A Sermon on Forgiveness
By Rev. Paul L. Booth
Lessons: Genesis: 50: 14-21; Matthew 6: 9-16;
Arcana Coelestia 9014[3].
By Rev. Paul L. Booth
Lessons: Genesis: 50: 14-21; Matthew 6: 9-16;
Arcana Coelestia 9014[3].
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
(Matthew 6: 12)
(Matthew 6: 12)
Although the prayer is called The Lord's Prayer, it is a prayer that the Lord has given to the Church. The angels in Heaven read The Lord's Prayer. We read it at our Church services. It is a prayer for the coming down of the Lord's Kingdom in Heaven to men on earth. It is the descending of His truths and goods into men of The Lord's New Church. Today, we need to learn something from this Prayer about forgiveness, about our forgiveness of others and about the Lord's forgiveness of us.
These words in The Lord's Prayer are instructions given to the Lord's disciples and to those who are in the Christian Church. The Lord went up into a mountain. His disciples came to Him, and from there He taught them many things that the Church would need in order to form a doctrine that they may follow Him. The Christian Church was to be a spiritual Church; it was not to be a representative Church or a representative of a Church as was the Jewish Church. Though, it has representatives in its external worship. Those of the Christian Church were to live by faith in the Lord and receive truths and goods through influx from the Lord as they learned and believed His Word. The Lord taught the doctrine of faith from charity. Man's conduct was the topic of the Lord's teachings. He taught them about happiness, about the law, anger, adultery, loving their enemies, prayer, and many more subjects. In His discourse about prayer the Lord taught the disciples how to pray, as He, today in the Word, teaches us. There, He tells us we are to ask our Heavenly Father to forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors (Matthew 6:12).
The Lord teaches forgiveness of our debts, our transgressions and our sins. Sins are evils against goods; transgressions are evils against truths; and debts are evils against charity. Within the Word, the teachings concerning forgiveness are innumerable. What we learn today is only as a drop of water to the entire ocean. First, we must know and acknowledge that only the Lord in His Divine Human can forgive. We need to realize that He forgives only according to His order and purpose. Second, we should not think that because we say to someone who is indebted to us (or who has wronged us), that we forgive them that they are forgiven. Neither are we to think, we ourselves are forgiven by the Lord. For such belief is the attempt to merit forgiveness and, therefore, our salvation. What, then, are the teachings or truths involved in the doctrine of forgiveness?
The word forgive means "to put away," "to remit," "to forsake," "to send forth," or "to suffer." It does not mean to destroy or annihilate. When sins, trespasses or debts are forgiven, it is not as if they had vanished. One reads in the Arcana Coelestia:
The reason of this belief is that they do not know what sin or evil is. If they knew this, they would know that sins can by no means be wiped away from anyone, but. . . they are separated or rejected to the sides so as to not emerge. . .
(AC 5398).
The Third Testament often uses the words "remit" and "remission" when speaking of forgiveness. In this respect, all forgiveness or remission of sins is affected only by the Lord's Glorification. All forgiveness for man's sins depends upon the Lord's Advent and upon the subjugation of the hells by Him. This is why the Lord in His Divine Human remits sins. He remits, that is, He forgives them according to our understanding of His truths and our willing obedience. He forgives according to our understanding and love for Him and His Word. We must acknowledge our need of repentance, for it is through repentance, through our feeling of distaste for our evil nature and our wanting to change our lives, that the Lord can lead us to regeneration and "put away" our sins. For sins are remitted after regeneration. Again, how do we know what debt we owe, what sin lies hidden in us? Thus, it is that we must know and acknowledge the sins that keep us from regeneration and forgiveness.
We learn what our sins are through faith, that is, through belief that the Word is the Lord. As we read the Word and believe its truths; Lord will open our eyes, and He will open our minds. He will open our understanding of the Word and its truths. Then we will be given to see and acknowledge our sins and know what sins for which we need to ask forgiveness. No matter how false our understanding of these truths might be, because of our evil nature, or how misunderstood the genuine truths are, they are accepted by the Lord if we sincerely desire to know Him and follow Him.
