Day 17: Our Sins
We saw yesterday that Our Father is the Forgiving God, and if we take the cues for our identity based on His character, that leaves us with two understandings; we are sinners and we are forgiven. We'll look at the first today and leave the second for tomorrow.
We don't like to focus on this line these days. People don't appreciate hearing the judgment that they are a sinner and to be honest, it's not often a great way to start a conversation.
And yet it's true. Perhaps people don't like to hear it because they sense individual condemnation before understanding it's not about a checklist of behaviours as much as it is a heart condition. It's also true that Christians may perceive it wrongly themselves and therefore misapply it as self-righteous judgment to others. As a way to delineate "us versus them." I've done it more than I'd like to admit.
Part of my faith formation has been a renewed understanding of what it means for me to be a sinner. Most of my life I could identify those less-righteous than myself, but I was blind to my own filthy rags. It resulted in a lack of love in general and it has been God's kindness to me in revealing "there is not one righteous, no not one." Author and pastor Paul Tripp says "Sin is always rooted in thinking I'm smarter and know better than God, my way is better than His way."* Guilty as charged. If there's one thing I love best it's definitely being in control. And since that first man and woman in the garden, we've all walked in this sin; we all try to seize autonomy and live apart from our Creator and King. In the words of Augustine, we all look for beauty, pleasure and truth in places other than God Himself.
Even if we establish we are all sinners, the truth is we don't just need our sin forgiven...it's not an end in itself. This kind of thinking is revealed in the mistaken idea that Christianity is about simply a decision made once, a prayer prayed, being born into the right family, or voting the right way...that the specifics of daily life, our loves and desires after that are inconsequential. But the reason we need our sins forgiven is more than just to clear our slate and guarantee some eternal destination. The need for forgiveness is wrapped up in the idea of reconciliation...we need our sins forgiven in order to return to relationship and intimacy with God. It is by forgiveness and its work of reconciliation that we can have our greatest need met now and forever: the presence of God with us.
So we pray to Our Father, "Forgive our sins," confessing our need and assuming the humble posture of repentance that is the kingdom currency. We pray out of this posture knowing that our heart condition presupposes there are ways we have contributed to brokenness each and every day. So we name it specifically as individuals, and as the priests of Israel did yesterday in Nehemiah, we also confess it together in community knowing it is our common condition. We turn from it asking "forgiveness" to be the catalyst that moves us forward in a new direction following our God.
And our request for forgiveness is no vain hope- it is assured that by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus all sins have been paid for, that we are washed and made clean by the blood of Christ and restored into relationship with the Father. At the same time this line is both a desperate plea but also an invitation to remember and celebrate the beautiful gift that Jesus is to us. That we have been forgiven, are being forgiven and will be forgiven.
There are so many places in the bible I want to take you to today if only we had the time. One of the most familiar prayers for individual forgiveness is found in Psalm 51; the vulnerable confession and repentance of David after his sin against Bathsheba and Uriah. It is a good psalm to borrow as you pray this line. But I think one of the most beautiful corporate "Forgive our sins" prayers is found in Daniel 9:1-17. It is simultaneously a bold declaration of the character of God and a repentant admittance of the rebellion of Israel. Let's read/pray it today in recognition of our shared condition of sin. Let Daniel's words continue to shape your understanding of our forgiving God, and join your heart to his in confession.
We'll end, as we do, by praying:
Our Father
In heaven
Hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come...
Give us each day our daily bread,
Forgive our sins even as we forgive those indebted to us.
In addition to your prayer through Daniel 9:1-17, you can borrow the words of David. First from Psalm 51: "Be gracious to me God, according to your faithful love; according to your abundant compassion, blot out my rebellion. Completely wash away my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. For I am conscious of my rebellion, and my sin is always before me. Against you-you alone- I have sinned and done this evil in your sight. So you are right when you pass sentence; you are blameless when you judge."
Then pray David's words from Psalm 32 as your assurance today friend: "How joyful is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! How joyful is a person whom the LORD does not charge with iniquity...I acknowledged my sin to you and did not conceal my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD and you forgave the guilt of my sin."
And lead us not into temptation.
Amen.
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