Easter 3 – 30 April 2017 - Year A

Grace to you and peace from God our father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

The text for this meditation is written in the 24^th Chapter of the Gospel according to St Luke: Verses 13 – 35:

¹³ That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, ¹⁴ and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. ¹⁵ While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. ¹⁶ But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. ¹⁷ And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. ¹⁸ Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” ¹⁹ And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, ²⁰ and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. ²¹ But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. ²² Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, ²³ and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. ²⁴ Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” ²⁵ And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” ²⁷ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. 

²⁸ So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, ²⁹ but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. ³⁰ When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. ³¹ And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. ³² They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” ³³ And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, ³⁴ saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” ³⁵ Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

In Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth, the Holy Spirit inspired him to create a short list of the people who saw Jesus alive after He died on the cross.  He said, ^{[1 Corinthians 15:3–8]} “I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁵ and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. ⁶ Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. ⁸ Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.”  These words remind us that there were hundreds, perhaps even thousands of people who saw Jesus alive after He died on the cross.

These accounts were not like modern day sightings of ghostly apparitions, or UFO’s, or Elvis … you know those shadowy, grainy, out of focus images that could be almost anything.  These are accounts of people who had conversations with Jesus … who touched Jesus … who ate with Jesus.  These are not the accounts of people who saw things out of the corner of their eye.  These are not the results of wishful thinking.

With this in mind, a frequently asked question is: “Why is this particular account included while another account was left out?”  The Apostle Paul indicates that there were many accounts of the risen Lord and logically recording them all would be impossible – So, why did the Holy Spirit inspire the Evangelists to include these particular accounts?

Luke’s Gospel accounts of the resurrection begin early in the day with the witness of the women at the empty tomb.  Then there is the account that we heard earlier of the two disciples travelling to Emmaus.  There is an account of Jesus appearing to the disciples as they gather together in Jerusalem.  Finally there is the account of Jesus appearing to the disciples as He ascended into heaven.

There is a common thread to many of these narratives.  The women encountered the angels at the empty tomb and the angel said, ^{[Luke 24:6–8]} “Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, ⁷ that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” ⁸ And [the women] remembered his words.  In today’s Gospel, we heard Jesus speak to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus and say, ^{[Luke 24:25–27]} “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” ²⁷ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.  Then, in the third resurrection account, Jesus appeared to a gathering of the disciples and ^{[Luke 24:44–47]} said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” ⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, ⁴⁶ and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, ⁴⁷ and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.  In each instance there is a focus on the word of God.  The angels direct the women to the Word of God directly from the mouth of Jesus.  Jesus directs the disciples to the Word of God written in Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms.

Today’s Gospel even tells us that Jesus hid His own identity while He explained the Scriptures.  While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. ¹⁶ But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.  Jesus hid His own identity, but He explained the Scriptures.   As far as Jesus was concerned, it was more important for these disciples to understand the resurrection based on the Word of God than it was for them to understand the resurrection simply by seeing Jesus in the flesh.

The Word of God is very important to Jesus.  Jesus scolded these two disciples for failure to believe the Word of God.  He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”  Jesus understood that the Bible is not hard to understand because it uses difficult language.  It is hard to understand because it says things that we do not want to believe.  It is reported that Mark Twain said, “It ain't those parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.”

Consider our reaction if Jesus walked and He talked with us individually.  Would He say the same thing to each of us? “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!”  I personally consider this well deserved criticism – I think we all should.

Why is Jesus so stern?  Why is He so insistent that we believe the Word of God?  Why does He label those who are slow to believe as foolish?  Jesus knows that the Word of God is the Power of God.  After all, when we look at creation, we know that it is God’s Word that created it all and continues to make it all work together.  In the same way, it is also God’s Word that delivers salvation to us.

God’s Word is not about self discipline!  Jesus is insistent about God’s word because it is the power of God unto salvation.  The Word of God is how God gives His gifts.  In fact, Jesus Christ Himself is the Word made flesh (John 1:14).  It is through the Word of God by the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus Himself still comes to us today.

