Sunday 04/16/23 - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “Why We Pass The Peace of Christ”
Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 16
New Testament Scripture: 1 Peter 1:3-9
Gospel Lesson: John 20:19-31
I remember one Sunday morning in December,
probably 8-10 years ago now. I hadn’t been in ministry very long at this point,
only a few years. I remember a mother of I think three kids came into church on
Sunday, and she looked just exhausted. This mother and her husband both works,
the kids were in all kinds of activities, and with Christmas coming things were
just crazy in their lives.
Shopping needed to be done, gifts
needed to be wrapped, the house needed to be cleaned, etc. As I talked with
this fairly young mother, I wanted to just tell her to “go lay down on a coach
in the church and take a nap, and we will make sure your kids are looked after
during church”. I never did tell this mother this, and maybe I should have.
I do remember asking her though, amidst
all she was doing and telling me, “What do you want for Christmas”? I guess I
was trying to find some way of being more supportive, or finding the “silver
lining”. I really had no idea how she would answer. Would she say a new car,
some clothes, or something else. After a few second though, she said, “Peace Pastor
Paul. I want one day of peace and solitude”. She then said, “I want one day
where I don’t have to work, I don’t have to cook, I don’t have to clean, I don’t
chase after my kids, drive anywhere, wash any clothes or dishes, etc.”
Clearly this mother just needed a
break. Luckily, in chatting with her husband, he got her a “Spa Day” for Christmas.
What this included was a day where she completely got to herself, where she
could go to the spa, get pampered, no phone calls, and nothing but relaxing and
recharging. I think one of those places where they put cucumber slices on your
eyes. She was very happy that she got this gift, and was happy that her husband
and kids realized her need for this gift. We need peace in our lives. Sometimes
we don’t have peace. Anyone here ever not have peace?
Now why do I tell you this story this
morning? I tell you this story this morning because in our gospel of John 20:19-31
reading, Jesus tells his disciples not once, not twice, but three times “Peace
be with you” (Jn. 20:19-21, NRSV). Over the centuries this notion of Jesus
saying “Peace be with you,” and perhaps a couple of other scriptural references,
as well, is where we get the tradition of “Passing the Peace of Christ” with
one another. Some churches don’t “Share the Peace of Christ” formally in
worship, but I would suspect they do this by how they love and interact with
each other in other ways. Some “Share the Peace of Christ” in different places
in the worship service, or perhaps after and or before worship.
This is a tradition of the church, and
it is not something that we are required to do by scripture, but over the
centuries of the worshipping life of the church we added it in. You see, like
that mother who was stressed out and tired out, she needed peace and rest. When
Jesus appears to his disciples after his resurrection this morning, they are
still scared, confused, and hiding for fear of persecution. Certainly, they are
not at peace, and if anything, they are stressed, anxious, maybe tired, and
worried. How many of us ever lose our peace?
The risen Christ enters into the place
where the disciples were staying and says, “Peace be with you”. When the
husband of the story that I just told you about, gave his wife a day long spa
day and time to herself, he was saying “Peace be with you”. Jesus desires for
us all to have peace, but we live in a stressful and a busy world. Jesus desire
for us all to have peace in us and amongst us, but there are so many things
that can take our peace from us if we are not careful. So much so, that many
churches on Sunday morning have a special time in the worship service where we “Share
the Peace of Christ” with each other. In doing this, we are saying “We love
you, and that we are glad that you are here," and we are saying “I hope
that the Peace of Christ fills you”.
When we “Share the Peace of Christ,”
we are essentially doing what the risen Christ did for his disciples this day,
as he offered them peace. I have told people before who were really stressed, “Just
settle down for a moment and take a deep and a slow breath”. Jesus wants us to have
peace, and part of the reason that Christ went among his disciples and hundreds
of others after his resurrection was to show them that he was truly God in the
flesh, to grow their faith, and to encourage them in their doubt and disbelief.
This morning the Apostle Thomas doubts
Jesus’ resurrection. He is likely afraid of persecution, is hiding with the
other disciples in what can be compared to a safe house, and he probably is not
in good place emotionally or spiritually. Jesus then enters and offers all the disciples
his peace (Jn. 20:19-23, NRSV). Yet, the Apostle Thomas is not present when
Jesus comes, and thus be doubts the reality that Christ is risen and has
appeared to others (Jn. 20:24, NRSV). This has led many Christians over the
centuries to call Thomas “Doubting Thomas”.
Why would Thomas think that other
disciples lied to him about seeing the resurrected Christ? I have no idea.
