“Peace Be With You”
John 20:19-31,
Holy Humor Sunday, April 27, 2003
Purpose: For a second year in a row, our church has celebrated Holy Humor Sunday. This sermon on Thomas, and Jesus’ statement, “Peace, be with you!” tries to bring some sense of “holy humor” into an otherwise less than humorous world.
Easter is a time of surprises. While worship has always been in a state of tension between our understanding of piety and the joy that fills the heart by hearing the good news, today to laugh or not to laugh, becomes the question. To restate Shakespeare, “Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to control the impulse and maintain decorum, or to give in and enjoy this day, is totally up to you!”
[There’s a time for the congregation to share their humorous stories or jokes (provided in the bulletin or of their own) immediately proceeding this sermon. We took the jokes/stories from Holy Humor and More Holy Humor complied by Cal & Rosie Samra.]
Illus. There was a lady who on the Saturday afternoon before was doing some baking for her Easter dinner the next day. There was a knock at the door. She went to find a man, dressed in shabby clothes, and looking for some odd jobs. He asked her if there was anything he could do. She said, "Can you paint?"
"Yes," he said. "I’m a rather good painter."
"Well," she said, "there are two gallons of green paint there and a brush, and there’s a porch out back that needs to be painted. Please do a good job. I’ll pay you what the job is worth."
He said, "That’s great. I will be done quickly."
She went back to her baking and did not think much more about it until there was a knock at the door. She went, and it was obvious he had been painting for he had it on his clothes. She asked, "Did you finish the job?"
He said, "Yes."
She said, "Did you do a GOOD job?"
He said, "Yes. But lady, there’s one thing I would like to point out to you. That is not a Porsche back there. That is a Mercedes."
Or how about the man and a women who had been friends for many years, who had died and gone to heaven. They told St. Peter that they wanted to be married.
“Take your time and think about it,” said St. Peter, “you have eternity so take fifty years and see me then.”
Fifty years later, the couple returned and again told St. Peter they wanted to be married. “Well,” said St. Peter, “take another fifty years and really think about it….”
But the couple was insistent, “We know we want to be married now….”
St. Peter replied, “Well, take another fifty years and if we don’t have a preacher up here by then, I’ll
marry you myself.”
Easter is a time full of surprises…
This second Sunday of Easter BUILDS on the good news we celebrated LAST Sunday - Jesus was dead, now alive; the women come to the tomb in despair then leave the tomb in delight. Quite a story. Lots of questions, but as we learned last week, the bottom line, what this season is all about is that CHRIST IS RISEN...and your response…(HE IS RISEN INDEED!)
Holy Humor Sunday continues in the celebration. It celebrates the fact that the resurrection of Jesus is God’s ultimate joke on evil and death. It is a testament to the God who, as the Psalmist says in the second chapter, fourth verse, "sits in the heavens and laughs" at the foolishness of humanity and any forces that might seek to thwart divine purposes.
And in churches all around the world, the celebration has commenced. Each year, more and more congregations of all persuasions all over the United States, and in far corners of the world, are celebrating the Easter season in new ways.
There is the Bavarian practice that has the faithful gathering back in church on Easter afternoon for a time of story-telling and practical joking. There is the early orthodox tradition in the Easter Monday gatherings for stories, jokes, and anecdotes. To this day in Slavic regions, Christians gather the day after Easter for folk dancing and feasting in the churchyard. It is variously known as Bright Monday, White Monday, Dyngus Day, and Emmaus Day in one country or another. Latin speakers call it Risus Paschalis - God’s Joke. Today, you and I call it Holy Humor Sunday...a time to laugh.
But as wonderful as last Sunday made us feel, especially after the good food, the wonderful Sunday School program, and the awesome worship and great fellowship, Monday dawned, and life was no longer flowers and fragrances. The world intruded again.
There was more news of the war, and even though it seems to be almost over, there are still the images of devastation and death to deal with - our young men and women go in as liberators (whether they wanted to or not), and already newly-free Iraqis want them gone.
Then there were the not-very-veiled threats against Syria - watch out, you’re next. North Korea says it has nuclear weapons and, by Kim, they’re not afraid to use them.
And when that news is too much, we change the channel only to hear the news that the economy remains a wreck. IRA’s and 401-K’s remain shadows of their former selves, and workers who had counted on a secure pension, continue to find that the pinstriped wizards of the boardroom have now arrived at Chapter 11. A lifetime of benefits down the drain.
We change the channel again… SARS, almost three hundred killed as of the latest stats. Beijing, Hong Kong, even across the border in Toronto.
