Pentecost                                                  John 20:19-23                                            May 11, 2008

This morning we heard two different accounts of the gift of the Holy Spirit being passed along to the disciples.

In the more well known of the two--is the story in the second chapter of Acts.
In this story we find the disciples all together some fifty days after the Passover in the Jerusalem.
The city is filled with devote Jews from all the surrounding regions to celebrate the Jewish harvest festival. We are told that while they were together there was a rush of a violet wind and little tongues of fire appeared over the heads of the disciples. With this they received the gift of the Holy Spirit. If that were not enough, we are told that the once freighted disciples left the safety of their upper room and entered the marketplace and began sharing the good news of God’s love and grace as they experienced it in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
On top of all that they were suddenly blessed with the ability to speak in the languages of the many foreign visitors that crowded the marketplace. And all were amazed. In the midst of all this Peter preached the sermon of his life and has been the envy of every preacher since as we are told that 3000 were baptized that day, thus the Christian church was born.

From a preacher’s point of view there is so much here to work with. This is a text that is often used to stir up the folks in the pew in an effort to motivate them to move out of the safe confines of a sanctuary and out into the streets and neighborhoods to share the Gospel message. It is a text used to describe how the Holy Spirit can transform once timid and frightened disciples into bold witnesses and apostles. It is a text that exudes excitement and movement away from the church’s tendency to harbor pew potatoes. All in all it is a text filled with drama, action and impressive results.

The second text, from John’s Gospel is however a bit more subdued. It is not as flashy and it lacks fireworks and whirlwinds as found in Acts 2.  However, like the reading from Acts, the disciples are also in an upper room, locked behind closed doors. Whereas the reading from Acts does not specifically say that they are hiding from the Jews, this reading from John states the point to make that clear. And yet, I wonder. Was it really the Jews they were afraid of?

Keep in mind, this reading takes place not fifty days after the crucifixion and resurrection, but rather, the very day word came back that Jesus’ tomb was empty and reports of his resurrection were circulating. Was it really the Jews they were afraid of? I would wager that it was more likely it was Jesus they were afraid of. If it wasn’t Jesus they were afraid of, they should have been!
Not because Jesus had ever given them reason to be freighted of him, but because their most recent behavior and failures could have been a sore spot for Jesus. He had every reason to be disappointed in each of them.

According to John’s Gospel Jesus enters the lock room and stands in their midst.
We are not told how the disciples react, but instead we are told that Jesus comes not to scold and chastise, but rather, he greets them with “Shalom!” the Hebrew affirmation, “Peace be with you“--the assurance that all was well. No scolding. No smart-alecky comments about their less than impressive show of standing by his side. No comment on their fair weather support. No guilt.
No harsh words, only a word of peace. Shalom!

Do you know anyone like this? People who after a fight don’t let the words said and the actions stand between you? Can you be like this, when others say and do offensive things to you?
Would you like to have a God who acts this way toward you? There is something thrilling about it, something which turns the table upside down. It is an alternative to the way we typically are.
It is the way of a Jesus who comes into his own with us by way of the cross and the empty tomb.
This Jesus who holds no grudges, who accepts us as we are who finds no fault with us. This Jesus is our risen Savior and Lord.

Whereas Acts 2 is filled with lots of action and big crowds—John’s version of the Holy Spirit being passed on is significantly more intimate and subdued. Rather than a mighty whirlwind, John tells us about the breath of Jesus. A breath that recalls the Genesis story where God breathes into the lifeless Adam and gives him life. Rather than the disciples being sent into the market place to tell of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, John tells us that Jesus first order of business is that of forgiveness. Apparently there is an intimate connection between new life in the resurrected Christ and the act of forgiveness.

As I reflected on today’s readings I was struck by two things.

The first is the reminder that Jesus accepts us despite our failures, our dishonesty, our hypocrisy, our cowardice and our faithlessness. Each of us in our own unique manner spends far too much time in our own personal upper rooms, fearful of the world out there in need of what we have been given. And to each of us Jesus comes and says to us, “Shalom!” “Peace be with you!”
To each of us Jesus comes and breaths on us and passes along his Holy Spirit so that we might be empowered and blessed to do that which we have been created to do. And what I find so amazing about this is that we are really no better than those early disciples. Like each of them we are flawed people who have often failed to reflect our Creator and Savior in whose image we are created.

For three years the disciples walked along side Jesus, they were at the center of everything he did and when crunch time came, they let him down, they dropped the ball, and they failed.
Donald Trump would have fired them! They were bad hires. And the shocking thing is that Jesus hires them again a second time.

