Pentecost Sunday

May 20, 2018

John 20, 19-23

With Pentecost, I would suggest to you that there would be two mandates put before us. One is to forgive. The other is to hold bound. This second one is the challenge and opportunity. Too often I think, people, interpret this mandate to mean that we are to refuse as though it is the opposite of forgiving. There is another way to hear this mandate. To hold bound might mean that we are here to hold one another to faith, to the issues of life, to the issues of justice. I believe that we are to hold each other bound by binding up whatever is broken, whatever is weak or frail, and by reminding one another of what we are about as Spirit-filled people brought to life in Jesus, and raised to life in his glory. By this we mean we cannot be a people who walk out and quit, we must be a people who stand for something, who speak out, and hold out for promises, for vows, for commitments, for justice, and for peace. The forgiveness part is easy when compared to the binding part, but it is still our mission. We say to those who would give up on a difficult relationship: “Try it again.” We say to those who make promises at Baptism or Confirmation: “Practice your faith. You promised to do that.” We say to the couples who walk down these church aisles: “You promised in good times and in bad. Don’t quit when it gets hard.” We say to those who make commitments to service, “Don’t give up when you fail to see results.” This is our commission as a church, who HOLD BOUND, to say to a world that quits too easily, STOP! Don’t get discouraged. Do not quit. This is holding bound. Could it not be that Jesus would have us do this?

Fr. Tom Boyer