Easter 2 – John 20:19-31 –
April 27th, 2014
Christ is Risen (He is Risen
Indeed, Alleluia) + Amen
The bunnies and the chocolate are all eaten. The new dresses, the nice suits, for the most
part they’ve gone back into the closet.
The eggs, the family dinners are done, the pictures have been posted to
the internet – and as far as the world is concerned, Easter is done – now,
when’s Memorial Day and the start of summer?
Not so in the Church. We’ve only
just begun Easter – the altar will be wearing its Easter white 5 more weeks,
and in this time we will be studying the Gospel of John, hearing from our Lord
and pondering what His resurrection means for us, how it shapes our lives. And now that the hoopla is past, consider for
a moment that forgotten theme of all the Easter stories – fear.
You see, the Gospels don’t deal with Easter the way Walmart
or Hallmark does. In the Scriptures,
it’s not all sunshine and daisies and spring.
Every Gospel has in its account of the resurrection fear. Matthew – you’ve got the guards fearing,
you’ve got the women afraid. In Mark,
everyone’s afraid. Same with Luke –
except in Luke you hear about the bewildered disciples on the road to Emmaus,
the two who figure it’s best to high tail it out of Jerusalem – that’s how fearful they are. And then, there’s John – and last week we
heard of Mary Magdalene’s utter fear and confusion. And what do we hear this week? “On the evening of that day, the first day
of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for FEAR of the
Jews, Jesus came and stood among them.” Fear.
Disciples, have you heard? Jesus
has risen! That’s nice, now, let’s lock
the doors. Ain’t no sunshine and daisies
there. And here’s the great kicker on
this – Jesus shows up, talks with them – and then what do we hear? “Eight days later, His disciples were inside
again, and Thomas was with them.
Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them.” All of them except Thomas have seen Jesus risen
from the dead, and yet, what’s going on?
Still locked doors. Still
hiding. Still fear.
Too many people in the Church do a grave disservice to the
Gospel, to the preaching of Christ, when they pretend that if you only are a
Christian then life is so much easier and everything is laughter and
bouncy-bouncy happiness and money and wealth and fabulous prizes. It’s not, not yet at least. Until Christ comes again, we are in the
fallen world. And you know what life in
the fallen world is? Quite often,
lousy. Terrifying. Disappointing. Aching.
Sad. This world is doing its best
to turn us all into dry bones, to suck the life out of us. And it does a pretty good job of it, doesn’t
it? And the temptation for us sinful
men, especially us in America,
with all our wealth and luxuries and technology and cosmetics and the like is
to try to pretend that we can make the world less… fallenish. Less harsh.
We think of the Church like some sort of spiritual gated community – we
come here, we do the right stuff, and all those bad things will be kept far,
far away and God will give us Money, wealth, and prosperity.
If you want to think about it this way, our Gospel text
tells us of the first two Sunday worship services in the History of the New
Testament Church. What is Church but
where God’s disciples have been gathered together – have been made into a
congregation – and Christ is present there and His Word proclaimed? It’s what we see. And yet, what’s the context? Not that if we make it to the upper Room
Jesus will make all of our wildest dreams come true. Not that if we make it there we will get a
raise at work and our spouse won’t be so mean and our kids will do better in
school. The context for the disciples
was fear. No blinders about life. There are evil people out there that want to
do us harm. Our livelihoods are messed
up – the next chapter when Peter tries to start up the old fishing business it
doesn’t start off so well. And let us be
honest, who among us doesn’t have fear, plenty of fear? Every one of us has them – and there’s no
magic bullet to make those fears go away – not money, not booze, not even
showing up to Church with the biggest smile.
So, why even be here?
What then is the point, pastor?
If things are so dour and always will be, why not just sleep in? Listen to Christ Jesus. “Jesus came and stood among them and said to
them, “Peace be with you.” And when He
had said this, He showed them His hands and His side.” Peace.