I don’t know about you, but I do not relish admitting when I am wrong or have done wrong.
Maybe you can relate to this?  For as much as I might find myself standing here talking about forgiveness, I am always humbled when I have to ask for forgiveness and when I am on the receiving end of forgiveness. Don’t get me wrong, I fully appreciate the forgiveness that is extended to me, but it sometimes comes with a hefty serving of crow, it means admitting that I have been wrong and I have done wrong. This leads me to believe that being a disciple begins with knowing how wrong we are. And it leads me to believe that disciples are people who know them selves to have been forgiven, because they are people who had reason to need forgiveness.  
We do not and cannot claim the name of “Christian” because we consistently get it right, or because of our flawless faithfulness, squeaky clean lives and our puritanical piety.
We can claim the name Christian only when we confess that we have messed up, and blown it and are in need of forgiveness.

James Alison wrote a book on this subject called The Joy of Being Wrong.
In this book he states that only people who know they have been wrong can look forward to belonging to Jesus. Never has being wrong looked so right! Who would have thought that being flawed would be the prerequisite to being forgiven and blessed?

So that’s the first thing that grabbed my attention—Jesus accepts us, broken, flawed, frightened and then forgives us so that we might be witnesses to his grace and mercy.

The second thing that stands out in this reading from John is the statement: “if you forgive the sins on any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any they are retained.”
Literally what this means is “if you let go of the sins of any...” In other words Forgiveness is “letting go”. How many of you have spent time carrying around the need to forgive, but just can’t seem to do it? (You don’t need to raise your hand)How’s that working for you? What’s it like pulling that ball and chain around with you day in day out? How’s that cancer like tumor eating away at you?

The reality is, just as we are all going to be in need, if not dire need of forgiveness, we are all going to find ourselves needing to forgive others at some point in life. Each of us is going to find ourselves on the receiving end of someone else’s abuse, harsh words, insensitive actions, stupidity and down right evil actions at some point. And when this happens we are most likely going to be hurt, angry, greatly disappointed, and torn as to how to respond.
The question is, what are you going to do with this?  How long are you going to let it fester within? How long will you put off the need to forgive so you can get along with your life?

Forgiveness, my friends, is a choice. It is a power we have. We are not powerless, whether in response to little infractions—the day to day-hurts, or to the major sins that may be committed against us in life. As I said, forgiveness involves letting go. When we hold on to grudges, the wounds, the hurts -- which I must say, is also a choice—there are physical, mental, and emotional consequences. High blood pressure, depression, increased substance abuse, decreased immune system function, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, stroke…how am I doing?
Any of these sound familiar? The list goes on and on of what the result of years of holding on to things that we have the power to choose to let go.  And as our reading from John makes crystal clear, such “letting go”—the choice of forgiveness—is wrapped up in our receiving the Holy Spirit. This Spirit is also spoke of as a “dunamis” a “dynamite,” a power we have in Christ, the same Christ who held no grudges and who hired even those who denied him to follow him again, this Jesus seems never to have withheld or retained the sins. And why would we, who have been forgiven so generously, even consider such a thing?

Today is Pentecost Sunday and we have two texts. One that tells of whirlwinds and flames and filled with excitement and thousands repenting and claiming Jesus as Lord. And another, that is a bit more subdued, an account that lacks fanfare, but an account that is equally earth shaking on a more intimate scale.

Imagine if you will what might transpire if we all welcomed and claimed the peace that Jesus bestows upon us?
Imagine what our lives might be like if we claimed the forgiveness that Jesus extends to us, if we were to fully recognize our need for forgiveness?
Imagine what our lives and the lives of others might look like should we let go of the sins of others, if we were to extend the same forgiveness we received from Christ and shared it with others.
And imagine what the world would look like if forgiveness were at the top of every national “to do list”, if it were the foundation of every foreign policy, if it were truly at the core of leader’s hearts and minds. It would be short of earth shattering!

And where would such a life altering movement begin?
It begins with Jesus and his word of “Peace be with you!”
It begins with the Holy Spirit giving us the power to let go.
It begins with you and me receiving the forgiveness we need and then sharing that forgiveness with our brothers and sisters, our mothers and fathers, our neighbors and complete strangers.’
It begins with a word, a breath, a desire to follow Jesus.
Amen

Pastor Stephen Blenkush
Zion Lutheran Church
Milaca, MN