"The Gift of Peace and Purpose"Dr.
James Mayfield April 27, 2003 Text: John 20:19-22 As the Gospel of John tells the story of Easter, it was evening and the disciples we hiding behind locked doors. It was understandable. Their leader had been tortured to death, and although Mary Magdalene had told them she had seen and talked to the risen Lord, her report had not made much of an impact; they remained afraid. And so they hid behind locked doors. We can understand their behavior. Like those disciples, we too have been told about the risen Christ, and yet in our own personal ways, we hide behind various kinds of locked doors. We know what it is to want to escape. Maybe we want to hide because we are embarrassed or ashamed, or maybe because something scares us, or maybe it is something so painful or so sad we do not think we can face it any longer. Most of us know what it is, to want to escape, to get away, to hide. Sometimes we escape by changing the subject, or by hiding behind a diversion. Sometimes we use alcohol or drugs to escape and hide from the way life is. Or maybe we have found ways to whistle in the dark, or learned how to hide from grim realities behind a cheerful, optimistic mask. Sometimes we avoid facing what needs to be faced, by staying longer at work. Sometimes we even hide in anger, like the fellow who focused his anger on the failures of the government and faults of his employer, when what was really scaring him was that the relationships in his family were falling apart. We humans have all sorts of ways to hide from our problems, our pain and our fears. We have been told about the risen Christ; we have heard what Jesus said about not being anxious; nevertheless, anxieties and fears still motivate us to try to hide from life, just as the disciples did. As John tells the story, somehow, someway Jesus appeared and stood there in front of them. The risen Christ came to them, where they were hiding from life. This is the way it is with the grace of God. God's grace comes where we are in the midst of our doubts and fears. God does not wait until we have mature faith and significant courage to come into our lives. The risen Christ came to the disciples where they were, as they were; and God's grace meets us where we are, as we are. When the risen Christ spoke to the disciples, what he did not say may be as significant as what he said. He did not say: "Where were you guys when I really needed you? Is this what you call loyalty -- betrayal, denial, running off into the dark?" Or he might have been even more harsh saying: "You guys are a bunch of losers, a collection of cowards. I do not know what I ever saw in you." But he said nothing like this. What the risen Christ said was: "Peace be with you." The risen Christ came declaring unilateral peace. He was saying: "You may be at war with God or with yourself or with one another or with life in general, but God is not at war with you." The truth of the matter is, Jesus was saying even more than that because his understanding of peace was rooted in his understanding of the Hebrew word for peace: "shalom." Jesus was not only telling them God was not at war with them, he was announcing God was for them. God wanted them to have wholeness. God wanted them to experience the fulfillment God intended them to have. And so it is; the peace Christ offers is more than the end of being afraid of judgment. The peace that is offered is the gift of being made whole. This means, the gift of peace, is also the gift of forgiveness. One of the more destructive realities in our lives is the reality of guilt or regret. Some us say to ourselves and others that we have no regrets and are not aware of having any guilt. Yet the evidence of our behavior says otherwise because from time to time, each of us is defensive. As soon as we start feeling defensive, and acting defensively, it is well to ask ourselves, what in our living needs forgiveness. What is at the root of our defensiveness. More often than not, it is either some sort of fear or guilt or both. The disciples certainly experienced both. The peace Jesus proclaimed to them and to us is a declaration of forgiveness. This peace is more than merely overlooking or accepting the wrongs done in our yesterdays. This peace is not merely the peace of having the past forgiven; it is the peace of forgiveness offering us the possibility of a new future. The peace offered by the risen Christ is also the declaration that we matter to God. Each of us matters because each of us is a unique creation of God. Because you are the only you in all of time, you are special; you matter to God. The peace Christ offers, is the peace that comes when we realize we really are special in God's eyes. Regardless of the mess in our past, God loves us and declares us special. We no longer have to kill ourselves trying to matter or make our lives meaningful. We do matter to God, and in God's eyes our lives already have meaning. All that is required is that we accept this gift of grace. By faith we are to trust it is so, so that we are able to live in harmony with God. The peace God offers does not mean the end of our struggles, but it does change what we struggle for. Peace does not bring an end to all that is frightening, but it does bring a sense of wholeness and courage that enables us to face whatever must be faced. The risen Christ came where the disciples were hiding from life and said: "Peace be with you." He also said: "As the Father has sent me, so I send you." In this Jesus not only offered the gift of peace but also the gift of purpose. There is something mildly comic about this scene. The risen Christ comes to those who have been unfaithful, who have run away and are hiding from life, and he says to them (of all people), "You are the ones to show others the way to live." He comes to these followers who have already demonstrated their self-centeredness and cowardice and says to them (of all people): "As the Father as sent me, so I send you." And this is what the risen Christ says to us (of all people): "As the Father has sent me, so I send you." How was Jesus sent by God? Remember these verses from chapter 3 of John: "God so loved the world, that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. God sent not his son into the world to condemn it; but that the world through him might be saved." We are sent into the world as expressions of God's love, as ambassadors of God's grace. Just as Jesus came to bring healing and hope, we are sent into the world to make known God's healing and God's hope. Wherever we are in life, this is our basic purpose, our basic mission. "As the Father has sent me," Jesus said, "so I send you." But if merely telling us to do this would transform us so that we did it, the cross would not have been necessary. But telling does not teach. Even Jesus talking with his disciples day after day did not keep them from running off and denying him and hiding from life. It takes more than information, human will power and human insight for us to be the persons God intends us to be, doing what God wants us to do. This is why Jesus also breathed on them and said: "Receive the Holy Spirit." This is the Gospel of John's version of Pentecost. Sometimes we call the Holy Spirit the grace of God working in us. It is the grace of God working in us (that is, the Holy Spirit) that enables of to receive the peace Christ offers and the power to fulfill the purpose Christ gives us. "Receive the Holy Spirit," Jesus said to them and to us. That first Easter, the disciples were afraid and hiding behind locked doors. We know something of what it is to be anxious and afraid. We know what it is to want to get away, to hide from trouble, problems and pain. We can understand those disciples. The risen Christ, came to them where they were, as they were; and the risen Christ, the grace of God, comes to us where we are, as we are. And what was said to them is said to us: "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you. Receive the Holy Spirit." God, when life scares us away from being our best selves, thank you for coming where we are to offer what we need. Amen. Pastoral
prayer: God, thank you for all the ways you are at work in life and for all the ways you enable us to discern your presence. We have only to pause and look into our lives to discover the blessings we have received. Even in the midst of some ordeal that is so terrible we do not think we can move on, we discover strength to take the next steps; and we know you are the source of that strength, and we are grateful. When we hear children laughing or when we enjoy the beauty of spring flowers, we are reminded of the goodness of your creation. Of course, we are aware the mess we humans have made of your good creation. All around us and throughout the world we see suffering set in motion by sin and the evils of cruelty and injustice distorting the lives of all too many. And yet, even in the presence of sin and evil, your redeeming grace is at work among us, and we see the evidence each time we are aware of a life that was going the wrong direction being turned around. God, as we move through good times and bad, keep us sensitive to your presence, aware of your grace, and willing to follow your guidance. This we pray in the name of the one who was showing us the way, when he taught us to pray: "Our Father ...."
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