Forgive Us Our Sins (7/24/16)
He Qi, Knocking at the Door
As Christians, we are called to forgive those who have sinned against us. Yet it can be very difficult to practice forgiveness. We saw that on display during the Republican National Convention, as Ted Cruz refused to support the Republican nominee, Donald Trump. This sermon is not about any candidate or party; it is about the spiritual affliction that comes from the refusal to forgive.
Sermon
Good
morning! I don’t know about you folks, but I will be really glad when this
election season is over. In fact, I’ll probably be a little bit happier next
Sunday, because at least the political conventions will be over. To be honest,
I spent more time last week watching the Pirates than I did the Republicans. I
assure you, I will also spend more time watching the Pirates than I will the
Democrats. I’m sure none of you are surprised by this: I am more loyal to my
Pittsburgh teams than any political party.
Still,
I feel that I must watch some of each convention to remain an informed citizen.
So I have to say, I was very troubled by Ted Cruz’s speech on Wednesday night.
Now I want to repeat that I am not arguing for any candidate or party from the
pulpit, but I was deeply troubled when Cruz, a man who ran on his Christian
faith, took the stage and publicly refused to forgive Donald Trump for remarks
that Trump made during the primary election campaign.
This
week’s gospel lesson offers us the Lord’s Prayer as it appears in the Gospel of
Luke. At this point
in the life of our congregation and our nation, we really need to spend more
time focusing on forgiveness—it is central to our identity in Christ.
Prayer
is also central to our identity in Christ and it plays a prominent role in the
Gospel of Luke:
Luke gives more emphasis to Jesus’ practice of prayer than
do any of the other Gospels, reporting that the Spirit came upon Jesus while he
was praying (3:21-22) and that he withdrew to desolate places to pray (5:16).
He also prayed before significant turning points in his ministry—e.g. the call
of the disciples (6:12-13), Peter’s confession (9:18), and the transfiguration
(9:28). Later, Luke will report Jesus’ prayers at Gethsemane (22:40-42), on the
cross (23:34, 46), and at the table with his disciples (24:30).[1]
Prayer is a part of the sacred dialog that each one
of us has with God. A right relationship with God begins with prayer, and
seeing Jesus at prayer prompts one of the disciples to ask Jesus how to pray.
The
language of the Lord’s Prayer is vitally important. The prayer reminds us that
we are completely dependent on God, not ourselves. I do not ask God to provide
for me. Instead, we ask for God to provide for us just what we need—and nothing
more! We do not ask for an abundance of resources; we ask for our daily bread. Our daily bread. We ask God to forgive our sins and we must also forgive those
who have sinned against us. This is a communal prayer, the prayer of a
community that yearns for the coming of God’s kingdom. Our entry into God’s
kingdom depends on God’s forgiveness of our sins.
Let
me say that I understand Cruz’s anger and his unwillingness to forgive. I think
those are natural responses and very human responses. Let’s not kid ourselves,
forgiveness can be very difficult. We all have trouble practicing
forgiveness—that’s why I mention this example from the political convention. I
think we are all afflicted by the same sickness, a desire to hold on to our
anger and withhold our forgiveness.
I
heard a great deal of anger during the Republican convention last week. I
expect that I’ll hear the same kind of anger at the Democratic convention this
week. I have low expectations. It’s easy to blame our political leaders for all
of the anger and divisiveness that we hear in these conventions and in our
nation’s political discourse. Certainly, they are all responsible for the words
they choose, but they are not responsible for all of the divisions that exist
within our society.
For
the most part, our political leaders reflect the divisions that are already
there. We say that we want leaders who will work together for the good of the
nation, yet we continue to elect candidates who refuse to compromise. And we
constantly express our own anger over the way things are—it’s always the other
party’s fault. We might speak kindly to one another here in church, but when we
go home, we write letters to the editor and call in to talk radio to express
our anger over the politicians we disagree with, and the people who vote for
them. The bottom line is that we all hold on to the anger; that’s a spiritual
problem. It doesn’t matter if it’s national politics or family politics, when
we hold on to anger, the anger holds us back spiritually.
This
is why we must practice forgiveness; it’s the only way to get past the anger.
The Greek word for forgiveness can also be translated as “release;” this is a
key theme in the Gospel of Luke:
Forgiveness offers release
from spiritual captivity—for the forgiver as much as the forgiven. Both acts
figure in the [Lord’s Prayer], not because God will not forgive our sins unless
we release others from their debts but because we hope to model our love on
God’s mercy to us (Luke 6:34-36; 17:26); in forgiving others we free ourselves
to experience God’s forgiving love more fully, which makes us love still more
(7:47).[2]
In other words, God’s forgiveness is not
conditional. We don’t have to forgive others in order to receive God’s
forgiveness. Instead, we forgive others because
we are forgiven, because the act of
forgiveness brings us more fully into the abundant life that God has promised
us.