The truths we first learn are only apparent truths. When we appropriate them the Lord accepts them and uses them to lead us to new truths and eventually to goods, which lead us in regeneration. Our searching and learning for truths in the Word must be from a sincere desire to know the Lord, for truth can neither be separated from the Lord nor is it truth if it is separated from love or charity. It is from this knowledge that we first learn we are sinful and in need of salvation. We need to see a particular sin, not just that we are sinful. We must acknowledge which sin rules in our lives, a sin which we can then shun every time it presents itself. Sins not shunned prevent our regeneration; they close Heaven to us and are not forgiven. It is from knowledge revealed by the Word about our personal evils, our proprium, that we begin to feel humiliation, to feel that all is hopeless, and that we are totally unworthy of being with the Lord in Heaven. It is then, when we understand what our debts are and what we owe to the Lord, that we begin to turn to the Lord out of desperation and cry, Forgive us our debts, or, Lord, be merciful unto me; heal my soul; for I have sinned against Thee (Psalm 41:4).
In our text one reads that our debts are forgiven as we forgive our debtors. Debts are our obligations to the Lord. From a natural sense our thought focuses on the idea: I must forgive that certain person who wronged me, who cheated me, or who lied to me. I need to forgive that person who owes me money and is unable to pay. Is this what is meant here? No, we need to focus on the Lord and what it is in our lives that needs forgiveness. When we do, we will be forgiven, but in proper order. We need to focus on our repentance and regeneration. If to some small degree we see the need of forgiveness for our own debts, both those owed to others and those owed to the Lord, then we will want to shun those sins and begin doing the right thing, that is, begin to live well, or a good life. We know in our heart the times we have become indebted to others and have not yet paid our debt.
What we need to acknowledge is that we are just as sinful, just as evil, as the next person. One learns from the Third Testament that "debts" in the natural sense are our obligations to our neighbors. These are public, domestic and, sometimes, private. These obligations, when carried out from charity, are from the Lord in us and are spiritual. If done from a sense of duty to society, they are natural obligations. We must do our job or office to society justly and honorably, and we must do it from the Lord's charity. In that way, we fulfill our obligations.
In the spiritual or internal sense, debts are what we owe to the Church, to the Lord's Kingdom in Heaven. For the Lord's Church represents, as it were, our mother. We receive truths through instruction from the Word taught in the Church, from its ministers and teachers. We receive truths from our participation in worship at Church services. And, in the highest sense, in the celestial sense, we owe our very life to the Lord. The truth we receive is His truth, the love and charity we receive is His. Surely, we need to acknowledge that we are only evil and that we cannot do good that is good from ourselves.
When we receive charity from the Lord, and we do when we ac- knowledge our sinful nature and our hopelessness, then we are led to forgiveness. When we repent and shun evils, then we can say we forgive our debtors with a clear conscience. We forgive, not from self but from the Lord in us. For, we of ourselves cannot forgive anyone their obligations to us, for they are really obligations or sins against the Lord, against truths and goods. Only the Lord can remit sins, that is, put them away where they are not in the center of our lives. For our part, the forgiveness from the Lord is affected by our introspection, our confession, and our repentance from our sins. Our confession must be from the heart. This requires true faith and charity given by the Lord. Then we are to act in obedience and shun evils as sins against Him. Now we can understand that the doctrine of forgiveness concerns our regeneration.
The Lord fought all the hells and overcame them. In that way He glorified Himself; He become the Divine Human. We also need to combat against our evils and falsities in order to be regenerated. Because only from the regenerated things in our minds can we pray for forgiveness of our debts to the Lord and our neighbors. We learn from the Word that the Lord answers the prayers of those with a sincere heart, those prayers which are asked with the longing for regeneration as an end. How can the Lord forgive us our debts, our transgressions, if we do not know the sins of which we are guilty and what our obligations are?
Whether obligations are owed to our natural neighbors or to our spiritual neighbors, unless we are led by the Lord through the Word to receive truths and charity from Him, we remain in our sins and they will not be forgiven. If we forgive others only to look more pious, to appear honorable, we are still in our sins. If we do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as the only true God and that He is in His Divine Human, then we are not praying to the Lord as He teaches us.
