07-11-21

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHING
July 11, 2021
Scripture: Matthew 12:31
Therefore I tell you, people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

Thought for the Day: I don’t believe I’m alone in saying this verse of scripture is a bit confusing. Jesus said “every sin and blasphemy” would be forgiven, but then there is an exception to the rule. How can Jesus use the word ‘every’ and then tell us that he really didn’t mean every? In reading the larger context of Matthew, it sure sounds as if Jesus was frustrated with some of the religious leaders who did not recognize the Spirit within others. At the same time, I believe there is a challenge to the readers who might be arrogantly thinking to themselves how the Spirit surely wasn’t found in those haughty religious leaders. To speak against (blasphemy) the Spirit is to suggest a limitation on the Spirit of God. And to suggest a limitation to the Spirit is to undermine the basic convictions of the faith: God’s amazing grace and the unconditional love of God revealed in Jesus. It makes me wonder if Jesus was referencing our own failure to understand forgiveness. It wasn’t that God would be unable to forgive us, but if we refuse to accept the far-reaching capacity of grace and attach limits to God’s love, then we will find a constant uneasiness in our hearts. It’s either grace or it is not. It is either the unconditional love of God or it is not. The moment we question the Spirit’s capacity to be present in another is the moment we will begin to wonder whether that Spirit is within us.

Prayer: I may not like someone. I may find someone’s actions to go against your limitless love. Holy God, if I refuse to see the presence of your Spirit within these individuals who I may struggle to like, then I am questioning the capacity of your grace and love. In the same way I have fallen short on many occasions, I claim by faith that you still love me and embrace me with your grace. With a great gratitude, I claim your Spirit’s presence within me and every single human being. Amen.

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