“Forgiveness – Who Benefits?”

Sermon Delivered By Rev. Dick Stetler – April 3, 2016

Centenary United Methodist Church

Acts 5:27-32; John 20:19-23

 

    One of the major themes of Good Friday comes from what happened hours before the end of Jesus' life.  He died saying the words, "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do."  Forgiveness is a theme frequently used by pastors on Easter morning.  Humanity had done its worst to God's own son and God turned the other cheek by giving the world an empty tomb.

    Forgiveness was displayed again during the earliest stages when Jesus' followers were growing in numbers. When the members of the Sanhedrin could no longer tolerate the testimony of an early evangelist, they covered their ears with their hands, dragged him out of the city and stoned him to death.  As his body weakened, he knelt down in a pool of his blood and cried out in a loud voice, "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do." Stephen became the first among Jesus' followers to die a martyr.  (Acts 7:60)

    In our Gospel lesson this morning, we find these curious words spoken by Jesus during one of his resurrection appearances, "Jesus breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive people's sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.'" (John 20:22f)

    How are we to understand these words? Was Jesus giving his disciples a power they did not already have? There was a time during Jesus' ministry when he told a prostitute that her sins were forgiven.  The people murmured among themselves, "Who is this man that he can forgive sins?" (Luke 7:48f)

    This morning, we are going to discuss who actually benefits from the responses of someone with a forgiving spirit.  Jesus was not giving to his disciples any special ability that is different from what the rest of us have.  When people miss the mark with their behavior and attitudes, we have the power and ability to keep moving forward in life without any residues clinging to our spirits from someone's loveless words or activities.  

    We also know what happens to us when we cannot forgive.  In essence, Jesus was teaching his disciples, "When you do not forgive the sins of others, you will experience the consequences of holding on to something that you cannot change." 

    Forgiveness does not absolved people from anything they have done or said.   What we often experience from others is how different they are from us in their communication and people-skills.  There is a growing minority of people today that have become so emotionally fragile that they can be offended by almost anyone or anything that intrudes into their comfort zones.  People have to tiptoe around them as if they are walking on eggs.

    Recently, a Texas Court heard a case from a group that was offended by a Baptist church erecting a large cross on their property.  A group of atheists wanted it removed.  After hearing the complaint, the judge ruled this way:  "They are free to keep the cross on their property. If you are offended by it, stop looking at it.  Case dismissed."

    As we return to John's Gospel, we find Jesus saying something that may confuse us.  Our lesson says, "He breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.'" (John 20:22)  What was it that the disciples were being invited to receive?  Charismatic Christians would say that they received the gift of speaking in tongues.  However, the only Biblical passage referencing such an experience prior to Pentecost took place at the building of the Tower of Babel. (Genesis 11:1-9)

    What did Jesus offer the disciples?  For Jesus, forgiveness was not a decision.  It was not an act of passivity nor was it a refusal to confront those who were rude and discourteous. It was not a response given to those whose lives were ruled by expressing values that were void of love. 

    For Jesus, forgiveness was a refusal to be offended by anything others did or said.  He gave allowances to people to live exactly as they were choosing to live. Loving energy communicated through his spirit was Holy to Jesus.  

    There was a moment when James and John wanted to call down fire to destroy a village that would not allow Jesus and his disciples to lodge there for the night.  (Luke 9:54)  Jesus seized that moment to teach, "You are showing me who you are. I will show you what you can become if you continue to follow me.  Let's move on to another village."  

    Is such a response realistic?  Is this response achievable for us and does it really work? It works every time when we remember one thing -- we are showing others who we are through our responses.

    Jesus failed at demonstrating the very thing he was teaching. Once he was so angry that his father's house had become a den of thieves.  (Luke 19:46)  Chapter 23 of Matthew's Gospel describes his distain for the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law.  However, his forgiving spirit rose far above these isolated incidents. Try to imagine a world where forgiveness was as natural a response as smiling. It can be.

