Our Father who art in heaven,

Hallowed be Thy name.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread

And forgive us our debts…

Yes, we’re spending extra time on this one, because I don’t think we get it. At least I don’t. I can’t speak for you, but I can swear to you that I rarely get to the bottom of my own sin. Here’s how I can tell. There are people who I think are worse sinners than me, and people whose sin is worse than mine. Come on, when was the last time you thought, well at least I’m not that bad? Well, I’ve got news for you — for all of us — we are. We are that bad. In fact, we are worse than the worst we know.

According to Jesus, my sin is a log in my eye compared to a piece of sawdust in anyone else’s, and it’s a log precisely because it’s mine. I’m an expert on my own sin, and that’s where the judgment ends; I have no idea about yours or anyone else’s, and the minute I think I do is when I’ve stepped over the line.

Here’s how you know you’re at the bottom. You understand exactly what Bob Dylan’s talking about when He sings, “I and I, one says to the other, ‘No man sees my face and lives.’” Or what Kris Kristofferson means when he sings, “What have I ever done to deserve even one of the pleasures I’ve known? What did I ever do that was worth lovin’ You for the kindness You’ve shown? Lord help me, Jesus, I’ve wasted it so, help me, Jesus, I know what I am.”

I know what I am, and the picture is not good. Get away from me — in me dwells no good thing, and the fact that I think I am pretty good compared to someone else makes the picture even worse. It’s so bad, I can’t see myself as I really am.

Jesus once said, “Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!” (Matthew 6:22-23).

I believe Jesus is speaking here about how we see ourselves. A healthy eye lets the light in and we see ourselves as we really are. An unhealthy eye doesn’t let in any light which is why we are filled with darkness, and in the darkness, we can make ourselves out to be anything we want. No-one can see who we really are. Thus, we are walking in darkness and fooling ourselves and everyone else.

John takes this one step farther when he writes in his first letter, “But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin” (1 John1:7).

This is the way we live with each other and deal with each other’s sins. We live in the light where we are all revealed, and we have fellowship because we are in the light and we see how we are all messed up, but Jesus and His blood cleanses us (together) from all our sin.

So we constantly pray for our sins to be forgiven because we are living in the light where everything is revealed, and because we are living in community with others who are doing the same thing, that is why we are constantly forgiving each other as well, but I’m getting ahead of myself now. More about that tomorrow.