"Before You Go"

(Luke 24:26-53 and John 20:19-31)

You are busy people.  Always going somewhere.  To work, to school, to church, , to the park, to sleep etc etc.

Before you go, you say to your spouse "don't forget to put out the recycling!"

Before you go, you yell out the car window to your teenager, "Don’t forget you

            Have soccer today after school.”

Before you go, you tell your mom "I'll finish that up later. 

Just leave the mess there for now."

Before you go, you tell your coworker "I'll finish that up later. 

Just leave the mess there for now.”

Before you go, there is much to do and much to say.

Before you go on a trip there is even more to do and more to say.

Before you go, you must off course, pack. 

This is a tough and time consuming job, yes.  But sometimes, before you go, what is most time consuming regards the stuff you are leaving behind.

Your yard or the flowers

Your Mail

Your Goldfish

Your Dog

Your Work

Your boyfriend

Your parent

Your Children if you are taking a trip without them

or

Perhaps even your congregation.

When you pack for your trip, you anticipate the places you will go, the weather you will encounter etc. and you prepare accordingly

When you make arrangements for the things you will leave behind...... well... How can you possibly anticipate all that might happen.

So you leave a caretaker with instructions

On care of your Garden your notes might read like this:

            If it rains for two days, then is sunny for two days,

you might need to weed.

If it doesn't rain for four days, then there may be no need to weed      

but you might need to water.

On the care of your child You will need to leave a copy of your child's schedule, eating habits, sleeping habits, and an attempt at an interpretation of what each action means:

"If he is fussy in the morning, that means he is hungry,  fussy in the afternoon means, needs a nap, fussy in the evening, well first check the diaper, then see if he needs food, perhaps read a book, or sing a song or............

The notes you leave behind for caretakers could in some instances, look more like a book than notes.

Our pastors Deb and Ken know.  They are preparing for a 3 month sabbatical.  Their instructions for the care of this congregation while they are gone come in a 13 volume set.

How can they anticipate all that will take place in our family while they are gone???

I have a friend who struggled with stage 3 breast cancer over the past four years.  She and her family dove in wholeheartedly to defeat the disease and with the help of a new treatment, it looked as if the cancer cells would not return.   She took on work at the American Cancer Society, coordinating the "Making Strides for Breast Cancer" walk in Atlanta last October.  Showing what would be natural signs of fatigue and headaches throughout the month of November,  no one guessed that the cancer had returned to grow in another area of her body. 

In early December, she collapsed and was back in the hospital.  After the initial tests the doctors found 7 suspicious spots in her brain.  One radiation oncologist told her she had a 50/50 chance of being here at this time next year.   3 weeks of brain radiation later and they are still waiting to find how small the now 16 tumors in her brain have shrunk.  In the meantime, my friend, her husband and her 3 children prepare, wait, pray, hope, laugh, cry, scream and prepare some more.  (Cheryl's husband's letter on 12/18)

Since I have become aware of Cheryl’s diagnoses in December, I have been preoccupied with the thoughts of "What would I want to say to my friends and family before I go.  "What would I want to say to my kids ".  Of course, I would tell them all how much I love them. But that’s kind of boring.  They already know that.  Is there anything specific that, before I go, I would want to say to them as I held their face in my hands and looked them in the eyes?

As I came upon this past holy week and this past Easter, I began to look at John 12- 21 in a new way.  These are chapters that recount Jesus' time with the disciples between Palm Sunday and Easter.  Jesus knew what the end of the week would bring.  Knowing Jesus cared for the Disciples (and for us, his future children), I had a new hunger to read again these last chapters and see what Jesus had to say.  When you have time, pour over these last chapters in John and similar passages in the other gospels.

The passage I would like to take a closer look at today is found in John 20: verses 19-31.  These are Jesus’ words to his disciples after his resurrection but before his ascension. These are His last minute "look them in the eye" words.  Let's read:

John 20:19-31

¹⁹When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁰After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. ²¹Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” ²²When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” ²⁴But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

²⁶A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁷Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” ²⁸Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” ²⁹Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” ³⁰Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. ³¹But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

It is Easter evening.   What a wild day.  Some of the women had been to the tomb and came back with a wild story.   The disciples figured it was just “idle chatter” . Easter nonsense"  As Pastor Deb put it  last week. (Sermon from 4/8/2007 Deb Sunoo Wallingford Presbyterian Church)   Yet a few of the disciples had to run and check it out for themselves. 

They found an empty tomb all right.   But what did this mean? 

That evening, the disciples, minus Thomas, are gathered together.  They have "Shut" or locked themselves in.  Or perhaps they simply were trying to lock the world out.  Things were not right with the world- out there.  Through locked doors or in spite of locked doors, Jesus appears out of nowhere.  His first words to them are "Peace be with you".

Shalom.  Now many of you may be familiar with this Hebraic word.  It is much bigger than hello, goodbye or a simple "peace to you".  It is meant to communicate a completeness, wholeness, soundness, and fullness (word-study.com catholic study resource)  It is an announcement that meant something like "Peace to you, God is at work in the world making it whole”  Funny isn't it.  The disciples hunkered down, blinds drawn, doors locked trying to keep the world out and Jesus appears saying "Peace to you!  God is at work in the world!"

