Word to the Wise
Tuesday, February 27, 2007 - Tuesday of the First Week of Lent
[Isaiah 55:10-11 and Matthew 6:7-15]If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.
After teaching the disciples "to pray" Jesus calls attention to the implications of one of the petitions in "the Lord's Prayer!" The petition states: "[F]orgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us...." How often do we pray those words without realizing what we are asking! We ask God to forgive us to the extent that we forgive others! (Maybe ourselves as well!) When the conversation gets around to "What are you giving up for Lent?" have you ever heard anyone say, "I'm giving up an old hurt and forgiving the person who hurt me?" I don't expect that any of us has heard that very often if at all! Now that is a challenge worthy of Lent, even if it is only one injury! The most precious possession some folks have is a grudge because they hang on to it with all their might! This is enough to make one wonder if one wants to sincerely repeat The Lord's Prayer. The Greek verbs in the prayer are in a tense that we don't have in English, "aorist," which carries the notion of immediacy! The Lord's Prayer would commit us to an immediate action of forgiveness! Do we say, "Whoa! Hold on a minute! You mean I have to forgive _________________for what he/she did to me_________________years ago? if I expect God to forgive ME?" That's what the prayer says! AMEN
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