    During the early days of August, 1945, a decision was made by the United States that affected human history unlike anything the world had ever experienced.  On August 6, a B-29 bomber by the name of the Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on one of Japan's major population centers.  Within seconds ninety percent of Hiroshima was destroyed and eighty-thousand people had their lives snuffed out instantly.  Thousands of people died later from radiation poisoning.  

    No one in Japan knew what they were dealing with and its government was given little time to respond.  Three days later, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki incinerating that city along with another eighty thousand people.  Japan surrendered on September 2.

    The Japanese are a very unique people.  There was no smoldering resentment in the face of such atrocities.  The Japanese were not interested in holding on to this experience by developing hatred for the United States or allowing their national spirit to be dominated by getting revenge some time in the future.  They absorbed their losses, collectively came together and began the process of rebuilding.  If we visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki today, both cities are teaming with commerce and are a marvel of modern architecture. 

    If you looked within the borders of the United States today you would find that the Japanese have engaged in a full-scale economic invasion.  Just among their automakers, the Japanese employ over 400,000 Americans.  They have 63 facilities, 29 assembly plants, 34 research and development centers and hundreds of dealerships. 

    When one adds the other industries like electronics, computer software and consumer products, young people from both nations find it impossible to imagine that their two countries were at war with each other.  Who could have imagined that a chain of islands, slightly smaller than California, would become the third largest economy in the world?  The Japanese people have a spirit that Jesus would have described as holy.

    It is quite possible that by Jesus blessing his disciples with the Holy Spirit, he was teaching them to use their own intuitive awareness to understand that nothing in the world has the power to hurt them.  Seeing Jesus raised to life had the power to remove such fear.  However, if the disciples would have allowed what others do or say to instill an invisible cancer within them, their own spiritual energy would become compromised. 

    Last Sunday we discussed why everyone who ever lived is still alive and moving forward at their own pace along their spiritual path.  Having this understanding may be difficult for most people to accept.  If we find ourselves among that group, we are not alone.  There are plenty of people that believe that sinners will be punished for all eternity and only the righteous inherit the joys of heaven.  Beliefs, however, cannot change reality.

    One of the more interesting books in the Old Testament is Ecclesiastes.  Its authorship is attributed to King Solomon.  Solomon was a major collector of wisdom and he connected the dots for his conclusions from his life-experiences.  He lacked one critical piece of information that would have altered his thinking significantly -- no one dies when they leave their body.  Regardless of what anyone believes or thinks, we are not our bodies.  Listen to his fascinating conclusion about the meaning of life:

What we do with our lives makes no difference.  The same fate comes to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the bad, to those who are religious and those who are not, to those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.  A good person is no better off than a sinner.  The same fate comes to all of us. This is as wrong as anything can possibly be in this world.  (Ecclesiastes 8:2f)

     If we look around in our world, we may get a hint of what happens when we leave it.  We have people living among us right now that are happy every day.  They are thrilled with life and never stop being grateful for their life-experiences.  Their goal is to contribute as much as they can to make our world a more wholesome place for men and women to live.  Their positive energy attracts to them everything they could possibly need.

    We also have people that never stop complaining and fault-finding.  They have grown bitter because they fear that they are not getting their share of life's treasures.   In between these two extremes are billions of others who have no idea that they are on a spiritual path. Yet, all of us are here at the same time living together in this world.  Why should this be any different when we leave it?

    Those that enjoy life every day are the ones that say, "Ah, another road block!  What is this barrier going to teach me?"  They have come to realize that there is no benefit to their spirit for anything that prevents, interrupts or slows their spiritual growth.  This understanding comes as a result of knowing that their life's energy is traveling on a path that is infinite in its possibilities.  Had King Solomon had this understanding, he would have experienced Aha! moments throughout his life.

    Spirits that have escaped the traps of feeling "there is no justice, life is unfair, I am always being victimized," have entered a realm that is new to them through the doorway of forgiveness that Jesus offered to his disciples.  This happens when we realize that all blockages to our growth are nothing more than teachable moments that are preparing us for living in an environment where only skills of spirit matter.