefore divine, in context also referring to Judgment at the end of the age.

In today's reading, Jesus warns us to "Enter by the narrow gate."  What is this narrow gate?  Clearly it is the gate of His word and teachings, and also the gate of His Person.  Jesus teaches elsewhere, "I am the door" (John 10:9).  Although there is a difference between a door and a gate (and the words are different in Greek), their function is the same.  Both indicate entrance, and both have been translated as entrance as well.  A gate is often used in the ways that there were gates to ancient cities meant for protection.  In this case, this "narrow gate" is the way into Christ's kingdom.  He contrasts this narrow gate with the wide gate and broad way that leads to destruction ("for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction").  Let us note that the entrance to destruction is not only a wide gate, and a broad way, but also there are all kinds of people crowding into that entrance, for "there are many who go in by it."   Again, let us turn to John's Gospel for His affirmative words regarding Himself in this context:  "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).   Jesus is not just the door or entrance to the kingdom of heaven, but He is also the way (again, in contrast to the broad way that leads to destruction).  Let us note, for the sake of understanding, that this word in Greek for way can literally mean "road."   So we're given a picture of a narrow city gate, which is a metaphor for His teachings and His Person, and that is in contrast with the wide gate and broad way the general public seems to take.  Then He gives us another image:  "Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it."  Not only is the gate He offers to us narrow, but the way is difficult which leads to life.  Moreover, in contrast to that broad way of destruction which is filled with so many people, there are few who find this narrow gate and difficult way.   This is not a picture of the whole world crowded in under a wide umbrella of Christ, regardless of how many will be saved (or even if all will be saved), for we can't judge that.  Instead, this is rather a picture starkly painted for our own understanding and experience of our faith.  We'll be called upon to find a narrow gate, that the whole world that we know doesn't necessarily want or clamor for.  We may find times of loneliness and great difficulty on Jesus' path.  And we will certainly be subjected, if we're truthful, to times when we will face a choice of separation from things or people we love, because that is the nature of this narrow gate and difficult way or road.  This path doesn't invite us with easy blessings and casual invitations.  It asks something of us.  We may, at times, even feel ourselves compelled forward, even against our will or better judgment (just as Jesus was "thrown" by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil; see this reading).  Jesus does not promise us nor His early followers a great deal of popularity or social acclaim.  In our current media-driven lives -- and especially now when so many of us are online all the time -- we may find this even hard to comprehend.  But in the very next sentence, He begins to warn us about false prophets.  Those are the ones who lead us to destruction, the great hypocrites who look good but are inwardly ravenous wolves.  They want to eat us up, there is an ulterior motive.  They promise us a lot, but in the end we are the victims of their manipulation.  He calls us to discernment:  by their fruits we shall know them.  Beware of those who promise a broad easy way, where we don't need to make tough choices, and all we need seek is social approval of a group.  Collecting "Likes" on Facebook seems to be the opposite of what Jesus intended for us to seek for and to value.  He wants us to find so much more, but we must treasure what He offers.  It's a narrow gate and difficult way for a reason, "for a worker is worthy of his food" (10:10), and "the laborer is worthy of his wages" (Luke 10:7).  Jesus says, "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.  And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me" (10:37-38).   Just like Jacob who wrestled with the angel for a blessing, this struggle depicted is a positive image for us, full of meaning (Genesis 32:24-32).   We are meant to be worthy of our wages, to become gold asks a refining fire, and thereby we are precious in God's sight.  Jesus did not come into the world to live an easy, carefree, blameless life. If that were the model we needed, so that we would have given -- and in the ancient world there were plenty of such models.  Jesus was called to a difficult choice for life.  Let us consider how we are called through this narrow gate and difficult way, the one that few seem to follow.

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you

 "Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.  And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye?  Hypocrite!  First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
 
"Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone  Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!  Therefore, whatever you want men to do for you, do also for them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."

- Matthew 7:1-12

We are currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught:   "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.  Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?  Which if you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?  So why do you worry about clothing?  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow:  they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'  For after all these things the Gentiles seek.  For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

 "Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you."  My study bible remarks that we will be judged with our own level of judgment because we are guilty of the same things we judge in others (Romans 2:1).  We ourselves have failed in repentance and in fleeing from sin.  It says that to pass judgment is to assume God's authority.  The second part of this verse -- with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you -- is found in Mark 4:24 and Luke 6:38.  Each is in a different context, as Jesus no doubt repeated this particular message many times. 

