Homily for the Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time June 10, 2018
Fr. Albert St. Peter’s, New Iberia
“I will never forgive you.” These are the worst words a Christian can ever hear. They are also the worst words a Christian could ever speak. For a Christian, forgiveness is everything because God is everything and we can only be with God if we forgive and are forgiven.
It didn’t start out that way, though. This world is a messy and broken place, but it wasn’t supposed to be that way. In the beginning, forgiveness wasn’t important because there was nothing to forgive. Adam and Eve were created as sinless children of God, able to walk with Him in the garden, able to treat Him as family rather than as a judge. But they rejected it. The sin was not eating fruit, but the fact that they had disobeyed God, freely choosing to make it a competition of power, rather than a cooperation.
The devil is very real. He may be represented by a snake in Genesis, but he is more than an animal and he really seeks to destroy us. The devil is the father of lies, the prince of darkness, the lord of unforgiveness. And he knew how to ruin everything for Adam and Eve. He attacked their trust, undermined the words of God. The reason Adam and Eve sinned was because they believed what Satan told them. Satan convinced them that God was lying to them, that He was holding something back. They believed that they shouldn’t trust God.
And that lack of trust has been with us ever since. When God comes looking for them, Adam and Eve hide, full of fear and of distrust. In their hearts, they feared to hear these words: “I will never forgive you.” Nevermind that God gave them everything. Nevermind that he walked with them in the Garden and cared for them. Nevermind that they have proof of His honesty; They ate the fruit and immediately realized something was wrong; They did not become like God as the devil promised. But, everything God told them was true. Still, they do not trust God and they fear He will be harsh and unforgiving.
And the entirety of human history is that same story over and over. We do not trust God and we run from Him. God pursues us and offers covenant after covenant, opportunity after opportunity to become God’s family once again. He offers forgiveness and grace, but we do not trust Him. In the back of all our minds, there is that voice whispering, or sometimes even shouting: “I will never forgive you! You cannot possibly be loved by God! You do not deserve it”
But God does not give up; He reveals His ultimate plan. We are afraid of God as God, so He becomes human. The all-powerful, invisible God in Heaven terrifies us, so he becomes an average-looking middle-eastern Jewish man. Jesus, the Son of God carried out the same pattern we see throughout the Old Testament. He looks for His people, he pursues them. In fact, He is so insistent on chasing after the lost sheep that He often loses sleep and misses chances to even eat. He is so persistent that His own human family members – cousins and other kinsmen – think that he has lost his mind. They try to stop him.
But Jesus the God-Man knows what he is about. The devil, that snake from the beginning, has been in charge for too long. His power is keeping humanity under the illusion of darkness, to convince them of the lie that God does not love us and will not forgive us. Satan is the strong man and he has claimed humanity as his property. But Jesus is even stronger and has come to tie up Satan, to free people from the bonds of those lies, to free them with the truth.
Satan, however, does not give up without a fight. He uses his influence to spread more lies. “[Jesus] is possessed by Beelzebul.” He “drives out demons” by the power of demons. Underneath that is the same old lie that God is not powerful enough, He is not good enough to actually free us from evil. You see, Jesus was succeeding. People were being healed, freed from demons, and even being forgiven of sins. Other people were dismayed, amazed that anyone could have the power to do such a thing. So, the devil had to give them another explanation… “no way this is really God… He can’t possibly be doing all this good… this must be another trick of the devil.” Satan is so clever and desperate that he even uses his own reputation as a liar to keep you enslaved to his lies.
But it is God. The Father sent the Son who freed people by the power of the Holy Spirit. And this is why hear of the only sin that truly cannot be forgiven: “whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness.” Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is refusing to believe that God has the power and the desire to forgive sins. By giving credit to the devil for Jesus’ forgiveness, the scribes are closing themselves off from being able to ask for forgiveness.
In other words, to refuse forgiveness is the only sin that cannot be forgiven. God does not say to us “I will never forgive you.” In reality, it is us who say, “I will never let you forgive me” or “I don’t believe you can.” We say that because we do not trust God. We say that because we believe the lie and we let Satan poison us into thinking it is not possible for God to actually still care. But he does. And I am living proof of that.
Tomorrow [Monday] is the 2nd anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood. Nine years before that, I was lost. Trapped by my sins, afraid to change, and wrestling with despair, I reached out and clung to a crucifix. My prayer was merely a sobbing cry for help. I repeated that prayer, and those tears, many times more. And it was answered. Like anyone, I was looking for love, but in the wrong way. God, however, wanted to offer a love that went beyond the affection, emotion, and the addictions that we form with other people. He wanted me to be family, to be a brother, first as a Christian, and then as a priest.
And that is the offer he makes to all of you. That is the offer I am here to make to you as a priest. You want happiness; We all do. You want Love; We all do. Both of those are found only in God, but you are afraid, you do not trust Him. You fear those words, “I will never forgive you.” Those words will not come from God. Instead, hear what he does say, “whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” And what is the will of God for you? That you trust Him. Trust that He can forgive you. Trust that He loves you. Trust Him and keep trying.