Peace

PEACE
JOHN 20:19-31
19 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 and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”24 Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
In the name of Jesus:
Fear robs you of the things most precious in your life. Sit down some time and try to add up the costs that fear produces. When you think of fear and its cost in the world and in our lives, you can begin by adding up the costs of penitentiaries, prisons and jails. Then to that total, add the costs of lawyers, courtrooms and security forces. But the cost doesn’t stop there. Begin to take into account the cost of the locks on your doors, your windows, the security system that you have in your home, and then consider also the cost of insurance, and those who care for those who have been victims of a crime. The cost is staggering, when you think about it. Fear grips us and it is costly. Not only in terms of money, but also when you consider how fear affects each of us. How do we calm our fears?
Do you know how a lot of people handle their fears? They run from them or ignore them. When I was little, I had a fear of the dark. I still vividly remember at the old house on Hillside Ave. in East Cleveland my mom telling me to go to bed and me scurrying up the stairs. Why did I flee up the stairway? It was less of obedience to my parents, and more due to my fear of the dark! I ran up the stairs because I didn’t want whatever there was that was lurking in the dark to get me. As I grew older, my fears of the dark dissipated as I learned to ignore my fears and not let them get the best of me.
But a lot of good that does for any of us who have fears today. We can either ignore our fears of the dark, or make certain we have security systems up to date, or a gun in the drawer by our bedside. But ignoring our fears, even trying to handle our fears by ourselves won’t make them go away.
If you have a fear of being alone, no security system is going to fill that hole in your heart or in your life. There is still that uneasiness that lives in your life. That what fear does, it continues to lurk in our lives so that fear robs us of our peace. FDR said that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. It is a great line, but when you are afraid, when you have fear, you have neither peace of mind nor peace in your soul.
Fear grips us and robs us of tranquility. Estrangement among members of families takes its toll on spouses, parents and children, and siblings. Whatever it is that separates people and causes rancor and strife certainly doesn’t bring peace.
We have a need for peace in our families, and yes, even among ourselves. Individually we need to be a peace. Sickness not only causes us distress on a physical level, illness robs us of peace. We question, why am I sick? How long will it last? How much will this health care cost? And if we are sick enough, we wonder if this sickness will lead to death?
Look around and you see that there is no peace in the world. The World is at war again, the only thing missing is the title World War Three! There is war in Afghanistan, war in Libya, war in Syria, in Yemen, there is the war on terror, and we even see Americans at war with one another! There is no peace, only fear. Ignore it, but it won’t go away. You can run but you can’t hide from it.
The greatest problem we face, though, is that we have no peace within ourselves. Our consciences are in need of peace. But our lives are laden with guilt, filled with appointments to be kept, we are exhausted from running to get here and there, and still we have no peace. When we look at our text for today, we see that Thomas and the other disciples lacked peace. They lived in fear. What did they do? They did what they could, but the fear was still there.
Note our text:” On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors are locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews.” The disciples were afraid of the Jews. They feared those who put Jesus to death. They were afraid of what might happen to them. How did they handle this fear? They locked the doors! They figured if they would lock themselves in the room, no one could get in to get them. Of course, no one could get out of the room, and the fear was still prevalent.
The only remedy for their fear was Jesus! The Risen Christ entered through their locked doors in order to reveal Himself as the Risen One, who lived, died, and now lives forever. He defeated the fearful three of sin, Satan, and death and gives victory over fear to all who believe. He lives to silence all of your fears; He lives to wipe away your tears. Your Redeemer Jesus lives to grant to you peace in the midst of the turmoil in your life, He lives to grant to you His perfect peace.
