John 20: 19-31 picks up right where we left off, where Mary went running to tell of the resurrection to the disciples, who were are holed up in a room behind locked doors. No one can get in, not even those who are so nervous, so threatened, by the way the crowds loved Jesus, that they might come after his followers, too.
The disciples are bereaved over the death of Jesus and maybe over their own failure to stand with him to the end, but now this woman, Mary Magdalene, is making the most incredible claim that has ever been made, a claim that would undo their sense of failure and inadequacy, their loss of hope. All might be made right after all; all might be healed. Could it be? Could it actually be so? Is it true?
There in that room, gathered in fear and confusion, they lock the doors, and wait. And then Jesus shows up. What are his first words? "Peace be with you." No fear. No scolding. No turmoil. No doubt. Only peace. We say these words to each other during our worship services. We extend the peace that Jesus offers to us. And then--as the gospel of John's Pentecost--Jesus breathes the gift of the Holy Spirit into the disciples.
It is their commissioning to go out and be peace and love and justice for the world. Just as God sent Jesus, so Jesus sends them into the world that God loves so well. O. Wesley Allen hears in this breath the echo of Genesis and "God's breathing life into creatures at the beginning of the world (Gen. 2:7)." On Easter, Allen says, God in effect recreates through resurrection not just a few followers long ago, but all of us as well (New Proclamation Year A 2008).
During the next 3 weeks, I am going to be preaching a series called "Awakening." This first sermon will be focused on how we awaken to ministry. We learn how to minister from Jesus, who literally met the disciples right where they were in that room. Mary Magdalene, the disciples, and especially Thomas, all wanted more evidence that Jesus was actually risen from the dead when he appeared to them. Jesus does not scold them, but is patient and provides what they needed to believe. We can do the same for anyone seeking Jesus, or looking for someone to share Jesus with.
*Prayer:
Everliving God,
your eternal Christ once dwelt on earth,
confined by time and space.
Give us faith to discern in every time and place
the presence among us
of him who is head over all things and fills all,
even Jesus Christ our ascended Lord. Amen.
*United Methodist Hymnal, 323.
In Christ,
Jack
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