Forgive as We Forgive

I want to share with you guys a little story about my friend David, King David, to be specific.

And yeah, this is the record that he gave me to kind of tell his story, okay?

So this is a challenging, powerful story, so I'm just going to read it with you guys.

So in the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites.

However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem.

Then late one afternoon after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of his palace.

And as he looked over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath.

And he sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told,

She is Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.

Then David sent messengers to get her.

And when she came to David's palace, he slept with her.

And then she returned home.

Later, when Bathsheba discovered that she was pregnant, she sent David a message saying,

I'm pregnant.

And I think in the story now, you can maybe imagine, it's not in the official record of David,

but maybe just that sense of guilt and shame.

Because as the king of Israel, he knew very well what God's design and God's heart and how God thought about adultery.

And you can maybe just imagine if you were in his shoes, I know it might be hard to imagine yourself in the shoes of a king,

but just this sense of, oh my goodness, what have I done?

How did this happen?

So the story continues.

David was a smart man, so I think, so he, my friend, probably just kind of survival mode, instinct,

figuring things out, kind of kicked in.

And it says this,

Then David sent word to Joab, the commander that he had sent out to fight the Ammonites.

He sent word to Joab saying,

Send me, Uriah the Hittite.

So Joab sent him to David.

And when Uriah arrived, David asked him how Joab and the army were getting along,

how the war was progressing, you know, the good pleasantries like that.

Then he told Uriah, go on home and relax.

David even sent a gift to Uriah after he had left the palace.

So you can imagine, you can probably guess, you know, why he wanted to send Uriah home, right?

Because if Uriah went home, you know, obviously, you know, had a good night with his wife,

everything would be patched up.

Everything would look fine on the outside, right?

The problem was this, Uriah didn't go home.

He slept that night at the palace entrance with the king's palace guard.

And when David heard that Uriah had not gone home, he summoned him and asked,

What's the matter?

Why didn't you go last night after being away for so long?

And Uriah replied,

Okay, so David responded,

Well, stay here today and tomorrow you may return to the army.

So you can probably imagine David's trying to think,

What can I do to make this plan kind of work out?

So the next day, David invited him to dinner and got him drunk.

But even then, he couldn't get Uriah to go home to his wife.

And again, Uriah slept at the palace entrance with the king's palace guard.

So if you put yourself in David's shoes now, what do you do next?

You can just probably imagine that sort of anxiety as he's, you know, maybe laying in bed and thinking,

What am I going to do?

How do I fix this?

How do I cover this up?

So the next morning, David wrote a letter to Joab and gave it to Uriah to deliver.

So Uriah's going to deliver this letter to Joab, his commander.

And the letter instructed Joab,

Station Uriah on the front lines where the battle is fiercest.

Then pull back so that he will be killed.

So Joab obediently assigned Uriah to a spot close to the city wall

where he knew the enemy's strongest men would be fighting.

And when the enemy soldiers came out of the city to fight,

Uriah the Hittite was killed along with several other Israelite soldiers.

And if you've never heard this story before, I trust, I mean, some of you I know, you've heard that.

You've never heard it before.

You know, this is a good reminder for us.

The main character is King David.

And he wasn't just any king.

You might kind of look at that story and say,

Yeah, I know, you know, kings are messed up and they do crazy things all the time.

But King David was one of the godliest and greatest kings ever to lead the people of ancient Israel.

The Bible even describes him as a man after God's own heart.

And that's quite the description.

If anyone ever calls you a man or woman after God's own heart,

Well, you can really kind of reflect on that and think if that's true or not.

So here, David, the greatest, godliest king of Israel,

described as the man of God's own heart,

commits this treacherous thing.

And although he was guilty of committing adultery and trying really hard to cover it up,

and ultimately getting Uriah killed,

the episode doesn't end there.

Because when you read on in the story,

you find that God sends the prophet Nathan

to confront David about everything.

And David confesses.

He says this,

I have sinned against the Lord.

I have sinned against the Lord.

And Nathan tells David that his sin will have consequences.

Of course, his sins will have consequences.

But David is forgiven,

and he will not die.

And so church,

that's what makes David a man after God's own heart.

Not that he was perfect,

but when he was faced with that reality,

when he was actually convicted and confronted with sin,

he confessed genuinely,

and he repented.

And today we're going through a series on the Lord's Prayer.

Last week we talked about,

God, your kingdom come.

