4/11/21 John 20:19-31 “Peace Be With You!”

09 Apr 4/11/21 John 20:19-31 “Peace Be With You!”

4/11/21    John 20:19-31       “Peace Be With You!”

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Easter.  We have observed Holy Week and now it is a time to continue to celebrate.  So, as I was trying to figure how to keep the celebration going, I ran across an article that told of how some churches designate the Sunday after Easter as Holy Humor Sunday.  The idea is not to try to belittle what happened so many years ago during Holy Week, but to keep the celebration going because of what happened on Easter Sunday.  So many times, we get through a holiday and we get right back into the grind of day to day living.  There are many things that keep on happening in the world that need our attention.  So, some churches have a humor Sunday to try to take our minds off of the world for one more week.

So, I’m going to try to keep things light as we begin today by telling you a story by Darin Hunt.  One day there were three guys having a discussion when one of them asked what they would like to hear at their own funeral?   The first fellow said that he would like to hear that he was a great humanitarian who cared about his community.  The second fellow thought a minute and then said, “He was a great husband and father, who was an example for many to follow.”  The third man finished up by saying, “Look!  He’s moving.”  Of course, this never really happened and this is my feeble attempt at Holy Humor Sunday.  Today, I hope that we will be able to end on a real positive note but first we will have to look at something that holds us back a bit.

Malcolm Lambert has a couple of questions for us.  How many people here or do you know that start out the day by reading their horoscope?  If you like to have a little humor in your life, then this is a good way to do it.  Otherwise, I would say that you are totally wasting your time.  Or do you think or know of someone who thinks that earth is regularly visited by aliens?  There are thousands and thousands of people who believe in these things.  Once again, I think that it is a waste of time.  Or how many believe the one about all religions being equally true?  My goodness, we live in a society that thinks like this.  All of these things are ways in which we are justifiably skeptical.  Many if not most people don’t want to believe what is in the Bible and they surely don’t want to follow it.  However, things are a little different now compared to the time of Thomas.

Let’s go back and consider what happened so many years ago.  The disciples were locked in a room somewhere being fearful for their lives.  After all, their leader, Jesus, had just been murdered by the authorities.  It would only be a natural assumption that they are next.  So, they are sitting in a room somewhere shaking with fear.  They have sealed the windows.  They probably used some of that clear plastic wrap that you put on windows to seal a house for the winter.  They had probably used their hair dryers to smooth the plastic wrap and finish the job.  They have put 4 heavy duty deadbolt locks on the doors, plus they have the regular lock and probably a plank going across the door.  No one is coming in to get them.

So, they are feeling reasonably safe but still scared.  They had heard from Mary Magdalene, John and Peter that Jesus was not dead.  But they had not seen Him yet when suddenly He appears in this sealed room.  He tells them, “Peace be with you!”  Suddenly, they were overjoyed because their Lord is alive and now, they see Him.  We will get back to this in a minute.

At this time, Thomas is not with the other disciples.  We don’t know where he was but we do know a little about Thomas.  Thomas was a faithful disciple.  We see him after the death of Lazarus saying, “Let us go…that we may die with Him” meaning with Jesus. He was willing to follow Jesus when there was much danger.  Thomas is the one who asked the question in John 14, “Lord, we do not know where you are going so how can we know the way?”  Jesus then replied, “I am the way, the truth and the life.”  So, we have Thomas who is dedicated to Jesus.

There is something else happening here.  Thomas would be in a deep state of mourning for his dear friend who has just died.  How many of you have tried to talk to someone who is in mourning?  It is very hard to do.  Most of the time it is better to just try to comfort them.  The last thing that you want to say to that person is that the person who has died and who they are mourning has come back to life.  Think about this.  This is exactly what they are trying to tell Thomas.  Thomas, who hasn’t been with them yet when Jesus was around, doesn’t believe them.  And because of this, Thomas gets the bad name of being the doubter.  He is the original doubting Thomas.  He has had this name for centuries and he really doesn’t deserve it because he is only acting naturally.  He was acting like anyone who is in mourning.

So, I don’t think that he doubted in the same way that we do today.  He doubts in grief.  Today we doubt in arrogance and ignorance.  It wouldn’t surprise me if we had a person here today that believes in horoscopes, aliens or that all religions are the same.  I wouldn’t be surprised because this is how our society is.  It was only a few years ago that we had sorcerers and fortune tellers advertising on prime-time TV.  What a bunch of baloney!  As a society, we not only doubt but we are proud of it.  I’ve had people brag to me how they don’t believe in God.   Never mind that the Bible will lead to God.  Never mind that these acts of sin bring them anything but peace.  They don’t want God so they shut Him out.

Now don’t get me wrong here.  It is ok to doubt once in a while.  We all go through times of doubt.  When we are in the shoes of Thomas and we are mourning, we may doubt.  Maybe we have been listening too much to people around us and we begin to doubt.  Doubt can creep in many places.  There is only one way to get rid of doubt.  You have to keep going to Jesus the way Thomas did.  We may not get to see Him in person but we can surely talk to Him in person.  This is one of the reasons that we need to be in constant prayer in our lives.  It is only through good communication with Jesus that we can get rid of things in our lives like doubt.  So, remember this when doubt comes skulking into your life.  Take it to Jesus.  He loves you and He will help you.

Now I want to get back to what Jesus said to the disciples and Thomas, “Peace be with you!”  The parts here about Thomas are important but I think the real message comes in these words.  I think that we can take a look at this in three parts.  First of all, the disciples had been through a lot in the last couple of weeks.  Actually, they had seen a lot in the last three years.  They saw the power of God first hand.  They also saw this balanced with the love of God.  On the other side they had seen the hate of people against them.  This hate seemed to have no boundaries as they had taken the life of Jesus.  To all of these things of the past Jesus says, “Peace be with you!”

