This sermon was written and delivered by Ashley Bekkerus
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Let’s explore the question of the unpardonable sin. Apparently, there’s one sin that’s so bad that if we do it, God won’t forgive us.
That feels wrong on a lot of levels, not least because we claim God’s love is infinite and all-encompassing and then Jesus goes and talks about an unforgivable sin. Definitely hot-button. Definitely, if we’re being honest, pretty scary.
So can I tell you what helped me understand the unpardonable sin, and find how it’s consistent with God’s unending, limitless love for you and me?
The thing that helped me – and I hope will help you, too, is my husband’s job in IT.
My husband is on call 24/7. So, we’re sitting at the table eating dinner one night and he gets on his phone and I ask him if it’s a work thing (because we try not to be on our phones at the table). He says yes, so I don’t think much of it and keep eating and talking with our daughter. A few minutes go by and he starts laughing, so I ask him what’s up and he shows me the string of messages between him and this person who reached out for help. It basically goes as follows:
Person: “Hey Jake it’s so-and-so from this location and our computer that runs all of our machines won’t come on and we’re worried about the machines turning off while customers are here. Can you help?”
Jake: “Yeah, have you tried the power button?”
Person: *eye roll emoji* “yes, we tried that. It won’t turn on.”
Jake: “Is it plugged into the back of the computer? Or did it come unplugged from the wall?”
Person: “Oh… yeah it was just unplugged. Sorry about that. Thanks for the help”
I think we’ve all had something with a computer where we’re like “this just isn’t working” and then someone else comes by and it’s a simple solution and we feel a little silly for writing off a whole computer. What I think is most interesting, and what is applicable to our conversation today is that there was fundamentally nothing wrong with the computer. The computer was fully functional and operational, just not plugged into the source. I know for me it’s pretty easy to have one thing wrong and then almost write off the whole thing, despite the possibility that it’s just a simple fix.
Today we’re going to use this idea to talk about the unpardonable sin, which is “blaspheming the Holy Spirit,” and is often looked at as God’s great “loophole.” Like, God needed an out “just in case” and that’s how a lot of people view the unpardonable sin. I’m going to tell you now, that’s not what this is, but we’ll get into it more as we discuss it today.
What I’m also going to tell you that I hope is an idea you’ll hold onto throughout the discussion this morning is this: there is nothing that will ever get in the way of God loving you.