Today we're going to look at when Jesus teaches us to pray,

our heavenly Father,

forgive us our debts.

I'll just kind of put that on the screen right now.

Our Father in heaven,

forgive our debts.

And in this time,

just in the next 20 minutes or so,

I want to simply show us

what Jesus meant by that

when he said,

forgive us our debts.

And how do we actually put that into practice?

And this story of David

that I just kind of narrated for you

is really helpful for us to understand debt,

this nature of debt and forgiveness.

Because the concept of debt is normally economic, right?

When we think about money we owe to others,

we will describe that as a debt to them.

But when we think of debt at a broader level,

and we kind of see how it applies to so much more than money.

You know, when we look at King David,

King David,

the godliest, greatest king of Israel,

God gives him everything

so that he can represent God

as the king of Israel

and lead his people.

But when he does these terrible things

with what God has given him,

with what he's received,

using the idea of debt,

we can say that David is now indebted to God

because he failed so miserably

to be the king that he was supposed to be.

In the Bible, that's what God calls sin.

So when we look at prayer and forgiveness today,

I mean, if you haven't felt it already,

my hope is that we realize

that this should be a heavy topic.

It is a heavy topic.

When we look at David's life,

you know, sin and spiritual debt

touch every aspect of our lives.

Everything.

So we need to face it head on.

And we need to look at what it means

for us to pray regularly

about forgiveness

and all the issues that come with it.

So if we're going to take

the Lord's Prayer to heart,

we, the first thing we must do

is we've got to recognize

just the magnitude of debt.

It's not a small thing,

the magnitude of it.

And today, whether you're a Christian or not,

you might look at David and say,

well, you know, that's crazy,

you know, what he did.

And that's very messed up.

I've never done anything like that.

I mean, I've lived a pretty good life overall.

And even those of us

who've learned

about the seriousness of sin

and how God's standards are perfect,

I think we can kind of drift back

to thinking that we're not all that bad.

You might not say that

sort of intentionally

and consciously in your head,

but you might kind of just

default back to thinking,

oh, you know,

maybe I was pretty bad at one point,

but now I've recovered.

Now I've gained my footing again.

Now I'm on the way to righteousness.

And I'm doing well.

Now I remember back in university,

way back when,

when I was really far from God.

I didn't really have any interest

in following him.

I would probably say

that was kind of one of the low points

in my life.

Just completely engrossed

with enjoying myself

and, you know,

spent a whole year

just partying hard

and working hard

and just kind of doing my thing.

I just remember making,

I remember waking up one morning

after about a whole year

and just thinking,

this can't be who I am.

This can't be all that I am.

There has to be more

to this.

And it was then

that I really thought

long and hard

about God's purpose

for creating me

and how I might fulfill

that purpose.

And I came to the realization

that some of you

may have also come to realize

that God created us

to worship him

with our entire lives

so that every last part

of our lives

would reflect his glory

and his goodness.

And I definitely

wasn't doing that

in that year

of partying hard

and working hard.

I mean, sure,

I wasn't covering up

adultery

and I wasn't trying

to get my classmates killed

and my roommates killed.

Sure, I wasn't doing that.

But when I started reading

the Gospels,

when I started reading

what Jesus said

about anger

and lust,

that ultimately,

to God,

even the traces

of anger

and lust

in my heart

were to him

the same

ultimately as murder

and adultery.

You know,

anger becoming murder

and lust becoming adultery.

These,

I realized

something profound

that sin

and death

are not just

about actions.

Right?

They're about

the smallest

of our motives,

the smallest

of our intentions,

the smallest

of our desires

from the depths

of our hearts.

And every person

in this room,

including myself,

has mixed motives.

Every person

is capable

of the darkest

and most evil things

when it's only happening

in our minds.

Right?

And I would like

to think

that given

a particular

environment

or a particular

circumstance

or a particular

upbringing,

I would easily

be capable

of turning

those desires

and letting them

manifest in actions.

You just need

the right environment.

Right?

Pure motives

count.

And if you think

about it,

we as humans,

we certainly

care about humans.

I mean,

human motives,

right?

I mean,

just think about it

honestly.

If you looked

at your spouse

or your child

or your parents

and they only

acted

like they loved you,

how would you feel?

You know,

they acted,

they're the best

Oscar award winning

actor and they

acted great

like they loved you

day after day

after day.