It is very natural for us to ignore God’s Word or hear it improperly.  When we hear that we broke the universe with our sin, it is natural for us to think we need to fix it by not sinning.  Our human nature desperately desires a way for us set things right … to make our own way back to paradise.  It makes sense to us that good, loving people go to heaven and cruel, evil people go to hell.  It makes sense to us that we should be able to improve our own moral character so that we can make ourselves worthy of heaven.  Therefore, when God’s Word tells us that we are all cruel and evil … that we cannot save ourselves, we ignore it and then complain that it is too hard to understand.  When God’s Word tells us that Jesus took the blame and punishment for our cruelty and evil, we judge that it is too good to be true and insist that there is something that we must do in order to earn our own salvation.

Jesus will not let us get away with that kind of thinking.  He taught the Emmaus disciples that the entire Old Testament is about Him.  He began with Moses and all the Prophets, and He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.  He showed them how the Old Testament proclaimed the suffering, death, and resurrection of the Christ.

Jesus teaches that there is a single dynamic enabler present through all the passages of Scripture.  That enabler is Jesus Himself.  He teaches us that we have not learned the full meaning of any passage in Scripture until that passage teaches us something about Christ crucified and risen for the forgiveness of sins.  Jesus said that the Emmaus disciples were foolish and slow of heart because they did not believe in the enabling power of Jesus in all of Scripture.  Our poor sinful human nature raises doubt about the true nature of God’s written Word and we must confess beig foolish and slow of heart!

Jesus criticises the Disciples and us in love! He says this so that we will know about the salvation that He earned for us with His suffering and death on the cross.  He says this so that we will believe in Him and live with Him forever.  He wants us to know the Word because it is through the Word that we know Him and it is through Him that we have salvation.

Eventually, Jesus revealed Himself to the Emmaus disciples.  They arrived at their home and they invited Jesus to spend the night.  As they reclined for the evening meal, Jesus took the role of host.  He broke the bread and gave it to them.  It was only then that they realised that this was none other than Jesus risen from the dead.

It is interesting that they recognised Jesus in the breaking of the bread for we also break bread.  Jesus has given us a special meal using bread and wine.  He promised that when we celebrate this meal according to His instructions, He will take up residence in the bread and the wine.  He will come to us in His very body and blood.  In a way that is similar to the Emmaus disciples we also recognise Jesus in the breaking of the bread.

Jesus comes to us in His Word.  He comes to us as His Word falls on our ears; He comes to us as the Word combines with water in Holy Baptism; He comes to us in the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper.  In each case Jesus reveals Himself to us.  He is with us just as He was with the Emmaus disciples.  We have His promise and by His promise He gives us forgiveness, life, and salvation.  Amen

The love and peace of our Great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen

Funeral Sermon – Elaine Turner – 24 April 2017.

Family and friends of Elaine, grace and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen

The text for our meditation is written in the 2^nd Chapter of the Gospel according to St Luke: Verses 25-32, with the focus on the song of Simeon.

²⁵ Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. ²⁶ It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. ²⁷ Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, ²⁸ Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying,

²⁹ 

“Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace,

    according to your word;

³⁰ 

for my eyes have seen your salvation,

³¹ 

    which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,

³² 

a light for revelation to the Gentiles

    and for glory to your people Israel.”

I know a man about 20 years my junior. I first met his mother when his father died suddenly. At that time my relationship with her was pastoral. A couple of years later, this man’s mum came to visit him in Mackay and he invited Carol and I out to lunch to catch up with his mum. Over a very relaxed lunch, we chatted about many things, opinions were expressed, feelings were related and in general we had a good old fashion chin-wag.

The next day I bumped into the man and he said to me “I have known my mum for 40 years, and yesterday at lunch, when I sat back and listened to her I found out many things about her that I have never known.”

