聖神降臨節，乙年
主題：為何要保留有些人的罪？
福音記載了耶穌基督復活後，差遣門徒/教會宣揚祂的喜訊：「你們要去使萬民成為門徒，因父及子及聖神之名給他們授洗，教訓他們遵守我所吩咐你們的一切。」（瑪28:19-20）「你們往普天下去，向一切受造物宣傳福音。」（谷16:15）「必須從耶路撒冷開始，因祂〔默西亞」的名向萬邦宣講悔改，以得罪之赦。你們就是這些事的見證人。〕（路24:47-48）「就如父派遣了我，我也同樣派遣你們…你們領受聖神罷！你們赦免誰的罪，就給誰赦免；你們存留誰的，就給誰存留。」（若20:21-23）
連保祿也有類似的呼籲：「天主在基督內使世界與自己和好，不再追究他們的過犯；且將和好的話放在我們的口中。所以我們是代基督作大使了，好像是天主藉著我們來勸勉世人。」（格後5:19-20）可見教會和每一個基督徒的使命，就是向世人/萬民/萬邦/一切受造物，宣講天主與世界和好的喜訊。在具體的行動上，我們宣講悔改、施洗、教導世人遵守彼此相愛的誡命、身體力行愛德服務和代表天主赦免人的罪過等等…
今天我們讀的是若望福音，當中的一句令人費解：「你們存留誰的〔罪〕，就給誰存留。」（若20:23）教會的使命是幫助世人與天主修好，她的方法就是代表不可見的天主，赦免世人的罪。所以耶穌基督賜予聖神給教會/信徒，有權威和有能力地赦免世人的罪，治癒罪惡在世上做成的創傷。那麼，為甚麼還要存留有些人的罪過呢？
可是，若望記載的經文，看來與上述的倫理論點，背道而馳！
首先，從文法上看，這「存留」是主動而不是被動的。即是說，教會/基督徒，不知為了甚麼理由，甚至沒有令人信服的理由，保留/不赦免對方的罪，而不是對方拒絕接受/尋求赦免。
主動抑或被動，結果都是沒有赦免，有分別嗎？當然有。這樣寫，可以無限放大，變成教會擁有絕對的權威，操生殺大權。放心，教會是有理性的。但不得不承認，理性始終是有限的。當教會憑她有限的理解，無法判斷你是否真心悔改認錯，即是無論你悔改認錯與否，教會按她良心作出判決，上天堂抑或落地獄的命運，由教會決定！你可以放心嗎？
但大家不要害怕，以上的論述故意地遺漏了聖神在教會內的運作！祂是「真理之神」，必定會把真相啟示給教會；而且聖神是「愛德之神」，必定令教會基於愛德作出判決…但在這討論中，聖神有如雙刃的利劍，既可以幫助我們找到真相，尋求到解困的出路；但另一方面，亦可以一面倒地封閉了討論的空間，因為有了聖神，教會不會錯，教會之外沒有救恩…所以我盡量避免隨便引入。
其次，是為了完整性的緣故，所以正反兩面都寫下來嗎？例如，在瑪竇福音也有類似的記載（瑪16:19），不同之處，在於先講存留，後講赦免。瑪竇的寫法，更彰顯教會/伯多祿的權威，削弱了修和的善意！不得不承認，現代人崇尚民主自由，對「權威」沒有好感。教會曾享有最高權威，但今非昔比了。在經歷過挫折失敗後，教會深深明白到權威是為了服務。赦免罪惡不是權力的展示，而是給予罪人解放！接納罪人返回羊棧，是整個團體要承受的愛德挑戰！保留罪惡不赦，其實並不是一件輕鬆的事。當罪人還沒有充份地悔改的時候，獲得赦免恐怕祇是埋下日後災難的種子而已。從這個角度看，教會存留某些人的罪，除了清晰地彰顯她應得的尊嚴和權威之外，更清楚明白地承擔起修和的責任，並沒有把責任推卸到罪人身上，辯稱他們死不悔改！所以教會/基督徒應妥善履行主耶穌基督所派遣的修和使命，赦免或者存留別人的罪過。
各位兄弟姊妹，以上的反省，是有限的邏輯所推導的結果。但天主的思想不是人可以完全掌握的。所以，若是天主願意，祂一定有辦法，有能力在不違反我們的自由意志（拒絕服從，死不悔改）之下，仍然可以拯救我們。讓我們向聖神開放，與祂通力合作，負起與世界修和的任務。
天主保祐！
2018年講道
圖片鳴謝：br.pinterest.com
Solemnity of Pentecost, Year B
Theme: Why Are Sins Retained?