Oscar winning

performances,

but inside

there was no

real desire

or at least

the motives,

the intentions

were really mixed.

How would you

feel about that?

And if you

care about those

motives,

how much more

do your motives

matter when it

comes to the

perfect God

who created you?

How much more

would that matter?

So the key

to this

is realizing

that debt

is a big

deal.

It's a serious

thing

when it's

to God,

the perfect

God.

When you owe

a debt to God,

that debt

is massive.

Why?

Because God

is the perfect

embodiment

of everything

that is good.

Perfect motives,

perfect actions.

And so when

he has called

us to be

like that

in our lives

and we fail

to live up

to that

calling,

the debt

is massive.

So the reality

is today,

you know,

if any of us

think that we

are somehow

good enough

to pay that

debt,

I think we're

just delusional.

You know,

those mixed

motives in my

heart mean

that I can

never reflect

God's glory

the way I

was intended

to.

Just going

back to the

debt idea,

right?

If you are

permanently

bankrupt,

if you are

permanently

insolvent,

how on earth

can you

pay your

debts?

Right?

You have

nothing,

nothing to

pay back.

And although

that was a

rhetorical question,

you may have

guessed the

answer is

Jesus Christ.

Since we

cannot possibly

live that

perfect life,

God lived it

through Jesus.

He lived that

perfect life

through Jesus

Christ.

And since

the only

way for us

to pay

the debt

is through

death and

separation from

God,

Jesus was

crucified and

separated from

God on our

behalf.

So this

is the first

step for us

to remember.

We need to

put our faith

in Jesus

Christ and

what he did

for us.

We need to

do that every

day.

And if

you're in

this room

today and

you've never

put your

faith in

Christ before,

today is as

good a day as

any, I think,

to do that.

Because Christ

is the only

way that a

bankrupt,

insolvent

people can

pay back that

debt to

Jesus.

Now you

might be

sitting in your

chair and

thinking,

well I know

that, I've

heard that

before.

And the

truth is, I

have, because

everything I

just shared

with you, I

realized all

of that 13

years ago when

I woke up that

morning and

thought to

myself, my

life is so

stupid.

All this days

and days of

partying and

studying hard,

what's the

point?

I'm just

going to do

more tests and

work for the

next job and

work for the

next promotion

and work and

work and work

until the day I

die.

And it was

just an endless

search for the

next thing.

And I just

woke up and I

started thinking,

wow, this is

really meaningless

and really

hopeless.

I realized all

of that that

day 13 years

ago.

And as I

learned how to

follow Jesus,

as I learned in

the Gospels what

it looked like to

actually find true

purpose and meaning

in my life and

thinking about how

God designed me,

as God worked

in my life,

yes, I did

grow, I did

mature, I

realized all those

things that I

just described to

you.

But then something

happened.

As I grew, as I

mature, I started

to forget the

depths of my sin.

I started to

kind of think,

oh, maybe I'm

good enough now

because I started

to do a lot of

the right things.

I had sort of

built this

reputation of

being a

mature person.

I think someone

might even have

dared to call me

or pray that I

was a man after

God's own heart.

Maybe just once.

And I think I

had achieved the

status of being

a mature or

good Christian,

whatever that

means.

and I felt

more happy about

what I had

done.

I might not

have consciously

thought that,

but I started to

feel more happy

about what I

had done than

what Jesus had

done on the

cross.

And Jesus

became a nice

name for my

identity, Christ

follower, Christian,

a church leader,

a fellowship

leader.

It became a

nice name, a

nice title for my

identity, but

Jesus actually

wasn't the one I

depended on 100%

to pay that

debt that I

needed to pay.

And now kind of

looking back in

that journey, man,

how arrogant and

prideful was I

to think that

somehow, you

know, through my

own talents and

effort and whatever

other attributes, I

was becoming a

better person.

I was getting

closer to God.

And I must

confess to you

today, I need to

come back to

Jesus too.

And I

understand it's

not that simple.

I understand that

some of you have

really given credit

to God for what

he's done in your

life, for how your

hearts have been

transformed, because

so have I.

I've given plenty of

credit to God in my

life, which is why I

know from experience

that we'll always have

this temptation to

credit ourselves, to

start feeling a sense

that we've done it,

we've finally reached

that plateau.

And that's why I

love this cross

chart that we've

shown to you

before.

This cross

chart is a

description of how

in our journey,

spiritual journey,

true maturity is

actually a growing

awareness of God's

holiness.

holiness.

