Resurrection faith is forgiving faith!
In these weeks of Easter we hear again of the stories of the disciples encounter with the risen Christ, in all its wonder, mystery, confusion, joy and intimacy. They are presented as very real encounters like this morning’s gospel with a very real physical Jesus. It is made absolutely clear that this Jesus is no ghost or just some kind of vision. The risen Christ has changed in some manner but at the same time is clearly physically present as well – as shown by the marks on his hands and feet together with his taking food and eating before the disciples. No wonder they were somewhat disbelieving for joy – those words reflecting perhaps the disciples’ effort in just trying to understand and take it all in.
We could be forgiven I think if we all were not a tad jealous of those first disciples being able to witness the very physical presence of the risen Lord. In all the resurrection stories the way these first disciples experience the risen Lord is clearly very different from how we experience the risen Lord and indeed that the whole church has done ever since Jesus’ ascension. We experience the resurrection not through a physical presence of the risen and transformed Jesus – rather we experience the risen Christ in word and sacrament, in fellowship and through the power of the Holy Spirit. So, given that difference and distance if you like, where does ‘resurrection’ really touch or impact upon us here and now? Is it just another lot of theological jargon that we hear for another 50 days, or does and can it mean something that has a real impact on our lives - such that we too can proclaim along with those first disciples that we also have encountered the risen Christ.
For me what stands out in our readings this morning is the reference to repentance and forgiveness of sin.
19 Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out.’ [1st reading]
47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations,
beginning from Jerusalem. [gospel]
Why you may well ask all this attention to sin, repentance and forgiveness? We have just been doing all that for the last forty days of Lent. Surely in Eastertide we focus on new life, hope and joy – give us a break might well be our collective cry! Well, the scriptures and their witness gives us no break in this regard because at the heart of resurrection faith and all the joy, optimism and hope for life that goes with it, comes back to the basic reality that our Lord’s death and resurrection is about forgiveness of sin and this could not be more clearly expressed than in those last words of the gospel.
Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46 and he said to them,
‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day,
47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations..
And here it is I believe that resurrection both touches us in that real, hard and concrete way when we realize at a deep personal level - at the core of our very being that our God in his crucified and risen Son has well and truly forgiven us. And perhaps we get a deeper sense of what this actually means with the words of our first reading – repent, turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out … in other words completely removed – not just covered up but wiped out – our failings, our weakness, all that goes against God, against life – our life and that of others – all that is destructive is wiped out!
And from that gift – that clean slate – we can really begin anew – the words about new life, new beginning, new hope I think become real as we strive to live life as Christ calls us to and empowers us to, for it is grounded in the reality of our own forgiveness. These words also become far more real and concrete if or when we find ourselves having done something that is wrong or sinful, something whether intentional or not that has caused deep hurt or pain to another, something that we deeply regret. We wish we could just take it all back and sometimes we don’t even know why we did it and we just cannot forgive ourselves. Then the wonder of God’s love and forgiveness really hits home when we realize that even if we cannot forgive ourselves, God does - and if we know and accept that, then we can in time hopefully do likewise for ourselves.
Forgiveness is just so hard at times - be it for ourselves or for and to others. Repentance and forgiveness is anything but simple, it involves enormous courage and faith. It is complex and struggles to be given or received amidst the conflict, pain, suffering, anger and guilt of our individual and collective human relationships.
In our own nation we continue to see this as we hear and I hope truly listen to the stories and history of our indigenous people – we see this in the numerous conflicts that have and continue to plague our world – and indeed that are ever present in our own backyard – domestic violence, sexual abuse, physical and emotional violence – and the list could go on …
In the midst of such hurt, pain, suffering and grief – when we see what human beings can do to one another I cannot help but wonder how could there ever be forgiveness or reconciliation? I wonder why is it out of the experience of such horrors and suffering that one person can forgive and another cannot. I am not wanting to say that one person is better than another because of that, for surely we might ask ourselves the same question and we might indeed reply, well I am not sure if I could forgive that!
So, what does this mean for us as people who follow the crucified and risen Christ? Well, Peter in our first reading hits the proverbial nail on the head when he addresses the question about how is it that this lame man that they had just healed can now walk. It is the power of faith in Jesus, specifically Peter says in Jesus’ name and we note here that the Jewish understanding is that name is not just a title or label but actually is the essence of the person. So, believing in Jesus’ name gives power for healing as was the case for this lame man and so can be for us – power to forgive and become instruments of Christ’s healing and reconciliation to the world. As people who follow the crucified and risen Christ, we are forgiven people and we are to be forgiving people even when it seems almost impossible, because that power or impetus to do so comes not from us but from God in and through the risen Christ.
And like those disciples we are witnesses and by our lives are to proclaim this forgiveness to those around us and the power it has to bring true healing, hope and life.
As hard as it no doubt is - the rubber hits the road in terms of what it means to be people of resurrection faith when we forgive others – when we forgive our bishops, our priests, our deacons, our church, our governments, our leaders – even or especially those whom we hold in high esteem, those who are closest to us as well as those whom we may not know at all but who in some way have wounded us. In the end we are people that even if it takes a long time to forgive – even if it is hard and we don’t always succeed, we are at the very least to be a people who want to forgive and whose prayer to our Lord is always – Lord, I forgive, help my lack of forgiveness.