Forget about changing the channel, we turn it off, so we can think about the joys of family and to spend that “quality time” with one another. Right...today families need two vehicles, three baby-sitters always ready on call, good luck, three calendars, and an appointment secretary just to say “Hi” to one another.
All this following some of the BEST news we will ever hear that Christ is Risen…(He has risen indeed.)
It is no wonder to me then, that the Lectionary offers us the same Gospel lesson year after year after year on this Sunday after Easter. This is one of the incredibly rare times on the calendar of the liturgical year that you find the very same reading on the very same Sunday annually.
The disciples, at least most of them, are in a locked room...plastic film, duct tape, dead-bolts, locks, whatever it took...scared to death that the same fate that took their Master on Calvary might be awaiting them as well.
Yes, they had heard the story of the women about the empty tomb, but at this point, that is all they knew...a story. Suddenly, here is Jesus. Through the plastic and duct tape, saying, "Shalom." Our scripture translates that as "Peace be with you," and that is legitimate, but it can just as legitimately be rendered, "Hi guys," or even some first century version of "Wha’ssup?"
More strictly translated, Jesus’ “peace be with you” meant much more than our idea of peace. When the risen Christ said those words it was more than just a greeting, more than just an announcement, literally translated, “peace be with you” is a pronouncement of well being, of wholeness, of completeness.
I. It means be at peace with your past.
There are so many who spend so much time looking through their rearview mirror that they not only miss the view that’s ahead of them, but they eventually crash in the process. Jesus simply told the disciples and us that forgiveness is attainable.
Illus. Maybe Jesus was remembering that story that’s not told in our Scriptures…
It was following the resurrection, when John found Peter and ran up to him. Excitedly, he said, “Peter, I have some good news and some bad news.”
Peter took hold of John and calmed him down, “Take it easy, John. What’s the good news?”
John said, “The good news is that Christ is risen.”
Peter said, “That’s great, but what’s the bad news.”
John looking around cautiously said, “He’s really steamed about Friday!”
NO THIS ISN’T ACTUALLY THE CASE!!!
Jesus’ “peace be with you” gave the disciples and us, peace with our past.
II. But, it can also bring peace to our present as well.
Let me ask you a simple question, “Where do you need peace in your life right now?” All of us, I’m sure, can attest to the fact that life seems unmanageable at times. We live in a broken world. People’s lives are daily being torn apart and challenged. And often, when there’s no faith to bring the person through whatever trial they’re facing, everything seems to fall apart.
But for those of us who know why Jesus died, frankly to fix broken people and broken situations, we know that Jesus wants to bring peace in our greatest storms. The gospel song says it all when we sing, “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand!”
As Christians, we know our net-worth is much less important than our eternal worth! Struggles we experience today build the foundation for a greater faith in Jesus Christ tomorrow! We walk by our faith, not by our sight, because we know that there is only one person qualified under heaven and earth to sufficiently deal with the present realities that we face, and it is not us!
It is Jesus Christ who can take the “brokenness and strife and still make something beautiful of our lives.”
III. “Peace be with you” speaks healing to our past and to our present, but it also speaks wholeness to our future.
I can relate to Thomas. Can you? In fact, I think that the whole “doubting” label is harsh when we look at Thomas’ full history.
We first encounter Thomas in the 11th chapter of John. Jesus has just been informed of the death of Lazarus. While the other disciples were groaning about the dangers of taking the trip nearer to Jerusalem, it was Thomas who said to the rest, “Let us also go…that we may die with him.” (John 11:16).
Next, we catch up to him in the 14th chapter of John. The disciples had gathered to celebrate the Passover with Jesus, and he was trying to tell them what was going to happen in his death, resurrection, and ultimate ascension.
Do you remember the scene? Jesus had just finished saying that he was going to prepare a place for them all in his Father’s heavenly house, and that, one day, they would join him there. Jesus said, “And you know the way to the place I am going?”
And the rest of the disciples sat there like typical men, having no clue of the directions, but not wanting to sound stupid by asking the question, figured that they would wander and get there eventually.
But it was Thomas, not that doubter, but the realistic thoughtful disciple that said, “Wait a minute, I need some directions!” “Lord, we do not know where you are going so how can we know the way?”
Jesus’ response we know well, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, Thomas, no one comes to the Father but by me.”
And now we meet Thomas for the third time. While the other disciples are trying to convince Thomas that Jesus was alive, and that he did appear to them and that all that they had seen with the daughter of Jarius, and the son of the widow-Nain, and with Lazarus, how now come true for Jesus. It was just too much.