"And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye?  Hypocrite!  First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."   Later on in Matthew's Gospel, Jesus will offer a system of mutual correction in the Church as one that is good for the community (see 18:15-20).  So helpful corrective criticism is seen as a good, functional part of discipleship.  But Jesus here qualifies precisely how that works in discipleship.  We are not in a position to help others with correction if we ourselves have not been through the experience of correcting our own mistakes!  A hypocrite is the last thing Jesus wants and the first thing He repeatedly condemns.  It is only spiritual experience which has leavened and taught us that can help us to be wise enough (and humble enough) to help others in an appropriate way.  This requires the fullness of self-knowledge, and a constant seeking to be aware of and mindful of our own flaws.  Otherwise we really do not clearly "see" spiritually.

"Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces."  My study bible says that dogs and swine refer to heathen peoples (Philippians 3:2, Revelation 22:15).  However, this also includes Jews who do not practice virtue (keep in mind that Jesus is a Jew speaking to fellow Jews in preaching the Sermon on the Mount).  According to patristic opinion, dogs are those who are so immersed in evil that they show no hope of change, while swine are those who habitually live immoral and impure lives.  Let us keep in mind that in the context of offering helpful correction in discipleship, this most definitely applies to the error of teaching to those who do not desire nor value such spiritual wisdom.

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."  My study bible points out that the verbs ask, seek, and knock are present progressives.  This means that they more literally would be translated as "be asking," "be seeking," "be knocking."    It remarks on the synergy contained in this teaching:  our effort is commanded, but never apart from the immediate help of God.  We ask in prayer; we seek by learning God's truth; we knock by doing God's will. 

"Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone  Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!"  My study bible comments that human beings are called evil not to condemn the whole of our species, but to contrast the imperfect goodness that is in people (that is, our goodness is mingled with sin) with the perfect goodness of God (see 19:16-17).  It notes that if imperfect and even wicked people can do some good, so all the more will God work perfect good. 

"Therefore, whatever you want men to do for you, do also for them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."   This is called the "Golden Rule."  It fulfills the demands of the Law and the Prophets.  My study bible calls it a practical application of the commandment to love one's neighbor as oneself (22:39-40).   It's a first step in spiritual growth.  It also reports that the negative form of the Golden Rule ("Don't do to others what you don't want them to do to you") was already well known in Judaism.  But Jesus' form is positive:  this is the action that begins to draw us toward God.

The note at the end of the reading for today tells us that the negative form of the Golden Rule was already known in Judaism.  But Jesus changes it to positive action.  And we can read with consistency this emphasis by Jesus in the parable of the Good Samaritan, found only at Luke 10:25-37.  In that parable, a man -- who is a stranger and foreigner -- takes his own initiative to help someone who is hurt, incorporating the concept of "neighbor" to someone outside of his own community and in effect creates a "neighbor" relationship where there was none.  Sometimes there are times where we can't apply the Golden Rule literally, and Jesus also addresses that above.  If we would invite real spiritual correction (constructive and helpful), that may not be the case with everybody!  Hence, Jesus' warning about giving what is holy to dogs, or casting our pearls before swine.  Not everybody wants what is holy nor the wisdom of spiritual growth and understanding, and it is these of whom Jesus warns to maintain a distance in the context of the teaching.  So at all times what we have with Jesus is neither absolute "rules" to follow to the letter nor do we have esoteric and fuzzy idealistic philosophies or abstract concepts.  Instead, Jesus gives us pragmatic, simple, and wise down-to-earth advice that always bears a hallmark of experience.  And I think this is most important.  Jesus invites us also to discernment with His teachings -- He wants us to truly see and to learn how to perceive correctly.  Moreover, discipleship is a process of growing.  As is often said, our faith is a journey.  Throughout the Gospels, we are given a picture of the journey of the disciples as they become apostles and grow into their roles -- even through painful lessons --  as the pillars of the Church.   We are not simply offered abstract ideals and philosophies, nor are we given legalistic rules.  Our faith is a pragmatic one, which invites us to grow through spiritual experience and work at life in this blessed place of the Kingdom Christ opens to us.  Neither does it have impossible expectations, but rather offers us glimpses of the reality of the human condition:  both what we are and what we can be.  It doesn't flinch from the evil in the world.  It asks us to live and endure and to know for ourselves the Kingdom's blessedness, and to participate in Christ's life and sacrifice and resurrection.  Let us pay careful attention, step by step, and learn in God's love, where God's help is always at hand through it all.  So we ask, and seek, and knock, as He says.  Christ did not come into the world to fix it and be done.  Rather, He invites us into His life and the struggle for faith, with Him.  Above all, these teachings have stood the test of time and have not failed us in their truth.  Let us continue to learn and grow.