Through our very close 22-year friendship with Elaine, Carol and I had the privilege to gain a very comprehensive personal insight into Elaine the mother / grandmother, Elaine the business woman, Elaine the wife, Elaine the friend, Elaine the person, and most importantly Elaine the Christian.

To use an old saying, sometimes in families it is very difficult to ‘see the wood for the trees” – or simply “ we are unable to understand a situation clearly because we are too involved in it.”

I am not for a minute suggesting that there are any of Elaine’s family who did not have love and respect for her; no not at all! I do want you to know however, that right throughout the good times, the challenging times, the trials and tribulations, Elaine held an enduring and deep love for each and every member of her family, and wanted only the best for each and every one of them. This was the love of a mother, a grandmother, a friend – this was an enduring, patient love that was firmly imbedded in the Christian faith that she held so dear. Elaine was always sure that there were better things to come in this life on earth and eternally in heaven, and she wanted those things for her family and friends as well.

Elaine was born into time on 10^th February 1936. She was Baptised into the Christian Faith as an infant and confirmed as an adolescent teenager. She lived her life as a devout Christian, and died in Christ on 16^th April, in the year of our Lord 2017. (That was Easter Sunday the day our Saviour Jesus Christ rose from the dead).  In the Bible the Book of Revelation ^(14:13) tells us “‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” ‘Blessed indeed,’ says the Spirit, ‘that they may rest from their labours, for their deeds follow them!’”

 What of this Simeon I read about? Well Simeon was an old man who had faith in the promise of the Old Testament that a Saviour would come and rescue the world from sin and death. When he saw the infant Jesus was brought into into the Temple by His parents he knew this was the one he had be waiting his whole life to meet. This was Jesus Christ the Saviour of the world. So it is no surprise that Simeon took this little baby into his arms and prayed:

Now Lord, set your servant free,
in peace according to your word;
because my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared before the face of all peoples,
a light that reveals you to all nations
and brings glory to your people Israel.

Simeon was full of joy because he knew what Elaine and all Christians down through the centuries knew – That through this Saviour Jesus Christ we can depart this world in peace confident of a life in eternity free from sin, trouble, sickness and pain.

That’s a big deal, every day we give in to temptation, we sin; and because our human nature is weak we are, like Simeon, slaves to sin. That’s is why Easter is so important – Jesus died on a cross to take the punishment for us, for our sin; and three days later He rose from the dead so that in Him, we can have eternal life and eternal peace.

That is the beauty of this verse; it’s called “The Song of Simeon”, (or the Nunc Dimittis). God’s promise in His written Word, is that all who seek and find Jesus, like Simeon, will find freedom and peace here on earth and when we depart from it. There is salvation. There is life. There is new creation and hope for all mankind.

Elaine longed to be set free. Free from the sickness that had plagued her off and on for many years. Fee from worry and fear for herself and her family. She longed for that freedom which only Christ can give. I was recently struck by the fact that most of the pictures of Elaine I have seen and the stories she has told me was all about being outside, being active.  To be stuck in a bed, trapped in a body that isn’t working the way it is supposed to, must have been a great hardship for her to bear. How she must have longed to be free, and to be at rest and peace from all of the pain that plagued her!

Like Simeon, Elaine clung to her faith in her Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Just before Easter as she lay in bed, she knew the voice of her Saviour in the words of the Lord’s Prayer. We prayed it together. As we prayed I was reminded of Psalm 73 where the psalmist cried out so many years ago, “My heart and my flesh fail me, but you are the rock of my heart and my portion forever.”

We who remain grieve our loss, but we can have confidence that Jesus Christ, who died and rose again from the dead, will raise up all believers. Elaine has been set free, and we will see her again.

According to God’s Word, Elaine believed and was Baptised. With the Word, Elaine lived her life of faith in the Church. Through the Word of God, Elaine received Christ at Holy Communion. She received the very Body of Jesus born of Mary — the very Blood of Jesus shed on the cross; and for a thousand times and more, after the Lord’s Supper, she sang the ancient liturgy of the church. She sang the song of Simeon

♫ ♬ Lord, now let your servant depart in peace :

according to your word.

