A Dangerous Prayer – Part 3

The next verse of the Lord’s Prayer - Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors - is another one meriting an entire blog entry. I'll reflect on that verse in this week’s sharing, and finish up these reflections next week.

As we forgive others. What we receive hinges on what we are willing to give. The choice is entirely ours. The other night, I was flipping through channels on the TV, and happened to come across a showing of Gone with the Wind. I hadn’t seen that movie in its entirety since my first encounter with it at the age of 11, although I had seen occasional clips and heard bits from the musical score. Watching it again, I homed in on the character of Melanie Hamilton Wilkes. I was particularly struck by how she repeatedly defended Scarlett O’Hara to her many critics, and particularly in light of the many veiled (and some not-so-veiled) accusations of infidelity between Scarlett and Melanie’s husband, Ashley. Melanie steadfastly refused to listen to the gossip or to think ill of Scarlett, no matter the preponderance of evidence against her. Her attitude was one of being quick to forgive, always giving the other person the benefit of the doubt, and seeing the good that is there.

In the Gospels, when Peter wants to know how far he has to go in extending forgiveness, the Lord tells him he must forgive not seven times, but seventy times seven times (Mt. 18-22). But the Lord desires that we grow beyond such a legalistic view of forgiveness. It’s not about keeping score, or if someone “deserves” to be forgiven. The Lord’s Prayer contains no caveats or quid pro quos. We must be conformed to an attitude that is more like Christ – one of unconditional love.

We see a shining example of this in the parable of the Prodigal Son (Lk. 15:11-32). Although the son acknowledges the error of his ways (Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you) and recognizes the breach he has caused in his relationships with both his earthly and heavenly fathers, there is no “I told you so” or “Don’t you ever do that again” or anything of the sort. Interestingly, the word “forgiveness” isn’t even used in the parable. I imagine that the son never got a chance to finish his well-rehearsed speech when he met up with his father. In that moment, the father’s joy trumped justice. Love overshadowed duty. The matter of forgiveness, in the father’s mind, was completely rhetorical.

This kind of unconditional, forgiving love is what the ancient Greeks called agape. It is the love with which our heavenly Father loves us, and with which we in turn are called to love one another. Agape love and forgiveness are inseparable. One implies the other. True, agape love does not brood over injury, but rather bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (1 Cor. 13:5, 7). As we pray these words of the Lord’s Prayer, let us strive to pray them with the heart of Jesus.

Prayer Request: For those wounded by division. For those who refuse to forgive, or to ask for forgiveness.

Prayer:
Lord, our God, at the Last Supper, Your Son prayed that we might be one as You and He are one. We want to grow in that kind of unity with You and with one another. Help us to be slow to anger, unwilling to hold grudges, and always quick to forgive, that we may love each other as You love us. We make this prayer through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.