Sunday
04/18/21 - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “Peace Be With You”
Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 4
New Testament Scripture: 1 John 3:1-7
Gospel Lesson: Luke 24:36b-48
Last Sunday, I talked about how
building a perfect and a flawless world is something that we can all aspire to
do, but that we will never be able to fully build ourselves. While we can make
this world much better, it will never perfect until Jesus returns to earth in glory
and restores it. This is true, because we are all broken, and all in need of
God’s grace though Jesus Christ. We need to turn from sin and guilt towards Christ
and follow him daily. We then through the power of the Holy Spirit serve
Christ, and work to bring people to him and make the world better.
Last Sunday, I also spoke briefly about
Jesus appearing after his resurrection to the disciples in John 20:19-31. As
the scripture lesson said last Sunday, Jesus appeared to his disciples and
said, “Peace be with you” (Jn. 20:21, NRSV). In this post-resurrection scene
from last week, Jesus appears in his resurrected body, and shows the disciples
his pierced hands and side. Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit on them and empowers
them. In our lives, who empowers us?
Yet, as I said last Sunday, the
Apostle Thomas was not in attendance for Jesus’ post-resurrection appearance to
the other disciples. Thomas doubted what the other disciples told him, and this
is where we get the idea of a “Doubting Thomas”. Jesus appears to Thomas and the
others. Jesus first says again “Peace
be with you” (Jn. 20:26,
NRSV). Jesus then shows Thomas his crucifixion wounds and tells Thomas that he
can touch the wounds if he wants. Thomas then believes, and Jesus did many
other signs in the presence of the disciples (Jn. 20:19-31, NRSV).
I tell you all of this, because my
sermon title for this morning is called, “Peace Be With You”. I chose this
sermon title, because we have our reading from Luke 24 for this morning, where Jesus
is accounted, post-resurrection, appearing before his disciples. Of course,
Jesus says when he sees the disciples, “Peace
be with you” (Lk. 24:36b,
NRSV). I want to therefore dive a little deeper into this idea of “Peace be with you” (Lk. 24:36b, NRSV).
Since Jesus returned to this his disciples
and many others after his resurrection and said, “Peace
be with you,” the Christian
Church for nearly 2,000 years has adopted this as a practice (Lk. 24:36b,
NRSV). Whether formal or informal, we “pass the peace,” as many churches and denominations
call it. We share love, hope, encouragement, and joy with one another, when we “pass
the peace”. It is interesting that after Jesus rose from the dead, that the
disciples still did not fully understand who he was. They still needed encouragement
and convincing. They still needed peace, and Jesus came to them specifically,
to say, I am with you, until the end of the age.
I meet so many people that tell me, “Pastor
Paul I believe in Jesus, but I do not need to go to church to believe in Jesus”.
This is true, but what if the church looked like Jesus, acted like Jesus, and
drew people to Jesus? What if you came to church to worship God, to praise
Jesus, to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and had a great community of faith
that encouraged each other? Do we need encouragement? Yes, we do! How do I know
this? Jesus came back to his disciples after he was resurrected, and he
presented to them his crucified body, so that they would believe. Not so that
they would believe only because they would go to heaven someday, so that God’s
will would be fulfilled through them. The lives we live on this earth are short.
We can make them count, and we can live for and like Jesus. God can use us to
transform lives, and to make the world better.
For example, before Jesus walked in,
in our gospel of Luke lesson for this morning, the disciples were broken and disheartened,
even with the empty tomb. Why? They still did not understand everything, and they
won’t until the day of Pentecost next month. They are still not sold yet on who
Jesus was and is. Jesus this morning is revealing, encouraging, pursuing, and
not giving up on his disciples or us. So why be part of a loving church that is
focused on Jesus? Simple, we need you, and you need us. We are stronger
together, we can grow as a family, we can love each other, and yes, we can say
to each other, “Peace Be With You”. In a crazy and a broken world, Jesus in our
light, our hope, and our love. We gather to worship to bring praise to him, to
fill our hearts, and to love and encourage each other.
