What Were You Thinking?
04/11/10
Pastor Marji
Miller
This is a true story. A man attempted to rob a Bank of America in San Francisco. He walked into the branch and wrote, “this iz a stikkup. Put all your muny in this bag.” While standing in line, waiting to give his note to the teller, he started worrying that someone had seen him write the note and might call the police before he got to the teller’s window. So he left the Bank of America and crossed the street to Wells Fargo. After waiting a few minutes in line – you don’t have to wait as long at Wells Fargo – he handed his note to the Wells Fargo teller. She read it and, surmising from his spelling errors that he wasn’t the brightest tool in the box, told him that she could not accept his stickup note because it was written on a Bank of America deposit slip and that he would either have to fill out a Wells Fargo deposit slip or go back to Bank of America. Looking somewhat defeated, the man said, ‘OK,’ and left. He was arrested a few minutes later, as he was waiting in line back at the Bank of America.
What was he thinking?
We’ve put a lot of emphasis on bible-reading since the beginning of Lent. How is it going? Interesting book. Ever read something in it and wanted to ask God, “What were you thinking when you allowed that to get into the Bible? What do you want me to think about this? Learn from this?” No one ever said this is an easy book. But it’s what God has chosen to give us, and it’s a life-long adventure and you will never, ever get bored if you really engage with this book. It is weird in places. Confusing in some. Parts may make you angry. But there is joy and challenge and hope. And life. Sometimes, though, it’s hard to figure out. God, what were you thinking?
On the other hand, we know exactly what God had in mind for other parts of the Bible. Think of the introduction to the Gospel of Luke:
Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. Luke 1:1-4 TNIV
God made sure this got into the Bible. The “so that” – so that you may know the certainty – is really important. The “so that” tells us why it’s there. Kind of a window into what God thinks about: God wants us to know this isn’t a fairy tale! It’s been “carefully investigated.”
Let’s look at this from another book of the Bible. This is from the Gospel According to John.
The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name. John 20:19-31 NLT
“So that” we continue to believe and “so that” we have life by the power of Jesus’ his name. What was God thinking? It would seem God was thinking: Life! God’s human creatures need life!
Don’t we have life? Well, if what I had fifteen years ago was life, I can only wonder what death would be like. There’s going through the motions, and there is real life.
Of course, life has a dimension beyond death. But this story is about life before death. What would real life look like? Let’s look at chapter 20 of the Gospel of John.
That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.” Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed. Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.” The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name. John 20:19-31 NLT
The message of this text is clearly: Don’t skip church. You never know what you might miss. That could be the day Jesus shows up in the flesh.
Not really. You don’t know what you’ll miss if you don’t show up to worship with your church family, but that is not the main point. So, let’s have a closer look:
First of all, “the disciples” doesn’t mean only the eleven remaining apostles. It’s the followers. We’re not sure exactly who was included here, but almost certainly the eleven, the women who had gone to the grave, the people who had followed Jesus from Galilee. The fact that the disciples were in a locked room afraid of the Jewish leaders suggests that Mary’s Easter testimony – I have seen the Lord – hadn’t made much of an impact on them. Jesus appeared and said
Peace be with you As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.
This was their commissioning. There were to be his agents, just as he is God’s. But, Jesus wasn’t sending them out alone. To symbolize the giving of the Holy Spirit – same word for “spirit” and “breath” in Greek – Jesus “breathed on” them. The same word for “spirit/breath” is used in the Greek version of Genesis 2:7 where God breathed the breath of life into the nostrils of the first person, who then became a living being. The breath of God is powerful.
Then Jesus said something puzzling. He said, “If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
What could it possibly mean for the disciples – the church – to forgive or withhold forgiveness? We’ll talk about that.
Later, the disciples told Thomas, “We have seen the Lord,”– the same phrase that Mary had used. Thomas didn’t believe them – just like they appear not to have believed Mary.
