Forgiveness: Not In Your Gut, Not In The Vestments, But In The Word

Text: John 20:19-31

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

There’s a popular mindset in the American church, and it sounds like this:  

“I don’t need a middleman. It’s just me and God.” 

We heard about this mindset only several days ago in our Holy Thursday Sermon. Indeed, sayings like this sound spiritual and even liberating, but tragically, they are not.  

Now, we not only hear these kinds of sayings with communion, but we also hear these sayings with confession and absolution.  For example: 

“Why should I tell a pastor my sins? I can just talk to God myself, after all, my sins are private.”

Keep in mind that sayings like this are widely held by many people, especially in a culture that celebrates independence and personal spirituality. That is to say; many assume that confession of sins is an internal matter — a sort of emotional transaction between the sinner and God. For them, there is no need for the Church, no need for the pastor - just them and their conscience with an inner sense of peace.

But dear friends, this is not the biblical understanding of confession and absolution. Those who say,  “Why should I tell a pastor my sins? I can just talk to God myself, after all, my sins are private…” are not spiritually mature.  This mindset is not spiritually mature because it leads people to spiritual isolation.  It creates lone-ranger Christians.  It separates us from the very means Christ Himself has given for our assurance and comfort.

In other words, what is often promoted in our culture is not true Christian freedom. It is a kind of spiritual individualism that insists God must deal with you and me inwardly, within the spiritual caverns of our hearts, with a still, quiet voice.  Tragically, this approach elevates personal insight and emotions above the concrete ways through which God has promised to act. It denies God’s way of forgiving sins, while exchanging God’s way with a private, inward religion that claims forgiveness is found in a person’s internal feelings of peace.

Dear friends, hear me loud and clear!  When we turn Christianity inward, the heart becomes the altar, emotions become the liturgy, and feelings of peace become the assurance of forgiveness. This is so incredibly dangerous.  It is not how forgiveness or Christianity works.  

But why is it so dangerous?  

Think about it for a moment, what happens when that calm vanishes? What happens when your heart condemns you? What happens when the devil drags out your sin that you’ve locked away and hope no one ever sees?

Dear friends, if forgiveness is only internal, you’re left with uncertainty. When your emotions fluctuate—and they will—so will your assurance. And the devil, who is a liar and murderer, will gladly use your inward emotions to twist the knife of guilt.

Confession and forgiveness are not primarily internal.  They are not feelings or emotions.  

* * *

As with most things, there is another side of the ditch that you and I must be aware of.  That other ditch is to view the pastor as the exclusive dispenser of forgiveness. According to this view, unless the words “I forgive you” come from the mouth of an ordained minister, then absolution/forgiveness - hasn’t really happened.

Now, on the surface, this view can look very reverent. It seems to honor the Office of the Holy Ministry. But this view makes a tragic mistake. It turns the pastor into the sole source of forgiveness.

This is the error of sacerdotalism—a fancy word for the belief that forgiveness is locked away in the pastor’s person, as though he were some kind of spiritual gatekeeper. It denies the priesthood of all believers and fences off the Gospel behind vestments and ordination papers.

Dear friends, the Office of the Ministry was instituted by the Lord. And absolution – it is real, but the pastor does not forgive sins by his own power or personal holiness. The pastor forgives in the stead and by the command of Christ. The power is not in the man—it’s in the Word.

So then, where do we go? If forgiveness is not found in the fog of inner experience, and it’s not locked inside a clerical vestments, where do we find it?

Baptized Saints, we find forgiveness outside of ourselves. Yes, outside of ourselves.  That’s where God places His Gospel. That’s where He locates forgiveness—not in your gut, and not in vestments of the pastor, but in His external, spoken Word.

Remember what Paul says in Romans 10:17?  

“Faith comes by hearing and hearing through the Word of Christ.” (Rom. 10:17)

Furthermore, in John 20, Jesus breathed on His disciples and said, 

“If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven.” 

Notice that Paul did not say, 

“Faith comes by feeling the Word of God”?

Notice that Jesus did not  

“If you feel forgiven, then you are.”

No, He gave them a Word. And in giving them that Word, He gave the Church a gift. He located forgiveness not in the shifting sands of emotion, but in the concrete, audible proclamation of the Gospel – “Your sins are forgiven.” 

You see, when your pastors say, “I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” that is not your pastors’ forgiveness. That is Christ’s forgiveness, spoken to you and delivered into your ears in real time.

And that’s why it is certain. That is why it brings peace. Because it does not rely on your sincerity, emotions, feelings, or the worthiness of the pastor - it relies on Christ’s Word.

* * *

Baptized Saints, please listen up right now.  This is important.  This Word of forgiveness is not confined to Sunday morning. It’s not locked in the chancel.  It’s not reserved for pastors alone.  Pastors do not have a monopoly of pronouncing forgiveness.  

You see, the same Jesus who breathed His Spirit on the apostles also poured out His Spirit upon the Church. The same Gospel proclaimed from the pulpit is to be spoken in the home, in the hospital room, in the car, and at the kitchen table.

This is what Martin Luther calls the mutual conversation and consolation of the brethren.  That is to say; the blessing of being with other Christians is not just having good friendship but being able to speak the forgiveness and hear the forgiveness of Christ from another Christian.  For example: 

When a husband says, “I forgive you, in the name of Jesus,” that is absolution. 

When a mother kneels and tells her tearful child, “Jesus died for that sin—you are forgiven,” that is absolution. 

When friends remind each other, “Christ bore your guilt—there’s no condemnation for you,” that is absolution.

These are all examples of absolution because the authority is not in the speaker. It is in the Word. The Gospel is the power of God for salvation—to all who believe. Whether spoken from the pulpit, or whispered through tears, or shouted with joy—it is still God’s Word for you and for me.

This is why the Church is such a treasure. In the Divine Service, you are not left to guess whether God forgives you. You don’t have to trust in your feelings.  You don’t have to search around in the caverns of your heart for a still small voice.  Instead, you can hear the verdict of heaven, spoken with authority: 

“I forgive you. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.” 

That Word of the Gospel does what it says. It kills your sin. It raises you up. It sets you free.

So, Baptized Saints, do not despise the pastor’s absolution. Cherish it. Not because the pastor is holier than you, but because the pastor has been called to speak the Gospel to you from the outside.  The voice of the pastor becomes the voice of Christ. And that voice is certain — despite what your feelings and emotions might say otherwise.  

But again, do not let absolution be something you only hear on Sundays. Let it breathe in your homes. Let it saturate your conversations. Let it be the rhythm of your family. The language of your friendships. The heartbeat of your lives.  Confess your sins boldly, and pronounce the forgiveness of Jesus even more boldly!

Listen up, again, Baptized Saints, whenever you hear the words “You are forgiven in Christ,” you are not just being encouraged. You are being absolved. The Gospel is going to work on you. Christ is speaking through His people. And the gates of hell cannot withstand it.

So, I say it again: confess your sins. Not just privately in your heart, but openly, humbly, to those you’ve wronged—and to your pastor when needed. And when you hear the Word of forgiveness, believe it. Trust it. It is for you.

This is the Christian life. Not a solo spirituality. Not a hierarchical prison. Not an emotional rollercoaster.  Not a mining exploration into the caverns of your hearts. But a community built around confession and absolution, Word and Sacrament, life and death, cross and resurrection.

Baptized Saints, you are free to confess boldly. Free to forgive generously. Free to live in the joy of the forgiveness of sins because Christ has said it. And His Word never fails.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.