A Mission of Peace (John 20:19-31)

According to an annual survey by Chapman University, 73.6 percent of Americans report being "afraid" or "very afraid" of government corruption, more than any other fear. Number 2 on the list is global warming. Half of the top ten fears have to do with the environmental degradation like water and air pollution, or the extinction of animal and plant species. What’s interesting about the survey is that in 2016 only one category frightened more than 50% of Americans, that being government corruption. But in 2018, just 2 years later, every category in the top ten fears frighten more than 50% of the 1,190 people surveyed. The conclusion: Americans are increasingly afraid.

On the evening of that first Easter Sunday, the disciples were hiding behind locked doors for fear of the Jews. They were afraid that the same thing that happened to Jesus would happen to them.  They feared for their very lives!

We may not be able to identify with this fear. Religious freedom is protected in this country. But when we consider the over 300 Christians murdered in the Sri Lanka bombings, or African American churches burned down by white supremacists, we may begin to understand the fears of these men and women gathered on that first Easter Sunday.

Both the Jewish leadership and Rome persecuted the early church. And the church flourished! The gospel spread to the four corners of the Roman Empire, as churches met literally underground. I ran across a video on YouTube this week of what is believed to be the very first Christian church in Jerusalem. James, the brother of Jesus, worshipped with the church in an underground space complete with an escape tunnel.

Yes, the disciples were afraid. And Jesus suddenly appeared to them and said “Shalom Alechiem” which means “Peace be with you.” It is a customary greeting which Jews and Muslims still use today. Jesus showed them his wounds from the crucifixion, and their fear turned to joy.

My usual interpretation of their reaction is that they are happy to see Jesus alive again. But today I have a different thought. What if they took joy in the notion that Jesus survived His wounds. Jesus died from his wounds. There’s little doubt of that. What people have trouble believing is that Jesus rose from the grave! The wounds in his hands, feet, and side are evidence of Jesus’ victory over the worst the world could throw at him!

I’ve always loved the words from the hymn Crown Him with Many Crowns.

Crown him the Lord of love!

  Behold his hands and side,--

Rich wounds, yet visible above,

  In beauty glorified:

His wounds are beautiful! They are evidence of His victory over sin and death. Jesus’ greeting of peace carries a weight that goes far beyond a pleasant custom. Jesus won The Peace.

Let’s consider the peace Christ won. The Old Testament reveals God as holy and God cannot stand to look upon sin, nor dwell among sinners. The blood of sacrificial animals was intended to cover over sin, so that God would continue to dwell among the Israelites. The gospel that we proclaim is that God, in His love, gave us His only Son as a sacrifice! Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

According to the apostle Paul, Jesus Himself is our peace. He is the way to peace with God, peace within ourselves, and peace with others. Peace with God was won in the cross of Christ. At Easter we defiantly proclaim that death and evil is vanquished in the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ!

Thomas refused to trust the witness of the other disciples who said they had seen the Lord. He had to see for Himself. But Jesus told Thomas, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”  Many people think it foolishness to believe in God, let alone to believe that God sacrificed Himself in the body of Jesus Christ and that a dead man rose from the grave.

  

The apostle Paul wrote,

For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. (1Co 1:21)

Until you trust the message of the cross you will not know that peace that passes all understanding. You will continue to experience estrangement from God, and search for something else to satisfy the hunger of your soul. But when you trust the message that Christ is Risen, you will be on the path to peace.

The disciples were hiding behind locked doors for fear! The good news is that Jesus appeared to them in the midst of their fears. He breathed upon them, telling them to receive the Holy Spirit. And they were empowered with heavenly peace to continue His mission on earth.

Jesus says to the church, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Jesus is sending us, His church, out into the world on a mission of peace. In the power and authority of God, we are sent to announce forgiveness and build up the church.

According to the NIMH since the year 2001 there’s been a 31% rise in suicide deaths.

Suicide is the 2^nd leading cause of death among persons aged 10 to 35 years. People are literally dying because of a lack of hope. We have a mission to bring peace to our frightened and hopeless neighbors.

Americans have been oversold and underserved. We hold anyone selling a message with suspicion. We can’t let that keep us from our mission. We are more likely to have effective witness by building friendships first. Be interested in other people and their story. Turn strangers into friends and friends into family. You will know when to share your faith. The apostle Peter wrote,

“Always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess. Yet do it with courtesy and respect.” (1Pt 3:15-16)

Be prepared to share why you hope in Christ.

Perhaps our mission of peace might begin in our own denomination, for we are divided over human sexuality. The Spirit empowered church has Christ’s authority to pronounce forgiveness of sin, but what happens when we can’t agree upon what God defines as sin? The General Conference of the UMC chose to exercise Christ’s authority by continuing to exclude our LGBTQi neighbors from full inclusion. This is something that most Americans can no longer tolerate. We are in the midst of frightening circumstances. We are thrown into confusion with questions about our future as United Methodists.

Christian singer and author Sheila Walsh wrote that “Peace is not the absence of trouble, but the presence of Christ.” Peace is found in a person, Jesus Christ. I believe that whatever the future holds, we will go forward with the peaceful presence of Christ. Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world!” (Jn 16:33)

Rudy Rasmus may not be a name you know, but he is one of Methodism’s great success stories. In partnership with his father, Rudy ran a borderline brothel at a Houston motel. Rudy said of his father, "He was cynical, trusted no one and lived most of his life looking over his shoulder. He told me, 'We're going to build this business, and we're going to make money on other people's pain.' "

The motel served as a "journey into the dark part of the world," Rasmus said. "It was a place for pimps, prostitutes and johns, a place where people could work out their extramarital relationships, a place for people who had lost their lives to crack cocaine. We didn't provide any of it, none of those folks worked for us, but it was there that I fully understood what my father had said. We provided a place for them to live out their nightmares."

In time Rudy met and married a Christian woman. She was a shining light in his life. During the week they lived at the no-tell motel and attended church each Sunday. Eventually He came to faith in Christ. Rudy began to pull away from that dirty business with his father.  He decided he was called to reach out to the people he used to serve at the motel, lost people, lonely people, trapped people, outcasts and sinners.

Rudy has followed that calling unwaveringly for over 20 years. He took leadership of a church in downtown Houston, with about 90 gray haired members. The church supported his mission to reach the lost and broken. Today the congregation boasts near 10,000 members.

A couple of people, whose lives were saved by Jesus, went out to share Jesus with others. They mobilized the church in this mission of peace. I guarantee the journey from a dying congregation to one of the largest congregations in the denomination was one filled with frightening moments. I know that the power and authority of Christ was with them, just as He promised.

Roberts Park UMC is a wonderful congregation filled with grace, Christlike compassion, and purpose. And yet we are in decline. Worship attendance is down. Financial support is down. Our volunteers are getting worn out and look for new faces to join in the mission. As I look at this picture, it’s not one that inspires hope. It’s one that causes fear and paralysis.

Hear the good news! Christ is in the resurrection business. We are on the precipice of a renaissance! We are being remade and reinvigorated. It’s an incredible adventure Christ is calling us to, as we learn how to reach the world around us. Sure, it’s scary! I fear failure! I fear the death of the church, but Jesus comes and stands with me in my fear and says, “Peace be with you!” “The gates of hell cannot stand against the movement of my Spirit-filled church.” “Nothing is impossible with God!” “Breathe! Receive the Holy Spirit!” “I am sending you!”