Lord's Prayer postscript - Matthew 6:14-15

When we discussed trying out a more contemporary version of our worship service (see my last blog post), I decided to visit some other area non-denominational houses of worship which tout a “contemporary” worship service to see how they did it.

In my visits to those churches, the things that surprised me most were the absence of some rather important items to our Lutheran order of worship. Those services were missing the Lord’s Prayer, a statement of faith or creed, and Holy Communion (to name a few). Whoa! Clearly those things were not leaving our worship service!

Today I was reading the Gospel of Matthew and looking at The Lord’s Prayer. Matthew 6:9-13. What many people may not realize is that there are two verses that follow the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples that are a kind of postscript to The Lord’s Prayer.

Matthew 6:14-15 “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.”

Now there’s a reason to work on forgiveness if there ever was one. Never mind that holding on to a grudge does damage to your mind and body. Never mind that refusing to forgive someone impacts the person who wronged you hardly at all. Not forgiving others will prevent you from receiving the forgiveness of your Father in heaven, no matter how badly you were wronged by others.

In my life I have mostly been able to forgive the people who have wronged me. It truly is easier to let it go, give it up to God, and move on with your life. That being said, there are also a few (truly only a few) people who have hurt me along the way, whom though I try to forgive, I seem to have a difficult time not being hurt all over again every time of think of them. They are long gone from my life, but my hurt is not. How does my not forgiving them get me any justice? Somehow I continue to nurse that grudge. I only do myself harm – mentally, probably physically, and according to Jesus, spiritually.

I’ve really got to work on that.

I’m glad our worship service includes The Lord’s Prayer every Sunday. Now I’ve got two more verses to ground me in the importance of that prayer.

Does your church use The Lord’s Prayer in worship each Sunday? Are there people in your life whom you have trouble forgiving? Do you want to forgive them? What keeps you from do so?

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