It's not that God

becomes more holy,

he's been pretty holy,

I think, through all

of eternity.

But our growing

awareness of it, and

a growing awareness of

my own sinfulness, that's

spiritual maturity.

recognizing that any

given moment, there's a

darkness in your soul,

in your heart, there's

mixed motives that will

never truly go away, and

even as you wrestle and

grow in holiness, grow in

obedience, grow in

serving God and being

obedient to him, actually

the very depths of your

soul are still tainted,

and there's always this

growing sense of your own

sinfulness.

righteousness.

And that's when you

realize that the cross

becomes magnified, it

becomes greater and

greater.

Not that Jesus' salvation

and sort of the resurrection

sort of has become

greater, but your growing

awareness of the value of

Jesus just kind of comes

back at you.

God, you have done such an

amazing thing.

I didn't even realize how

great my debt was 13 years

ago.

And hopefully 13 years from

now, I will realize even

more.

That was a debt I could not

repay and no amount of good

performance could have

repaid.

You know, think about the

last time you felt genuine

emotion about that cross.

in complete awe of that cross

of Calvary.

Like if you were a man on

death row and you have now

been pardoned.

Maybe imagine that you were

an orphan thinking back to

the day.

You're an orphan with loving

parents right now thinking

back to the day that you

heard the news that you were

going to be adopted.

It's pretty amazing, right?

And the cross is infinitely

more amazing than that.

And how you feel about it

today just might be an

indicator of how much you

recognize and you continue to

recognize the size of your

debt and how much it cost God

to absorb that debt.

You know, Jesus taught us to

pray, forgive us our debts

as a model for our prayer

lives.

To remember that debt.

To remember the size and

magnitude of that debt.

It's clear that he wanted us

to remember our constant need

for forgiveness.

Yes, the cross has showed us

that we have been forgiven.

once and for all.

But we are still imperfect.

We are still full of mixed

motives.

And we still fall short daily

of God's perfect standard.

Every day, there's a part of

my life, however small, that

still says to God, God, I

don't need you in this.

I don't need you in my life.

I want to live my way.

I'm the God of my life.

And sure, you might not say

that verbally, but in your

heart, there's things where

you're effectively, de facto,

saying that to God.

So this aspect of prayer,

forgive us our debts that

Jesus modeled for us, it's

really about confession.

Confessing our debts to God and

our need for his forgiveness.

forgiveness.

And the reason why I don't

confess to a human priest

is because I know that Jesus

Christ is the high priest and

he is the only person I need

to access God and to access

God's forgiveness.

But the practice of forgiveness

is still so important.

And that's something I know that

I neglect.

This actual ritual, this actual

process, this actual act of

asking God for forgiveness.

But this model of prayer, this

model that Lord Jesus in his

Lord's Prayer modeled to us, that

is something that he shows us.

We need to do it intentionally and

consciously, approaching God

through our high priest, Jesus

Christ, to ask for forgiveness.

forgiveness.

But remember, as we do this, we

approach a God that isn't

distant.

It says, our heavenly Father, our

Father in heaven.

And that's how this series

started.

You know, we spent an entire

sermon talking about our Father

in heaven.

So when you think about

confession, how much of a

much do you want to forgive your

child when they genuinely

confess and they're genuinely

sorry?

And if that's the case, how much

more does your God, your perfect

heavenly Father, want to forgive

you?

God tells us in Scripture that he

has removed our sins as far as us

from, as west is to east.

If you can even imagine how far west

is from east, that's how far God has

removed our sins.

And the Lord is like a father to his

children, tender and compassionate to

those who fear him.

So do not forget in confession that

you are coming before a holy God but

also a perfect heavenly Father who

desires to forgive you when you

genuinely confess.

So we're going to spend some more time

to respond in confession after the

sermon, but before we put that into

practice, the Lord's Prayer tells us

something really important that we must

do before we come before our heavenly

Father.

It says, forgive us our debts as we also

have forgiven our debtors.

And church, that's a condition, a caveat

that I always kind of gloss over and

forget when I think about the Lord's Prayer.

Forgive us our debts as we also have

forgiven the ones who owe debt to us,

our debtors.

And that phrasing in the Lord's Prayer tells

us that there is an intimate and direct

connection between the forgiveness that we

experience from God and the forgiveness that

we offer to others.

