C, Midweek Lent 4 - The Lord's Prayer #5 - Matthew 6:10b,12 "Forgiving us in Heaven"

 Your will be done in heaven – Forgive us our sins

Tonight, and next week we focus on the petitions “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” and “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us”.

We will split these petitions into two parts, as we peel off another layer of the Lord’s Prayer, to see how the Holy Spirit brings us to the Father, through Jesus Christ, as the gap is bridged between our evil and the Father’s holiness.  And next week, we will examine God’s will on earth being done when we forgive each other.

But first a clarification in the word order of the text.   The English translation does not help us much with the progression of the Greek text, which actually reads, “Let become the will of you, as is in heaven also on earth.”  In the English text, God’s will on earth comes before his will in heaven.

However, the Greek version of the forgiveness petition reads much the same as the English, reading, “And send off (or forgive) to us the debts (or sins) of us, as also we have sent off (forgiven) the debtors (sinners) of us.” 

Therefore, tonight we focus on God’s relationship with us.  Theologically speaking, here we are dealing with God’s will being done in the vertical.  This is how he repairs the breach between himself and us, so we can have a relationship with him as our loving Father.

In our society today everything is geared to encourage us to follow what’s pleasing to us.   God’s will is what pleases him.  So, what does God want from us?  Or better asked, why are we here on earth?  What is our purpose, why do we exist? 

Today we have a society in deep depression over these very questions.  Left to our own efforts, understanding and feelings, we look into ourselves and see foolishness and despair.  Society lives not knowing what or why it lives.  It also dies not knowing why it dies, where it’s going, or why it’s going to experience death.  Faithlessness and hopelessness, is leaving many to question their purpose, leading to fatalistic living and chaotic dying, in the darkest possible way.

When one looks into their heart, they see what Jesus says comes out of the heart, and they see they are defiled by the commonality of their humanity. 

Jesus says, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him.  For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.  All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” (Mark 7:20–23 ESV)

Many are pleased with these things in their lives.  But when the things that please, no longer please, many lose hope rather than turn to what pleases God the Father.

So, what pleases our Father?  Last week we heard that his kingdom is coming, and we need to be led away from all kingdoms that tempt us away from his kingdom coming to us.

It pleases God when his kingdom comes to us, and we are not tempted to believe otherwise.  When we come into his kingdom, we get back what humanity lost in the garden of Eden.  We get our relationship with God, so we can once again receive from him and worship him for doing so.

In our humanity there is no way we will ever come to the decision that we need to receive from God and glorify him and worship him to fulfil our function or purpose as humans living on this earth.  Rather we are without fear in God, without trust in God, and are overcome by desires to please ourselves.  However, God the Father is pleased to come to us and implement his will of forgiveness amongst us.

It pleases God to come to us through the perfection of Jesus Christ who completes the fulfilment of the Law.  Not only does it please the father but it also pleases Jesus Christ, whom we are told in the book of Hebrews, “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God”.  (Hebrews 12:2 ESV)

Jesus’ joy was to please his Father.  We hear testimony of this when, in the Garden of Gethsemene, he prayed, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you.  Remove this cup from me.  Yet not what I will, but what you will.”  (Mark 14:36 ESV)

It was Jesus’ joy to take the blame for that which is our shame.  Likewise, even while suffering horrendous pain from the injuries that would lead him to suffocate and die a torturous death, Jesus said to his accusers and killers, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34 ESV)

And to the criminal who rightly was suffering for his crime, and said to the other crucified criminal who railed at Jesus, “‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?  And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.’  And he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’  And he said to him, ‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.’”  (Luke 23:40–43 ESV)

Jesus came to fulfil the will of God.  As the Apostle John says, “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.  But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,  who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:11–14 ESV)

God’s will is to forgive us through Jesus Christ.  When he does this the vertical relationship is restored.  Jesus fulfils the first table of the Law, the first three commandments from the Ten Commandments. 

It was Jesus’ pleasure to have no other Gods than our Father in heaven.  It was Jesus’ pleasure to glorify God’s name and not use it in vain.  Instead, he was faithful unto death.  And Jesus kept the Sabbath holy in his life and in his death.  Jesus did this in joy, it was our Father’s will, and this pleased our Father in heaven!

God is pleased to forgive.   God the Father does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked. 

 Through the prophet Ezekiel, God tells the exiled Jews three times, he hates death, saying, “Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?” (Ezekiel 18:23 ESV)

“For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live.” (Ezekiel 18:32 ESV)

“Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?”  (Ezekiel 33:11 ESV)

God wants nothing more than to forgive you and bless you with his presence.  Jesus has come down Jacob’s ladder and gives us access to God, by being lifted up on the cross.  This is the vertical reconciliation and God calls you to believe it.

He does not want us to try building towers to him.  Humanity has tried this before and still God had to come down and see what was going on at Babel.

Now we are reunited as one language in Jesus Christ.  The Holy Spirit showers us with Pentecostal blessings.  Now, you and I, can stand together, before God the Father believing, and receiving from him, the forgiveness of our sin.

We can ask our Abba, Father, praying, “Your will be done, not my will!  Forgive me my sin, help me to believe I am forgiven, and need not try to earn my forgiveness.”

We now live in the knowledge of Jesus Christ! Our purpose is restored.  We can praise our Father in his kingdom, for his power and glory!

This is God’s good and gracious will and it pleases him when we know who we were created to be and do, what he created us to do.  Amen.

Next week we focus on our horizontal relationships when we forgive each other through the freedom given in Jesus’ forgiveness of us and how the Holy Spirit makes the Father’s will, our will.