For my eyes have seen your salvation :

which you have prepared in the presence of all people;

a light to reveal you to the nations :

and the glory of your people Israel.

Glory to the Father, and the Son :

and the Holy Spirit;

As it was in the beginning, is now :

and will be for evermore.  Amen. ♫♫

 Be at peace, Elaine. Be at rest beautiful lady, and we look forward to the day where we are reunited with you again in heaven. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Easter 2 – 23 April 2017 – Year A

Grace to you and peace from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

The text for this meditation is written in the 20^th Chapter of the Gospel according to St John: Verses 19 – 31:

¹⁹ On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” ²⁰ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. ²¹ Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” ²² And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

²⁴ Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” 

²⁶ Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” ²⁸ Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” ²⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

³⁰ Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; ³¹ but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Poor old Thomas!  Every year, we celebrate Easter and then, the following week, we pick on Thomas.  He was late to Sunday service and so he missed Jesus.  He uttered that ultimatum: “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”  Then, the next Sunday, Jesus showed up and said, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”  One could be forgiven for thinking that Thomas was failing in his duties as a disciple.

The fact is however that the scepticism of ALL the disciples is one of things that contributes to the credibility of the Easter accounts in the Gospels.  Before Jesus revealed Himself to the disciples none of them believed.  Luke the Evangelist records: ^{[Luke 24:9–11]} Returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. ¹⁰ Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, ¹¹ but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.  Notice that it states that the apostles … all of them … thought the witness of the women was an idle tale.  This is not the way stories usually went at that time.

There are people who insist that the account of the resurrection is made up, but the entire style of the account of the resurrection does not match the style of other religious literature of the time.  If the resurrection story was a figment of the disciples’ imagination, we could surely expect a story of self-loyalty and self-sacrifice as they attended to Jesus and offered up prayers from the cross to the tomb until they rejoiced when He rose in glory

What actually happened was that Jesus told the disciples that He would suffer, die, and rise from the dead and the disciples didn’t get it.  Instead they quarrelled over who among them was the greatest.  When it finally became clear that Jesus was going to allow himself to be arrested and taken in for trial, the disciples ran like rabbits from a hound.  When witnesses began telling the disciples that Jesus had risen from the dead, the disciples thought that the witnesses were hallucinating or something.  The disciples didn’t just doubt, they flat-out rejected the idea that Jesus rose from the dead.  The accounts pretty much portray the disciples as unbelieving cowards.  That was not the way to start a new religion in that day and age.

The truth of the matter is that while Jesus lay in the tomb, the disciples were unbelievers.  They were pagans.  They were lost in unbelief and sin.  They weren’t just doubting; They were unbelieving.

Unbelief is the way that all people begin this life.  The rite of baptism says: The Word of God … teaches that we are all conceived and born sinful and are under the power of the devil until Christ claims us as His own.  We would be lost forever unless delivered from sin, death, and everlasting condemnation.  The psalmist tells us: ^{[Psalm 51:5]} Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.  But the Father of all mercy and grace has sent His Son Jesus Christ, who atoned for the sin of the whole world that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

This is the reason it is so important to hear the words of Jesus in today’s Gospel.  Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”  Here are the disciples hiding behind locked doors … afraid … disheartened … unbelieving.  Never the less, Jesus came to them with peace.  He was gentle.  He was patient.  He showed them his hands and his side.  He gently and carefully restored their faith in Him.  Now they knew.  Not only did Jesus die on the cross, but He also rose from the dead.  He encouraged the disciples to examine His wounds and verify that it really was Him.

We hear Jesus give peace three times in today’s Gospel.  That is Jesus’ main mission, earning and giving peace.  Long ago, the enemy seduced humanity into hostility toward God.  We don’t have peace with Him.  We are His enemies.  But Jesus Christ, the Son of God entered into our humanity and lived a perfect life under the law.  He willingly allowed His enemies to nail Him to a cross.  While He hung on that cross, He endured the punishment that we, the enemies of God, deserved.  Then He died and rose from the dead.  In this way, He earned forgiveness for all people.  He earned peace with God and He offered that peace to the disciples and He still offers that peace to us.