A week later Jesus appeared to Thomas, offered to let Thomas touch his wounded, but now resurrected body. The light came on in Thomas’ head and he made the climactic confession of the entire New Testament. My Lord and my God!” Not just God, but his God. And Jesus, said, Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.
And finally, the statement that pulls it all together: But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.
The focus isn’t on doubt and skepticism, but on the ground of faith – written so that you may believe. Written “so that” you may continue to believe. Written, “so that” by believing in Jesus we will have life by the power of his name. That’s why this gospel was written. Seems to be what God had in mind.
The hardest part of coming up with this message was deciding what to leave out. There is so much here. What we are NOT going to talk about is Thomas’ doubt. Although many translations include the word “doubt”– leading to the phrase “Doubting Thomas”– there is no Greek word for “doubt” in the verse! So we aren’t going to spend time on what Thomas was thinking, why he wasn’t there the first time, etc. Thomas is important for two reasons, first, for what he said, “My Lord, and my God.” That is the most complete confession of who Jesus is in the entire New Testament. Second, Thomas is important because he is an encouragement to those who want to share the story - an encouragement for us that even those most skeptical can become passionate believers.
So, if we aren’t going to talk about Thomas, what are we going to talk about? We’re going to talk about Life. Sometimes people come to the Bible with the question Is there Life after death? Today I’d like to address the often unspoken, but painfully felt question: Is there Life before death?
According to the story today, you are really alive if: you are part of a believing community, sent into the world, in the power of the Spirit, with the message of forgiveness.
We are really alive if we are part of a believing community – we will be together forever, but it all starts now. And Valley Grace, we are an amazing community. I have never seen a group of people care for each other like I see here. A gang of you helped Larry move this weekend. I’ve seen us help each other financially, baby-sit, dog-sit, sick-parent sit. We give each other rides, take each other food. We pray for each other, visit, send cards and emails, make phone calls. We do great at community.
So, second part: what is the believing community to believe? We are to believe that Jesus is the Messiah. Literally, “messiah” means “anointed.” Lots of anointed ones in the Bible. David, a tent, Aaron, an altar, the foreigner, Cyrus. But what does it really mean to say Jesus is the Messiah? We’d have to do an in-depth study of the entire Bible to exhaust what that means. But, bottom line,
For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:19 NLT
And what we believe about Jesus will grow as we continue to study the Bible and continue to be open to the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
We think it would be easier to believe if we could see Jesus, but lots of people saw him and still didn’t believe. It would have been great to see Jesus, but not necessary for believing. This isn’t new to the people of God. The First Testament records a speech said to have been delivered by Moses to the generation born after the Exodus. After the covenant was made.
It was not with our ancestors that the Lord made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today. Deuteronomy 5:3 TNIV
Technically it was the ancestors, but for faith, it was “us” – our experience. Think of the old song: Were you there? Factually, no, but the implication is yes, we were there. We are part of the community so we were there. The covenant was made with us. We can have life with Jesus. We get this from the story! Wrestling with the Bible is vital to real life. By wrestling and praying, is possible to believe without seeing.
This isn’t a call to blind faith, but an offering of the evidence of the story. A Spirit-lead reading or hearing of the Bible gives those who didn’t see what they need to believe in Jesus. The gospel was written on premise that persuasive presentation of the story of Jesus can change people and lead them to life – before and after death. Worship after a hard look at the life and works of Jesus. Check Jesus out! “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” Now, remember, it’s not just believing, but belonging. Being a community! Thomas did miss out because he wasn’t there.
We are really alive if we are: Sent into the world
Exciting Easter pageants to the contrary, the story does not end with “seeing the Lord.” The purpose of this resurrection appearance is not so much to prove the resurrection as it is to send the disciples.
Just as Jesus was sent by the Father, so Jesus sends the community. We have a mission. Just think: into the violent world that had crucified Jesus, he now sends his followers. Us. Sometimes, I wonder if we look to the church to provide a refuge from the world, rather than a community of faith God sends into the world?