If we look back on our lives, we find that we have all had quite a history.  We have all seen a lot of ups and downs.  I have often wished that life would be more even but then it probably wouldn’t be as rewarding or interesting.  Anyway, I have seen the death of loved ones, the anguish and rewards of having and raising children, financial up turns and down turns, and just overall life.  I have told you before how I really don’t know how I got through these things without Jesus Christ.  I praise the Lord I got through those first 40 years.  And this is because since I have known Him these words have echoed in my mind, “Peace be with you!”

I know somewhere in the back of my mind that no matter what happens, somehow Jesus will help me get through because He has in the past.  I look back and I see all the miracles that He has done for me…. and my family.  He has always been there whether I knew Him or not.  When I didn’t know Him, He was calling for me.  He is calling for you, too.

I have noticed one thing as I look around the world.  I find that many people who don’t know the Lord, have a tendency to make a mountain out of a mole hill.  I am talking in general terms here as I have known Christians to do the same thing, but far more often non-believers will do it.  It seems to me that they will take some small incident in their lives and magnify it.  Then when a really big tragedy happens, they will fall apart.  I have seen this many times.  They don’t know Jesus so they have to play on our sympathies.

If we would just take a look at our histories, our past, we find that Jesus takes care of us quite well.  We don’t need the sympathy of others.  Christians live longer, are healthier and are happier than non-Christians.  This has been proven by science.  It would seem to me that people would be flocking to Christ just because of this.  You want to be happy, healthy and live long, don’t you?  Look at our history and see the peace that Jesus has brought us.  Peace be with you!

We know that God has been with us throughout our lives even though we do not know it at times.  God has been with humankind throughout history and we can read about that in our Bibles.  This all leads us to the conclusion that God will be with us today.  Do you see how logical all of this is?  One thing just follows after another.  If you are a logical person, I would think that you would almost have to be a Christian.

Anyway, we have Jesus coming to the disciples as they are locked in a room.  We have Him coming to Thomas and the others again a week later in a locked room.  Suddenly Jesus is in their presence.  I think that this is so neat.  They are scared to death and they don’t know what to do next.  If they make a wrong move, it could mean their death also.  But Jesus is there to comfort them.  They had watched him die but yet here He is.  Death has no hold on Jesus nor on you.  He has just defeated it along with Satan.  And Jesus is there to help them today.

This is one of those things that is hard for us to really appreciate in our world.  We have been so brainwashed and influenced by the world.  We like to put God in a place like this building and we will come and access Him on Sunday.  He has no place in the world as the world sees it.  For instance, we are told that we have to have separation of church and state which I think is totally wrong and against our constitution.  God belongs in our government.  God belongs in our schools.  There is not one place that I can think of that God doesn’t belong.  Look at the mess this country is in today.  Look at how terrible things are throughout the world.  Just think of how good things would be if we would just let God run the show.  Instead, we have to live in this constant fear that they will try to take God away from us.

But no matter what they do, they cannot take God away from us.  Who keeps performing miracles in our everyday lives?  Jesus.  Why is there a sudden coming to Christ for the people of Iran or China?  Jesus.  Today if you are locked into a room, you can be just like the disciples and have Jesus with you.  He has defeated death and is always there if you ask.  You don’t have to be afraid of anyone or anything.  You don’t have to be afraid of the Democrats or the Republicans or the Socialists or the Muslims or the Buddhists.  You always have Jesus right here with you.

Please try to remember this if you have something going on in your life right now.  Jesus is there for the asking.  He will help you get through anything or any problem.  All you have to do is ask.  Peace be with you today.

So, we have this rich history of Jesus always being there that helps us to know for certain that He will help us today.  I want to keep this logical so the next step would naturally be that Jesus will be there to help you in the future.  Now I hope that you all know that I do not believe in fortune telling so I don’t know what things will be like tomorrow or next week or next year.  I have never known any of this kind of information and I have done pretty well.

Once again, I have to look back at how I used to be before I knew Jesus.  I lived for today because I had nothing to believe in for tomorrow.  I didn’t know what would happen to me when I died.  This led to a lot of stupid decisions.  Now I know that God will take care of everything in this world plus He has made a home for me in heaven.  He has kept all the promises that He has ever made so I don’t know why I shouldn’t trust Him on this one too.  Therefore, you can believe Jesus when He says, “Peace be with you!” for your future.

Today I have tried to show you a little about doubt.  We all have it and we will continue to doubt things in the future.  But there is one thing that we never have to doubt and that is Jesus Christ.  The evidence is overwhelming that Jesus is exactly who He said He is.  He is here today.

This all reminds me of a story told by Stephen Wright of a new comer in Alaska who had to cross a frozen river on foot.  He started out and all seemed well until he was about half way across.  Then he started to hear the ice crack under him and he thought he was in trouble.  So, he dropped on his hands and knees to distribute his weigh a little.  Then he heard the sound of a motor and he looked up to see a Jeep heading onto the ice.  The Jeep passed him as it went to the other side.  After the Jeep passed, the man got up and walked the rest of the way across.

Don’t let the sounds of this world scare you.  Don’t let them fill you with fear and doubt.  Open your heart and let Jesus take total control of your life, your whole life.  He has a better record than any person can ever have.  It is better than all people put together throughout history.  He is always there for you because He loves you so much.  Peace be with you.  And thank you Jesus for first loving us.  Let’s pray.