Sufficient to the day is its own trouble

 "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.  Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?  Which if you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?  So why do you worry about clothing?  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow:  they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'  For after all these things the Gentiles seek.  For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

- Matthew 6:25-34

Yesterday we read that Jesus taught (as we read through the Sermon on the Mount):   "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  The lamp of the body is the eye.  If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!  No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon."

 "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.  Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?  Which if you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?  So why do you worry about clothing?  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow:  they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."  My study bible tells us here that Jesus is warning against anxiety, not against thoughtful planning.  It says that our physical well-being is directly dependent on God, and only indirectly on food, drink, and clothing -- and adds that anxiety over earthly things demonstrates a lack of faith in God's care.

"Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'  For after all these things the Gentiles seek.  For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things."   Jesus refers to the pagan idols of the Gentiles, indicating that because they served such, they remained consumed by dependence upon earthly things.  Those who follow God, my study bible says, can be freed from such dependence.

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."  My study bible reminds us that the kingdom of God is the central theme of Jesus' teaching, and His righteousness is the subject of the Sermon on the Mount.  Jesus calls us to be free from anxiety about earthly things, and directs us to look to heaven.   My study bible says that we must be secure in the faith that God will provide needed earthly blessings.

I particularly love the images that Jesus gives of the beauty and splendor of the lilies of the field, and also God's care of the birds.  The "lilies of the field" one might say is a theme of this blog, as the largest picture is indeed of lilies that reproduce easily and freely (especially in the park where the photo was taken).  Jesus is so amazingly acute in His knowledge of detail of nature, and the wonder it inspires.  The colors of these lilies are indeed rich in splendor, in the most brilliant hues of orange and gold and red, that take on sunlight in a way to make them radiant.  And who has not paused to consider the birds, especially when they are plump and singing, and wonder how they are fed when they seem to have no one to care for them -- even the least of the little finches or sparrows?  Jesus emphasizes a dependency upon God and putting trust in God before all things.  This does not mean that we have no need of material things for life, and neither does Christ imply that we must never think about such things.  But, as my study bible puts it, He speaks against undue anxiety as emphasis.  It is, in my experience, a question of lifestyle.  We put our trust in God rather than our own worrying.  When Jesus tells us, "Sufficient for the day is its own trouble," He's teaching us about an attitude.  That is, an understanding that whatever we need to concern ourselves about will present itself to us, and we don't need to go stirring the pot to stir up yet more trouble for ourselves.  The word for trouble in the Greek is the same root as a word for "evil" or "wickedness."   It's translated elsewhere as "malice" and in modern Greek it literally means "bad."  So the wise advice here is not to go looking for trouble (and surely we know that in our lives trouble will find us!).  Once upon a time, I worried incessantly about a niece's wedding and what I would wear.   Her mother is a fashion plate and works in the beauty industry, and I have listened to endless criticism of the appearance of others.  I finally gave up my worry to God, and just trusted that whatever way I needed to be dressed I should trust in God.  Even if I didn't find my clothes impressive, others I had not seen in a long time seemed impressed and happy, and the occasion was surprisingly relaxed for me.  My simple experience of Christ's words was similar to what we've read all along so far in the Sermon on the Mount:  we must "let go" and trust God.  Whether we speak of past hurts, or anxieties, or the worry about storing up material goods, it's all the same.  We let go and trust God.  What remains remarkable about Christ's teachings is just how down to earth and full of worldly experience they are.  He's not giving us "pie in the sky" nor imposing impossible trials.  Sufficient to the day is its own trouble.  How much trouble would we save if we could remember these are wise words to live by!  By reminding us of the beauty of the lilies of the field, and the birds who sing as we pass by, Jesus gives us a picture of a world made in goodness, and reminds us to take a look and enjoy what God gives us.  If we can let go and trust, our lives become much simpler -- and how often do we need that reminder?

