Easter in a Lenten World

The Greek has no verb and so in English we supply the verb “be” --”Peace be with you” -- but that has the unfortunate possibility of making it sound like a wish:

“I wish that peace were with you.”

However, Jesus is not making a wish, but a statement: closer would be:
“Peace is to you.”

Even though it is awkward English, perhaps that gets across the idea that even as Jesus says it, peace happens, the situation in changed.

We need also to remember that “peace” does not mean calmness and the absence of conflict,

but rather to have peace is

-to understand how things fit together,

--who is in charge,

--and the aim of it all.

Thomas and the other disciples still lived in dangerous times.

They didn't know if or when the temple police might beat down the door and drag the off for execution also.

They had no idea what they might have to face next.

What should they do?

Do they go back to those fishing boats, or do they move on to something else?

Jesus' gift is “Peace to you,”

knowing that a resurrected Lord Jesus stands at the end of all of their struggles,

and offers hope and direction in the meantime.

That is Jesus' gift in every century.

Here is a soldier writing about his experience during the siege of KheSan in Vietnam, when the gift of peace came to him:

[George Bass, The Tree, Tomb, and Trumpet, p.68]

The mere fact that the chaplain came to us impressed me.

I remembered him preaching no sermon, simply going about us, leaving us with bread, saying “The body of Christ, the body of Christ.”

We had not washed or shaved, changed clothes, eaten properly or had sufficient medical care for 3 months when he came.

Yet with the smell of our dead buddies stacked in empty bunkers still in our noses, he walked among us with the broken body of Christ.

The battle continued, but now that man had peace because he knew and had received something greater than the horror and bloodshed around him.

It is the same gift that Bette McCrandall our missionary in Liberia and so many others like her

who work in some extremely difficult places around the world

who must wade through a maze of hatred and suspicion daily.

In spite of those difficulties, Bette and others like her have the peace of Christ,

which is the confidence of knowing that the will of God will yet be done,

and all today's chaos will yet be overthrown

so that the new life, the resurrected life Jesus has now can be shared with us.

Those who have met and heard Bette know that she has a calm and matter-of-fact manner as she describes the difficulties she has faced.

All this is about other people.

But now, what does it mean for you and me to say “I believe.”?

Does it mean that suddenly all of the troubles we have evaporate?

Does confessing “I believe” mean that we are guaranteed wealth or happiness?

No, not at all.

In fact, we may have more trouble when we discover ourselves in a situation that needs our words or actions that we would much rather avoid.

But the peace of Christ is to us;

the peace of knowing that the final outcome is secure;

of knowing that Christ has already suffered everything that this messed-up world could throw at him including death, and has come to new and resurrected life.

That peace will help us stave off our doubts so that we do not despair over them.

--Our doubts will not scare Jesus away.

--Wherever Jesus' story is told, the Holy Spirit is at work there

seeking to bring Thomas' confession to our lips --”My Lord and my God.”,

seeking to change the hardest of hearts,

seeking to change the most intractable of situations.

A bishop in France once told this story:

“There were 3 university students walking along, noticing a few people going to church.

They scoffed, saying that religion is superstition, etc.

One of the students challenged another, “Here's a church. Why don't you go in an tell the priest what we have been saying.”

The student accepted the challenge, went in, stood in line, and when it was his turn said “Father I have come to tell you that Christianity is a crock.”

The priest replied, “Why did you tell me this?”

So the student told him about the conversation and the challenge.

The priest then said, “You took a challenge from them, now take this challenge from me. Please walk up to the chancel where there is a large cross with a representation of Christ on it, crucified. Go there and say “Jesus died for me and I don't care at all.”

The student agreed, and did it.

He came back to the priest and said, “I did what you asked, and now I'm leaving.”

The priest said, “Would you go and do the same thing again?”

The student did, and reported a second time to the priest.

“Just once more,” said the priest, “since it means nothing to you.”

The young man walked to the chancel and looked at that cross a third time,and at the Crucified. He stood there a long time. Then he came back to the priest and said, “Father, can I make my confession now?”

The bishop concluded the story with these words: “And my dear people, I was that young man!”

Oh, the Spirit can change things; the Spirit brings the peace of the risen Christ to us.

Peace is to us this day, in the things we say and do.

Peace is to you

--as we remember the drowning bath at the Easter Vigil,

--as the Word wrestles with our hearts and minds,

--as we gather at the table of the Lord,

Peace is to us

as Jesus shows himself

as the one bit of sense

in a world of turmoil.

Peace is to us

as Jesus begins to change us

into what he finally wants us to be.

And that peace is what you and I need for today and every day.

It's Easter in a Lenten world.

Let all the world know

that

Christ is risen. HE IS RISEN INDEED.

Amen.

Please note: The preceding sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him.