The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1956-12-06
One Man Looks
At God
(By Charles w. Carlson, Pastor,
st Marks Evangelical Lutheran
Church. Oakland Mafyland)


As We continue our Series on the
Lords Prayer, we shall discuss
this week one of the most difficult
areas in the Christian Faith, the
matter of forgiveness; the part-
cular part of the Lords Prayer we
discuss is: Forgive us our tres
passes as we forgive those who
trespass against us"
Forgiveness is first Of az, diff
cult in a personal way. Il is diff
ficult for people to admit that they
need forgiveness for their sins,
for they all too often forget the
fact that they are sinful They
often think of sin as a part of
somebody else's life perhaps some
person who has been reported in
the newspaper as committing MUIR
der but very rarely of their own
Again the problem of humility
raises its ugly head-it just is not
easy for somebody to admit that
they are Wrong-eithcr to another
man or TO God. Therefore. prayer
often dcteriorateS for the lack of
the proper first point Of prayer
humility before God in admitting
your need of Him and His for
giving love
But there is a far more serious
problem involved in this petition,
in the second part, which reads
"as we forgive those who trespass
against US This is the really hard
part about forgiveness. How often
I have observed the same attitude
in people l have known that was
the condemning feature of the
man in Christs Parable of the
Unforgiving Servant, recorded
by Matthew in 18:23-35. If you
have not read that section of the
Holy Scriptures lately, do so right
now, before you so any further
with this article How tWo-faced
it is for a man to ask God to for
give his sins. and then turn right
around and refuse to forgive the
sins of another.
It seems to be q part Of so many
peoples lives TO forget the old
maxim There, but for. the grace
of God. 90 T.. II is so much easier
for a man to condemn another who
has done him wrong, or has done
wrong to society. than to preach to
this man a gospel of forgiying
love. rcdemptiye power and a new
life in Christ II is so much easier
to tramp a man further down when
he happens to fall into the gutter,
than to try to help him find his
way out of the gutter. SO many
more people seem to have the at
titude of the Pharisee than the
Publican, in Christs Parable of
the Publican and the Pharisce at
Prayer Luke 1914, as they en-
Ter into Gods House for prayer.
Consider. for instance, the case of
the church member who came to
Vespers one evening, and noticed
that one Of our members was sit
ting with a person who had an
openly sinful past. Her comment
'Humph, It's too bad she can't
find any one better than that to
come TO church with" Or consider
the other instance when I had
preached sermon on THE Whole
Armor of God" part of which had
to do with taking the "breastplate
of righteousness" I made quite a
point out Of this and openly en-
phasized that this definitely did
not mean self righteousness" One
person, for whom this particular
shoe should have fit" remarked
to me as she was leaving the
church, Pastor, that sermon
should have been heard by those
who weren't here" Perhaps this is
not the exact quote, but l think
you get the idea
And so though we do not like to
admit it, we need Gods forgiveness
for cur sins But this forgiveness
on the part Of God is conditional
upon our willingness to forgive the
sins of others, and our willingness
to recognize the fact that we are
not perfect, but need Christ and
His love, more and more, every
day. It is in this spirit that we
should go to God and pray And
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