Wednesday of Lent 5 Forgive Us Our Trespasses
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen! In tonight’s Gospel, the owner of the vineyard sent his own Son. “And they threw Him out of the vineyard and killed Him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?” asks Jesus. “He will come and destroy those tenants…” Dear Christian friends, When Jesus gave His Lord’s Prayer to you, He gave you something more than a list of petitions—that is, a list of prayers and requests—for you to ask of your Father in heaven. Each petition of the Lord’s Prayer is a treasure for your daily benefit. Each petition of the Lord’s Prayer will serve you powerfully as • a confession of your sin and failure; • a classroom, in which we hear the Good News concerning our Lord and Christ’s great, all-encompassing love for us; and • an expression of thanks and praise to God for all His goodness and benefits. In tonight’s Gospel, Jesus illustrates how vitally important is for you to “forgive those who trespass against you,” as you pray every day in the Lord’s Prayer. You might ask, “How does tonight’s Gospel teach us about forgiveness when the Word ‘forgiveness’ does not appear anywhere in this reading?” In answer to that question, I would say to you, “These tenants in tonight’s Gospel rejected the One Whom God had sent to them. You and I do the same thing—we likewise reject the Son Whom God has sent—when we refuse and when we withhold forgiveness from our neighbor.” Your motivations may be different than the motivations of these men in this Gospel: You might feel as though you are justified in harboring your anger and nursing your grudge (something everybody does); you might feel yourself too weak and too injured to muster the strength to forgive (a condition I myself have repeatedly suffered); you might even think that person who sinned against you should be forgiven, but first needs to be taught a lesson. Whatever your reason for withholding forgiveness, the result is one and the same: as these tenants in tonight’s Gospel rejected the One sent to them, you and I likewise reject the Son Whom God has sent when we refuse and we withhold forgiveness from others. • “What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?” asks Jesus. “He will come and destroy those tenants…” With these Words, Jesus warns us about the dangers of rejecting the Christ. And no rejection of Jesus is more subtle, more disastrous, than our refusal or inability to forgive others. Perhaps that is why Jesus did not merely teach us to pray, “Forgive us our trespasses.” Jesus taught us to pray, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” These Words—“as we forgive those who trespass against us”—these Words require us to open the fist and relax the gut, so to speak. These Words—“as we forgive those who trespass against us”—in terms of tonight’s Gospel, these Words require us to pay the rent, as it were. “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Perhaps our sin and failure under this Fifth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer is much greater than we would have first believed: “Forgive me, Lord, not only for my sins against God and neighbor, but also forgive me for not allowing my neighbor the very same forgiveness I seek for myself. Forgive me, Father in heaven, for rejecting the Christ and throwing Him out of the vineyard when it comes time for me to pay the rent by forgiving others. • “What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?” asks Jesus. “He will come and destroy those tenants…” It didn’t need to be that way in tonight’s Gospel! What did the owner of the vineyard seek? He only wanted “some of the fruit of the vineyard.” The owner sought something very small, compared to all that He had given. After, all the owner is the one who had done all the work! “HE planted a vineyard.” The owner was merely returning to get what belonged to him. And, just as the owner in this parable was the source of everything that the tenants received, so you and I likewise have nothing except what we have been given by God our heavenly Father. Stated another way, God has given us each all that we need to forgive one another. Our forgiveness of one another is really only God’s doing—in the same way that the vineyard in this Gospel was solely the product of the owners labor. “HE planted a vineyard.” That is what makes the Fifth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer a classroom in which we in which we learn the Good News concerning Christ’s all-encompassing love for us. Simply stated, the Fifth Petition forces us to reflect upon and realize again the great power of God’s forgiveness in our lives: the power of God’s forgiveness is the sole power by which “we forgive those who trespass against us.” • “HE planted a vineyard.” When we learn of the mercy of God toward us, how can we not feel deep thanks and hearty praise for all His benefits? How can the Fifth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer NOT overflow with our thanks and praise? “Thank you Lord, for how You forgive me each and every sin. Thank You, Lord, that Your forgiveness is powerful enough even to heal my wounds and quench my anger and soon make me able to forgive. For even while I struggle to forgive, I know that You shall arise and do for me what I cannot do. • And the word “petition” still means “prayer” or “request.” Jesus carefully and purposely added to His Lord’s Prayer this petition, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Jesus added this petition to His prayer because He wants you to say these Words to your Father who is in heaven. With these Words, Jesus wants us to look to God our Father for every good thing—large and small—even for the ability to do for others what God Himself has done for us. Help us, Lord, in the name of Jesus! Amen. _______________________________________________ Sermons mailing list [email protected] http://cat41.org/mailman/listinfo/sermons