Jesus said to them, “Come follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” Mark 1:17 NCV
Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19 NLT
Valley Grace, our emphasis on outreach is because we have been sent! Believing, even belonging is not just coming to an inspiring worship service and being surrounded by loving friends; it is being sent back into the world, to tell the story – and, given the experience of disciples and their witness to Thomas – we shouldn’t be too surprised if not everyone believes us.
So, it can get pretty discouraging, but we are not sent into this dark, messed up, violent world on our own. We are really alive if we are: In the power of the Spirit.
“When Jesus had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”
The Spirit is the power source for real life. While the Spirit may give ecstatic experiences, that isn’t the main point. Acts 1:
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8 TNIV
The Spirit had been given only after the disciples had been commissioned to continue the work that Jesus has done. What changed the disciples from fearful to fearless witnesses may not have been seeing the resurrected Jesus (which only a few experienced), but the infilling of the Holy Spirit – which was and is available to all believers.
We are really alive if we: Take the message of forgiveness.
“If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
So, who would we NOT forgive? Let’s look at Jesus in this story. The people in that room were the ones he had called to be his followers. At the fishing boats in Capernaum, under the fig tree. He called them by feeding them, healing them, loving them, teaching them. He had shared everything with them for three years. And, when Jesus needed them the most they had let him down. Quite apart from whether Jesus may have been fulfilling a destiny, he had every right to be disgusted with his disciples. They never did seem to grasp what he was saying or what his mission was about. With a few exceptions, they had denied him. Most vanished before the crucifixion. Now all of them – except Thomas – were cowering behind a locked door. Some followers they were! But, Jesus forgave them! He commissioned them and sent them out, losers that they were.
If Jesus is our example, should the church – that’s us – ever refuse to forgive sins? Why would we, who have been forgiven so generously, even consider such a thing?
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32 TNIV
Why didn’t Jesus didn’t talk about forgiveness until after the breathing of the Spirit? We can’t forgive in our own power! It takes more than we’ve got. We need the power that the Spirit brings.
Now, while that is all true, it might not be what Jesus meant by If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.
What is Sin? Sin in the Gospel of John is not believing in Jesus!
They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin. Anyone who hates me also hates my Father. If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father. John 15:22-24 NLT
That is why I said that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I Am who I claim to be, you will die in your sins.” John 8:24 NLT
Sin is not believing in Jesus. So, our job is to tell the story. The believing community shares the message of forgiveness with the world, making it possible for people to choose to enter into relationship with this God who offers love, grace, life. It is in choosing or rejecting this relationship with God that sins are forgiven. Or not forgiven. Our mission is not to be the moral police, but to keep telling the story of the love of God in Jesus. We refuse forgiveness when we refuse to share the good news of forgiveness. We are to go to the world with God’s promise that things can be different. We aren’t stuck forever in the mess of our past lives! God is still saying
“Look, I am making everything new!” Revelation 21:5 NLT
So, what is life in his name? Being a part of a believing community, sent in the world, in the power of the Holy Spirit, with a message of forgiveness.
As amazing as the Gospels writings are, they could not possibly contain all Jesus did or said to change our world. But what they center on is the central thing: We have a God who watched a world fall apart and was willing to chase after the ones who had messed it up. God is thinking about us! This is a love story. And we are invited into the story, and we are invited to carry the story to others. We have to choose. And they have to choose. Deuteronomy 30:
Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life……., Deuteronomy 30:19-20 TNIV
There can be life before death! We are the sent ones, sent out there to do the work of Jesus as people who, like Jesus, take their identity as ones who say, “The Lord is my life!” If you are here because this is a safe place to huddle with other disciples out of the sight, Jesus has a message for you. If you are hiding your identity outside of this place, keeping your faith locked behind the closed doors of your heart, then Jesus has a message for you. Jesus is saying, “You know, I have a knack for getting into closed places, either buildings or hearts but listen to me: As my Father sent me, so I am sending you. But not alone, not without hope, not without a destiny far greater than any cost you can weigh, not without my presence and power. Go and do my work.” That’s what God is thinking.
