The Second Sunday after Pentecost --- 7 June 2015

Mark 3:20-35

20 and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. 21 When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, "He has gone out of his mind." 22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons." 23 And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, "How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. 27 But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered. 28 "Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin"— 30 for they had said, "He has an unclean spirit." 31 Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, "Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you." 33 And he replied, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" 34 And looking at those who sat around him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother."

"Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin"

·        Let’s take some time and talk about sin. This isn’t a topic we want to discuss, although it is one we’re aware of… sometimes painfully so.

·        Ages ago, in one of my previous calls, a member of the congregation was concerned about the use of the Order of Confession and Forgiveness. This person said something like this to me: “Why should we confess so often? None of us really sin, do we?” I really did not know how to answer the question.

·        Having a very lively sense of my own sinfulness, or maybe just a guilt complex, this question troubled me and troubles me to this day. How often do we sin?

·        Adding to that, when I hear this passage, I wonder what exactly is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. That isn’t something that is easily understandable. We usually don’t comprehend what this is or how it’s done,

·        Blasphemy is defined as lack of reverence, contempt, or disdain for a deity or holy things. In a Christian context, it could mean cursing God and more probably and more precisely in the Christian context, refusal to accept the forgiveness and salvation offered by God to humanity.

·        It’s said that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the refusal to be forgiven. One of my teacher once said that the sin that refuses to be forgiven cannot be forgiven. There are people who despair of being forgiven, feeling that their sin or sins are too great to be forgiven, even by God.

·        This blasphemy against the Holy Spirit could also be crediting the works of God to diabolical powers. Mark’s side note in today’s Gospel reading points to this: for they had said, "He has an unclean spirit."

·        None of this is easy to understand. It might be that we have to look at sin and at what God has done for us in Jesus.

·        Sin is often said to be an offense against God or God’s law. It could also be said that sin is something that strains or breaks our relationship with God or perhaps something that draws us away from our God, which might be closer to the truth. Keeping to a series of laws might be simpler, but it could become an exercise in behavior management rather than a loving relationship. We can keep score when discussing laws, but we can’t keep score when we talk about a relationship.

·        In our understanding of relationship and sin, we also see the reality of judgement. All who sin will be judged. There’s no way around it. When we confess our sinfulness at the beginning of our worship, we are confessing our guilt and placing ourselves under the judgement of God. We are simply and plainly admitting out guilt. What follows is Good News for all: In the mercy of Almighty God, Jesus Christ was given to die for us and, for his sake, God forgives us all our sins. As a called and ordained minister of the Church of Christ, and by his authority, I therefore declare to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

·        There you have it in simple terms. Judgement and beyond judgement, mercy. Mercy would not be necessary if there were no offence, for mercy is applied only to the guilty. To say we have received mercy mean we have been judged and found guilty and have been given mercy. In sum, this is the Good News that Jesus proclaimed and the Church continues to proclaim to this day.

·        This mercy does not change the fact that we are sinners. It does not deny our offences; it forgives them. That is one reason for having the confession so often when we worship; we need to hear that we are forgiven each and every day despite the fact that we are sinners. We need to hear it from a source outside ourselves so we know we are not making it up for ourselves; we need it to be proclaimed to us. We need to hear the good news that our guilt is washed away and we are redeemed.

·        Personally I think that we don’t just need to hear this, but we want to hear it. To hear this proclamation of mercy may seem rather common because it is done so often, but it really is good news. It fulfills a need in our spirit and it frees us from bondage to sin. The words of forgiveness we hear actually does what they say they do.

·        What exactly the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is can continue to be controversial. The forgiveness and mercy of God is not controversial, although it will always be surprising and amazing and rather unexpected.

·        Could this be good news?

·        Yes! It is Good News. The best news yet.