The first Christian Church was given two commandments: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself (Luke 10:27). We, of The Lord's New Church are given two corresponding commandments: first, to acknowledge the Divine Human of the Lord, and second, to shun evils as sins against Him. These are the essential of the Church which we must follow if the Church is to develop, if the Church is to become on earth as it is in Heaven. May we live our life from the Lord so that He can forgive us our debts.
These words in The Lord's Prayer are instructions given to the Lord's disciples and to those who are in the Christian Church. The Lord went up into a mountain. His disciples came to Him, and from there He taught them many things that the Church would need in order to form a doctrine that they may follow Him. The Christian Church was to be a spiritual Church; it was not to be a representative Church or a representative of a Church as was the Jewish Church. Though, it has representatives in its external worship. Those of the Christian Church were to live by faith in the Lord and receive truths and goods through influx from the Lord as they learned and believed His Word. The Lord taught the doctrine of faith from charity. Man's conduct was the topic of the Lord's teachings. He taught them about happiness, about the law, anger, adultery, loving their enemies, prayer, and many more subjects. In His discourse about prayer the Lord taught the disciples how to pray, as He, today in the Word, teaches us. There, He tells us we are to ask our Heavenly Father to forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors (Matthew 6:12).
The Lord teaches forgiveness of our debts, our transgressions and our sins. Sins are evils against goods; transgressions are evils against truths; and debts are evils against charity. Within the Word, the teachings concerning forgiveness are innumerable. What we learn today is only as a drop of water to the entire ocean. First, we must know and acknowledge that only the Lord in His Divine Human can forgive. We need to realize that He forgives only according to His order and purpose. Second, we should not think that because we say to someone who is indebted to us (or who has wronged us), that we forgive them that they are forgiven. Neither are we to think, we ourselves are forgiven by the Lord. For such belief is the attempt to merit forgiveness and, therefore, our salvation. What, then, are the teachings or truths involved in the doctrine of forgiveness?
The word forgive means "to put away," "to remit," "to forsake," "to send forth," or "to suffer." It does not mean to destroy or annihilate. When sins, trespasses or debts are forgiven, it is not as if they had vanished. One reads in the Arcana Coelestia:
The reason of this belief is that they do not know what sin or evil is. If they knew this, they would know that sins can by no means be wiped away from anyone, but. . . they are separated or rejected to the sides so as to not emerge. . .
(AC 5398).
The Third Testament often uses the words "remit" and "remission" when speaking of forgiveness. In this respect, all forgiveness or remission of sins is affected only by the Lord's Glorification. All forgiveness for man's sins depends upon the Lord's Advent and upon the subjugation of the hells by Him. This is why the Lord in His Divine Human remits sins. He remits, that is, He forgives them according to our understanding of His truths and our willing obedience. He forgives according to our understanding and love for Him and His Word. We must acknowledge our need of repentance, for it is through repentance, through our feeling of distaste for our evil nature and our wanting to change our lives, that the Lord can lead us to regeneration and "put away" our sins. For sins are remitted after regeneration. Again, how do we know what debt we owe, what sin lies hidden in us? Thus, it is that we must know and acknowledge the sins that keep us from regeneration and forgiveness.
We learn what our sins are through faith, that is, through belief that the Word is the Lord. As we read the Word and believe its truths; Lord will open our eyes, and He will open our minds. He will open our understanding of the Word and its truths. Then we will be given to see and acknowledge our sins and know what sins for which we need to ask forgiveness. No matter how false our understanding of these truths might be, because of our evil nature, or how misunderstood the genuine truths are, they are accepted by the Lord if we sincerely desire to know Him and follow Him.