Thomas couldn’t believe it. He was devastated by what had happened in the past and would not admit to it. He had been there when Jesus was murdered upon that cross and his present faith, his present hope, his present direction had been shattered.
We label Thomas “doubting” but I tell you the truth, I would have been making the same demand he did, “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.”
No doubt there are folks in church pews around this community this morning who are in the exact same boat as Thomas. Life has dealt some crushing blows. In many ways, we may call ourselves Easter people, but we still feel like we’re living in a Good Friday world.
Perhaps, like Thomas, we did not give ourselves the chance to get it. We were...elsewhere.
But now, we ARE all here. Thomas too.
The friendly New Testament church where all are welcome. Right? The doors are locked again. Still on Orange Alert, just in case. Suddenly, Jesus. "Put your finger here, [Thomas]; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
But Thomas’ experience didn’t end there….When Jesus showed up on the scene, and proclaimed, “Peace be with you,” it was that encounter with the risen Lord that empowered Thomas and the rest to publicly and powerfully proclaim the good news, the news, that over time would turn the world upside down.
With eyes that were no doubt as big as saucers, Thomas doesn’t even bother to check before he responds, "My Lord and my God!"
Now Thomas is in on the joke too. As the writer in Ecclesiastes has it, there is a "time to weep and a time to laugh." And we know what THIS is the time for.
Illus. You may have heard this. An Episcopal Bishop went to an unfamiliar church to celebrate the Eucharist. There was a microphone on the altar and as he was uncertain whether it was switched on or not, so he tapped it gently with no result. Then leaning very close to it, he said, in a loud whisper which echoed through the whole church, "There is something wrong with this microphone."
The well-trained and responsive congregation, very familiar with the very latest in liturgical language, replied at once, "And also with you."
When Jesus said, “peace be with you.” He was giving Thomas, the disciples, and even us, the hope we so desperately need in our continuing journey with this living Christ.
Hope that because He lives, we too will live. Hope in the future that people, events, or circumstances cannot change. Hope that says we don’t have to live in our past, struggle in our present, or fear our future.
It’s a Holy Hope that says this Easter, when Jesus told us “peace be with you,” it will make a difference. Life will not be the same. Like Thomas, may it mark our lives with a purpose, with meaning, and a new direction.
Illus. It was a couple of weeks after the Resurrection when someone approached Joseph of Arimathea articulating their surprise at him allowing Jesus to be buried in Joseph’s newly hand-hewn stone tomb. Joseph simply shrugged his shoulders and said, “He only needed it for the weekend!” Christ is risen…(he has risen indeed).
Psalm 34:1 – “I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall continually be in my mouth.”
Proverbs 17:22 says “A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.”
John 10:10 has Jesus saying, “I come that they may have life and have it more abundantly.”
I Corinthians 1:18 says, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but
to us who are being save it is the power of God…for you see your calling, sisters and
brothers, that not many wise according the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put shame to the wise…”
Easter is a time full of surprises…an empty tomb, a doubter’s fears and unbelief changed, a Savior announcing that his Peace will be with us. May our Lord’s Peace be with you….and also with you.
Will you join me in prayer….
Lord, as we stumble through this life, help us to create more laughter than tears, dispense more happiness than gloom, and spread more cheer than despair. Never let us become so indifferent that we fail to see the wonder in the eyes of a child or the twinkle in the eyes of the aged. Never let us forget your message of peace, which speaks to our past, our present, and our future. May we share with one another the healing and wholeness shared with us through your Son Jesus Christ, so that this Easter season will surely make a difference in the lives of those around us. Lord, help us become fools for you. Help us to share your holy humor with your creation. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
(A re-written version of “The Clown’s Prayer” of Smiles Unlimited, a clown ministry to hospitals, nursing home and prisons, based in Indianapolis.)
#502 – Thy Holy Wings O Savior
Closing Benediction…
May the Hope of God, the Father, secure you,
May the Peace of Jesus, the Son, enfold you,
May the Laughter of the Sprit, inspire us all.
In the name of Father, and of the Son, and of the Spirit, we pray…Amen.
Notes: This sermon in a compilation from my experiences, Holy Humor and More Holy Humor from Cal & Rose Samra, and other sources including Rev. Bob Hunter’s “The Difference Resurrection Makes (Easter 2002)” and Rev. Dr. David E. Leininger’s “Laugh, Thomas, Laugh (4/30/2002)” and “A Time to Laugh(4/27/2003).”
Note: If for any reason you did not find this sermon helpful, please let me know by contacting me at gb@clergy.net. Your input will help me personally and my congregation as I learn professionally.
