The Scripture reading for next Sunday is Matthew 6, the verses that include what is often referred to as The Lord’s Prayer. If you attend a Christian church, it will invariably be part of the worship. It is a common an element to worship as the cross or the baptismal font.
The Gospel reads:“This, then, is how you should pray:“‘Our Father in heaven,hallowed be your name,your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our ________, as we also have forgiven our ______. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
The blanks exist because, depending upon your tradition, the words vary.
Some worshipers will say “ sins……. those who sin against us”. This seems like a pretty easy reach. I mean, take a sin like telling a lie. Hey, who hasn’t? So, I get forgiven, you get forgiven, all God’s children get forgiven. (Rather like a segment from Oprah.)
Others go with trespasses, an infringement on our boundaries. Nobody likes when someone gets all up in our business, but I will forgive you because, Lord knows, I can be guilty of the same thing.
The third group (and the most accurate) say “debts….our debtors.” Yeah, right. Do I really believe that anyone will walk out that door and call someone who owes them and say, “Hey, remember that money I lent, you…… forget about it.” Or, “Hey, let’s forget that back rent.”
Forgive sin. OK. Forgive someone trespassing into my business; that will preach. But if some pastor stands in the pulpit on a Sunday and tells the congregation to not worry about the money that they are owed……. I don’t think so. That would be, well, UN-American.
Yet, this is exactly what I am proposing. I am beginning a campaign with the goal of purchasing bad debt for pennies on the dollar, and then, rather then bringing on a collection agency and making a profit on the debt, the proposal is that we just forgive the debt. A sheer act of grace. A lifting of a burden from our neighbor.
The goal is to convince enough people and organizations to buy in that we raise enough cash to leverage a buyout of about ten million dollars.
I will keep you posted.
My Thoughts and the Thoughts of Others 