I found yesterday's sermon with the bishop of our diocese to be immensely thought-provoking upon forgiveness and judgment in light of the resurrection of Jesus.  When the resurrected Jesus made himself known to Thomas, who hadn't seen Jesus compared to both male and female disciples, he wanted to see proof of Jesus.  Jesus finally appears to him and lets Thomas look and touch his scars while pronouncing a blessing upon all followers afterward of believing without seeing.  Jesus also makes known in John's Gospel to the disciples that are sent out as apostles that whatever sins you forgive are forgiven, and those that are not are retained.

The interesting breakdown of this passage by the bishop was shown in his reflection of how we judge other people, even people who don't know, such as celebrities.  He shared with us how at the time of Britney Spears' change of her looks and cry for help, he didn't perceive her behavior with mercy but a sort of chastising pity in merely seeing a magazine of her acts in a store waiting to purchase his food.  In some sense, that judgment retained her sins in his mind.  Why do we do this as children of the living God, when we are supposed to be living proof of this God?

In connection with what I have perceived, it is so easy these days to click on an article or a YouTube video about some celebrity, whether done by some news media company or an everyday YouTuber granting commentary to us, to look upon the life of another in what I described above.  Now, we do know that many people who are in the limelight as politicians, entertainers, business people, and more are public figures who will have their life be analyzed and scrutinized, sometimes for the right reasons such as exposing works of darkness that don't need to be replicated individually or as a trend.

The bishop's sermon & story about Britney Spears reminded me of the story of St. Moses, the Ethiopian monk, who was a former leader of a band of thieves before his conversion.  Abba Moses was called to judge a fellow monk in their monastic community until he refused, demonstrating by carrying a basket with a hole in it, letting sand pour out.  He stated that no one has the right to judge another while the sins they don't see follow them.

This has very much challenged me as of late, especially when I do see myself reading about public figures.  Do I bother to pray for them?  Sometimes I do when I think about it; other times I don't, leaving only judgment for them in retaining their sins on my end.  Even when I pray, do I want the best for them?  I will admit that the bear minimum to me for some people is just that they repent for their own good.  Other times, I may consider that person having some trauma I don't understand and pray for them on that basis.  I do think honesty about how one judges a person or situation is key to really reconciling this idea in how we exercise judgment and forgiveness.

Because when we do forgive, there is something powerful present: liberation.  Sometimes the liberation is more powerful for one person than the other involved, depending on the situation.  Forgiveness is a very tough command from God, seeing that effects of certain sins violating boundaries in sickening ways that make our knowledge of good and evil a reality we cannot deny.  As much as I hear how people want to argue that humanity is inherently good, Jeremiah's prophetic passage always comes to mind:

Whatever we do in weighing a person's actions, we must be aware of our own.  You have the choice in how you react to the cross of Calvary and the throne of grace.  Will you find mercy and grace?  Will you find scorn and judgment?  We're all equal at the foot of the cross and the footstool of God's own throne.