Second Sunday of Easter April 3, 2016
2nd Sunday of Easter (Quasimodo Geniti)
John 20:19-31
April 3, 2016
“The Real Jesus for You”
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
If you’ve ever seen a cheesy, scary movie, then you’ve probably seen a certain familiar story. Some poor girl or guy will be in a house scared of some bad guy that’s outside. They’ve got all the doors locked and they think they’re safe inside and they keep checking all the windows seeing if anybody is out there. Except—there comes this big scary scene—where the bad guy is already inside the house. And then there’s, most likely, some kind of a loud scream or something like that.
I’m not sure if the disciples in the upper room screamed or not. But they had a similar experience. They were all hiding out in a room in Jerusalem with the doors locked because they were supposedly scared of the Jews. That’s what we’re told in the Gospel reading. They were scared of the big, bad Jews. And there’s no doubt they were. They saw what the Jewish leaders had done to Jesus. They were scared of the same thing happening to them.
But then there comes the moment, just like in your typical scary movie, when they realize that what they really fear is already inside the room. The really bad guys aren’t the ones outside—they’re the ones inside. And when Jesus shows up in the room, that’s when they really get scared. They might have even screamed.
Remember what they had done to Jesus. One of their own had betrayed Him—Judas had. One of their own had denied knowing Him three different times—that’s Peter. All of them had run away when He was arrested in the Garden. None of them had believed Him when He said three different times that He was going to Jerusalem to die and He would rise again. If you’ve treated a guy like that, and not believed Him even though everything He said turned out to be true—are you going to be a little scared of running into Him again? They might have liked to think they were scared of the Jews. But what they were really scared of was Jesus. And their own scary hearts that denied Him and didn’t believe Him.
This should be very important to us. Because we do the same thing. We like to think we’re scared of everything out there. Everything outside of our walls and doors. That’s where all the real problems are, right? Oh, man, what a cesspool it is out there, right? Oh, it’s just terrible. Have you seen some of those disgusting movies that are coming out? Oh, the violence and the sex and the cursing. It’s terrible. I will only watch half of them! Haha
And have you seen those candidates running for President? Boy, those folks are terrible, aren’t they? Liars. Crooks. Dirty. Terrible folks. Our country is sure going to pot, right? And I’m sure it’s everybody else’s fault. And have you seen some of the stuff on the internet? Oh, it’s a horrible place.
Christians are as guilty as anyone of this. We like to make it out that all the problems are out there. Oh, if we could just get rid of abortion and just get rid of same sex marriage and just get rid of x, y, and z—then the world would be such a better place.
But just like one of those scary scenes from a horror movie—we don’t realize that the real evil is already inside. The real evil and real horror movie is right inside of us. Right inside our hearts. That’s the thing that really should be scaring us. The thing we should be really afraid of—that all the stuff we detest in the world is found right here in my heart. That all of the hatred and the immorality and the violence and evil is already inside my locked doors.
We’d like to think that our biggest problems are all out there. That what we’re really scared of is all out there. All that evil out there. But we’re like the disciples. Sitting there forgetting that it’s us who have not trusted God. It’s us who haven’t believed His Word. It’s us who have denied Him. Us who have been violent and hateful and greedy and selfish and immoral. We forget that the real enemy—is us.
So Jesus comes. And I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the disciples did scream. I know a lot of you would scream if Jesus actually showed Himself here in physical form even though, of course, He is here with us all the time. I know I would scream. Because I’d be scared what He’s going to have to say to me. And you would be too. And so were the disciples.
But what does Jesus say? He says, “Peace.” That’s the traditional greeting of someone who’s glad to see you. It’s like when someone walks into your house and says, “It’s so good to see you. So good to be here.” It’s a warm, welcome greeting that tells you all is well. That’s how Jesus comes in. He comes in telling His disciples, “I’m so glad to see you guys. Peace be with you. All is well.”
He also points them to His hands and His side. He wants them to know it’s Him and that those marks of the nails aren’t marks that Jesus is going to get revenge for. Those marks are telling you that you are forgiven. That all is well. That all the horror is done and paid for.
And then He talks about forgiving. Because that’s what this is all really about. It’s about forgiving sin. And Jesus says, “I’m sending you to forgive sinners.” Go back to that scary movie scene. Look at what has changed. The disciples are scared to death with the doors locked. Scared of all the wrong that has been done. And all of a sudden the movie changes to this dramatic scene of hope and joy. Jesus comes and He doesn’t come to get them. He comes to forgive them. All is well. Peace is everywhere. Forgiveness.
That’s what happens when Jesus comes to you and me. He deals with the real fears. The real problems. He comes into our locked hearts and says, “Peace be here.” He shows us His hands and side. We are forgiven. It’s done. He tells us our sins are forgiven and offers us His body and blood. Because the real problems aren’t all just out there somewhere. They’re right here. And Jesus brings peace right here.
Never will Jesus be more real to you than when He forgives your sins. There’s this huge push in churches today to make things more real to people and more relevant to people’s lives. There’s this assumption that the old churches like us just aren’t living in the real world anymore. We’re behind it. We’re not helping people in their real lives in the real world. We’re not relevant to people’s real needs.
So what should churches be doing? Making things more real with more modern music and bands that sounds more like what people are listening to in the real world. Somehow that’s more real and relevant. And get rid of pews and make your church look more like a movie theater with huge sounds and big lights. That’s much more real. And then make sure you use a lot of movies during your service. ‘Cause you’ve gotta make Jesus more real to all of us who watch too much TV. And then you forget the Lord’s Supper all together because that’s old. If you do it at all, you do it quickly and don’t make a big deal out of it because it doesn’t really give forgiveness. It’s just us remembering Him. And then have a thirty to forty minute message about how you can make Jesus more real in your life by doing x, y, and z.
But those churches are wrong. They’re wrong about making Jesus real and relevant. It’s not music or emotion or movies or seating or a moving message. You don’t need to dress up Jesus. You don’t need to make Him relevant. You just need His Word and Sacrament where He forgives sin. Because that’s where you actually receive Jesus Himself. Not a feeling of Jesus. Jesus Himself. Not through music or movies or emotions. Through the forgiveness of your sin in Word and Sacrament.
When you come up to this altar here, like the disciples, with the guilt and shame of all your sin—knowing that the real scary thing isn’t everything out in the world but everything right here in my heart—then Jesus won’t ever be more real than He is right here in this bread and wine, His body and blood, where He forgives all your sins and gives you the same peace He gave to His disciples that night in the upper room.
My job isn’t to send you out into the real world. My job is to bring the real Jesus right here to you. This is the real world. This is where the real Jesus comes through the preaching and through the Lord’s Supper to take away your real fears and your real sins and make you right with the real God. And when you have received Jesus here in His Word and Sacrament, then you are ready to go out with Him to the rest of the world that also has real fears and real sins and also needs the real Jesus.
These verses are a very good reminder today why pastors are important. Jesus specifically sends them out, through the call of the Church, to bring His forgiveness to you. Jesus’ words are clear, “If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven.” When you hear your pastor tell you personally that all of your sins are forgiven, it is just as valid and certain as if Jesus Himself forgave you. Those are Jesus’ words. That’s what He wants you and I to have. Certainty and assurance that all is well with Him. That we are at peace.
Remember that the real problems aren’t just all out there somewhere. What you need isn’t a Jesus who will just keep all that bad stuff away from you. No, you need Jesus who deals with your bad stuff. Who deals with your sin. You need Jesus who forgives you and gives you peace and strength to go forth into the world with His grace. And Jesus does just that—right here—in His Word and in the Sacrament. In Jesus’ name. Amen.