No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon

 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

"The lamp of the body is the eye.  If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon."

- Matthew 6:19-24

Yesterday we read that Jesus taught (in the Sermon on the Mount):  "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard by 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."

 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."   My study bible comments that by attaching themselves to treasures on earth, people cut themselves off from heavenly treasures.  People becomes slaves, in effect, to earthly things, rather than free in Christ.  The heart of discipleship, a note reads, is to disentangle ourselves from the chains of earthly things and to attach ourselves to God, the true treasure.

"The lamp of the body is the eye.  If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"   My study bible calls the mind (in Greek, nous/νοῦς) the spiritual eye of the soul.   This capacity for understanding illuminates the inner person and governs the will.  To keep the mind wholesome and pure, it says, is fundamental to the Christian life.

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon."  As slaves who serve two masters, my study bible notes, people will attempt to maintain attachments both to earthly and heavenly things.  But this is, in fact, impossible -- both demand full allegiance.  Jesus calls mammon ("riches") a master not as wealth is evil by its nature, but rather because of the control that it has over people.

I find it interesting to read Jesus speaking about treasures to which we cling in the light of our reading from yesterday.  Yesterday, we read the prayer Jesus gives us, called the Lord's Prayer, or the Our Father, in which we're taught to pray:  "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."  These debts in the prayer are spiritual, or even debts of the soul.  But Jesus also implies this forgiveness -- or literally "letting go" -- in today's reading regarding material treasure as well.  Taken as a whole it conveys an attitude toward life which Christ calls us to cultivate and maintain.  In today's reading, we're taught to "let go" of our clinging to material treasure as our main goal or central reliance, and turn instead to treasures in heaven.  That is, those things which we acquire when we practice discipleship, especially in the practices of prayer, almsgiving, and fasting which Jesus has just addressed in the Sermon on the Mount (see reading from Monday and yesterday's reading, above).  In the parable Christ gives of Judgment (25:31-46), Jesus emphasizes practices of compassion as those which lend us "credit" in heaven.  Taken all together, our readings give us an emphasis in letting go of our immediate concerns, be they hurts or temptations or passions of any kind -- but doing so in order to give them to God for proper balance and prioritization in life.  Jesus immediately speaks of the eye as the lamp of the body, and therefore emphasizes how we see.  That is how we look at life around us and our immediate concerns and desires.  He encourages us to have a healthy state of perception so that the whole of ourselves may be led in the right direction for life, and so that we live a healthy life in all ways:  spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically.  Once again, it is an emphasis on a healthy integration and balance of body, soul, and spirit.  It reminds us of His earlier words, "If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell" (5:29).  It is again a warning that "little things" if left uncared for and properly maintained can lead the whole of us into darkness, where we don't want to go.  It will darken our entire worldview.  So, just as in today's reading, Jesus tells us that we can be unwitting slaves to mammon and so must choose what we will serve, so forgiveness of spiritual debts (as in the Lord's Prayer) keeps us from being slaves to old hurts and harmful experience.  So stark is this choice, apparently, that Jesus speaks in terms of slavery and service, and that each master demands full obedience.  This applies on so many levels.  If we are slaves to a worldly perspective, we may spend a lifetime nurturing a grudge and with an inner slavish demand for vengeance or getting our own back.  If our number one priority in life is accumulating possessions above all other considerations in life -- that is, not a healthy understanding of saving and choosing wisely how to use our goods, but rather a love of money (emphasis mine) -- then we are slaves to mammon.  We will not be capable of truly serving God.  I have quite literally experienced this to be true, with the "bottom line" outweighing all considerations of love and even family ties.  In each sense of the material or spiritual, it is Jesus' truth that can set us free of slavishness to something that will not love us back nor guide us in the proper direction for full health and well-being.  As Psalm states, it is far better to be "a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness" (Psalm 84:10).  For in the house of our Father we are loved and cared for, nurtured and given the best medicine and teachings for growth.  Jesus presents us with stark choices, which we perhaps only in rare moments see with such clarity in our normal waking lives.  Let us take His word seriously, for we know of His love for us.  And who wants to be a slave to that which cannot love?