In fact, it is in the very Gospel that we just read that we hear how Jesus transmits His peace to us.  Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”  This is nothing other than Jesus installing these men as apostles.  The very word apostle comes from a Greek word that means to send.  Jesus said that He is God the Father’s apostle, the one sent from the Father.  Now He is commissioning these disciples to be His apostles, ones who are sent directly by Him.  These apostles will take the very peace that Jesus has given to them and proclaim it to the world.

Do you see the irony in this?  These are the men who often quarrelled about who is the greatest among them.  These are the men who abandoned Jesus at His greatest need.  These are the men who thought the stories of the resurrection were idle tales.  These are the men who stared vaguely every time Jesus told them He was going to suffer, die, and rise from the dead. These are not people chosen for their great faith and insight; in fact in the faith department, they are pretty ordinary – much like us.

Never the less, they are the one whom Jesus sent.  They are the ones the Apostle Paul wrote about to the church in Ephesus: ^{[Ephesians 2:19–20]} You are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, ²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.  The Apostle Paul states that these men are the foundation of the household of God.  Paul is talking about men who were cowardly unbelievers until Jesus showed Himself to them.  Now Jesus is sending them.  Now they are Jesus’ Apostles.

There is only one way that an unskilled group like this can carry out the mission of Jesus.  God has to do the work.  It has to be God working through these men that makes them the sent ones.  They are like God’s people of old who often came to the battle ready to fight only to discover that God had already won the battle.  They thought they were coming as soldiers, but they only ended up being witnesses to the victory God won for them.

Jesus gave them a special authority.  He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”  He gave these men the authority to administer the very forgiveness of sins that Jesus earned on the cross … the very forgiveness of sins that gives us peace with God.

We read about the work God did through these apostles in the first reading from Acts 5:  When they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. ⁴¹ Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonour for the name. ⁴² And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.  On Easter morning, they were cowardly unbelievers.  Later, they rejoiced at the suffering they received in the name of Jesus.  Only God can work a change like that.

The apostles have long since died, but they still teach us for we have their teachings in written form in the New Testament.  Their writings still tell us that Jesus saved us from sin with His perfect life and His sacrificial death.  Their writings still tell us that we have God’s promise of resurrection because Jesus did not remain in the tomb, but rose to immortal life and ascended into heaven.  Their writings continue the work that Jesus gave to them when He called them to be His sent ones, His apostles.

The apostles have died, but the office of the holy ministry continues.  Jesus still sends His men to proclaim His peace to the world.  The Holy Spirit worked through the Apostles to establish congregations of believers in many places.  As the Holy Spirit established these congregations, He also established the Office of the Holy Ministry as the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul to write: ^{[Ephesians 4:11–12]} [Christ] gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.

Once again, today’s Gospel demonstrates the overwhelming generosity of God’s mercy.  Jesus showed Himself to a group of unbelieving cowards.  He gave God’s peace to them.  He commissioned them to be His Apostles … His sent ones.  He breathed the Holy Spirit into them.  He gave them the authority to administer the very forgiveness that He earned for them and all people on the cross.  These men deserved none of this, but they received it all by God’s grace as a gift.

God continues to work in grace and mercy today.  At birth, every one of us is a selfish, enemy of God.  Never the less, the Father of all mercy and grace has sent His Son Jesus Christ, who atoned for the sin of the whole world that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  Jesus gives His peace to us.  The Holy Spirit still works in us by the power of the very Word that Jesus sent His apostles to proclaim.  The forgiveness of sins is still proclaimed from Christian sanctuaries across the world.  In all of these ways and more, Jesus still comes to us and says, “Peace be with you.”  Amen

The love and peace of our Great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds I Christ Jesus. Amen