Thomas needed this peace, He needed the joy that only Jesus can give. Thomas is called the doubting one, Doubting Thomas for a reason. While others witnessed the Risen Christ with their own eyes, Thomas did not. You remember what he said, unless I place my hands in those open wounds, I will not believe. But Thomas in saying that did not have peace. He may have sounded confident, but like each of us, he had questions that he needed answered. His life was in turmoil for a week. Did the others see Jesus? If so, why wouldn’t Jesus show Himself to him? If Jesus was alive, what would that mean. These and other thoughts went through his mind, because Thomas is like us and we are just like Thomas. His heart and mind were racked with questions. Just like you and me when we have questions or are puzzled over a series of events, Thomas had no peace.
And so Jesus, knowing this, appears again to the disciples, only this time with Thomas present. The same doors were locked, not because of fear, but so that the same physical conditions existed to show Thomas and all who doubt that Jesus has indeed risen from the grave. This time Christ appears and approaches Thomas gently, as a Friend, not condemning, but offerings His hands and side as proof of Jesus’ resurrection. Jesus’ words to Thomas encourage him and each of us who are racked with fears today: Doubt no more, only believe!
Jesus says to Thomas and to us: Blessed are they who believe and have not yet seen. Blessed are those who hear God’s Word and believe. Those who take God at His Word and trust God and His Word, believing what the Scriptures says about Jesus, are blessed by God. Those who hear God’s Good News and trust in Gods’ Good News have as their possession what God gives, namely Jesus and salvation.
The Risen Christ casts out fear in our hearts for the Good News is that He is risen. Not has, which is the past tense and would imply that this is something that happened in the past with no effect for us today. And the news is not that He will rise, for that would mean that the Scripture did NOT come true in Jesus and that He has no meaning for us today. No, instead the greeting is He IS Risen, which means that Christ has rose from the grave, He continues to live for He has risen from the grave, and He always will live because of the resurrection. Jesus lives today and His life in a continuing reality for us today. This is why the Bible says what it says, that by believing in Jesus, that is, by CONTINUALLY BELEIVING IN JESUS we will have life in His name. He has given us faith in Baptism and by His Word. He feeds our faith in Word and Sacrament. Today God gives peace in Jesus. Believe it. It is yours. Claim it, trust in Him, for He gives that peace to you today without measure.
This Sunday is called Quasimodo Geniti Sunday. The good old Lutheran question is what does this mean? This Sunday’s name has the meaning which comes from I Peter: Be like newborn babies. In the shadow of Easter God’s call to you as His child is to trust in Christ, so much so that you will live and act like a new born baby. Just as babies yearn for milk, so yearn and hunger for the Word, for the Word brings Christ and the Word brings peace.
So, dear fellow believer, yearn for Jesus and the peace that He alone gives in the forgiveness of your sins. That peace is given to you in your Baptism, where your sins have been washed away and Christ has claimed you as His own. Yearn to come to church to hear God’s forgiveness pronounced to you in the words of the Absolution, for when the Pastor states: As a called servant I forgive you all of your sins in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, God gives forgiveness and grants peace to your troubled soul. And yearn to attend church so that you may gather around the Altar of the Lord to receive His true Body and blood for the forgiveness of your sins. For where there is forgiveness of sins, God gives to you peace that surpasses all understanding.
Jesus greeted His disciples in the locked room with the words: "Peace be unto you." In Hebrew, Jesus would have used only one word: Shalom. The Hebrew word shalom, for "peace," is a most comprehensive word, covering the full realm of relationships in daily life and expressing an ideal state of life. The word suggests the fullness of well being and harmony untouched by ill fortune. This is the absolute best that God can give to a sinner, that is, through the forgiveness of sins the sinner trusts in Christ so that you have wholeness and completeness with God. This is what God has given to you in Christ. Through the forgiveness of your sins God has given to you shalom, perfect forgiveness, reconciliation with God, perfect peace. It is no light hearted greeting, but one that comes with God’s divine blessing. This is what God gives in Christ, and as His disciples today, this is what we are called to share with others. God’s peace, His perfect peace in Christ, for Christ, you have the peace that surpasses all understanding.
Shalom!
Amen