Maybe Thomas was just so overcome with grief that his Lord and Savior was
crucified and put in the tomb that nothing would convince him. It seemed that
Thomas just wanted to see Jesus again. I mean I don’t blame him. When we lose
someone that we love, we can be told over and over again that the persons love
is still with us, and other such things. Yet often what we really want, is to
the see the person that we lost.
Some have painted the Apostle Thomas
as a bad guy because of our gospel of John 20:19-31 reading for this morning,
but I would submit we are all “Doubting Thomas’s” sometimes. Sometimes grief
and loss can just be so deep that very little to anything can show us hope or
light. Maybe we have had times in our lives where it was hard for us to see the
possibility of good things happening or new possibilities. Maybe then Thomas
telling the other disciples regarding there visit with the resurrected Christ:
“Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe” wasn’t so extreme (Jn. 20:25, NRSV).
This
might seem extreme, but I think that Thomas was grieving, was scared, maybe
tired, and maybe needed a spa day. Words and promises were not enough in this
moment, Thomas needed something more concrete.
Jesus
Christ our Lord, never disappointing though appears to Thomas a week later. Our
gospel of John 20:19-31 reading, ends with John 20:26-31 saying once again:
26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, 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. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt 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 come to believe.” 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name (Jn. 20:26-31, NRSV).
Unlike
Thomas, I have never seen Jesus in the flesh, and yet I believe in Jesus. I believe
in Jesus because I have experienced the love of Jesus, and the power of the
Holy Spirit through Jesus. The power of the Holy Spirit in worship or in other
places in our lives, offers us peace, hope, restoration, and dare I say, “a
spiritual spa day.” Jesus wants his people and his church to have peace, joy, love,
and mercy.
Due
to this, I am blessed to be the pastor of this church. I believe that this
church for so many is a place of peace. I hope and pray that you can come to
this church to be recharged, spiritually filled, lovingly challenged, and that
you feel welcomed here. I have said this before, but to me the church is a hospital,
and we all have our cuts, scars, and wounds. This is place where we come to
grow spiritually, and to get spiritually well. This is place that we come to not
only find peace, but we have a time in our worship service where we can “Share
the Peace of Christ”. This is a place for you, and hopefully is loving,
accepting, and joyous place of peace.
Some
people that I know however, grew up in churches that might have had mean or
hurtful elements within them. Some maybe have grown up in a church that was not
friendly, not inviting, and not a place that you looked forward to going to.
Friends, what I love about the Sidney UMC, is that we are different from those
kinds of churches. We are church where everyone is welcomed, we all come closer
to Christ, we all continue to repent of our sins and try again, and we come here
to grow in faith, love, joy, mercy, and peace.
We
“Share The Peace Of Christ” then not just as a mere ritual, or just a
tradition, instead we are creating, through the Holy Spirit, a culture of “Christlikeness”.
We are creating a worshipping community that continues to grow in perfect love,
continues to love others like Jesus, and continues to be a loving, caring, and
open doors church to all people. We all need Jesus, we all need hope, and like
the exhausted mother that I encountered that Sunday in church 8-10 years ago,
we certainly all need peace.
I
wanted to also briefly touch on our reading from 1 Peter 1:3-9 for this morning.
In this reading we hear of the promise Christ gives us not only here and now,
but a promise for eternity. The scripture says picking up in 1:3 once again:
3 Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth
into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead 4 and into an inheritance that
is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, (1 Pet. 1:3-4, NRSV).
There are days on this earth where maybe we don’t have the
amount of peace, hope, joy, love, and mercy that we want, but Peter is telling
us this morning we have a future with Jesus. We have a future in good and
loving churches like this one. Beyond just striving to have peace, hope, joy, love,
and mercy today, we have an eternal promise of this, as well.
In fact, in the same way that the
Apostle Thomas did not see the risen Christ the first time, Peter ends this scripture
with 1:8-9 saying:
8 Although you have not
seen
him, you love him, and even though you do not see him now, you believe in
him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the
outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls (1 Pt. 1:8-9, NRSV).
Sometimes we lose our peace, we lose our balance, our
center, and our joy. Anyone here ever feel that way? Maybe some of us are
feeling this way right now. The risen Christ came this morning among his disciples
to give them faith, hope, love, and yes peace. So important is the “Peace of
Christ” that we share it with each other every Sunday. If you have “Peace like
a river” this morning then, then praise God! If you don’t have peace this
morning though, then we will keep striving after it together, with Jesus’ help
and through the power of the Holy Spirit. So, friends, this is “Why We Pass The
Peace Of Christ”. Amen.
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