Saving Grace

I have always been a bit baffled by the closing verse of our gospel text this morning (John 20:19-23). Jesus breathes on the disciples and says (20:23) "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 might be inclined to wonder whether Jesus actually said these words, since none of the other gospels report them, yet Matthew does report words similar enough to suggest that Jesus said something like this. Matthew reports that Jesus said to Peter (Matthew 16:19) "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

Clearly, Jesus intends that Peter at least, and perhaps all of those who follow him as his disciples, should exercise some significant level of spiritual authority in the world. That strikes me as an incredibly trusting and perhaps wildly dangerous proposition. It also strikes me that there have been more than a few latter day abuses of this authority.

I want to consider, this morning, why Jesus might have given such authority to his disciples and what purpose such authority serves in the larger scheme of God's realm. I will focus especially on John's version of this authority, which concerns the forgiveness of sins.

I have long believed that there is a distinction we must make between forgiveness of sins and grace. It is my contention that grace involves the forgiveness of sins, but that grace is also something much more than simple forgiveness.

The example or setting I find most revealing about the difference between simple forgiveness and grace has to do with abusive relationships. There are many marriages in our society that are abusive, with one spouse (usually the husband, but not always) mistreating the other in some way, physically or mentally. The abuser generally feels remorse after having abused his spouse and often asks for forgiveness, promising that it will never happen again.

For a variety of reasons, many abused spouses relent and do forgive their abuser - or, at least, that would appear to be the case since they remain in the relationship. The reasons may include fear of what her spouse might do to her or to their children if she tried to leave the marriage, concern about not being able to make it financially on her own, or just not knowing what options are available.

Unfortunately, an abused spouse who attends church regularly may feel guilty if she is reluctant to forgive, since the church hammers into its members' minds that forgiveness is a requirement of the Christian life, not an option. Every Sunday we pray that God will forgive us as we forgive others. One of the hymns in our New Century Hymnal, No. 170, addresses this concern.

"Your ways are not our own, O gracious God most high, Yet we would follow in your paths and on your love rely. Christ teaches us to bless the ones who curse and harm, to turn the other cheek when struck, attackers to disarm. Yet, we cannot excuse abuse in any form, for all are children of your care, and love must be our norm."

So what is the faithful response to abuse? Forgiveness alone will usually not make much difference. But that's where the idea of grace comes in. Grace, as I like to define it, is a specific form of forgiveness which intentionally opens a door for change and for reconciliation. It is offered in the expectation that there will be some significant effort put forth to improve or repair the relationship.

Too often, forgiveness is offered as a way of getting past the problem. Maybe if I forgive, all can be forgotten and we can move on - and things will be better. That is a desperate hope which is based on no legitimate foundation.

With grace, on the other hand, the abused spouse may offer forgiveness, but will then ask what will be done to make certain that the abuse does not happen again. Is the abuser willing to seek counseling, as an individual and as a couple? If so, then the abused spouse will give it another chance. If not, then the abused spouse may need to terminate the marriage.

In a way, such a decision means retaining the sins of the abuser - withholding forgiveness. And there is a sense of judgment in such a decision. But that judgment is really something that the abuser brings on himself by failing to take advantage of the offer of grace.

This, it seems to me, is how God relates to us. Jesus said (John 3:19), "And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil." We bring judgment on ourselves by failing to respond to God's saving grace.

The whole point of God's forgiveness is to save us from a life that is not truly life. God doesn't forgive us just so that we can go out and do whatever we want and then come back and be forgiven again next week.

God's desire is not just that we can forget our failures. God's desire is to graciously invite us to change the way we live. God's forgiveness is in the context of grace. God invites us, by forgiving us, to experience a change of heart - to repent and to change the way we live our lives.

This, I think, is precisely what Jesus invites his disciples to do by giving them authority to forgive or retain sins. Forgive others for the specific purpose of giving them room and making it possible for them to change, and invite them to make those changes. But if they refuse to change, we cannot prevent the consequences as they inevitably bring judgment upon themselves.

The abuser who fails to respond to his spouse's offer of grace brings upon himself the judgment of a failed marriage. The friend who fails to respond to an invitation to change by his friend's offer of grace brings upon himself the judgment of a broken friendship. The nation that fails to respond to the offer of grace by other nations brings upon itself the judgment of losing the goodwill and support of those other nations.

This is the way God created the world to work. We all fail, at times, to live constructive and godly lives. But God forgives us and invites us to learn a better way to live. If we decide to take God's forgiveness for granted and continue to live in ungodly and destructive ways, we bring upon ourselves the judgment of a life that is not truly life.

We often associate boundless forgiveness with motherhood, yet even mothers must have limits. We never limit how much we love our children or how deeply we desire the best for them, but just because we do desire the best for them, we may occasionally have to limit our willingness to forgive.

The door to our forgiveness is always ready to be opened - we never stop offering grace - but grace requires a response with whatever change is necessary in order for the relationship to be healthy and productive. If such a response is not forthcoming, our forgiveness falls empty and fruitless to the ground.

So it is with God. The door is always ready to be opened. But God will not, indeed cannot, open it for us. We must make the choice to respond to God's grace with increased faithfulness. When we do, we find that God's saving grace is boundless indeed.

Thanks be to God. Amen.