John 20:19-31
He is risen! (Alleluia) Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
There are a lot of important passages in Scripture that we read throughout the year. Today’s Gospel is one such passage and hidden within the story of Jesus’ resurrection and Thomas’ apparent doubting, there is a passage that we often overlook that describes Jesus giving the Disciples the gift of the Holy Spirit; I was first taught about this hidden passage during my Confirmation instruction. The passage is the foundation for a section of the old Small Catechism called the Office of the Keys. One reason we often pass it by, without much discussion, is that it talks about Jesus, himself giving the Holy Spirit to his Disciples, throwing out of whack our church calendars: it is not until after the Ascension that we as the church celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit as coming to the Disciples, (Pentecost), but it also gets overlooked because of the importance we put on the story of Thomas and doubting. It seems we don’t want to confuse people’s understanding of the gift of the Holy Spirit.
But we miss something by ignoring this passage. The truth is, Jesus seems to have given the Disciples and his other followers gifts of the Holy Spirit, on this occasion and at other times, gifts of the Spirit that may have been of a more limited nature. Today’s reading speaks of Jesus, giving the Holy Spirit’s gift of the power to forgive and not to forgive, right after Jesus was raised from the dead, but before his ascension. These are Jesus’ words to his Disciples: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
I can’t tell you how impactful this verse has been to me, in my personal life and in my ministry. My pastor, way back when, taught my confirmation class that as we accept the faith that is given us and as we live into this faith, these words spoken by Jesus, carry down through the centuries to us. I struggled with the implications of these words. What they mean, is that with regard to issues of sin, God literally listens to us; if we forgive someone, God forgives that person and if we decide not to forgive someone, God doesn’t forgive that person. Jesus’ words have always made me feel, powerful and laid on me a great burden of responsibility. I’ve struggled most of my life with their implications. As a student in confirmation class, I remember feeling a bit excited by the power; for a while I purposefully retained the things my brother did to me, as sins, and held them against him. My kids mind thought, I may not be able to beat him in a fight, but I can certainly see him punished in eternity.
Maturity, changed my way of looking at things. What he did to me, did not deserve God’s punishment; and, to be totally honest, I may have contributed, at least a little, to his anger at me, leading to our fights. This gift of the Holy Spirit, though powerful, is really not about power. This gift of offering God’s forgiveness and withholding it, is about God’s love and mercy; it is about Jesus’ sacrifice and the forgiveness he earned for us all, on the cross. Retaining another’s sins against them, was something that could be done, but the love of Jesus should be what leads us to retain these sins, and then only until we can help the person to understand God’s love in Jesus Christ; its goal is not to get some sense of vengeance or to bring about God’s punishment, but always to provide hope for repentance and forgiveness.
As I have come to better understanding Jesus’ reason for offering this gift, I’ve become a person who wants, with every opportunity to forgive; the gift of the Holy Spirit has placed on me a heavy responsibility to help lead others to repentance so that they may know forgiveness. I’ve often been accused of forgiving too easily and too often and not getting angry at people when I should, because of this gift. I resist with all my strength the urge to hold another’s sins against them, it is not my place to hold grudges or to retain sins as a way of settling my personal disputes. Still, there are times when it is important to confront people with their failure to love, with their choices that go against the will of God and the love of Jesus. And it is important, to remind these people of these failings and sins, until they are ready or willing to change for the better, possibly confess their sins, and try to make things right with those they have hurt. I’ve learned that forgiveness and the retaining of sins is never about me, unless it is me that has sinned, both forgiving sin and retaining sin is about helping others to become right with their Lord, to love their family, friends, neighbors.
Of all the challenges that the Lord has thrown my way, this has been the hardest and maybe what has best directed my ministry. Clergy are often charged with the responsibility of helping those in their congregations to move away from sinful practices, to become more loving and to confess their sins and make restitution when possible, and then to offer Jesus’ most generous forgiveness. But it is not just clergy who are given this gift; Martin Luther described the membership of the Lutheran Church as the “priesthood of all believers.” So, this is not about those who have gone to seminary, or wear this little white collar; Luther understood the “Office of the Keys,” the right to forgive and retain sins, is something that rests in the hands of every member of the Body of Christ, every Christian. That means each of you! There is a great deal of power entrusted to you! To us! More important there is great responsibility and with this gift there are numerous opportunities, for us, to teach and demonstrate the forgiveness and love of Jesus Christ. Be generous in forgiving and retain a person’s sin only when you are committed to share Jesus’ forgiveness and lead the sinner to repentance.