Colossians 2:6-15, Luke 11:1-13
“And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.”
A few years ago, my wife Nicky and I purchased a cottage. It was a small building, constructed in the mid-19th century. I was nestled amongst other cottages on a campground. As you can imagine, the place needed some work, but we were up to the challenge.
It was one of the last cottages to get a makeover. The rudimentary plumbing and electrical systems all had to be removed and replaced, and the kitchen floor was about 8″ higher in one corner than it was in the opposite corner. This was going to be a challenge.
Thankfully, I grew up working with my hands, and my father taught me how to do many things. Between my brothers and me, we were able to get most of the work done. My father-in-law, the electrician in the family, not only helped with the rewiring but also got down in the trenches with me and assisted me in rebuilding the place.
The one thing that this cottage had going for it was its strong foundation. Although a weak or crumbling foundation can be fixed or replaced, if the foundation is strong, the rest of the job becomes much easier.
This morning, we heard a passage from Paul’s letter to the Colossians. Paul tends to write to his churches when they are in trouble. He has his way; he begins nicely enough, thanking them for all they have done in the past, and then he comes at them with both barrels.
It would seem that the Colossian church has forgotten who they are and where they have come from. Folks from “another teaching” have come and confused the community. Keep in mind, this was before written scriptures and church doctrine, so everything was based on oral tradition and the few written documents they had. A new person comes to town preaching and teaching; some are going to follow.
Paul tells them in verse eight, “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ.” Remember what you were taught. Remember your foundation.
In the previous passage, Paul reminds them who Jesus is, and, in this passage, Jesus reminds them of what Jesus has done for them. Verses 13 and 14, “And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands.”
Jesus did not just forgive; Jesus erased the record. Forgiveness is the connective tissue between Paul’s letter to the Colossians and the passage we just heard from Luke’s Gospel. As we will see, forgiveness is a fundamental part of our spiritual life.
If you listen to me long enough, you will discover that I preach and teach about love a lot. I believe that love is not only central to the Gospel message, but it is also foundational to it. Jesus commanded us to love one another and to love our enemies.
Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, the passage we always hear at weddings because it mentions love, says that without love, I am just a clanging cymbal. Yes, I am making noise, but that is all it is.
As followers of Jesus Christ, we are to measure everything we do, everything we say, and everything we support against this marker of love. Does what we say spread love, or something else? Is this action I am about to take foster a loving environment or something else? Does this policy, or the person I am supporting, spread love to God to everyone? Does it treat everyone with equality, or does it do the opposite? If the answer to any of these questions is ‘no’ or ‘I am not sure,’ then, as followers of Jesus Christ, we cannot do it and we cannot support it.
The capstone of the foundation of our life in Christ is love.
Now I can hear you already, “Preacher, how can we love everyone? How can I love the person who has done this or who has done that?” My answer is simple: you will never look into the eyes of another human being that God does not love. God loves everyone, period, end of story.
Now, the other part of this, and this is important, Jesus commands us to love, but Jesus does not command us to like, and there is a difference. I’m taking time to lay this out because this is important. Again, if we have a strong foundation, the rest will fall into place.
I have a daughter; she is five, going on 16. Like most kids her age, she enjoys testing the limits. She likes to push here and pull there to see what she can get away with. I love my daughter in ways I never thought I would love another human being; she is my everything.
But, sometimes, she does things I don’t like or approve of. Sometimes, she pushes or pulls a little too much, and she needs to be corrected. Correcting her actions or disapproving of something she has done does not diminish my love for her in the slightest. It is my love for her that drives me to point out when things have come off the rails.
Later today, I will post this sermon on my various social media accounts. I also have a program that scans the sermon and identifies small clips that can be extracted as stand-alone video clips. I think these are called “sound bites.” These are the essential points of the sermon; it’s not all important, but it gets to the point.
A few weeks ago, I posted a clip of myself rambling about love and how we are supposed to love everyone. For the most part, I receive positive comments. But one comment was not so positive, but it made me chuckle.
It was suggested that if we genuinely love people, we should encourage them to repent and turn away from their evil ways. Now I believe that we should hold people accountable for their actions. Several places in Scripture remind us of our duty to do this. However, calling people to repentance is an entirely different matter.
In a very uncharacteristic way, I didn’t respond right away; I let the comment sit. Then, I responded. I answered, “You’re right, we should call people to repentance so repent from your intolerable ways and come to know that Jesus loves everyone, just the way they are.”
There was no reply.
Now that we have set the stage and solidified our foundation, let us turn to Luke and the disciples, who ask Jesus to teach them how to pray.
This passage is obviously the Lord’s Prayer. It is the prayer we recite at each service, and it is the prayer we should recite daily. We do not have to come up with some elaborate prayer and use all sorts of words; Jesus gave us this prayer, and it is, in many ways, the perfect prayer. It has all the elements, it’s personal, we praise, we seek God’s will, we confess, and we ask for God’s protection. It is the perfect prayer.
There is one element of this that I want to hone in on, as it ties directly to love and what Paul said.
Verse four, “And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.”
Forgive us, as we forgive.
Forgiveness, like love, is not easy, but it is necessary because it is a form of freedom.
Here is the crucial thing about forgiveness: forgiveness is not for the other person; forgiveness is for you, it’s for us. By withholding forgiveness, we give power to another over a portion of our lives. We allow them to direct the path that we will follow. Withholding forgiveness leads to anger and bitterness, which can and usually do lead to hate.
By offering forgiveness, we reclaim power, control, and our lives. And here is the beauty of forgiveness: the person who has wronged you does not even have to know that you forgive them, so we can forgive people even if they are no longer alive.
Now, I am not trying to trivialize any pain that might have been caused, and I know that there are some things and some people that you might never be able to forgive, and that is ok. The important thing is that we are open to the possibility that one day, we may be able to forgive.
And here is the beauty of forgiveness. Just like with love, we don’t have to like, with forgiveness, we don’t have to forget. Forgiveness does not mean we will not seek justice. Forgiveness does not mean we will welcome that person or persons back into our lives. Forgiveness does not mean we will forget what they did to us. Forgiveness means we will no longer let that person have power over us. Forgiveness means we reclaim our lives and begin the road to recovery.
However, I will remind you again that this does not mean we can or will be able to forgive everyone. Some things are unforgivable, I get it. Find someone you trust, such as a spiritual guide, pastor, counselor, or friend, and talk about it. You are not alone.
And here is the sound bite for today: forgiveness, like love, starts right here. You must forgive yourself and learn to love yourself. Stop beating yourself up. God loves you and forgives you; now, love and forgive yourself.
Friends, the spiritual life is not easy. Being a follower of Jesus Christ demands things from us that the world tells us we do not have to give. But we do not walk on this journey alone. Build that strong foundation. Sure, part of it might be shaky, but we can work on that. The thing is, we cannot give up. We cannot give up on ourselves, nor can we give up on each other.
Forgive us, as we forgive those who have wronged us. Thy will be done.
Amen.