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 by 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

In yesterday's lectionary reading, we read that Jesus taught (in the Sermon on the Mount):  "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 by 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 says that vain repetitions cannot establish a communion with God, as God does not need our "babble."   It adds that in order to partake of this communion, both silence and words are needful.  Therefore, we pray always (Luke 18:1), and without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).  Note that this is not a condemnation per se of many words but rather "vain repetitions" (emphasis mine).  What the Church has always understood -- and in all useful prayer practices -- is that words must express the desire for communion with God.  In today's reading, Jesus gives us specific words to repeat (which is known as the Lord's Prayer).   So it's not repetition which is condemned or forbidden, but rather vain repetitions.  My study bible adds that many psalms, prayers, and hymns of the Church have been repeated for countless generations in the worship of God "in spirit and in truth" (John 4:23).

"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 tells us that the Father-Son relationship within the Trinity is a revelation of our potential relationship with God.  Christ, as Son of God, grants us the privilege of calling God Our Father by the grace of adoption (Galatians 4:4-7).   As a  "son of God" (regardless of gender), each Christian is called to love, trust, and serve God as does Christ serve, trust, and love God the Father.  Note that God is not our Father simply because God has created us.  God is Father for those in a saving and personal relationship -- a communion that comes by the grace of adoption (see John 1:13; Romans 8:14-16).  We are therefore to understand "sonship" as a status of being an heir.  In the context of Your name this is very important, as it indicates that status of an heir in a particular royal house; and that this house is honored as holy (hallowed).   This house is the kingdom of heaven, and we pray for our Father's royal will to be fully manifest on earth as it is in heaven.
  
"Give us this day our daily bread."  My study bible informs us that daily is a misleading translation of the Greek word epiousios/ἐπιούσιος.  This word literally means "above the essence," or "supersubstantial."  So when we read or say the phrase daily bread, we should understand it to mean not simply bread for today, and for earthly nourishment.  Rather this refers to the bread for the eternal day of the Kingdom of God, as my study bible beautifully puts it, which is for the nourishment of our immortal soul.  Of course, this living, supersubstantial bread is Christ Himself.  My study bible says that therefore in the Lord's Prayer, we are not asking merely for material bread for physical health, but rather for the spiritual bread of eternal life (John 6:27-58).   This bread is to sustain our life in the Kingdom.  Notable also is that this word appears nowhere in literature, contemporary or otherwise, and seems to have been coined specifically for the prayer given to us by Jesus.  This simply adds to our understanding of the uniqueness of what Christ offers, and asks us to pray for.  Of course, the echoes in the Eucharist are also clear here. 

"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."  This request to be forgiven is notably plural.  My study bible says that it directs us to pray always for the forgiveness of others.  The term debts is literally what is stated in the words of Christ reported in the Gospel, and it refers to spiritual debts.  To forgive a debt is to wipe it off the books, literally here the word means to "let go" or "release."

"And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."  My study bible says that God tempts no one to sin (James 1:13).  Temptations are from the evil one, the devil.  It adds that temptations are aimed at the soul's giving in to the sinful passions of the flesh (Romans 7:5).  No one lives without encountering temptations, but we pray that great temptations -- or tests beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13) -- should not come to us.  Let us note that we pray to be delivered from the evil one, and this would include all forms of evil.  This specific word for evil (or "the evil one") also literally means pain, or laborious trouble, that which gives misery.

"For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen."  This statement once again emphasizes the kingdom of our Father, and that it is God's power and glory which we seek, worship, commit to serve, and in which we desire to dwell.

