People on a Mission

People on a Mission John 20:19-31 Easter Sunday was last Sunday. It is usually the best Sunday of the year for church attendance. People usually wear their best clothes, maybe even wear a new outfit for the first time on Easter Sunday. There may be lots of lilies and candy on Easter Sunday. But that was last Sunday. The Sunday after Easter is different – not as many people in church, fewer, if any lilies, and the candy is probably gone. Easter Sunday is over, but not the Easter season of the church year. In the church calendar, the Easter season lasts for forty days – from Easter Sunday until the day of Pentecost. There are 7 Sundays in the Easter season. The Scripture reading for one of the Sundays after Easter includes two of the stories of the appearances of Jesus to his disciples. The first story occurs on Easter Sunday night. The second story occurs on the Sunday after Easter and is the story where Jesus appears to Thomas, also known as the “doubting Thomas”. Most people have heard about the doubting Thomas, but the first story also has quite a bit of content in it. As a matter of fact, there are at least four sermons that could be preached based on the words of Jesus in the first story. A sermon could focus on each of these words of Jesus: 1. Peace be with you. 2. As the Father has sent me, so I send you. 3. Receive the Holy Spirit. 4. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. This sermon won’t be the length of four sermons, but will focus primarily on the mission statement in #2, and will also briefly include how the other three statements are related to the statement where Jesus says he is sending his disciples. Jesus said, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” He says that he is sending them on a mission. Their mission and purpose is to share the good news of God’s love with everyone that they see. They are to live as servants of God and some people will notice and come to have faith in Christ because they see how his followers live and they hear what his followers say. That was the mission of the disciples of Jesus then, and it is the mission of his disciples – you and me – now. But before we take a closer look at the mission, let’s review the other sayings of Jesus in this story. It begins with peace. Jesus said “Peace be with you.” He didn’t just say it once, but two times in this story, and again in the next story about Thomas. That probably means that these were important words. The disciples were hiding behind a locked door on Easter Sunday. Friday had been the day when Jesus was tried, executed, and buried in a tomb. Easter was the day that some of them had discovered that the tomb was empty. They had lost Jesus, were afraid of the Romans, and they faced an uncertain future. Jesus appeared to them and said “Peace be with you.” In the middle of their fear and uncertainty, Jesus gave them the gift of peace. It is a gift that Jesus continues to offer to his followers. When we are distracted or overwhelmed, we can have the peace of Christ. Then we can be guided by God’s mission for us, rather than our own problems. Jesus also tells his disciples to receive the Holy Spirit. First, he offers the gift of peace. Then, he encourages them to receive the gift of God’s Spirit. Jesus told them later that the Spirit would come after he had ascended into heaven. He said that after he left, that God would send God’s Spirit to be with them. That meant that the disciples would never be alone, and that God would always be with them. That same promise is for us as well. We are not alone. God’s Spirit is with us to give us power and direction to be God’s servants. God is with us to help us to do what we thought we could not do, or would not do. We are not sent alone, but God is always with us. Jesus also told his disciples that if they forgive the sins of any, they will be forgiven. Of all the topics that I have preached about, the topic of forgiveness is the one that has gotten the most responses from people. When I have talked about forgiveness, I have said that it means letting go. It means not judging, or holding grudges, or getting even. God is the one who takes care of all of that. If we don’t forgive, it hurts us more than it does anyone else. If we forgive, it sets us free to be able to share God’s love with others. When we forgive, we are free to go in the name of Christ and reach out to others in love. And now we remember the words of Jesus when he said “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Jesus sent his disciples to continue his work. And Jesus sends us to do his work. We are sent with the peace of Christ. We are not alone, but empowered by God’s Spirit. We have been forgiven by God and do our best to forgive others. All of this is part of the package of being people who are in mission. When we hear the word mission, we often think of going somewhere else, like foreign countries (like Haiti), or other regions (like Appalachia), or places not so far (the next county). But part of the mission message is that we are called to be in mission wherever we are. Each of us is sent in the name of Christ and called to share God’s love. That means places like home, work, school, neighborhood, grocery store, the mall, or wherever you are. That also includes church. A sign as we leave our church parking lot says “You are entering the mission field.” It is true that the mission field is beyond the church property, but it is also true that the mission field is on the church property as well. It is not just out there – it is in here too. We are all called to be missionaries wherever we are. God wants us to share God’s love with everyone. And it is not so much targeting certain people, as it is living the Christian life. It can be something as simple as a phone call, or as involved as a week-long trip to a foreign country. We are sent in the name of Jesus. And so, on this Sunday after Easter Sunday, or one any day, hear the words of Jesus: Peace be with you. Receive the gift of God’s Holy Spirit. If you forgive any, they are forgiven. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.