Thursday after the nineteenth Sunday after Trinity, 11/2/00

John 20: 21-23 Then Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." And 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." --NKJV

You stand in church and confess your sin. It's something that you do every week, and you hardly think about it. But one day it dawns on you that in response to your confession the pastor says, "I forgive you all your sins…" A passage from St. Mark's Gospel (or St. Luke 5: 21) goes through your mind: "Why does this man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?" The passage, found in the second chapter of St. Mark's Gospel, is from the account of the paralytic who was lowered through the roof of a house.

Now, we understand that Jesus is God. He does have the authority to forgive sins. But the pastor is only a man; how can he forgive all of a person's sins? Sure, he can forgive the sins that were committed against him, but even the sins committed against God?

Yes, the pastor standing before the congregation can forgive all of a person's sins. In fact, you who sit in the pew can forgive all of a person's sins if they come to you personally and confess their sin. It works like this: Christ died for all sins, therefore all sins are forgiven. Yet, he gives the power, to lock a person in their sin or to release them from it, to his church. The passage we are considering today was spoken to "the disciples," not just the twelve apostles. You are one of Jesus' disciples, therefore it was spoken to you. In a crass way, we can say it is like a computer program that we are given. The Holy Spirit is the operating software, so to speak, and Jesus' words are the program itself. The program reads: Is the person sorry for their sins? If yes, then forgive them. We say, "I forgive you," because Jesus gave us the power and authority to actually forgive sins-all sins.

Next time you stand in church and hear the words, "I forgive you all your sins…" don't pass over those words lightly. Remember that your sins are indeed forgiven as surely as if Christ Himself were standing in front of you speaking those words. Amen.

Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, In Your wisdom You trusted human beings with the power of eternal life and death. Help us to be faithful with that power both in using it, and in trusting it when it is used on us. Free us from the chains of sin and guilt by the life-giving words, "I forgive you all your sins," amen.

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