Peace Be With You

 

In the lectionary, Holy Week is observed in real time. It is a day by day journey with Jesus in the last few days of His life as a man on Earth. Then the time that elapses from last Sunday to this one is less than a day. The Gospel reading today takes place on Easter Sunday – the day was nearly gone. This first Easter Sunday was an Easter experience not much like ours. The reading from this last week had Peter and John believing but not understanding the Scriptures. They returned to their homes leaving Mary to talk to the resurrected Jesus.

After church last week, I went to Bailey’s Harbor, Wisconsin for some R&R with Susan. It is the off season in Door County, and so lots of things are closed. This was OK really, since we were there to take it easy and did not need to have too many choices for places to eat. This was a trip which was notably free of anxiety.

The days after the Resurrection were a lot different for the 1st century disciples. They had seen things they did not understand. They had every reason to believe that they could be arrested like Jesus and executed. The disciples were together, and they were behind locked doors. It was a scary time to be a disciple.

The disciples should have known better. Mary Magdalene had seen the risen Christ, and had told the disciples. They, however, had not seen Jesus with their own eyes––so they were unsure and afraid––so they hid behind locked doors.

We don’t know what the disciples believed about Jesus, but I’m sure of one thing. They believed that they were in danger, and they believed that they needed to go into hiding. Mary told them that she had seen the risen Christ. Maybe they believed her, and maybe they didn’t. But the belief that drove them on this Easter evening was not faith, but fear. They were not in the room to do a Bible study. They were hiding.

Then Jesus came through that locked door to stand in their midst. The Bible doesn’t tell us how Jesus did that. However, if Jesus couldn’t be stopped by a rock rolled against his tomb, it stands to reason that he would not be stopped by a locked door.

However he did it, Jesus came into that room to stand among his disciples, and he said, “Peace be with you.” Jews used that word, PEACE, all the time. They used it to greet each other––and to say goodbye––and to convey good wishes––and to confer a blessing. “Peace be with you.” “Go in peace.” “Be at peace.” “Peace to this house.”

When people ask me to pray for them because they are having surgery, I usually pray for them, their doctors and for peace of mind. Peace is often a big one to someone facing a crisis. Jesus knows the importance of this peace, and he knows the disciples are anxious. Their greatest problem is not the fact that centurions could knock down the door and arrest them. Jesus knows what they need. It is peace. Angels are always telling people not to be afraid. Jesus says “Peace be with you.”

Every one of Jesus’ disciples had heard the word, peace, a thousand times––but it had never before had the force that it did that evening. The Jesus whom they had seen crucified on Friday was once again in their midst on this Easter evening––and he said, “Peace be with you.”

Then Jesus breathed on those disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit!” (v. 23). The Holy Spirit is God’s Spirit dwelling among us––living in us. The Holy Spirit is God’s Spirit guiding us––directing our lives––empowering us.

Jesus said, “Receive the Holy Spirit!” and that changed their lives. Once God’s Spirit was in their hearts, they were no longer afraid. We never again hear of them hiding behind locked doors. We never again hear of them being afraid.

Later, the Apostle Paul put it this way. He said, “If God is for us, who is against us?” In other words, if God is for us, what does it matter who is against us?”––because if God is for us, we cannot lose. On that first Easter evening, those disciples had never heard those words, “If God is for us, who is against us?”––but they did receive the Holy Spirit from Jesus––and they forevermore had that “If God is for us” kind of Easter faith.

But not all the apostles were present that evening in that locked room. Two were missing. Who were those two? Judas was missing. Matthew reports that Judas hanged himself (Matthew 27:5). We don’t know just when he did that, so he might still have been alive when Jesus met with these disciples, but he wasn’t present in that locked room. Who else was missing?

Our own patron St. Thomas was missing. Thomas didn’t get the opportunity to see the risen Lord with his own eyes. When the other disciples told him that they had seen the Lord, Thomas doubted. He said:

“Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe” (v. 25).

Thomas has gotten lots of bad press for his unbelief––we call him Doubting Thomas––but he was hardly alone. When Mary reported to the ten apostles that she had seen the risen Lord, they didn’t believe either. They thomas-the-incredulity-of-st-thomas-by-caravaggiodidn’t take their unbelief as far as Thomas did. They didn’t say, “I will NOT believe”––but they still DIDN’T believe.

Only after the disciples had seen Jesus with their own eyes did they really begin to believe. Jesus breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” They respond with faith and courage.

The nature of faith almost guarantees that we will struggle with doubt. The author of the book of Hebrews talks about faith this way. He says:

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).

How can we be certain of something we have not seen? It sounds impossible. To be certain of anything, we like to see it––touch it––test it––prove it.

But if you stop and think about it, we take a great deal on faith. I’ve never been to Africa, but I believe that Africa exists. I’ve never seen a virus, but I think that they exist.

There was a tech writer for Motorcyclist magazine in the 70’s and 80’s named Joe Minton who wrote an article on charging systems. He said that electrons were not ham sandwiches. We can’t pick them up and turn them over. We can’t taste them or observe them directly. In a mysterious way, they are involved in the electricity that powers these lights and charges the battery in the car. I don’t really understand electricity – but I believe.

Some years ago, the columnist George Will said this about faith. He said:

“Last year, 44 million people passed through Chicago’s O’Hare Airport,

obedient to disembodied voices, electronically amplified,

telling them to get into cylindrical membranes of aluminum

to be hurled by strange engines through the upper atmosphere.

The passengers were content not to understand how any of it worked.

And we think of the 12th century as an age of faith.”

 

So don’t be put off by the fact that we can’t prove Jesus in a test tube. There are lots of things that all of us believe on faith and never question.

One week after the ten apostles had seen the Lord, Jesus appeared to the disciples once again. Thomas was with them that time. Jesus offered Thomas what Thomas had said that he would need in order to believe. Jesus said:

“Put your finger here and see my hands.  Reach out your hand and put it in my side.  Do not doubt but believe” (20:27).

What did Thomas do? Did he touch the holes in Jesus hands? Did he touch the hole in Jesus’ side? No, Thomas said:

“My Lord and my God!” (20:28).

You might be interested to know that I heard [the late] Bishop Sheridan say those words as part of his private devotions every time I served with him at the altar here at St. Thomas. It was an expression of his recognition of Jesus in the Sacraments. I was struck by this when I first heard it, and I have often thought about it. It never became routine for him.

This observation about Bishop Sheridan is one of the things I wish for all of us as well. We come to church and find Christ in our brothers and sisters. Jesus is in the Sacraments as well. There should always be a sense of wonder and joy.

I have a takeaway too. The same Holy Spirit that Jesus gave to the disciples is in us as well. The Spirit of God is with us.

“Do not doubt.”

“Peace be with you.”

I have said these words in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sermon preached by Fr. Tom at St. Thomas, Plymouth

April 12, 2015/Second Sunday of Easter

 

Acts 4:32-35

Psalm 133

1 John 1:1-2:2

John 20:19-31