Pentecost
The Day of Pentescost, May 13, 2001 | A Sermon based on John 14: 23-31 | by David Zersen |
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, 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 retain the sins of any, they are retained.” But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “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.”
A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
THE GIFT THAT ONLY JESUS GIVES
With the recent death of comedian Jerry Stiller, it’s worth remembering one of the more famous Seinfeld episodes in which George Costanza’s father, Frank (played by Jerry Stiller), discovers the practical use of a mantra called “Serenity Now.” Frank, as usual, is plagued by various conflicts, usually with his wife, but in this episode by the failure of a business he has set up in his garage. To reduce high blood pressure’s impact on his system, Frank’s doctor has encouraged him in the face of confrontation to say “Serenity now.” Of course, Frank, never one to be easily controlled by a simple mantra, takes to shouting it, only making the situation more intense. What was intended to be pacifying becomes a perfunctory and ineffective chant.
Simple words, appropriately delivered, can have differing meanings, both to the speaker and to the hearer. For example, around the world, people using different languages have developed greetings to be used when people meet. Many of these are like mantras whose meaning is forgotten or understood in differing ways. When we lived in Texas for almost 25 years, the typical greeting was “Ya doin’ all right?” It was, of course, a question, but many just rattled it off and were shocked if someone actually tried to answer the question. In the community in Wisconsin in which we currently live, one man’s response to a greeting like “How’s it going?” is always, “How much time have you got?” Words meant simply as greetings can be alternatively understood.
In a religious context, Christians are used to greeting one another on Sunday mornings in the liturgy with “The Lord be with you” (the ancient Latin Dominus vobiscum) to which the one greeted responds “And with your spirit” (Et cum spiritum tui). Fancy talk—very spiritual. Typically, the greeting used for almost 2000 years, is so self-understood that we give little thought to what we are saying. We’re just happy that we remember the words! The other greeting which suffers from the same perfunctory character is offered in response to the officiant’s invitation to share a sign of peace. For the most part, we have lost the meaning of this gesture. Some will simply say “Good morning” and others may give their own full-blown spiritual message to a puzzled stranger.
Let’s step back into the text for this morning and remember how the greeting is used there. The disciples are huddled in a locked house because they are afraid that the same Jewish mob that attacked Jesus will come after them. Additionally, they have their own personal reprimand because they did not stand up for Jesus when he was being accused and ultimately taken off to be crucified. Both fear and guilt are not friends when you are not practicing social distancing and there seems to be little hope for the future.
Suddenly Jesus is present with them and greets them in a way that is both expected and also surprising.
He uses a greeting that has ancient provenance among the Jewish people, but in this context they don’t expect it. Words that we have come to know as a benediction at the close of a worship service were first given to Aaron and his sons. (Num. 6:23-26) They conclude in our English translation with the words…”the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.” The Hebrew word for “peace” is “Shalom,” a word that could certainly become a perfunctory greeting mantra for many in a Hebrew context. However, its regular usage in the Old Testament and by Jesus provides a focused context that is rich and powerful. Shalom does not simply mean “hello,” but it describes a sense of wholeness, completeness, prosperity, and tranquility. It is more than a mere greeting—it is in fact a word of blessing to the recipient.
The shock for the disciples when Jesus greets them with this word in that locked house is surprising. They might have expected that he would come and sack them all. They after all had been called to work with him for a couple of years. They had let him down. And then he shows them his wounded wrists! And, of all things, he adds, “Shalom.” It is a rich greeting that became the mark of the Kingdom he was introducing. In a modern English translation, he says “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give as a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled and afraid.” (NLT 14:27)
Wow! With some pain I remember a situation in which I sent our son to his room as a seven-year-old because of something that he had done. After a while he stood at the top of the stairs, crying, and hollering, “Isn’t somebody going to hug me?” Surely I did. I ran up the stairs as fast as I could. But isn’t it the very thing that the disciples were feeling—and that we often feel when we know we have failed and desperately need a hug, an assurance? Don’t we want to know that there is still a future for us?
Jesus said “Shalom” to people who had failed him, who had betrayed him. “Don’t be troubled and afraid.”
Is it something that we can convey to one another as we pass the peace on a Sunday morning? This is not a perfunctory greeting. This is not the moment when we buoyantly say “hi there” to a stranger, especially when we shouldn’t presently be shaking hands, embracing or kissing. This is a blessing we are sharing because we have been blessed by Jesus.
If we have failed him when we know that we have been called to a fuller discipleship in our baptisms, we should know that he has blessed us to be a blessing to others!
If we have severed our relationships with friends and relative by saying or doing inappropriate things, we should know that we have been sent to reach out to them as forgiven sinners!
We seek to assure others in the sharing of Shalom that in this kingdom, under the lordship of Jesus, there is the fullness of tranquility, contentment, forgiveness and perfection that transcends human understanding (Phil. 4:4-7). We who share the peace are at peace with God and others because of Jesus.
In the second portion of our text, Jesus get personal with a man we have come to call “doubting Thomas.” Everyone knows that description of him, but it’s truly unfair because none of us would like to be remembered for all time because of one incident in our lives. Thomas is after all regarded as the founder of the Thomas Christians of India, the great church he founded in a new life that became his own after he accepted Jesus’ acceptance of him.
That moment when Thomas was reclaimed and restored is presented in a sculpture by a German Lutheran Expressionist artist, Ernst Barlach. A reproduction of the sculpture in my possession had a crack in the base that I had repaired by a studio in South Milwaukee. The clerk called to tell me that the sculpture of the two beggars was ready for pickup. Partially correct! There was one beggar in the sculpture, and the other figure Thomas named “My Lord and my God!” The sculpture presents the moment when Thomas is probably saying, “Is it really you? Oh my gosh, and I thought you were dead! How could I have been so wrong given all that you told us about your rising after three days? How can you ever forgive me?” And it is the same moment in which Jesus says, “Do not doubt, but believe.” The sculpture is a treasure for me because it reminds that when all seems lost, there is One who is reaffirming us and re-commissioning us in his kingdom of Shalom.
Today is the Day of Pentecost. We remember that annual gathering for the harvest festival in Jerusalem when Jews from all around the area traveled to celebrate. On this occasion, when people didn’t have to worry about social distancing, Peter spoke to crowds and encouraged them to appreciate the new era that had begun in which the Spirit of God would now lead into the Kingdom all who confessed Jesus as Lord.
It is also a new day for us because in this difficult time of social distancing and observance of stringent hygienic practices we are encouraged to appreciate the ways we ARE allowed to come together. We worship at a distance as forgiven and empowered, baptized and re-commissioned children of God. There are many around us who are angry, who want to blame the Chinese and just anyone– who hope to destroy the chances for political candidates because of the how they failed to handle a crisis– who want to prove that they have personal rights on which no one dare infringe! There are all these angry people.
We do not need to have those problems. We have been launched through our baptisms by the power of the Spirit as people of Shalom.
We have been set free to love and serve all by the very One who could have sacked us!
This is our Pentecost too. Our new forever beginning. The Son has set us free. Let us be free indeed. (John 8:36)
Shalom.
The Rev. David Zersen, D.Min., Ed.D. , FRHistS
President Emeritus, Concordia University Texas