Little Johnny was in the kitchen helping his mother make supper. She asked him to go into the pantry & get her a can of tomato soup, but he didn’t want to go alone. "It’s dark in there & I’m scared." She asked again, & he persisted. Finally she said, "It’s OK. Jesus will be in there w. you." Johnny walked hesitantly to the door, slowly opened it, peeked inside, saw it was dark, & started to leave when an idea came to mind, & he said: "Jesus, if you’re in there, would you mind handing me that can of tomato soup?"
All of us in this sanctuary this morning, despite how much we might deny it, have experi-enced fear in some form or another. We know that fear is a paralyzing emotion that can stop us dead in our tracks, preventing us from accomplishing some activity. I know people who are so afraid of being rejected, of having someone say “no” that they’ll attempt to do everything themselves instead of “risking” having someone turn them down.
Others, out of fear of failure, won’t take the steps necessary to succeed. They’d prefer to just sit back & let the world pass them by…like the farmer who was sitting on the front porch of his shack one July day smoking his corncob pipe when a stranger came long who asked, “How’s your cotton coming?”
“Ain’t got none,” was the answer. “Didn’t plant none. ‘Fraid of the boll weevil.”
“Well, how’s your corn?” asked the stranger.
“Didn’t plant none. ‘Fraid of droughth.”
“How about your potatoes?”
“Ain’t got none. ‘Scairt of tater bugs.”
The stranger finally asked, “Well, what did you plant?”
“Nothin’,” replied the farmer. “I just played it safe.”
Needless to say, he probably didn’t remain a farmer very long.
The disciples were “‘scairt,” too, &, for the moment, were satisfied to just play it safe. Many of them had chosen to run away, even as their friend was murdered in a horrific fashion. Could they have done something? Who knows? But they had chosen to play it safe & do nothing.
Now, these scared individuals silently gathered once again into the upper room where they had shared a final meal, the pungent scent faintly lingering. Terrified to leave it for fear of the consequences, the pain & wretchedness was evident in their faces & their behavior. Some stood by themselves, visibly shaken & pre-occupied w/ their thoughts. Others gathered in small groups but didn’t exchange many words He was the chosen one, the “Son of God.” If this could happen to him what would prevent it from happening to them. Peter & John sat off by themselves. They had told the others what they had seen…an empty tomb…but even to them it now seemed so unbelievable.
Because of the empty tomb, it might seem surprising to us that the disciples are afraid. Af-ter all, Peter & John have seen it & Mary Magdalene has even spoken w/ the risen Christ & told the others of her experience. But fear does strange things. They were traumatized by the cruci-fixion & afraid for their lives…a spiritual darkness surrounds them, causing them to doubt what they’ve seen & heard. It overshadows their souls even more so than the darkness that covered the land prior to Jesus’ death. It crushes their spirit, replacing their hope for a bright future w/ despair. Regardless of what they’d seen, they can’t believe their eyes. After all, sometimes our eyes can deceive us.
Harriet, the church gossip and self-appointed supervisor of the church’s morals, kept sticking her nose into other people’s business. Several were unappreciative of her activi-ties, but feared her enough to maintain their silence.
She made a mistake, however, when she accused George, a new member, of being an alcoholic after she saw his pickup truck parked all afternoon in front of the town’s only bar. She commented to George & others that anyone seeing it there would know that he was an alcoholic.
George, a man of few words, stared at her for a moment & walked away. He said nothing. Later that evening, George quietly parked his pickup in front of Harriet’s house and left it there all night.
The disciples knew sometimes sight is not the best sense to use in determining what is real & what is not…they can mislead us, like George & Harriet. On the other hand, something may
not be seen at all, let’s say your breath, but be very real. That’s where faith comes in.
What the disciples saw at the tomb defied explanation, causing them to doubt what they saw, but they were about to have a faith changing experience.