May we all believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing we may have life in His name.
This is a true story. A man attempted to rob a Bank of America in San Francisco. He walked into the branch and wrote, “this iz a stikkup. Put all your muny in this bag.” While standing in line, waiting to give his note to the teller, he started worrying that someone had seen him write the note and might call the police before he got to the teller’s window. So he left the Bank of America and crossed the street to Wells Fargo. After waiting a few minutes in line – you don’t have to wait as long at Wells Fargo – he handed his note to the Wells Fargo teller. She read it and, surmising from his spelling errors that he wasn’t the brightest tool in the box, told him that she could not accept his stickup note because it was written on a Bank of America deposit slip and that he would either have to fill out a Wells Fargo deposit slip or go back to Bank of America. Looking somewhat defeated, the man said, ‘OK,’ and left. He was arrested a few minutes later, as he was waiting in line back at the Bank of America.
What was he thinking?
We’ve put a lot of emphasis on bible-reading since the beginning of Lent. How is it going? Interesting book. Ever read something in it and wanted to ask God, “What were you thinking when you allowed that to get into the Bible? What do you want me to think about this? Learn from this?” No one ever said this is an easy book. But it’s what God has chosen to give us, and it’s a life-long adventure and you will never, ever get bored if you really engage with this book. It is weird in places. Confusing in some. Parts may make you angry. But there is joy and challenge and hope. And life. Sometimes, though, it’s hard to figure out. God, what were you thinking?
On the other hand, we know exactly what God had in mind for other parts of the Bible. Think of the introduction to the Gospel of Luke:
Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. Luke 1:1-4 TNIV
God made sure this got into the Bible. The “so that” – so that you may know the certainty – is really important. The “so that” tells us why it’s there. Kind of a window into what God thinks about: God wants us to know this isn’t a fairy tale! It’s been “carefully investigated.”
Let’s look at this from another book of the Bible. This is from the Gospel According to John.
The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name. John 20:19-31 NLT
“So that” we continue to believe and “so that” we have life by the power of Jesus’ his name. What was God thinking? It would seem God was thinking: Life! God’s human creatures need life!
Don’t we have life? Well, if what I had fifteen years ago was life, I can only wonder what death would be like. There’s going through the motions, and there is real life.
Of course, life has a dimension beyond death. But this story is about life before death. What would real life look like? Let’s look at chapter 20 of the Gospel of John.
That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.” Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed. Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.” The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name. John 20:19-31 NLT
The message of this text is clearly: Don’t skip church. You never know what you might miss. That could be the day Jesus shows up in the flesh.
Not really. You don’t know what you’ll miss if you don’t show up to worship with your church family, but that is not the main point. So, let’s have a closer look:
First of all, “the disciples” doesn’t mean only the eleven remaining apostles. It’s the followers. We’re not sure exactly who was included here, but almost certainly the eleven, the women who had gone to the grave, the people who had followed Jesus from Galilee. The fact that the disciples were in a locked room afraid of the Jewish leaders suggests that Mary’s Easter testimony – I have seen the Lord – hadn’t made much of an impact on them. Jesus appeared and said
Peace be with you As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.
This was their commissioning. There were to be his agents, just as he is God’s. But, Jesus wasn’t sending them out alone. To symbolize the giving of the Holy Spirit – same word for “spirit” and “breath” in Greek – Jesus “breathed on” them. The same word for “spirit/breath” is used in the Greek version of Genesis 2:7 where God breathed the breath of life into the nostrils of the first person, who then became a living being. The breath of God is powerful.
Then Jesus said something puzzling. He said, “If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
What could it possibly mean for the disciples – the church – to forgive or withhold forgiveness? We’ll talk about that.
Later, the disciples told Thomas, “We have seen the Lord,”– the same phrase that Mary had used. Thomas didn’t believe them – just like they appear not to have believed Mary.
A week later Jesus appeared to Thomas, offered to let Thomas touch his wounded, but now resurrected body. The light came on in Thomas’ head and he made the climactic confession of the entire New Testament. My Lord and my God!” Not just God, but his God. And Jesus, said, Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.
