The Grace and Peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. The Apostle John
tells us in his Gospel: ‘Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone their sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Let’s join in a word of prayer: O God our Father, we are together this morning to continue our celebration with the Disciples of the resurrection of Your son Jesus Christ, and to worship You. Help us this morning with a clear understanding of what it means to be sent by Jesus Christ to share his forgiveness and love with those in our worshipping community and others around us. Loving Father, hear our prayer for the sake of our risen Saviour and Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Australia is always preparing to participate in the Olympics. My thoughts turn to the relay races that are an impressive part of outdoor sport. With each runner putting his full measure of energy and motion into his leg of the relay, carrying the baton that will be passed to the next partner in the team.
A relay race is marked more by perseverance than by bursts of high energy. It is marked more by cooperation than by competition. It is marked more by team achievement than individual victory. The race is only successful if each runner does his best, no one drops the baton, and they connect with each other correctly to finish the race with honour.
This reminds me of the words from the author of Hebrews ‘let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.’ (Hebrews 12:1–2 NIV)
When Jesus appeared to the Disciples in the upper room after his resurrection, he was passing on the baton. Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” Jesus never wants us to be startled by his presence in our lives. By the presence of the Holy Spirit, we have peace as one of the fruit of the Spirit. The Peace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Saviour wants us to eagerly accept his call to share the Good News of Salvation.
That baton of the race of life eternal has been passed down from generation to generation from Jesus Christ himself, to the disciples, to the patriarchs of the faith, to the families where faith is nurtured from parents to children, to their children.
When we received the baton of faith from our predecessors, we inherited a challenge to forgive all who came before us and left a legacy of brokenness in the world, A challenge to forgive all in our generation who ignore the wondrous gift from God our Father, of life eternal and freedom of faith. A challenge to forgive all in our following generations who fail to hear our message of salvation and faith delivered with our words, actions and attitudes. A challenge to forgive ourselves for not raising a voice when it is urgently needed to be heard and not raising a helping hand when it is desperately needed to be received. A challenge to forgive, in order to free our lives from a burden. The burden of carrying with us the resentment and guilt that will eventually interfere in our relationship with our Saviour and with each other.
Those words from our Saviour to the Disciples and to us are so important, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone their sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
The Disciples received the Holy Spirit on that day. But they needed an additional outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. To be filled with the power, energy, gifts and fruit of the Spirit to fulfil their role in witnessing the authority of Jesus Christ to that first generation of believers. With each generation, we receive the Holy Spirit when we are baptised into the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. But we need to be refreshed in the Holy Spirit to fulfil our role to the next generation. Refreshed by Word and Sacrament, by prayer and fellowship, by willingness to live out the gift of our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
We see that in the witness of Thomas. Without the gift of the Holy Spirit, Thomas could not accept that Jesus was alive. But in the presence of Christ Jesus, his faith came alive. Then Thomas said to Christ Jesus, “My Lord and my God!”
Faith in Christ Jesus comes when we are confronted by his presence made real to us by the work of the Holy Spirit through word and sacrament. Trust in God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit comes through joining together, listening to the word and letting it touch the very core of our being; sharing in the body and blood of Christ Jesus – the point where heaven and earth touch and we embrace the divinity and humanity of Christ Jesus.
This morning we continue our journey with the Disciples as they experience the resurrection, with a growing trust in God’s promises. A journey of transformation. We join the disciples at their weakest, most haunting state of being. Confused, afraid, timid, and grieving. Searching for some proof of what the women have witnessed to them. That Jesus Christ is alive, that he has risen from death.
I discovered a quote this week from Lloyd Ogilvie, “The most powerful historical proof of the resurrection is the ‘resurrected’ disciples. Dull, defeated followers became fearless, adventuresome leaders. Cowards became courageous; the timid became bold.”
The Resurrection can make that kind of difference for all of us.
The Disciples were huddled together in the upper room. At the end of the most eventful day in history. Wondering what would happen next, … what would become of them. The reality of the resurrection was yet to become their reality.
I would ask, when was it that the resurrection became more to you than just a clever turn of phrase? When was it that the reality of the resurrection of Christ Jesus became your reality? (… wait a few minutes …)
The resurrection of Jesus ministers to each of us individually, as it did for the Apostles. For me, the resurrection became my reality, when I was struck to the core of my being that Jesus Christ died on the cross for me. That he did that because he loved me that much.
The rise of Christianity occurred as a multitude of inspired individuals took the baton of faith as their reality and then passed it on to the next generation. Each Christian receiving a personal sense of Christ Jesus present in their lives. A personal encounter with the risen Lord. That was the purpose and plan of Christ Jesus for his church. And it is so for us. With faith grounded in the Gospel, and anchored in the fellowship of believers in a worshipping community.
The ministry of our Saviour is realised in worshipping community. Believers bound together by common participation in the Holy Spirit of God. Sent forth to care for each other and for those around us by our attitudes, our actions and our words, person to person.
An encounter with the living Christ is where faith is born. The church of the living Christ is where faith grows and matures, as the baton is received, accepted and then passed on.
The fullness of Christian experience develops from loving Christ personally, and being in fellowship with others who are like-hearted. As we stand together before Jesus who holds out his wounded hands and says, “Peace be with you.” What a special effect this simple greeting had on the Disciples, coming from our risen Lord Jesus Christ. What excitement, hope, and joy it brought to these Disciples when Jesus revealed himself. The Disciples were overcome by what they felt and overwhelmed by what they saw as Jesus stood in their midst. It is my prayer that we recapture that feeling of excitement and anticipation as we share the peace with each other today. ‘Peace be with you’.
Jesus came into the world to share the good news of God’s everlasting love for all people. He came into the world to be a visible representation of this love. He came to share his peace with each of us, as we trust in him.
And yet, in the reality of our humanity, this is a major challenge for us. Each one of us is living out the reality of the resurrection. We are all joined together to prepare the next generation to receive the baton of faith in the resurrection by our fellowship. Witnessing together about Jesus. We are all asked to step out in faith to live out the plan of God for our lives. Worshiping God together in Jesus.
But we are never left to wander through life alone. In fellowship with each other, we are filled with the Holy Spirit who guides our lives. Walking together with Jesus.
The Apostles were no longer afraid. They were no longer timid. They were no longer hiding. And the Gospel message of Christ Jesus was being shared. Now it is time for us to set aside our fear, overcome our timidity, and come out of the shadows into the light of the Gospel. The grace and peace of God keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. AMEN.
Reverend David Thompson.
St Peters Lutheran Church Port Macquarie 