Forgive Us Our Debts
In the Anglican worship service we pray a confession of our sins every week. Or, truthfully, more than that, every time we celebrate the Eucharist or practice Morning Prayer. Throughout the Book of Common Prayer there are multiple versions of the confession prayer. If you have been using the Compline liturgy during Lent you will notice that the prayer of confession within Compline is slightly different from the prayer of confession that we pray in weekly worship. Confession is deeply rooted in our tradition.
Take a moment to reflect on this in your group.
Have you been part of a church tradition that emphasizes confession in this way?
If you are new to the Anglican tradition, what do you think about this aspect of our worship?
“Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”
The ordering of this petition can feel confusing and has confused many throughout church history. Are we to be loving and kind and generous to those who have wronged us in order for God to be loving and kind and generous to us? This is certainly not the case. God’s grace is a free gift given to us at the great cost of Jesus’ work on the cross. It is important to acknowledge that there is not a “because” in the prayer.
At the same time, there does seem to be a relationship between God’s mercy and our posture towards mercy and forgiveness. It’s as if we have a choice between living into a kingdom of grace and mercy or living into a kingdom of legalism. If you want to do a deep dive on this, read the entire Book of Romans.
Our passage today does not say “Forgive us our debts because…” John Calvin wrestled with this passage when writing his Institutes and was captivated by the Apostle Paul’s insight here. Over and over again Paul emphasizes in his letters that we are able to forgive and love because God first forgave and loved us. In other words, we have been invited into a kingdom of mercy.
Read Ephesians 4:32 and Colossians 3:13
God’s forgiveness toward us is unmerited grace. It is only through the forgiveness of God that we can possibly love and forgive one another. Here is Calvin on this petition of the Lord’s prayer:
“By this word the Lord intended partly to comfort the weakness of our faith. For he has added this as a sign to assure us he has granted forgiveness of sins to us just as surely as we are aware of having forgiven others, provided our hearts have been emptied and purged of all hatred, envy, and vengeance.”
In other words, according to Calvin, Jesus isn’t offering a condition for our receiving God’s forgiveness so much as he is offering an illustration of what God’s disposition toward us is really like.
We have been focused on the Matthew passage of the Lord’s prayer but in Luke the context of the prayer is slightly different. Read Luke 11:11-13, a section just after Jesus teaches his disciples how to pray, and discuss how this illustration applies to this petition on forgiveness.
The Anglican catechism asks this question: Why should you forgive others? The answer in the catechism: “I should forgive others because, while I was still a sinner, God forgave me through Jesus Christ. Failing to forgive impedes God’s work in my life and gives opportunity to the evil one.”
Reflect on this for a moment. How does our lack of forgiveness toward the other “impede God’s work in my life”?
How might it “give opportunity to the evil one”?
Finally, let's end this discussion exploring our confession liturgy once again. Within our tradition, every time we confess we are met with a particular proclamation - the assurance of pardon. In the Compline liturgy it is this line: “May Almighty God grant us forgiveness of all our sins, and the grace and comfort of the Holy Spirit.” On Sunday mornings it is slightly different. But each and every time we confess, there is an “assurance of pardon”, someone speaking the words of the Lord’s forgiveness over us.
Do you think these words are important? Why do you think they are included every time we confess? What does it teach us about God to hear the words of assurance each time we confess?
One final note - the weekly practice of corporate confession is not the same as the sacramental act of confession. In other words, while we confess “the things we have done and the things we have left undone” it is still a right and good thing to meet with a pastor or a brother/sister to confess specific, individual sins. Lent is a particularly appropriate time for the act of confession. If you would like to meet with a pastor for confession, please reach out to one of us through our email or at pastor@missionchattanooga.org.
Close with a time of prayer. Share needs and petitions with one another and then end with either Midday Prayer or Compline.