And finally, the statement that pulls it all together: But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.
The focus isn’t on doubt and skepticism, but on the ground of faith – written so that you may believe. Written “so that” you may continue to believe. Written, “so that” by believing in Jesus we will have life by the power of his name. That’s why this gospel was written. Seems to be what God had in mind.
The hardest part of coming up with this message was deciding what to leave out. There is so much here. What we are NOT going to talk about is Thomas’ doubt. Although many translations include the word “doubt”– leading to the phrase “Doubting Thomas”– there is no Greek word for “doubt” in the verse! So we aren’t going to spend time on what Thomas was thinking, why he wasn’t there the first time, etc. Thomas is important for two reasons, first, for what he said, “My Lord, and my God.” That is the most complete confession of who Jesus is in the entire New Testament. Second, Thomas is important because he is an encouragement to those who want to share the story - an encouragement for us that even those most skeptical can become passionate believers.
So, if we aren’t going to talk about Thomas, what are we going to talk about? We’re going to talk about Life. Sometimes people come to the Bible with the question Is there Life after death? Today I’d like to address the often unspoken, but painfully felt question: Is there Life before death?
According to the story today, you are really alive if: you are part of a believing community, sent into the world, in the power of the Spirit, with the message of forgiveness.
We are really alive if we are part of a believing community – we will be together forever, but it all starts now. And Valley Grace, we are an amazing community. I have never seen a group of people care for each other like I see here. A gang of you helped Larry move this weekend. I’ve seen us help each other financially, baby-sit, dog-sit, sick-parent sit. We give each other rides, take each other food. We pray for each other, visit, send cards and emails, make phone calls. We do great at community.
So, second part: what is the believing community to believe? We are to believe that Jesus is the Messiah. Literally, “messiah” means “anointed.” Lots of anointed ones in the Bible. David, a tent, Aaron, an altar, the foreigner, Cyrus. But what does it really mean to say Jesus is the Messiah? We’d have to do an in-depth study of the entire Bible to exhaust what that means. But, bottom line,
For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:19 NLT
And what we believe about Jesus will grow as we continue to study the Bible and continue to be open to the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
We think it would be easier to believe if we could see Jesus, but lots of people saw him and still didn’t believe. It would have been great to see Jesus, but not necessary for believing. This isn’t new to the people of God. The First Testament records a speech said to have been delivered by Moses to the generation born after the Exodus. After the covenant was made.
It was not with our ancestors that the Lord made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today. Deuteronomy 5:3 TNIV
Technically it was the ancestors, but for faith, it was “us” – our experience. Think of the old song: Were you there? Factually, no, but the implication is yes, we were there. We are part of the community so we were there. The covenant was made with us. We can have life with Jesus. We get this from the story! Wrestling with the Bible is vital to real life. By wrestling and praying, is possible to believe without seeing.
This isn’t a call to blind faith, but an offering of the evidence of the story. A Spirit-lead reading or hearing of the Bible gives those who didn’t see what they need to believe in Jesus. The gospel was written on premise that persuasive presentation of the story of Jesus can change people and lead them to life – before and after death. Worship after a hard look at the life and works of Jesus. Check Jesus out! “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” Now, remember, it’s not just believing, but belonging. Being a community! Thomas did miss out because he wasn’t there.
We are really alive if we are: Sent into the world
Exciting Easter pageants to the contrary, the story does not end with “seeing the Lord.” The purpose of this resurrection appearance is not so much to prove the resurrection as it is to send the disciples.
Just as Jesus was sent by the Father, so Jesus sends the community. We have a mission. Just think: into the violent world that had crucified Jesus, he now sends his followers. Us. Sometimes, I wonder if we look to the church to provide a refuge from the world, rather than a community of faith God sends into the world?
