In the past six weeks, a group of us at our church have been going through a training class in intercessory prayer using the Lord’s prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) as the basis for the course. We are using Dr. David Chotka’s devotional study “Power Praying” with the subtitle ‘Hearing Jesus’ Spirit by Praying Jesus’ Prayer‘. It is an excellent study.
The Heart of the Lord’s Prayer
In this prayer we learn that Jesus is the King who brings God’s Presence and God’s Kingdom to earth. A major part of Jesus’ kingdom work seeks to bring healing, restoration and redemption to a world that is broken and alienated. This brokenness and alienation finds its ultimate cause in our separation and rebellion from our Creator God. But its most obvious manifestation on earth is seen in fractured and alienated relationships between human beings. There is something wrong within the human spirit and heart that makes relating to other human beings problematic.
As we ponder the lack of shalom or wholeness in the world of man and woman, we realize that man and woman are also not at peace with themselves. Addictions to alcohol, drugs, pornography and a host of other things make it clear that the human heart is often restless and selfish. No wonder we find it difficult to relate to others in loving and life-giving ways.
I agree wholeheartedly with Chotka’s statement regarding what is the center of the gospel. He writes: “If there is a center to the teaching of Jesus, it is that God is in the business of restoring, redeeming and setting right what has been made wrong. Our Lord made abundantly clear that nothing was more important than God’s call for us to be a people of forgiveness.” This is why right in the heart of the Lord’s Prayer and right after we pray, “Hallowed be Your name“, and “Your kingdom come….on earth as in heaven“, we pray for God to “forgive us our sins as we forgive others“. We can’t hallow God’s name or see His kingdom come in our lives without being a merciful and forgiving people.
Chotka refers to N.T. Wright’s short book on the Lord’s Prayer in which Wright comments on Jesus’ encounter with the paralyzed man where He declares before healing him: “Take heart my son, your sins are forgiven” (Mathew 9:2). The religious leaders of course wondered who Jesus thought He was, making such an authoritative declaration that only God could make. Wright makes the following powerful comment:
Who does he think he is? They quite naturally asked. The obvious answer is: Jesus thinks he’s the Kingdom-bringer. Jesus isn’t just a “teacher”: he is making an announcement about something that is happening; and he is doing and saying things which explain that announcement and demonstrate that it’s true…….Healings, parties (fellowship dinners), stories and symbols all said: the forgiveness of sins is happening, right under your noses. This is the New Exodus, the real Return from Exile, the prophetic fulfillment, the great liberation…….
So Jesus went from village to village…..announcing that the kingdom had arrived, that forgiveness of sins was happening, that God was transforming his people at last into the salt of the earth and the light of the world. And, wherever people responded to his call, he gave them instructions as to how they should live, as the new-Exodus people, the forgiveness-of-sins people. They were to live……as a cell of kingdom-people.
In particular, having received God’s forgiveness themselves, they were to practice it amongst themselves. Not to do so would mean they hadn’t grasped what was going on. As soon as someone in one of these Jesus-cells (i.e. local churches) refused to forgive a fellow-member, he or she was saying, in effect, “I don’t really believe the Kingdom has arrived.” The only reason for being Kingdom-people, for being Jesus’ people, was that the forgiveness of sins was happening, so if you didn’t live forgiveness, you were denying the very basis of your own existence.
This is why Jesus says, right after the Lord’s Prayer, that if we forgive others, God will forgive us, but if we don’t forgive others God won’t forgive us (Matthew 6:14,15). I like what Chotka says: “To be Jesus’ people is to start with being forgiven, so that we might leave off the things that paralyze us. To be part of Jesus’ countercultural community is to live out that kind of amazing forgiveness with all who sin against us.” We are to be forgiven forgivers. An unforgiving Christian is an oxymoron like the term ‘hot ice‘.
The Crying Need of Our Culture
The crying need of our conflicted culture – where wars exist between men and women, between different racial groups, between left-wingers and right-wingers and various other alienated relationships – is the message of the Gospel and the mercy of God. Our culture wars are often characterized by such hatred, spiritual blindness and self-righteous arrogance that without the grace of God, our culture is on the road to self-destruction.
Let us live as forgiven forgivers and let us be channels of Christ’s peace as we experience His kingly presence in our lives. May our local Christian communities be colonies of heaven as we live in redemptive and healing relationships. May the lost be found, the broken mended and the despairing find holy hope in our wonderful Lord and Savior.
QOTD: Do you live as a forgiven forgiver?