"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 comments here that Jesus insists on mutual forgiveness between people as a precondition of God's forgiveness.  Those who do not forgive are not forgiven.  This is a teaching which is repeated in the parable of the unforgiving servant (18:21-35), which ends with the same teaching.  My study bible adds that to not forgive others is to willfully flee from the forgiveness of God for ourselves.  Let us note that here the word "trespass" is used where "debt" was used in the prayer.   Each is important to understand.  While debt is a kind of spiritual wound, trespass indicates a misstep, a lapse, falling away -- even something done unintentionally.

Jesus' prayer really gives us everything we need for our lives.  It is an essential prayer to say every day, and a good prayer for every day use.  Each phrase is meaningful, and sets us in a right place, a right orientation to our lives and to our faith.  In particular, it orients us to God our Father in the right way.  It is entirely in keeping with Jesus' teaching that rather than have us pray to Him in His specifically instructed prayer, we pray to the Father.  For not once during His entire time of ministry does He deviate from the important assertion that He is in the world to serve and to represent the Father, that even Christ's will and aim are not simply His own, but the will of His Father in heaven.  Therefore, His life was one of teaching us to do and serve the same, as "sons" of the Father by adoption, and therefore heirs in the kingdom of heaven.  This prayer emphasizes our sonship (again, regardless of our gender, and using language meant to teach us that we are heirs).  The use of the words "debt" and "trespass" I think warrants further attention, as they seem to describe with varied hidden implications different things.  A debt really indicates a kind of wounding or loss, something that has been taken from us that belongs to us.  We can think of this kind of debt as that which one might normally seek to avenge.  But we are asked to "let go."  To my mind, this does not imply that we are going to best friends with those who do us serious harm; a reconciliation process may be a long one.  But to let go of our debts and give them up to God our Father is essential for life in the Kingdom, because we really seek God's will in how we will live.  Therefore this aspect of the prayer is one that emphasizes letting go of purely worldly notions of vengeance or getting one's own back, and seeking to be directed through God's will for how we will live.  Furthermore, it is a liberation, for we are freed from concern for that debt in particular, and enabled to live more wholly and fully and from a better perspective.  It reinstates our personal integrity by letting go of what is essentially a loss or harm, just like businesses will often write off old debts to be unburdened of the toll.  So we are asked to "let go" -- especially indicative of letting go of collecting or exacting vengeance, returning the same to the one responsible for the debt.  Trespass indicates something less serious:  an error or misstep, something that causes a kind of offense but may even be unintentional, a mistake.  And these we are called to forgive as well, to let go.  Once again, Jesus emphasizes that this is a "deal" between our heavenly Father and ourselves.  It is a part of the communion of the Kingdom that we are forgiven as we forgive.   It is not a pact with the trespasser so much as it is one with our Father.  It seems to me that this emphasis is highly important, because it is a true way to freedom.  If we continue to nurse the debts or wounds we feel, or even the trespasses of others, we are always going to be miserable.  In the ancient systems of justice, one had to depend frequently on family or clan for the implementation of justice, and one can see how that could include traditions of vengeance and retribution to equal the insult or the harm.  But through Jesus' prayer, we are reminded that "Vengeance is mine, I will repay," says the Lord (Romans 12:19, Deuteronomy 32:35).  Therefore what we seek to do is place all things in the hands of God, and to seek God's will for the best way to handle our difficulties, and to live our lives.  Effectively, this kind of forgiveness or letting go to God is a way to open up all possibilities, to become unlimited in seeking the best way to respond to any hurtful or difficult circumstance.  It opens us up to what is best, whether that be a step by step process to reconciliation, or a need for distancing, depending upon the problems (or even evil) we incur and suffer.  Let us consider also the importance of asking God to deliver us from evil (or the evil one).  This is a prayer not simply for deliverance but also for protection, and it is equally important to recognize that we don't live in a perfect world -- and our discipleship is not necessarily simple nor easy.  Let us keep in mind that Christ in this way prepares us for what we need.  In the wisdom of the Church, we are given what we need in this prayer, a gift from our Lord.  Let us pray it as often as needed, for it is not "vain repetition" to trust in Christ's prayer for us.  Rather, let it help us increase our understanding, and apply what it teaches to all that comes to mind and is in hearts, whatever that might be.