We have done much to update the language of worship to be more inclusive, more contemporary. I was counseled to think of the visitor who has little or no experience in Christian worship – like… print out the Lord’s Prayer! I remember the young adult who asked me, “what is a hymn?” We might add… “Doxology, Gloria Patri, Eucharist, Collect, Sermon, Sacrament, Communion, etc.
Touching the language of the traditional Lord’s Prayer can be an especially explosive issue! Still, many have at least given members the option of “Father, Mother, Creator, Spirit, or some other sacred address. Some have changed or discussed changing “lead us not into temptation” questioning the theology – even the Pope has spoken to this. The congregation I attend is led to read, “let us not fall into temptation.”
I did convince one congregation to move from “debts” to “sin.” Still, what does “sin” mean to those not familiar with church history or tradition?
I wonder how Jesus would word this prayer if alive in our time? Perhaps we should challenge our members to each give this a try. I think the resulting discussion would be most interesting.
I did preach about the Lord’s Prayer as a transitional preacher just before moving to Phoenix in March. I ended the sermon with my contemporary rewrite. I was pleased and impressed with the interest and thoughtful response from many in the congregation. Several shared their own rewrite of the Lord’s Prayer the following Sunday. On my last Sunday, the placemats for lunch were pictures of my ministry and a copy of the Lord’s Prayer version I wrote.
Here is my thinking as of today. I invite you to share your own contemporary rewrite of the Lord’s Prayer.
Sacred Spirit, Creator, the Mystery within all and beyond all.
Your vision for life and creation be realized now.
Give us this day what we need to live fully and faithfully in the moment.
Forgive us when we have been disrespectful,
As we forgive others who have been disrespectful.
Grant us wisdom and strength to resist evil.
We live in your Presence and Love, forever. Amen.
I read the Greek text of the word as debts
ὀφείλημα
And here is why. When the phrase is read as forgiving the debts of others before one has their own debt cancelled, then it has an important economic and political context, and not just some personal action that one commits.
I remember in classes by Walter Brueggemann the idea that every biblical text is “freighted” or carries baggage and in this instance it seems more powerful to consider the weight of the world’s debt, or the weight of student debt as determining the way one responds to the world and other people around you. I know there is social sin, but for most Christians sin is personal and individual and does not always carry the larger context of the heaviness of debt people carry around. I find older people carrying the debt of the past where they keep thinking that something that they did 50 years ago can be changed.
So I like the use of debt instead of sin or trespasses even thought those words are acceptable translations of the Greek word.