May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable to you
dear God, my strength and my redeemer.
Our Gospel message for today, comes from John, whom you’ll recall, is the only
disciple referred to as, “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” John was also the disciple Jesus
entrusted, with caring for his beloved mother, Mary. Remember, the scripture passage of
Jesus hanging on the cross, looking down at Mary and John. “When Jesus saw his mother
there; and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to his mother, “Dear
woman, here is your son, and to the disciple, here is your mother.” I don’t think there is
any denying that John was a dear, entrusted friend in Jesus’ life and a powerful witness
of him and his message. John’s Gospel, more than any of the other Gospels, strongly
emphasizes a personal relationship with Jesus that is built on faith in him, and his
sacrificial death. Faith in Jesus is salvation and eternal life. John wrote his gospel so that
we might believe and have eternal life.
Many of you may recall, that the second Sunday after Easter is often referred to
as low Sunday by clergy because the attendance at this service is one of the lowest in
the church year. As I prepared the message for this morning, I reflected on that, and it
grieved me, because of all who would miss this scripture. To me, this Gospel from John,
is one of the most exciting, because it’s when Jesus appeared to his disciples, alive, back
from the dead, and breathed the Holy Spirit on them.
Though eventually, his physical body ascended into the Heavens, and he left them,
they were not alone. He cared too deeply to abandon them, to abandon us, so he made
provision. That provision poured forth as Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit on his disciples,
and it reminds me of God bringing life into being in Genesis, and new life to the valley of
the dry bones in Ezekiel. The significance of this life-giving breath is overwhelming, and
from its God’s kingdom is born and continues forever. So let us now go to the Gospel and
open our hearts and minds to the Holy Spirit.
It’s the evening of Jesus’s Resurrection, and the disciples are in hiding, for fear of
being discovered. After all, they are his closest followers, and look what happened to
Jesus. For this man, their master, they had given up everything and everyone they knew
and loved, and now he was dead. And it was a horrific death, ingrained in their minds
forever. They must have been terrified, for they might very well be next. What was their
terror met with? The physical presence of their risen Lord! “Peace be with you.”
Isn’t that just like Jesus, calming everyone, and everything, he comes in contact
with. Remember his calming of the sea, the mobs and the militant? Jesus speaks these
words, and then he opens his hands, and shows them his side. It’s their Lord, and he truly
is alive, risen from the dead, just as he promised. They are beside themselves, starring
in awe and disbelief at the resurrected Jesus. They were probably thinking, can this really
be, or have we gone mad. Again, Jesus calmly and with the deepest of love, “Peace be
with you.” and this is important, so listen carefully to his next words, “As the Father has
sent me, so I send you.” Then Jesus did something amazing. He breathed on them,
remember, this is the breath, that calmed the sea, the breath, that raised Lazarus from
the dead, this is some powerful breath. Jesus breathed on them and said “Receive the
Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them, if you retain the sins of
any, they are retained.” The Holy Spirit is upon the disciples, and Jesus has given them
the help they need to carry out the Great Commission, they have just been given. Yes,
Jesus is sending them out, but he is also instructing them on something of utmost
importance, which unless they practice will diminish their mission. What is he instructing
them on? It’s called forgiveness folks, and it’s imperative that we address it as well, if we
want to grow as disciples of Christ. It is so important, Jesus spoke about it, almost
immediately upon his return to life. He was a living, breathing example of forgiveness we
are called to show others. Remember, this is the man, who had been betrayed, denied,
and hung to die on a cross. This is Christ, who uttered the words “Forgive them Father
for they know not what they do.” As he hung dying.
Forgiveness is a struggle, we all have to deal with, and make a choice on. Jesus
is very clear, on what we’re, to do, as Christians. As followers of him, we are to forgive.
We either forgive or we don’t. But remember, if we don’t forgive, we will be judged in the
same manner. In other words, we had better work really hard on overcoming this
weakness, this sin. It’s human nature to hold on to anger and hurt, when we think we
been wronged or actually have been wronged but if we do, who are we really hurting?
We are hurting ourselves, because when we respond in this manner, we separate
ourselves from God. He doesn’t leave us, He promised he would never leave or forsake
us. We leave him. We have stepped away from the circle of love and light into the
darkness. Yes, I said darkness, make no mistake here, when we harbor grudges, and ill
will towards others. We are not walking with God. We have entered the realm of evil and
we’re in trouble. If we don’t pray about this and learn to release negative, unforgiving
thoughts we won’t have…peace. The question is, where do we want to spend our lives?
In the darkness, holding on to anger, angst, and negativity, or in the light of Jesus Christ?
Jesus gives us the gift to live in the light, through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is in that
power that we can forgive and live in peace and love with others. Then we become true,
disciples of Christ, and witnesses to the world of his love. We are sent!! As we
contemplate being sent, let us reflect on the disciple Thomas, from whom we get the
expression Doubting Thomas. He wasn’t about to believe Jesus was alive, unless he saw
him with his own eyes, and touched him with his own hands. It wasn’t enough for him to
hear about it from his friends. No sir, he needed more, and boy did he get it! Yet again, a
week later, Jesus appears, speaks, “Peace be with you. Put your finger here and see my
hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas’s
response “My Lord My God.” Jesus’s words to him, “Have you believed because you have
seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have come to believe.” Did you
hear that? Jesus is speaking about us! We have a special blessing from him. Isn’t that
awesome? We believe, and we are blessed. What will we do with this blessing? Will we
keep it to ourselves, or will we go forth from this place and share it, – live it? Be disciples
of the Gospel, like John, who states these things are written “that you may believe that
Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in his name.”
Dear People of Calvary, Again I say to you this is a powerful Gospel, and I invite
you to go home tonight, read it for yourself and write in on your hearts so that you may
take that power into the world and bring others to the Resurrected Lord! Amen.