Suddenly, a breath of fresh air fills the room as the light & life of Jesus Christ breaks thru their darkness. He stands before them & says: “Shalom” or in English, “Peace be with you.”
Just as he had promised in John 14:27, Jesus gives these frightened disciples his peace: “Peace I leave w/ you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, & do not let them be afraid.” For them, hope is reborn & faith is re-stored. He gives them a peace that will remain w/ them in spite of a world’s persecution that will hate them even as it hated him.
It’s a peace that envelops them, permeating every facet of their being. Jesus then repeats the phrase, “Peace be w/ you,” sends them into the world to minister for God’s Kingdom, & breathes upon them the power of the unseen Holy Spirit. It’s not something they can see, but this indwelling, creative & energizing Spirit causes their faith to kick in & they recall Jesus’ words concerning eternal life: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that eve-ryone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” The Spirit becomes for them a self-renewing force ensuring fellowship w/ Christ, whom to know is life eternal.
Like the “living water” Jesus spoke of to the Samaritan woman at the well, the Spirit re-freshing them so that they will “never be thirsty” again. & again we hear him: The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’
That’s the power of the presence of Christ: Whoever lives w/ Christ & has Christ in their heart has in their heart an inexhaustible spring of water & a peace which lingers. To have Jesus in your life is to have his Spirit wash over you w/ his atoning love. It’s to know a peace that is far more than one can comprehend; to know a joy that is deeper & more real than any other joy; to know a life far more abundant than anyone else can know; and to know a power that can
satisfy every call upon it.
It is a peace that’s more than just the absence of conflict; it is a wholeness & tranquility that is a gift from God, intervening in the lives of believers & bringing harmony into human life & into the world.
This breath of the Spirit rejuvenates the disciples’ lives just as God’s breath gave life to the bones in the Valley of Dry Bones in Ezekiel. As promised in John 16:20, their life of pain was turned into a life of joy at seeing Jesus alive once again: a joy so profound that they would for-get their former pain & experience rebirth, a defining moment after which they will never again be fearful and unbelieving…except for Thomas.
It will take another week before the man who has become known as the “Doubter” sees the risen Jesus, has his unbelief removed, & comes to know the peace that he must have felt linger-ing in the lives of those around him. But we can’t judge him too harshly because he hadn’t seen what they had seen. Remember, their early fear demonstrated that they, too, had their doubts. As a result of his absence, he refuses to believe. This should serve as a lesson for us: It’s diffi-cult to believe when we do not strengthen ourselves w/ the fellowship of other believers. That’s why we’re here today & that’s why we need to be here & why we need to invited others, our families, friends & strangers, to be a part of this holy hour of worship.
& so I ask you, my friends, in light of the disciples’ fear I want to ask you: what situations in life make you fearful? What are the things which cause you to doubt the power & presence of the risen Lord? One thing we’ve learned this morning is that the presence of Christ comes to us in the midst of our doubts & anxiousness just as he did the disciples. He doesn’t come to con-demn us but to help life us above these feelings & bless us w/ a peace that will linger all our lives because of our relationship w/ him. That’s his promise from John 14:19-20: “In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, & you in me, & I in you.”
Do you hear that? Do you know that? “I am in you.”
The Resurrection event which we celebrated last Sunday is not a one shot celebration & then we move on. Easter is a momentous event that keeps on happening in the church and it needs to be a part of our every day lives. Easter is a joy that continues giving rise to a hope that states that we are a part of that resurrection power. He came to his disciples who were locked in that Upper Room that they might be freed to serve him. He moved among them & prodding their faith until, by the power of his Spirit, it no longer existed.
In the same way the Risen Lord is on the move in our lives, filling us with a peace only he can give & leading us to overcome our fear and doubts that we might serve him by bringing the truth & light of the Resurrection to the world. & his is a magnificent peace, indeed. A peace that fills us with contentment & will always linger in us because it is a peace given by one who loved us enough to die for us.
