Then Jesus said to them, "peace, be with you. Peace,
be unto you. As my father had sent me, even so send I you."
Jesus appeared
twice in this passage. It covers one event that spans two occasions. The evening of the resurrection, Jesus appeared to 10 of
the apostles behind closed doors, where they were hiding. Still trying to put
all this together, still trying to wrap their mind around what the events of
the day and the week that had just transpired. We can certainly relate to that,
even trying to imagine it ourselves. The reports that they had heard and some
of them had seen and given it to each other, and all of them were talking
about. Jesus appeared behind the closed doors demonstrating one of the
limitations that had been removed that we normally experience in the flesh, but
now no longer. In his resurrection body, because the doors were all locked and
he was able to come into the room anyway. That begins our minds exploring and
wondering what other limitations that are lifted in the resurrection body. They
greeted him, they greeted each other. He greeted them with this greeting that
seems to have been a kind of a hallmark in his life. "Peace, be at peace,
peace be with you."
Transcript of sermon
Preached Extemporaneously [Video] on April 12, 2021
for Briensburg UMC
It's a little bit of a tribute to David Atkinson this
morning, too, because he often said that to everyone. So that's why I went ahead and named
the sermon. "Peace, Be at Peace."
When David would say that, you could just feel a little bit of peace coming. It just turned your mind and thoughts to that direction. It may
last for a long time. It may just last for a moment when somebody seeks peace to
you, but it has an affect. Doesn't it? It makes you think. It makes you think
about what you need to do in order to make that happen. The whole idea of peace
is so comforting. That's something that we all need, and we can really kind of
put up with anything if we can be at peace about it. Without that peace, even
the smallest problems just become untenable. But with peace, then everything
becomes manageable.
I think Jesus had a habit of saying this because he said it
several times, he even said it in the midst of the storm -- even to the storm "peace,
be still." At his birth, the angels sang "Glory to God in the
highest and peace to his people on earth." When he set out the
missionaries, he said, "Go and everywhere you go. In every single house you go
into, as you enter say peace, peace, be upon this house."
We could probably find a lot more examples in the Bible.
As the Bible says, so many more things were written than a lot could even be
over done by Jesus and said by Jesus, even could be written down. I think we're
on the right track to think that he spoke peace, to everybody and said,
"Like David, be at peace" and invites us into the peace that passes
understanding, as the Apostle wrote about that. When all the world is in turmoil
around us, and when it seems like the least reason why we would be at peace, yet we are because the peace of Christ is in our hearts and minds in the midst
of it all. Maybe that's why Jesus was called the Prince of Peace.
And why, as one of his Beatitudes, he said, "blessed
are the peacemakers for, they shall be called the children of God."
I like how he didn't say "peace hopers" or
"peace sayers." He said, "peacemakers... peace makers." That reminds
us of that peace is not just something to say. We say it and we speak it and
it turns our hearts and minds to that. But we have to follow those words with
actions like the saying "no justice, no peace." Peace is something we
make, something we forge, something we create, something we create space for.
If there's injustice, then the peace is lost. Jesus pointed this out in some
of his teachings also in saying that people go around and they go a
"peace, peace" when there is no peace. We are invited to
the work of making peace. As the children have gone with all those other
children, regardless of who they are, where they are or what they're up to, to
find ways to bring about the peace and harmony and justice that love requires.
Justice is love in action, as all of this ties together.
If we want that peace that passes understanding then here's the path follow
Christ. Join him in the work of peace, join him and seeking peace to the world
around us and living out that peace like the hymn, says, "Let there be
peace on earth. And let it begin with me."
Peace for All
How wonderful it is, how pleasant, for God's people to live together in harmony!
(Psalm 133:1 GNT)
This peace is for everybody, it's not like peace for
members of certain church or denomination, or even a certain religion or a
certain culture or country or anything else it's for everybody. If everybody's
not at peace then peace is allusive. You can't have two people in one of them
is at peace. And the other one is at war with the person that's supposed to be
at peace. Then it's still not peace. Is it? That's something to keep working
on. It's for everybody. We want everybody to be in harmony. As the good news
says "how wonderful it is, how pleasant for God's people to live together
in Harmony."
The Agnus Dei is one of the most ancient hymns or chants
of our church. Included in our official liturgies, even though we don't use it
very often, but I like for us to reflect in its words just for a moment as we
continue.
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world. Have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world. Have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world. Grant us peace.
The peace that Christ offered. He said, "it's not
going to be the peace like the world gives, but it's my peace. My peace I give
to you."
It was that peace that in all of the doubts that they had.
In the following week, Thomas was there and he had already been expressing his
doubts. Then the same thing happened again Jesus said, "Peace to
you." When he did Thomas just realized it was alright. He was safe. He was
safe to believe he was safe to follow. He was safe to join the others in the
work. It was safe. His thoughts and feelings were healed. Because the peace of
Christ, is not the illusion of peace, but the reality.
