Forgive Us Our Trespasses
This sermon explores the concept of "trespasses" or sins, likening them to ignoring "No Trespassing" signs and straying from God's path. It explains that praying for forgiveness means acknowledging we aren't who God intended us to be. While Jesus' sacrifice on the cross fully paid our debt, freeing us from sin's consequence, we still sin daily. Therefore, we need ongoing forgiveness, like daily bread, received through God's Word and Sacraments. Crucially, receiving God's forgiveness is tied to forgiving others who trespass against us, preventing spiritual bitterness and fostering peace, looking toward a future where sin is remembered no more.
I remember as a kid, at the end of our street there was a creepy corner house and with a sign on the fence: “No Trespassing! Danger! Beware of Dogs!” Every time I rode my bike past that house, on the other side of the fence were two of the cutest, most playful dogs racing alongside me. I would race those dogs back and forth all afternoon. We see “no trespassing” signs all the time: “Danger! Stay out! Private property! Violators will be prosecuted!” We like to think that trespassing isn’t all that dangerous, it’s safe, there might be cute dogs!
Jesus teaches us to pray “forgive us our trespasses” or “sins”. It’s the idea that we’ve strayed outside the standards of God’s righteousness; we dared to cross the line and do things our way and not God’s way. Another version says, “forgive us our debts”. It’s the idea that we have an obligation towards someone else that we’ve failed to keep. Who we should be is not who we are. We are a twisted, perverted, distorted version of who we should be. We trespass outside of the life that God wants us to live, believing that in the wilderness of sin, we’ll find a shortcut to an intoxicating, insidiously satisfying, better life. It’s an uncomfortable prayer to pray; we’re admitting that we are not who we should be.
In Mark 10, two disciples, James and John ask a bold question to King Jesus: “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” But Jesus’ answer is ominous: “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink?” What the disciples didn’t know is that the glory of Jesus is that He ransoms us on the cross. Jesus drinks the full cup of God’s wrath on the cross for us so that we might live debt-free. Forgiveness means that you no longer owe God; Jesus’ blood covers your debt in full. Your sins no longer have anything to do with you. To God, it’s as if your trespasses never even happened. You are free.
Except it’s so easy to forget the freedom of forgiveness. You still sin. All the time, every hour, even without you realizing it. And you know you still aren’t who you should be; you aren’t the friend or father or mother or son or daughter or spouse or worker or steward that you should be. Your inadequacy is thrown in your face every day. Your trespasses and debts make you doubt God’s love, make you believe God is angry and displeased and far away. Luther’s Large Catechism says, “In short, if God does not forgive without stopping, we are lost.” Forgiveness isn’t just a one-and-done thing. The cross blasts forgiveness to you every day in God’s Word, through Absolution, by drinking the Blood of Jesus. It’s why we pray, “Give us this daily bread and forgive us our trespasses.” Jesus words it that way on purpose: we need daily forgiveness as much as we need daily bread.
But then Jesus adds that pesky line: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Jesus says we owe forgiveness; we owe others the kindness of them not owing us. Instead of a world where everyone owes everyone for the wrong they’ve done, we forgive the debts we owe each other. Not just the people you like; the people who trespass against you in the worst ways. And boy, we’d rather let a grudge rot and fester in our hearts than ever forgive. And I get it. There are some horrible things that you might have to forgive. But the truth is, unforgiveness is poison in your soul. No sin can out-sin the cross of Jesus, but if you believe there are unforgivable sins, then that unforgiveness will poison your faith that all your own sins are forgiven.
If whoever trespassed against you is repentant, Jesus commands that you forgive them. It might mean you verbally forgive someone before you feel it in your heart. If they’re unrepentant, Jesus commands that you withhold forgiveness until they repent. It might mean your heart is ready to forgive before you get to say it with your mouth. Forgiving is hard but it’s worth it because forgiveness is the greatest source of peace and joy. We get peace and joy when we receive forgiveness from the cross and we get peace and joy when we forgive others in our hearts and on our lips.
In Jeremiah 31:34 God says, “For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” God does not keep record of our sins. He keeps no record of our debt. God purposefully forgets the ways we’ve wandered from Him and crossed that “no trespassing” sign. One day, you will be rid of that sin in your soul, you will be all saint and not even an ounce of sinner. You will experience the wild freedom of never sinning again. No regrets, no pangs of embarrassment, no shame, because you too, like your Father in heaven, will remember your sins—and the sins of those who sinned against you—no more.