Concordia Lutheran Church
Second Sunday in Easter, April 10, 2010
Let Us REJOICE in His/our Message!
† IN JESUS NAME †
As we realize that the grace, the mercy and the peace of God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ has created in us life as the Holy Spirit has breathed life into us, let us rejoice!
Hava negilah time!
Last week, I introduced or perhaps re-introduced some of you, to the concept of Hava Negilah – that phrase that invites us rejoice in the new creation that God has established with the resurrection of Jesus Christ from death.
As we travel through the post-resurrection accounts, we are going to keep on seeing this incredible joy, as the apostles and disciples realize that not only are their hopes drowned in grief, but restored and increased. They have witnessed the death of Christ, and they are witnesses to His incredible resurrection.
Even as they try to process this, even as they realize that because Christ conquered death, death will never conquer them, the scriptures describe the euphoria, the excitement, the incredible relief, the inexpressible emotions that flood them,
Let’s say that most translations understate this. Like the ESV which we have in our bulletins. Verse 20 describes it this way, “Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.”
Glad? Not ever quite glad? Glad?
Sorry. If the man I invested 3 years of my life, abandoned my job, and to an extent my family to trapse around the desert with, as I saw him teach like no other, heal like no other; if He was brutally executed like a common criminal, and he appeared – alive, physically, I think I would dance with joy!
O wait – that’s what rejoice actually means. Hava Negilah – Let us rejoice! For Christ has Risen!
As we look at the gospel today, there is something incredible going on, for the message, the good news of Christ, the very message that He came to deliver, is summed up in His greeting.
“Peace be with you!”
Peace be with You
He is there
The Holy Spirit is given
Sin ain’t stopping His presence, or His peace
Now don’tcha know – others need to know this peace!
Peace be with you! Rejoice Concordia – the peace of God is with you! That is the message that was handed down to us, the message that Christ brought from the Father to 12 very different guys, who brought it to the world of their day. God protected that message, throughout the years, and it brought hope to some of the worst sinners in history. Until it came to us, this day, here.
Peace be with you! Rejoice Peace is with you!
They start to grasp this message, as they are there, locked in the upper room – completely devastated by the events of a few days before. Locked in the room, to protect them from both the Jews and the Romans, for the city is probably all abuzz with the news that the body is now missing, they wonder if they are safe….
He is there. Not just spiritually, He is there. In their presence. One early church father put it incredibly. Roughly paraphrased, “The God who was able to enter Mary’s womb and be called Immanuel, was able to enter the room and prove to them that God is with US!”
And they rejoiced – they were ecstatically glad!
The rejoicing doesn’t end there – it will continue, for Jesus breathes on them, and these men are commissioned – sent with a message. Filled with the Holy Spirit, they are able to make this message known by doing something incredible – forgiving the sins of anyone – by the command of God, they can erase the sin of debt.
Sin no longer has the power to destroy the peace of God. The peace that is with you!
All of that weight, the burden of sin that so binds us, is taken away. We can know peace – for that message was to be passed down and has been. Your sin, and the sin that has been committed against, destroyed even as the power of sin which is death, has been destroyed by God the Father, as He raised Christ from the dead.
So let us rejoice! Jesus Christ is Risen from the dead! Hava Negilah! The Peace of God is with you!
Peace be with You – Thomas
A life that is not peaceful
We want Jesus to judge him – don’t we?
But Jesus first says – Thomas – Peace be with you!
Oh and by the way – others won’t need the marks… just go tell em!
Just in case we don’t get it, the scriptures even provide for us in Thomas, an incredible object lesson.
As we heard Thomas cry out in pain, as he puts to words his pain, “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.”
Remember, this is Thomas, who declared he was willing to die with Christ, as they left Galilee to head to Jerusalem. Not rash like Peter, he actually declared that Jesus was the Christ before Peter did. And yet, all his hopes were crushed as His master, His rabbi, all that he knew and hoped in was crushed on the cross. We want so easily to jump on Thomas’s case – to mock him by labeling him doubting Thomas.
How could anyone reasonably, rationally determine that Christ actually meant he was going to rise form the dead? How less likely is the man whose reason and rational ability was destroyed by death?
Again, locked behind doors, Jesus will again prove to be Immanuel – God with us. He will enter the room as he did before, and greet them in the same way. But this time, I can almost picture him staring right at Thomas as he says, “Peace be with you!”
Jesus addresses the fear and pain of Thomas by recalling the words of disbelief. Yet those words only come after the greeting and blessing – Peace be with you!
Peace be with you Thomas. In spite of the doubts know Jesus is there, alive, with you.
Join in the rejoicing, join in the dance! Join in blessing others, who will believe your message because it is the gospel of Christ, shared through you by the power of the Holy Spirit!
Thomas – Praise God – Jesus is risen!
Now with the doubts destroyed, along with the sin and the threat of death, Thomas’ words of joy are heard…
My Lord…and My GOD!
Rejoicing has entered into Thomas life… as he looks with awe at God… and knows His love.. and finds peace
Jesus is there - in the midst of your doubt, in the midst of your lack of peace, in the midst of your sin
God sent a message – in Jesus - Peace be with you!
This worth hava negilah’ing?
My friends, I hope you realize that all this is more than just some stories that have been passed down to us. For even as Thomas doubted, even as Peter struggled with his sin, and the sons of thunder dealt with their issues, each of us has issues today.
For some of us, it may be the pressure of the world, with all of its stresses that seem to try and crush us. We may try to lock ourselves in our upper rooms, where we can be safely terrified.
For some, it is the memory of days past, and the sins past and present that haunt us, trying to steal our peace.
For some, it is crushing doubt about the future, and living in the present of shattered dreams.
To all, here, today, there is a message. The message of Christ which invades upper rooms, and destroys the power of sin, and the fear of death, and shatters all doubt as the Holy Spirit makes us realize that God is, indeed with us.
So let us rejoice – for that message of Christ is our message that we are sent out into the world with – for they too are stressed and crushed, and the doubt is evident.
Let us rejoice in the message that Christ risen was sent to bring. For He is risen.
Peace, God’s wonderful, insurpassable peace is with you. And it guards your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Hava Negilah! Let us rejoice in His presence, and His Peace!
AMEN?
