Fear is a great immobilizer . . . it can
stop you in your tracks . . . it can make you run . . . it can keep you from
ever fulfilling your potential, realizing the opportunities for growth, and knowing
how to truly love. Fear is used to keep
people in place . . . to scare them off . . . and to control them. Nailing Jesus to a cross was an act meant to
create fear . . . was an act meant to send a message to Jesus’ followers . . .
you could be next!
From what we saw from Jesus’ disciples
would confirm that they got the message loud and clear. In our reading this morning we heard that the
disciples were in hiding behind locked doors “for fear of the Jewish
leaders”. The disciples were
scared. Their leader, teacher, master,
and friend had been brutally beaten, nailed to a cross, and left to die. Everything that they had put their heads and
hearts into was gone . . . destroyed.
And, they understood the message being conveyed . . . they could easily
be on the next cross if they weren’t careful.
So, they were hiding . . . hiding behind locked doors with no clue what
they were going to do to escape this nightmare engulfing their lives.
Do you see the power of fear? Do you see what fear can do? The disciples—all the followers of Jesus—were
in the gripe of fear. A gripe that
choked the dream to its death . . .
. . . or so it seemed.
Something happened. The writer of our scripture reading this
morning tells us that in the confines of their locked dwelling, Jesus suddenly
appeared among the disciples. He greeted
them, “Peace be with you!”
Then he showed them his hands and side . . . he was alive! The disciples were overjoyed. And, again, Jesus said to them, “Peace
be with you!” With this
encounter the disciples believed.
But not all believed. Thomas, one of the original twelve, had not
been there when everyone else encounter the risen Jesus. He would not take their word for it. If Jesus was alive, he wanted to see for himself
before he would believe. So it was, a
week later, in the same locked house, that Jesus appeared among those
gathered—Thomas included. Again, he
greeted them, “Peace be with you!” Then he told Thomas to touch his wounds for
himself . . . to “stop doubting and believe.” Thomas then believed.
Something happened. With the presence of Jesus something clicked
for the disciples . . . something
changed. The fear began to leak out of
the darkness of their lives. Hope was
born. There was a tomorrow. Life would go on . . . and Jesus was proof of
that. They were beginning to understand
. . . to understand the words Jesus had spoken . . . to understand the actions
that Jesus had taken . . . to understand that Jesus had shown them the
way. God’s will would be fulfilled. Now, it didn’t happen over night as we all
well know, but with the encounter with Jesus something happened for the
disciples. In all the fear and turmoil,
they were told to discover “peace”. Out
of the peace they would discover belief.
The word “peace” gets thrown around a
lot and has different meaning to different people. There is the “peace” in which there is an
absence of war and fighting. There is
“peace” in which one finds tranquility from stress. And, there are probably a whole lot more
meanings to that word “peace”, but the “peace” that Jesus speaks about is all
that stuff and much more. Remember,
Jesus said that his “peace” was not of this world . . . his was the “peace” to
believe.
Over in chapter 14, verse 27, of the Gospel
of John, Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I
do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and
do not be afraid.”
Jesus tells this to his disciples during
that last meal in the upper room as he is discussing with them the craziness
that they are all about to enter. His
words are meant to bring to them assurance that things would work out no matter
what happens . . . that everything that had happened would not die but find new
life. Thus, he offers to them “peace” .
. . “peace” to believe and do what he has taught and shown them through his own
life. It is a “peace” that allows them
to go forth and live life in loving God and others as God has loved them . . .
no matter what . . . no matter what life throws at them. It is a peace to believe.
That “something” that happened in that
locked room was born in the words the risen Jesus said, “Peace be with
you!”
It has been said that “proof is in the
pudding.” So, it was when the disciples
encounter the risen Jesus in that locked room.
The words of Mary Magdalene were true . . . Jesus lives! Now they knew it for themselves . . . saw him
with their own eyes. Seeing the defeated
climb up off the floor and enter once again in the fray, brings a sense of
hope. Nothing can keep it down, not even
death. There is a better tomorrow . . .
there is new life . . . that is the promise Jesus fulfills. The future has been seen and now it is up to
the disciples to get there. Nothing can
stop them, not even death . . . and there is a sense of peace that allows them
to believe.
On April 3rd, 1968, the
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered a speech in Memphis, Tennessee
in support of the striking sanitation workers . . . striking for their civil
rights . . . striking to be seen equal to all people no matter what their color
or race. It is one of the highlights of
the Civil Rights movement during a contentious time in our nation’s
history. It was a speech that he gave
the day before he was assassinated . . . an act meant to create fear and stop a
movement.
In this speech King shares the history
of the movement, much like the history of God’s children in the Old
Testament. He talks about the tactics of
violence and fear. Tells of the
difficulty of the movement striving to reach equality. He prods the people not to give up hope . . .
to keep fighting for their equal rights.
They can’t let fear win. They
will prevail. That it is God’s will.
Despite all the turmoil around him . . .
despite the violent threats against him, despite it all, King was at peace . .
. he believed. He closed his speech with these words:
Well, I don't know what
will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter
with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like
anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not
concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to
go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I
may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a
people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried
about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the
coming of the Lord.
In Easter we see the promise fulfilled .
. . we see the future before us . . . and, it is good. It is God’s will. There is hope, but more importantly there is
peace . . . not the world’s peace, but God’s peace. No matter what happens we are in God’s hands
. . . God will not abandon us. There is
a sense of peace in knowing that that allows us to believe . . . and believing,
we can face anything.
During this time of pandemic in a world
that was already a little unnerving, we step into the peace that is found on
Easter . . . in that peace we discover hope . . . we believe. God is with us, always with us. So, let us go forth and live our lives in the
love of God and love others as God has loved us despite what the world throws
at us. Jesus lives . . . he is with us .
. . he tells us, “Peace be with you!”
And, we believe. Amen.
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