They must have been stunned and startled.  But Jesus shows them his hands and his side and it seems somehow that this is enough to show the disciples that Jesus is not merely a ghost.  In the Luke passage I love that Jesus says, go ahead touch me and see that I am more than a spirit.  I am flesh and bones.  Oh, by the way, do you have anything to eat?  

Now that they recognize that it really is Jesus, the disciples show some signs of joy. Then Jesus says to them again, when they have the wherewithal to hear him  "Peace to you! God is at work in the world, making it whole".  Then

            "As the Father has sent me, even so I send you."  And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them "Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any they are retained." (vs21-23)

Jesus breathed upon them.  This is the only appearance in the New Testament of the Greek word (enephusesen) used here for Breathed upon.  It is also only used once in the Septuagint (which is the Greek translation of the

 Old Testament).  Can you guess where?   In Genesis 2:7, When God breathed upon Adam and Adam was filled with life.  Jesus breathes upon the disciples, a breath of new life, a breath of fresh life, a breath of a resurrected life, and he says to them "Receive the Holy Spirit". The baton is passed.  The next dimension of God's work in the world has begun.  Jesus begins the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the disciples and in our lives.

Jesus offers Shalom to the disciples.  He breathes a breath of new life upon them.  Then he speaks to them about forgiveness.

            "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven, if you retain the sins of

 any, they are retained."

 I must admit that this sentence is still a bit of a mystery to me.  Do we have the power to forgive sins?  Well, not on our own accord.  Forgiveness is only available because of what Jesus has done for us.  But through Christ we have the ability to "offer" forgiveness to others. 

I spoke to my father on the phone just last week and he told me about his work at the local county jail.  He and a group of others take turns visiting and talking to inmates.  Many of the prisoners are hungry for forgiveness yet they are terrified to attend church.  Terrified to face those they committed their sins against.  But my dad and his friends are there, to represent Jesus.  To offer the forgiveness and the new life that Jesus offers.  Believe me, my dad is as skeptical as you are.  He sees some of the same people and offers forgiveness to some of the same "contrite hearts" time and time again.  But he is there, representing and offering God's love and forgiveness.

Jesus appears the next week to the gathered disciples.  This time, Thomas is present.  Jesus greets them with "Peace to you!  God is at work in the world making it whole."  He knows Thomas had his doubts, so he addresses Thomas saying "go ahead. Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side.  Do not doubt, but believe."  Thomas does not need to touch to believe.  He answers, maybe in a whisper or maybe in a loud cry "my Lord and My God".

            You realize that this last section is specifically for our benefit, don't you.  We are Thomas.  We are the ones who often want proof.  Perhaps we wouldn't need to touch the nail scars in Jesus' hands, or put our hand in the spear wound in His side.  Maybe it would be enough if he would just show up and eat some goldfish crackers with us.  We doubt and we are disappointed when others seem so sure that they have seen the risen Christ without us.

We are Thomas, but we are also the Blessed ones.   We are the ones who have not seen and yet we believe.  Jesus pronounces a special blessing on us.  It is almost as if he is addressing us, saying, I know you are out there and you are "Blessed, because you have not seen, and yet you believe." (vs. 29)

These are the words from the gospel of John that are some of the last that Jesus speaks to his disciples before he goes.  These words are also for you.  Are you shut up somewhere by yourself or with your friends trying to keep "THE OTHERS" out?  Perhaps you are overwhelmed by the chaos and impending doom that "out there" offers. 

Wherever it is that you are immobilized  "Jesus shows up." 

 He takes your face in his hands, looks you in the eye and says "Peace be unto you.  God is at work in the world, making it whole."  (maybe he even says that two or three times).  Then he breathes on you the breath of life, giving you newness, a freshness to the life you will live when you leave here.  He tells you that he is sending you out, just as the Father sent him, to offer forgiveness and proclaim Peace to the world “out there”.

            Do you want to know the very, very last thing recorded that Jesus said or did before he left.  The very, very last thing?  Let's refer back to the passage in Luke and start reading at verse 50.

            Then he (Jesus) led them out as far as Bethany and lifting his hands, he parted from them and was carried into the heavens saying "

                        Make sure you pray at least 20 minutes a day,

                        Meditate on the scriptures if you can but memorizing is even better.

                        Eat right and exercise- remember your body is my temple and

                        Oh yeah, don’t forget to tithe to the church at least 10% of your

 Income every year-.

No, that is not the last thing.

We often assume that the last words, the most important words to us as Christians are words of instruction.  Words of "Things to do".  But they are not.  Jesus' last words are words of Blessing.

"He led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting his hands he blessed them.  While he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven.  And they (the disciples) returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God."

Jesus ascends to heaven, leaving us with words of peace, words of blessing, and words of forgiveness.  The baton is passed and we are off and running with the help of the Holy Spirit to offer peace, forgiveness and blessing to the world in which God is at work.

The Peace of Christ be with you.

Amen