back to Sermons Archive

April 15, 2007
Scripture: John 20: 19-31
Title: “Peace be with you”

As I read this text, I am sure we were all thinking. Oh yes! This one is about Doubting Thomas. He asks Jesus to see the mark of the nails and the spear wound in the side before he believes. We were taught in Sunday school that Thomas lacked faith and that we should not be like Thomas and doubt but we should always believe.

I invite you to listen to this beloved story again and see this story through the eyes of the risen Christ.

Read Scripture again.

It is interesting to note that this experience of the Risen Lord happens on the same day as Mary’s exclamation over the empty tomb. This is still on that first Easter day and the disciples are locked away in a house because of fear. Mary has told them that she has seen the risen Lord and has told the disciples all that Jesus has said to her and still they are behind locked doors, but they do not believe. They have locked the doors, trying to keep the world out and to stay safe.

And Jesus comes in. Jesus comes in and stands among. He offers them peace. And he shows them his hands and his side. And then the disciples believe. They cannot believe through words alone. They come to belief through an experience with the risen Lord. Words are not enough. They must experience the risen Lord to believe.

Now they believe. Now they have faith in all the promises that Jesus had said along their journey together. Now they accept their calling to go out and share the Good News.

And before he gives the disciples the gift of the Holy Spirit to go along with them on this journey, Jesus once again offers them peace. He gives them the peace that can only be given by God. The peace that nourishes faith. The peace that will strengthen them for the journey. The peace that comes from living out the experience of the resurrection in our lives and prepares their hearts for this new creation of God’s.

Peace be with you. Open your hearts to a new creation. Step out behind the locked doors. Put aside your fears. And embrace the gift of God’s peace. Open yourselves to the resurrection of our Lord Jesus. Don’t just hear my invitation to know me through the resurrection. Experience the resurrection in your lives and know peace.

At a small faith group that I am connected with, a young woman said that she was in a moral dilemma. She is a student at UK and she lives off campus. She explained that her neighbors had been arrested for drug dealing. She told us that really they were great guys. You would not have guessed that they were drug dealers. They look like typical UK students. She says that she actually really likes them as friends. They are nice guys.
So now her neighbors have gotten arrested for selling drugs. One of them has asked her to write a character witness for him to show good behavior and maybe the charges would be lessened. She agreed but now she is having doubts.
Does she really want to write a character witness for her neighbors? Does she really want her name to be connected this experience?

She finally decided that she would write the character witness for him but as long as he promised to turn his life around.

As we sat there and listened to her tell this story, I started wondering. Are the words enough? Are the promises of turning a life around enough?
Are the words enough for this young man to believe in second chances?
Or has the door just been opened and Jesus has come in, offering peace and an experience with the risen Lord? Is this an opportunity for this young woman to share the peace of God that has been shown to her through her faith and now she has a chance to open the doors for the risen Lord to come in and change someone’s life.

Words sometimes are not enough to move from disbelief to belief. We have to open ourselves up to the risen Lord and open our hearts to the peace that is like no other. This is a peace that nourishes us. This is a peace that energizes us. This is a peace that heals us. This is a peace that guides us along our paths of faith.

This is a peace that can only be experienced through the resurrection of Christ.
The disciples experienced the resurrection in spite of closed doors that were meant to keep the world out. The disciples received the gift of the Holy Spirit and the gift of God’s peace. Their fears and insecurities were taken away and they were strengthen for the journey.

They opened themselves up to God’s peace and then were given the commission to take that peace out into the world. They were given the calling to share the Good News to a world that was hurting and in search of something to fill the void.

And now we are called just like the disciples to take this peace out into the world and share God’s peace with everyone that we meet. We cannot stay behind locked doors in fear or with our insecurities. Jesus has opened the doors and we have had an experience with the risen Lord. We have open our hearts and minds to God’s peace and now we are called to go out into that world and throw open the doors for so many others that do not know the peace of God.

This past week, I was sitting at our dining room table and I was asked, “Heather, what were you feeling after you baptized those youth this past Sunday?” This question took me by surprise and answered as honestly as I could, “You know I am not sure. I was so worried about how the baptisms would go and so worried about dropping one of the youth that I am not sure I was feeling anything. I’ll have to think on that and let you know.

And days went by, but the question won’t go away. What were you feeling after you baptized those youth on Easter Sunday? And strangely as I reflect on that Sunday, I feel a sense of peace. In my mind, I can remember watching of these youth step into the water and walk through the curtain. In my mind, I can remember raising my hand above them and proclaim the glorious news that they have embraced their calling as people of God. In my mind, I can remember bending them back and dipping them under the water, then bringing them forward. I can remember the look on their faces. Relief, Amazement, and newness in God.

And now I can finally answer the question. I felt a sense of peace as I was baptizing the youth last week. The risen Christ had stepped in at that moment and invited us to have an experience with the risen Lord. And I was filled with a sense of God’s peace.

And I was not the only one to feel God’s peace on that Easter morning. God’s peace touched all of our lives as we watched these youth embracing their call. As we prayed over these youth. As we guided these youth on their journeys.
The risen Lord came through the doors and invited us to experience the resurrection in our lives and to experience God’s peace.

Sometimes words are not enough. It is only when we open ourselves up to the experience of the resurrection and open ourselves up to God’s peace can we really move from disbelief to belief.

May we always open ourselves to the invitation of belief through the resurrection. Amen.

Rev. Heather McColl
Midway Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

back to Sermons Archive