Jesus said to them, “Come follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” Mark 1:17 NCV
Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19 NLT
Valley Grace, our emphasis on outreach is because we have been sent! Believing, even belonging is not just coming to an inspiring worship service and being surrounded by loving friends; it is being sent back into the world, to tell the story – and, given the experience of disciples and their witness to Thomas – we shouldn’t be too surprised if not everyone believes us.
So, it can get pretty discouraging, but we are not sent into this dark, messed up, violent world on our own. We are really alive if we are: In the power of the Spirit.
“When Jesus had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”
The Spirit is the power source for real life. While the Spirit may give ecstatic experiences, that isn’t the main point. Acts 1:
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8 TNIV
The Spirit had been given only after the disciples had been commissioned to continue the work that Jesus has done. What changed the disciples from fearful to fearless witnesses may not have been seeing the resurrected Jesus (which only a few experienced), but the infilling of the Holy Spirit – which was and is available to all believers.
We are really alive if we: Take the message of forgiveness.
“If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
So, who would we NOT forgive? Let’s look at Jesus in this story. The people in that room were the ones he had called to be his followers. At the fishing boats in Capernaum, under the fig tree. He called them by feeding them, healing them, loving them, teaching them. He had shared everything with them for three years. And, when Jesus needed them the most they had let him down. Quite apart from whether Jesus may have been fulfilling a destiny, he had every right to be disgusted with his disciples. They never did seem to grasp what he was saying or what his mission was about. With a few exceptions, they had denied him. Most vanished before the crucifixion. Now all of them – except Thomas – were cowering behind a locked door. Some followers they were! But, Jesus forgave them! He commissioned them and sent them out, losers that they were.
If Jesus is our example, should the church – that’s us – ever refuse to forgive sins? Why would we, who have been forgiven so generously, even consider such a thing?
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32 TNIV
Why didn’t Jesus didn’t talk about forgiveness until after the breathing of the Spirit? We can’t forgive in our own power! It takes more than we’ve got. We need the power that the Spirit brings.
Now, while that is all true, it might not be what Jesus meant by If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.
What is Sin? Sin in the Gospel of John is not believing in Jesus!
They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin. Anyone who hates me also hates my Father. If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father. John 15:22-24 NLT
That is why I said that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I Am who I claim to be, you will die in your sins.” John 8:24 NLT
Sin is not believing in Jesus. So, our job is to tell the story. The believing community shares the message of forgiveness with the world, making it possible for people to choose to enter into relationship with this God who offers love, grace, life. It is in choosing or rejecting this relationship with God that sins are forgiven. Or not forgiven. Our mission is not to be the moral police, but to keep telling the story of the love of God in Jesus. We refuse forgiveness when we refuse to share the good news of forgiveness. We are to go to the world with God’s promise that things can be different. We aren’t stuck forever in the mess of our past lives! God is still saying
“Look, I am making everything new!” Revelation 21:5 NLT
So, what is life in his name? Being a part of a believing community, sent in the world, in the power of the Holy Spirit, with a message of forgiveness.
As amazing as the Gospels writings are, they could not possibly contain all Jesus did or said to change our world. But what they center on is the central thing: We have a God who watched a world fall apart and was willing to chase after the ones who had messed it up. God is thinking about us! This is a love story. And we are invited into the story, and we are invited to carry the story to others. We have to choose. And they have to choose. Deuteronomy 30:
Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life……., Deuteronomy 30:19-20 TNIV
There can be life before death! We are the sent ones, sent out there to do the work of Jesus as people who, like Jesus, take their identity as ones who say, “The Lord is my life!” If you are here because this is a safe place to huddle with other disciples out of the sight, Jesus has a message for you. If you are hiding your identity outside of this place, keeping your faith locked behind the closed doors of your heart, then Jesus has a message for you. Jesus is saying, “You know, I have a knack for getting into closed places, either buildings or hearts but listen to me: As my Father sent me, so I am sending you. But not alone, not without hope, not without a destiny far greater than any cost you can weigh, not without my presence and power. Go and do my work.” That’s what God is thinking.
May we all believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing we may have life in His name.