The church does not exist therefore, just for us,
and just for own needs. The church exists primarily to bring people into
relationship with Jesus Christ, and we worship, learn, train, and prepare here,
to transform Sidney and the world. We can accomplish this mission in a variety
of ways that God lays on our hearts. So, it is good that when gather we say to
each other “Peace Be With You”. Imagine what we could do together?
As a pastor I draw my hope from Jesus
Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. Yet sometimes Jesus makes himself
known through you, or someone else. The church exists to keep the fire of faith
and action alive. The church exists to preach God’s word, to bring people to
Christ, and to equip us for Bible Studies, small groups, mission projects,
visiting the elderly, loving your neighbor, etc. The churches that grow are
focused on Christ, are focused on loving and serving each other, and are active
in the community. We are a growing church, but we all need encouragement.
We see this reality in our Psalm 4 reading
for this morning, once again. Once again, Psalm 4:1 says:
“Answer me when I call, O God of my right! You gave me room when I was in distress. Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer (Ps. 4:1, NRSV).
There so many people out there that are suffering, but they
do not need the church they say. I would submit to you that we need you, and
you need us. We need the peace of Christ, and we need to share it with each
other. A community that loves each other, a community where you matter, and where
your wellbeing is important to us all. An extended family united in Christ that
grows together, loves together, and says “Peace Be With You” together.
In our reading for this morning from 1 John 3:1-7, we are encouraged
again, as the scripture says:
1 See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are (1 Jn. 3:1, NRSV).
Since
the Christian Church has gathered over the centuries to worship, to fellowship,
and to grow in faith together, we built physical structures over the years. Our
church buildings were built as worship centers, places where we all gather,
place where we baptize, confirm, marry, and eulogize. This place that was
physically built to bring glory to the Lord Jesus Christ into us, and into the
world. This place that is open to us all, and we are all invited grow closer to
Christ and to each other together.
The
good news is, is that Jesus will never leave us or abandon us, and he will go
to any length so that we may know him, be changed by him, and live like him.
This takes me to our gospel lesson for this morning from Luke 24:36b-48, where
it says once again:
36 While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”37 They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. 38 He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet (Lk. 24:36-40, NRSV).
Jesus shows us to encourage and to
reassure his disciples, and to say, “Peace Be With You”. The Christian Church
is modeled and built upon Jesus, what he taught and did, and we are called to
live like that. Our gospel of Luke reading continues saying of the disciples
after they say Jesus:
41 While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate in their presence. 44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46 and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things (Lk. 24:41-48, NRSV).
I find it funny that Jesus asks the
disciples for something to eat in this scene, but a man has got to eat right?
Jesus then reminds his disciples who he is, why came, and what he has done for
us all.
There have been so many times in my
life, when I needed encouragement, and some of you here have encouraged me.
Maybe I have also encouraged some of you. We can probably think of times in our
lives, when someone gave us advice or encouraged us, and offered us peace.
Jesus goes to his disciples after his resurrection
to offer them peace and hope, and in doing so he was modeling how they were
supposed to live. When Jesus ascended into heaven, his disciples and his early
followers were then in charge of building the church here on earth. In doing
so, they taught each other what it meant to say, “Peace Be With You,” and they taught
many about Jesus. They taught many about his love, his hope, and how he died
for us all.
They broke bread together, they shared
the cup together, they washed each other’s feet, they prayed together, and the
transformed the world together. Nothing has been more transformative on this
earth that Jesus Christ, and his gospel. So much so that almost two-thousand
years later, this church and many like it, still have a practice on Sunday
morning of saying “Peace Be With You”. Friends, God is moving in this church
and in us. We have the opportunity with God’s help to continue to build this
church into something transforms lives, connects people, restored broken hearts
and souls, and transforms Sidney and the world. So as Christ said, and as we
said earlier in the service, “Peace Be With You”. Amen.
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