We
don’t always trust those promises. That’s why this morning’s gospel lesson
includes two other stories after the Lord’s Prayer. Each story reminds us that
God fulfills his promises. The first story is a parable about a person who asks
his neighbor for a loaf of bread in the middle of the night.
In
the context of this parable, it would be unthinkable for a neighbor to turn
away a friend in the middle of the night. Even though the request could create
discomfort for the neighbor with the bread, the neighbor with the bread would
be dishonored for turning away his friend.[3] “The
parable requires us to compare our expectations of a neighbor with our
assumptions about God. If a neighbor might have to be roused from sleep, will
God be slow to answer an urgent request?”[4]
Jesus answers clearly:
So I say to you, Ask,
and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will
be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches
finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
I’ll admit, the stuff in there about snakes and
scorpions is a little bit odd, but the point is this: God hears our prayers and
forgives us when we ask for forgiveness. These two stories remind us of God’s
love, mercy, grace, and hesed.
That
doesn’t mean that it’s easy for us to practice forgiveness. So I’d like to end
this with a story of a politician who practiced forgiveness, though it must
have been very difficult. I’m speaking of Senator John McCain. Now I’m not old
enough to remember the Vietnam War, but I grew up during an era in which the
wounds of our society were still raw. There was a deep divide in our society
between those who supported the war effort and the troops and those who were
opposed to the war.
Many
students protested against the war and a few even went to North Vietnam to
speak out against the war. One of those protestors was a young man named David
Ifshin. At the time Ifshin spoke in Hanoi, John McCain was a prisoner of war.
In fact, McCain was forced to listen to that speech. McCain spent five-and-a-half
years as a prisoner of war. His captors tortured him physically and
emotionally. I can’t begin to imagine how McCain felt when he heard that
speech. The words “adding insult to injury” come to mind.
In
the mid-1980s, when McCain was serving in the House of Representatives, David
Ifshin came to his office and asked McCain’s forgiveness. McCain forgave
Ifshin, but he went even further. McCain said to Ifshin: “Look, I accept your
apology; we’ll be friends, but more importantly, I want you to forget it. Go on
with your life. You cannot look back.” Why did McCain forgive Ifshin? McCain
said: “The forgiveness is ultimately less self-destructive than the bitter
desire for revenge, or perhaps there is no such thing as revenge.”[5]
McCain offered forgiveness and friendship to a man who had provided propaganda
for the enemy. What an amazing act of generosity!
Beloved,
the anger that we hold on to holds us back. Our politics provide an easy window
into our brokenness—as a society and as individuals. The hurts are real and we
respond in anger because our wounds haven’t healed. The anger that we express
during the election season is just one obvious example of that brokenness, but
those are hardly the only hurts that afflict us and continue to make us angry. The
anger may be about politics or family issues or anything. It doesn’t matter
what the source of the hurt is; the anger and the hurt hold us back!
Forgiveness
is the way to the Kingdom; forgiveness is the way to the abundant life that God
has promised us. Let us all work to find forgiveness for family members,
friends, and neighbors. That is difficult work, but we must do this. Thanks be
to God. Amen!
BENEDICTION
Now, Beloved,
as you depart from this place, remember that we are all beloved children of
God. Remember that God forgives us when we ask for forgiveness. Remember, too,
that we are called to forgive those who have hurt us. Go forth and be
instruments of God’s peace and reconciliation. Do not return evil for evil to
any person, but know that we are all loved by God, and that we are called to
reflect that love to everyone we meet. This is the truth and the love in which
we were created. Go forth and live fully and abundantly into that love. In the
name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, let all God’s children say, Amen!
[1] R. Alan
Culpepper, “The Gospel of Luke: Introduction, Commentary, and Reflections,” in The New Interpreter’s Bible, vol. IX,
(1995, Nashville: Abingdon Press), p. 233.
[2] Meda
Stamper, “Commentary on Luke 11:1-13,” retrieved from: http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2918
[3]
Culpepper, p. 236.
[4]
Culpepper, pp. 236-237.
[5] The
story of McCain’s reconciliation with Ifshin was reported by Michael Lewis on
the radio program This American Life.
An archived edition of the segment can be heard at: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/41/politics?act=3
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