Sins Retained

If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained. ~ John 20:23

John's Gospel is an extended reflection on the deeper meaning of what we might call the Christ event -- a theological reflection which uses the life and teaching of Jesus as a springboard to go into deeper, more speculative waters. And while there is much of value in it, if we are honest, we must admit that most of the words in it attributed to Jesus were not spoken by him.

And so, when the verse above offers to us the idea the when we forgive someone, they are forgiven, and when we retain someones sins, they are retained -- I think it is unlikely that Jesus said these words. And yet, they offer wisdom -- wisdom that, for the most part, the Christian tradition has failed to appreciate.

For most of its history, most of the Christian movement has chosen to interpret these words in terms of power: the power of the church (that is, the power of the church's clergy) to forgive or withhold forgiveness, and the notion that God would do whatever the church's clergy chose to do. If the priest doesn't forgive you, then neither does God. If the priest does forgive you, then God forgives you. All about power. And presumption. Bad theology.

The often-missed wisdom here, I think, is to understand these words as not being about the church's power to grant or withhold divine forgiveness, but to understand them as being about us, and the impact it has on us when we grant or withhold forgiveness.

To forgive is not really something we do for the person we are forgiving, though an act of forgiveness can have a powerful effect on that person. To forgive is something we do mostly for ourselves. Authentic forgiveness means to release the negative energy that abides in us that is attached to the offense being forgiven. It is not to forget, it is not to say that the offense didn't matter, it is not to say that there is no accountability of consequence. It is to say that I let go of the negative, damaging energy that arose in me as a result of that offense.

If this is what forgiveness is, then we can see easily the consequences of retaining someones sins. That is, of not granting forgiveness. The negative energy caused by the offense continues to dwell in us. We retain it. It lives inside us and, over time, will likely grow in intensity and power. It becomes a growing shadow in our lives. The person from whom we are withholding the forgiveness will likely not suffer from that nearly as much as we ourselves.

To retain another's sin is to choose to live in the past, rather than to be fully present in the now. To retain another's sin is to live in a swirl of negativity that can swamp us.

That is not to say that forgiveness -- authentic forgiveness -- is easy. It is not. It can take a great deal of work to get there. But in the end, if we can reach that place of forgiveness, we will find freedom and new life.