That word as is important because you can

also translate that as like.

If you think about it, forgive us our debts like

we also have forgiven our debtors.

God, forgive me just like how I forgive others.

That's a scary thought, isn't it?

When I thought about that, I can only ask and

expect God's forgiveness of me to be like the

forgiveness we extend to others.

And I want to be clear here, the forgiveness that

you extend to others, it's not a way to earn God's

forgiveness.

I mean, we've already highlighted how impossible

it is to pay our debts to God.

And it's very clear, God is so clear in Scripture

that we need to put our faith in Jesus and

follow Him to receive lasting forgiveness from

God.

But that doesn't make us perfect right away,

right?

As we continue to confess our sins, confess our

debts, as we continue to appreciate that massive

distance between God's holiness and our sinfulness, we

continue to experience God's amazing grace, right?

And it's precisely because of that forgiveness, because

of that joy that you experience in forgiveness that we can

quickly and genuinely forgive our debtors.

You know, when I grow in appreciating that gap that we saw in the cross

chart, recognizing that our debt is huge, my debt is huge, I actually start

realizing the debt that others owe me is actually quite small in comparison,

right?

And also, we need to think about the people.

As we think about the people that we need to forgive, we need to remember that sin,

that debts, although, yes, they hurt all people around us, they hurt, they show us the

brokenness in the world, and they do hurt the people around you.

Sin is ultimately something that only God can be the judge of.

Let's go back to the story of King David and his sin.

So you remember, Nathan confronts him, and David just confesses.

But what does he confess?

He says, Lord, I have sinned against you.

And after this episode, God actually inspires David to write Psalm 51.

And David writes this inspired prayer.

In Psalm 51, he prays this,

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.

Against you and you only, God.

Now, David obviously wasn't saying that his sin didn't hurt and didn't affect others.

That's obviously what he isn't saying.

But what he's showing us is that he recognizes that God alone is the judge of his sin.

And if a perfect God is the judge of everything, you know, the harm we cause to others, if you

think about it, actually that's even more serious.

Because God judges every one of us with perfect justice.

So what that tells us, what Psalm 51 tells us, is that as we forgive our debtors, we don't need to hold on to that role of being judge as well.

God is the perfect judge.

God is the perfect judge.

And as we forgive, as we let go, as we give that burden to God, we can remember that God is the one to judge.

And that is not a burden for us to carry.

And I think, church, that really helps me when I think about forgiving those who have hurt me.

Our Father in heaven, forgive us our debts like we also have forgiven our debtors.

There is clearly a condition there.

Can you truly say that you have experienced God's forgiveness if you're unwilling to forgive others?

How can I say that I continue to experience God's forgiveness when I continue to hold on to unforgiveness in my own heart?

There is clearly a connection.

Our forgiveness of others is a sign, a warning light to us of how much we understand and appreciate and have grasped the depths of God's forgiveness for us.

And this is why the Lord's Prayer teaches us, pray regularly in confession.

Father, forgive our debts.

And that's what we're going to spend a bit of time doing right now.

And I want to invite the band to come up and just create some space for us to reflect and pray as we put this into practice.

Confession helps us to appreciate and remember how great a debt God has forgiven.

And it inspires us to forgive the much smaller debts that others owe us.

And guys, I know, I know that some of us, a lot of us have experienced serious hurt and pain in our lives.

And I'm not trying to just kind of brush that aside.

Those debts that others owe you are serious indeed and they might feel massive indeed.

And that's why Jesus taught us in the Lord's Prayer, we have to start with recognizing that it's our Father in Heaven that we're praying to.

Remember that definition of prayer that we've been sharing?

Prayer is a child calling out to their Father in Heaven, their loving Heavenly Father, in response to Him reaching down to us.

Reaching down to us like a loving Heavenly Father.

And God knows every single hurt, every single debt that is owed to you.

And He wants you to know this morning that He loves you.

And His love for you, your identity as His child is all you need.

So this is the time that just call out to Him.

Receive His love and forgiveness again.

And as you receive that love and forgiveness, let that overflow into your forgiveness of others.

I'm just going to take the next five minutes or so and just practice that to live that out in your own hearts.

To pray and to confess.

We're going to put a few points on the screen if that helps inspire you to kind of just give you something to latch on to.

But the important thing is just be free right now.

Just be honest to pray to God to say,

Our Father, my Father, forgive us our debts as we forgive those who are our debtors.