Pax Christi in
contrast to Pax Romana
With great power the apostles gave witness to the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God poured rich blessings on them
all. (Acts 4:33 GNT)
So often the world gives the illusion of peace by forcing
peace, as an outward expression of it. Back in those days, they had the Pax
Romana, "The Peace of Rome," and we can see how that went. They got everybody to
settle down about the events of the Holy Week, not by bringing everybody into a
reconciled state with one another and bringing them into a place of
understanding and joy and peace with one another, but by executing Jesus on the
cross, along with a lot of other people that were being executed, not only that
day, but on all the days before and after, and by force and violence, they
enforced what they called "peace." I think we still see that
happening in the world, down through the centuries, to our time as well, a
peace that is not rather peace.
But it's forcing people into some kind of a position where
it might look peace because they're all submitting to whoever the authority is
and doing whatever they're told, whether it's good, bad or not. So it's mingled
with so much injustice and so much disparity and inequality and victimization
that it's just a complete corruption of the word and idea of peace. Now the
other Latin word that is handed down to us through the centuries Pax Christi, "the Peace of Christ."
In the reading from Acts in the King James Versions was
that "great grace was upon them." What a beautiful statement. Great
grace was upon them. The good news that says "with great power, the
apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord, Jesus and God poured
rich blessings upon them all." That's the peace of Christ. One where
people love one another and want to bring each other into greater joys and
greater depths of justice and true peace. It's a gift from God. It's God's
grace and blessing poured out upon us and through us to each other. It's a gift
that we receive and we share. It comes from God to me and with me to you. They
come from God to you and from you to me. Say God gives us all that blessing and
pours it out on us then we share it with the community around us and the other
people are brought into the Peace of Christ.
Peace through
Forgiveness
If we claim that
we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant
nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—simply come clean about
them—he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and
purge us of all wrongdoing. (1 John 1:8-9)
That's pretty good contrast, I think. Don't you see the
difference between the peace that the world offers and the peace that Christ
offers? The peace that Christ offers comes through the forgiveness of sins.
It's so vital that reconciliation and peace that we experience here's outside
in the message. If we claim that we're for you to sin, we're only fooling
ourselves a claim like that as errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit
our sins, simply come clean about them, he won't let us down. He'll be true to
himself. He'll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrong doing. The more we
recognize that, if we confess our sins, God forgives us of our sins and cleanse
us from all unrighteousness. That goes through as individuals and as a society.
Forgiveness removes the discord and immediately establishes peace to the extent
of the forgiveness. If we can't forgive completely maybe our piece won't be
complete yet either, but we'll grow as our ability to forgive grows.
Sent on a Mission of Peace
Jesus repeated his greeting: “Peace to you. Just as the Father sent me, I send you.” Then he took a deep breath and breathed into them. “Receive the Holy Spirit,” he said. “If you forgive someone’s sins, they’re gone for good. If you don’t forgive sins, what are you going to do with them?” (John 20:21-23)
That forgiveness is so important to the wellbeing of our
peace and harmony. Jesus sent us on a mission of peace through his forgiveness.
"As the father has sent me so I send you." Then
he took a deep breath and breathed into them." Receive the Holy spirit." He said. "If you
forgive someone's sins, they're gone for good. If you don't forgive sins, what
are you going to do with them?" I love the way it's phrased. The message
there. Jesus breathed on them "receive you the Holy Spirit. Receive you
the Holly Ghost. And gave the empowerment and the authority and the anointing to
those who follow him and believe in him to minister this forgiveness of sins to
minister reconciliation in such a powerful ability and gift that we're given
and mission that in the history of the church and for most Christians today.
It's even still elevated as one of the official sacraments of the church, not
in our denomination, but not in any way to diminish it, but even to elevate a
little bit further about those not reserved for the clergy to minister but it
for all of us to minister.
To hear each other, as we open ourselves in honesty and to
encourage one another and to assure each other about forgiveness and
absolution, and to bring each other into reconciliation and to support and
encourage everybody around us.
We're big believers around here and appreciative to the
believer, really proponents of that. That's one of our missions as believers
in, Jesus, is that if this power and anointing through the Holy Spirit receive
freely, the grace that God has given you in forgiveness of your sins and
continue to receive that.
Extend that as abundantly as freely as we receive
it let us extend that then to the whole world around us in every way that we
possibly can find to do. We communicate the free and full forgiveness by
sending it to others around us and bringing peace, making peace, forging peace,
through forgiveness and acceptance and love and justice. It's a wonderful
calling and it's wonderful to be sent. We're all sent to do this and, and to
share in the blessing of the Peace of Christ.
In the name of Jesus, "Be at peace."
