For Sunday, June 8, 2014 – John 20:19-23
Compared to the raucous outpouring of the Spirit upon the people of many lands and languages, as described in the book of Acts, this baptism is a good bit quieter. Here we meet the Spirit that slips in beside us when we are crouching in the desert of great loss, when we feel at the end of hope, abandoned. Suddenly there among them is Jesus, the very one for whom they are grieving, conveying of all things, peace. Surely this was not what they expected, that he would emerge from such torment not thirsty for revenge but with a message of peace. And then to hear that they, too, are commissioned and sent by God in the same way as he himself had been sent—stunning! Not only to be once more with their beloved friend but to learn that they, too, will become sacrificial evidence of mercy at large in the world—how their minds and hearts must have been racing.
Perhaps this is why Jesus repeats it: “Peace be with you.” Yes, peace. So close is he, so intimate is their circle, that when he speaks this word of peace and says that they, like him, are sent, they can feel his warm breath. “Receive the Holy Spirit,” Jesus says, exhaling upon them the same essence that has animated him, encouraged him through his darkest hours. Now the very innerness of this teacher and friend, in whose life we see and know the utter depths of God, will be with them, within them. Within us. His breath, our breath; his way, our way. United we are, with a common mission and a common Spirit.
Lest we think such an encounter is purely mystical, or only for our personal encouragement and pleasure, Jesus clarifies the Spirit’s purpose: it is to help us forgive one another. The Spirit empowers us, not to occasional acts of mercy, but to grave and life-changing responsibilities, to the daily labor of choosing whether or not to forgive, whether or not to maintain peace in our midst. In this way we both receive and give the Holy Spirit. Each time we speak words of forgiveness, we breathe Spirit. We renew and build up the community of the world. This is our calling as sent people.
