This is the verse that always screws up my rhythm when I'm reciting the Lord's Prayer with a large group. I look around to try to figure out if I'm with a bunch of debtors or trespassers. You gotta pause right before the keyword to hear what crowd you're in. Of course if you pause in a group of debtors the line goes so quick that you can't catch up and just have to skip rest of it. That's where it's nice to be with trespassers since it takes so much longer to say. I could hit up the drive-thru and be back before they “forgive those that trespass against us.”
Of all the parts of the Lord's Prayer, this is the one Jesus revisits right after finishing the prayer in verses 14 and 15. Jesus says that if you forgive people then God will forgive you, but if you don't, he won't. So does that mean there is a forgiveness exchange rate with God? At the most basic level, no. (Without getting too Jamesian on you, as you grow as a Christian, your level of forgiveness should increase to the point of being a requirement, but that's the advanced course.) God's only requirement is that you honestly seek his forgiveness. It is our forgiveness of others that allows us to understand and truly receive forgiveness from God. Take the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Matthew 18:23-35). The servant had an enormous debt to the king completely erased, but he in turn punished someone indebted to him. His actions showed that although he was given forgiveness, he had not truly received it. All he got from the king was a “Get Out of Jail Free” card. Perhaps he didn't receive the forgiveness because he didn't really understand it. This happens so often with situations that are too large for us to truly comprehend. For example, if you narrowly escape an extremely dangerous car accident, you may shrug it off with a “whew, that was a close one,” and go on your way never to think of it again. The human body is even designed to go into psychological shock when faced with traumatic events where common symptoms are along the lines of disorientation, detachment, or even as far as amnesia (for an example see the assassination of Elisabeth of Bavaria). So too have you had an unfathomable debt of sin wiped clean. Often the only way to comprehend the suffocatingly massive amount of forgiveness you have already received is through an attitude of forgiveness towards others. Once you get a handle on forgiveness at a human level you can start to understand how much greater is God's forgiveness. It's like taking it one puzzle piece at a time until you get the whole picture. Don't forget to start with the corners.
If your church uses a drum beat to keep the Lord's Prayer flowing smoothly:
I mentally translate “debts” or “trespasses” to “sins” in the context of the Lord's Prayer, but it's interesting to see the differences. Debts are a liability or obligation owed to another person whereas trespassing is an intrusion or encroachment against another person. Let that stew in your brain for a little bit.
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