Yes, disciples, I know there are people out there who want to do you
harm – look at My hands, look at My side, boy howdy do I know. Yet I say, peace be with you. As scary, as terrifying, as real and as persistent
as those problems in the world are, peace be with you. See, I have risen – the world did its worst,
and in the end, I live. So shall
you. Peace be with you. You see, dear friends, Jesus doesn’t show up
and tell the disciples that their lives will now be caviar and champagne. Far from it – He had told them that they
would end up taking up their crosses and following Him – that being a disciple
would mean not hiding from the world, not pretending it isn’t lousy, but rather
going out into the world – As My Father sent Me, so I am sending you – that the
disciples would be in the world, working there, in the middle of that pain and
sorrow. All that pain and fear and hurt
and suffering is real – Jesus doesn’t pretend otherwise. Instead He proclaims another truth, a greater
truth, a truth which supersedes the world.
Peace be with you. You are
forgiven, disciples – and forgiveness reigns supreme. You tell folks that they are forgiven, and
guess what, they are. There is peace –
the rebellion of man against God – it’s over, I, Christ Jesus have finished it,
and now there is peace. Peace be with
you. Even as the world rages around you
– Peace. There is the forgiveness of
sins, so look forward to the resurrection of the body and the life of the world
to come. Peace be with you.
Likewise, dear friends, the Church isn’t going to suddenly
make the world turn up roses. Oh, we do
help each other out, maybe we can give each other good advice, a helping hand –
and that’s all good. But the world is
still going to be the world, and there will still be problems. When our Lord said, “sufficient for the day
is its own troubles” He wasn’t whistling Dixie. But what you will get here is Peace – and not
some hippie “peace out, man” sort of thing.
God’s Peace – that is, the forgiveness of sins. In the Scriptures, peace is a forgiveness
word – and whenever you come to this place, you will get the forgiveness of
sins. That’s what a Church is – a
forgiveness place, and I don’t care what the sign on the door says, if they
aren’t proclaiming Peace be with you, it ain’t a church, because that’s what
Christ’s Church is about. You are
forgiven. Yes, the world is scary – but
you are forgiven. Yes, your sins are
vile, the guilt of them is heavy – Christ has borne that guilt and you are
forgiven. Be at peace. Go in peace.
Even Rest in Peace. You realize
that term – rest in peace – it isn’t talking about how nicely the grass is mown
in the cemetery – it means you are forgiven.
It means even though you die, yet because of Christ, you shall
live. Forgiveness has been won – this is
the great truth – greater than all the junk in the world. This is what the Apostles are to go out and
proclaim, this is what the Church has proclaimed ever since, this is what we
proclaim even to this day. Because
Christ Jesus has died and risen, you are forgiven.
But, what of life out there? It’s nice that I’m forgiven and all – but
life out there has its fears, and I have to face them. Did you notice one other thing, and this
really is wondrous. The disciples are
hiding in fear – fear has basically paralyzed them. It doesn’t stop Jesus. He’s risen – He is God and Man, raised,
glorified – like a locked door is going to do anything to stop Him. Fear is there, the doors are locked, but
still Christ Jesus comes there. Yes,
Disciples, you have fear. But I am with
you – peace be with you. The world, it’s
troubles, they don’t drive Christ from you – indeed, He is with you not just
for this brief time on Sunday morning, but every moment. You are baptized – He has made you His
temple. Matthew’s Gospel ends on this
very truth – So often we will say Matthew’s Gospel ends with the Great
Commission, now get to work people.
Bah. First off, the great
commission isn’t “work hard” – it’s about forgiveness – about Baptism and the
Lord’s Supper. But over and above that,
how does Matthew end? Jesus says, “And
behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Peace.
Why? Because Christ is with you –
because nothing can separate you from Christ Jesus, neither heights nor depths
or powers nor anything. Not even your
suffering – He suffered too. There is
nothing you can face in this world that will drive Christ away – He is risen,
and He always says Peace. He is always
eager and quick to forgive you your sin, for that is why He came in the first
place! He is your Lord and your God –
and you do have life in His name. He has
washed you clean of your sin, poured His Holy Spirit upon you, gives Himself to
you and is with you always. Yes, the
world is a scary place, yes, my sin is great – but Christ Jesus is Risen, and
He says Peace be with you, and that trumps all.
We need never pretend otherwise.
Amen. Christ is Risen – He is
Risen indeed, Alleluia. Amen
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