After His resurrection, Jesus Christ commissioned His disciples/the Church to proclaim His gospel:“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20) “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15) “That repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his (Messiah’s) name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.” (Luke 24:47-48) “As the Father has sent me, so I send you … Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” (John 20:21-23)
Even Paul appeals in a similar manner. “God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us.”(2 Corinthians 5:19-20) Thus, the Church and every Christian bear a mission to proclaim the good news of God’s reconciliation with the world to all peoples/nations/every creature. In concrete terms, we preach repentance, baptize and teach people to observe the commandment of loving each other. We practise charity and discharge the service of forgiving sins in the name of God …
A sentence in the gospel we read today is rather enigmatic. “Whose sins you retain are retained.” (John 20:23) Isn’t the mission of the Church to help people reconcile with God? She does it by forgiving people’s sins in the name of God. Thus, Jesus Christ gave the Holy Spirit to the Church/disciples so that they have the authority and faculty to forgive sins and healing wounds in the world inflicted by sins. Then, why does the Church retain the sins of some people?
To be candid, some people are die-hard unrepentant. Even if God desires to forgive them, but at the same time, God will not deprive them of the free-will to reject forgiveness. Therefore, the Church retains the sins of some people. Hell is not empty! This conclusion appears reasonable and agrees with moral principles. Those die-hard non-repentant go to hell on their own. They can’t blame anyone. God has already shown His good-will, evening sending His Son to incarnate and die on the cross for us. God’s not responsible for their demise …
However, the passage of John goes against this moral principle!
First of all, grammatically speaking, the “retain” is active and not passive. That is to say, for unknown reasons or even unconvincing reasons, the Church/disciples retain the sins of people, not that they reject or do not seek forgiveness.
The end is the same, whether it is active or passive. What’s the difference? Of course it is different. Written in this way, it can be extrapolated to the extent that the Church possess absolute authority to let loose or to kill. Don’t worry, the Church is reasonable. But it is undeniable that rationality has limitations. When the Church judges according to her conscience with finite understanding, i.e. whether you truly repent or not, your fate would be determined by the Church! Would you feel comfortable?
But don’t be afraid. In the discussion above, I deliberately left out the working of the Holy Spirit in the Church. He is the Spirit of Truth. He will show the Church the truth. Moreover, He is the Spirit of Love. The Church will mete out her judgment in love … But in this discussion, the Holy Spirit is a sword which cuts both ways. He can help us find the truth and the exit from adversity. But on the other hand, He can also shut down further room for discussion because with the Holy Spirit, the Church will not err. There is no salvation outside the Church … Therefore I try not to involve the Holy Spirit as much as I can.
Secondly, is it for completeness’ sake that John wrote down both sides? For example, we find a similar narrative in Matthew (Matthew 16:19) with a difference. Matthew mentions “binding” before “loosing”. Putting in this way, Matthew emphasizes more the authority of the Church/Peter and reduces the good-will of reconciliation! We have to admit that modern people advocate democracy and freedom. They are suspicious of authority. Once upon a time, the Church enjoyed absolute authority but does no more. After many frustrations and failures, the Church learns that authority is for service. The forgiveness of sins is not a showing off of authority but liberation for sinners! Embracing sinners back into the fold is a charity challenge for the whole community! Retaining people’s sins is not an easy task. When sinners are not ready for forgiveness, forgiving them would only plant seeds for future disasters. Looking from this perspective, that the Church retains sins of some people not only expresses the dignity and authority she deserves, but she also explicitly takes up the responsibility of reconciliation. She does not pass the buck to sinners, blaming them for being die-hard unrepentant! Thus, the Church/Christians should discharge properly the reconciliation mission commissioned by Jesus Christ by forgiving as well as retaining people’s sins.
Brethren! The reflection above is the fruit of finite logic. But God’s thinking is beyond the capacity of our intellect. Thus, if God so wills, He definitely has a way to save us while not depriving us of our free will (refuse to obey or to repent). Let us open ourselves to the Holy Spirit, work with Him to discharge the mission of conciliating the world with God.
God bless!
No comments:
Post a Comment