The truths we first learn are only apparent truths. When we appropriate them the Lord accepts them and uses them to lead us to new truths and eventually to goods, which lead us in regeneration. Our searching and learning for truths in the Word must be from a sincere desire to know the Lord, for truth can neither be separated from the Lord nor is it truth if it is separated from love or charity. It is from this knowledge that we first learn we are sinful and in need of salvation. We need to see a particular sin, not just that we are sinful. We must acknowledge which sin rules in our lives, a sin which we can then shun every time it presents itself. Sins not shunned prevent our regeneration; they close Heaven to us and are not forgiven. It is from knowledge revealed by the Word about our personal evils, our proprium, that we begin to feel humiliation, to feel that all is hopeless, and that we are totally unworthy of being with the Lord in Heaven. It is then, when we understand what our debts are and what we owe to the Lord, that we begin to turn to the Lord out of desperation and cry, Forgive us our debts, or, Lord, be merciful unto me; heal my soul; for I have sinned against Thee (Psalm 41:4).
In our text one reads that our debts are forgiven as we forgive our debtors. Debts are our obligations to the Lord. From a natural sense our thought focuses on the idea: I must forgive that certain person who wronged me, who cheated me, or who lied to me. I need to forgive that person who owes me money and is unable to pay. Is this what is meant here? No, we need to focus on the Lord and what it is in our lives that needs forgiveness. When we do, we will be forgiven, but in proper order. We need to focus on our repentance and regeneration. If to some small degree we see the need of forgiveness for our own debts, both those owed to others and those owed to the Lord, then we will want to shun those sins and begin doing the right thing, that is, begin to live well, or a good life. We know in our heart the times we have become indebted to others and have not yet paid our debt.
What we need to acknowledge is that we are just as sinful, just as evil, as the next person. One learns from the Third Testament that "debts" in the natural sense are our obligations to our neighbors. These are public, domestic and, sometimes, private. These obligations, when carried out from charity, are from the Lord in us and are spiritual. If done from a sense of duty to society, they are natural obligations. We must do our job or office to society justly and honorably, and we must do it from the Lord's charity. In that way, we fulfill our obligations.
In the spiritual or internal sense, debts are what we owe to the Church, to the Lord's Kingdom in Heaven. For the Lord's Church represents, as it were, our mother. We receive truths through instruction from the Word taught in the Church, from its ministers and teachers. We receive truths from our participation in worship at Church services. And, in the highest sense, in the celestial sense, we owe our very life to the Lord. The truth we receive is His truth, the love and charity we receive is His. Surely, we need to acknowledge that we are only evil and that we cannot do good that is good from ourselves.
When we receive charity from the Lord, and we do when we ac- knowledge our sinful nature and our hopelessness, then we are led to forgiveness. When we repent and shun evils, then we can say we forgive our debtors with a clear conscience. We forgive, not from self but from the Lord in us. For, we of ourselves cannot forgive anyone their obligations to us, for they are really obligations or sins against the Lord, against truths and goods. Only the Lord can remit sins, that is, put them away where they are not in the center of our lives. For our part, the forgiveness from the Lord is affected by our introspection, our confession, and our repentance from our sins. Our confession must be from the heart. This requires true faith and charity given by the Lord. Then we are to act in obedience and shun evils as sins against Him. Now we can understand that the doctrine of forgiveness concerns our regeneration.
The Lord fought all the hells and overcame them. In that way He glorified Himself; He become the Divine Human. We also need to combat against our evils and falsities in order to be regenerated. Because only from the regenerated things in our minds can we pray for forgiveness of our debts to the Lord and our neighbors. We learn from the Word that the Lord answers the prayers of those with a sincere heart, those prayers which are asked with the longing for regeneration as an end. How can the Lord forgive us our debts, our transgressions, if we do not know the sins of which we are guilty and what our obligations are?
Whether obligations are owed to our natural neighbors or to our spiritual neighbors, unless we are led by the Lord through the Word to receive truths and charity from Him, we remain in our sins and they will not be forgiven. If we forgive others only to look more pious, to appear honorable, we are still in our sins. If we do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as the only true God and that He is in His Divine Human, then we are not praying to the Lord as He teaches us.
The first Christian Church was given two commandments: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself (Luke 10:27). We, of The Lord's New Church are given two corresponding commandments: first, to acknowledge the Divine Human of the Lord, and second, to shun evils as sins against Him. These are the essential of the Church which we must follow if the Church is to develop, if the Church is to become on earth as it is in Heaven. May we live our life from the Lord so that He can forgive us our debts.
- Amen.
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