Eastertide
April 18, 2020
Scripture Reading: John 20:19-31
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘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.’ –John 20:19-23
What does John mean by retaining sins? It seems to imply that we all know what sin is and how it manifests itself in our world among people. I totally accept Jesus’s command not to judge, found in Matthew 7:1-3: ‘Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? One of my favorite things to say is, “God called me to love not to judge.”
Who am I to discern what is sin and who is meeting the definition of sin? I was taught that sin is missing the mark or being separated from God. For the everyday commissions of missing the mark, when I am the one wronged, I forgive the other, and when I am the one who missed the mark, once I realize what I have done, I try to always ask for forgiveness. Separation from God, though, seems to me to be between God and the person, including me.
Yet, with Jesus’s resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit, Jesus passed his work on earth for us to do. Jesus also seems to think we are capable of doing the work. In fact, John 14:12-14 tells us:
Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.
Retaining something means holding on to it, not letting it go. When we discover a person who is lost, we stay with him or her until he or she finds a safe place, finds their way home. Is not that the appropriate action when we discern that someone has lost their faith or have never known the love of God? We are not called to judge; we are called to shepherd people into a place where they can find their way home to God.
Prayer: Spirit of God fall afresh on all of us who love and serve you, equipping us to walk humbly with those you are calling us to shepherd back to your loving arms. Amen.
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.