April 19, 2020 Text: John 20:19-31
Dear Friends in Christ,
“Google, why did we get snow in the middle of April?” “Hey, Siri, how far should I social distance?” “Alexa, please make a tee time for May 1st, because I’m playing golf!” The human voice has new power. We talk to a machine . . . well, I don’t . . . but some of you do and it talks back. This is straight out of “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century” except it’s the 20th century and here in our lives today.
God created the voice to have power. Do you remember the movie “March of the Penguins” narrated by Morgan Freeman from a few years back? There was a scene with thousands of penguins, but the couples knew each other by their voices. Amazing I remember thinking.
Easter is, among other things, about . . .
“THE POWER OF THE VOICE”
We see the church at its worst this morning. The disciples are all hunkered down in their fear. Instead of letting their faith control their thoughts and actions, they are scared little rabbits hiding from the big, bad wolf.
In steps the voice of the Lord. “Peace be with you.” Before these men can apologize for their behavior these last few days Jesus speaks to them. He gives them the gift of His peace and joy.
Now they are starting to understand all those things he had told them. Jesus has taken away the separation between them and God. They have been reconciled. The same scene is repeated a week later when Thomas joins them. The disciples tell him what had happened but he wouldn’t believe their story. He had to see.
Do you notice one thing that stands out? They are still behind locked doors. Trust can be a difficult thing, can’t it? Jesus had told them He would be sending them out and that the Holy Spirit was upon them, but still they had their creeping doubts. Didn’t it occur to one of them to unlock the door? Jesus is here. The Savior in our midst. Sins forgiven. A promise of forgiveness given to us.
Where are we today? Figuratively, many are behind locked doors or closed doors or at the very least quarantined doors. Our fear is not the unbelievers or the authorities. Our fear is the same as the disciples – trust. The unknown can do this to even those with the greatest faith. It happened to eleven men who spent day and night with their Savior. They saw the miracles, heard the sermons, attended His Bible classes and yet they hole up in their homes as people with no hope.
What about you? Where is your level of trust this morning? If you put it all on the earthly authorities you are going to be in sad shape. Are you ready to unlock the door, come out and live? Then through the Holy Spirit put your trust in the Lord. He stands in your homes this day and in this church and says, “Peace be with you…Do not disbelieve, but believe.”
“Peace, your sin is forgiven.” Jesus then adds, “Do not fear the world. I have overcome the world. Peace be with you.” His Word, in the Savior’s voice, comes to us today with the same power as it came to those first disciples and to Thomas in those days after Easter. “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.” (v. 31)
Jesus spoke His peace to you in your baptism. He speaks His peace to you at the Lord’s Table. His word of peace gets you out of bed and from behind your couch and wherever else you have been hiding these last few weeks. Sure, it would be nice to be Rip Van Winkle and take a month-long siesta and then be able to go wherever you want. It doesn’t quite work that way. That is why we need the Lord’s peace. It is trust in Him that gets us back in the game.
The Lord tells each of us, “get off the bench, I’m sending you in.” We don’t go with bat and glove. We go with the Holy Spirit. We go with the keys of the kingdom. We are sent to the world to be His voice of peace. I pray you have been able to be that to your friends and neighbors. They’ve been watching how you have handled yourself during this blip in our comfortable lives. Have you lived the peace of the Lord? Have you allowed His voice to be the voice above every other voice? Are you living the hope of better days?
Come on out, the Risen Lord is before you. Modern voices are nice but nothing compared to the eternal voice that tells you and I to leave behind our fear, our sin, our sickness, and even death itself as we hear His Word one more time: “Peace be with you.”
Amen.