First Sunday of Easter - Ps 16:8-11, Jn 20:19-31, 1 Pet 1:3-9

As we walk through this season of Easter, the people and stories of the Bible are our companions. They will be in the same place we are in this Easter season. Today we are here after the resurrection, having celebrated last week. Today we begin to discover what it means to live with a Risen Lord, not simply alive, for he’s been crucified and buried. But he’s not at all dead, for Jesus walks in our midst. We start to learn what it means to have a Jesus who lives forever and walks through walls. On this journey, we have the disciples gathered behind locked doors and we have Peter’s church. We journey together.

Today is the Sunday after Easter. Somewhere along the line, a people began calling today “low Sunday,” some of them because the number of people sitting in the pews tends to drop the Sunday after Easter. But for others, today became “Low Sunday” because Easter was an emotional high, a mountaintop experience; and this Sunday the church had reentered the valleys, the emotionally mundane.

One of my favorite Christian musicians is Bebo Norman. I listen to him while I’m studying and in my car. His songs find their way into my workout mixes and into my prayers. And this morning, one of his songs is finding its way into my sermon.

As I thought about Easter being a mountaintop, the words of Bebo’s “Walk Down This Mountain” started playing in my mind. “It’s a better place / Standing high upon this mountain / I’ve seen your face / full of the light that only this height can show / A blistered hand is what you’ve given / But you’ve been given all you’ll ever need to know.”

The mountaintop is good. We see God’s face on the mountain. The air is clearer. We are free of smog and traffic, free of busyness and worries, free of jobs and crying children. We have time to listen and time to be with God. The mountaintop is our spiritual vacation where we relax in God’s presence and are refreshed. Think of the mountaintop as your place of escape for a moment. Close your eyes and picture it. Laying in a meadow watching the clouds rush past. || Sitting on the beach as the waves crash on the sand. || Walking through a forest as the sun reflects off of the trees. || Sitting in your own private garden. || Here you can feel the stillness. The noise is silenced long enough to hear your own thoughts. The chaos is halted long enough for you to meet God. This is the mountaintop. On the mountaintop, we meet God, and Easter is certainly a mountaintop for the church.

On Easter we see Jesus resurrected, and we see him revealed as who he really is. The god incarnate; God made flesh and dwelling here in our midst. Throughout the Gospel of John, we have been told that Jesus’ actions are signs, signs pointing us in the right direction. And here at the end of the gospel, we see the greatest sign of all, the cross and resurrection, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. What a mountaintop. We have seen Jesus raised. We have seen God.

As we sit here this morning, the United Methodist Church in Haw River, North Carolina, 2008, we join a long line of people who have met God on the mountain. It is an important place for the people of God. Moses met God on the mountaintop and came down with the ten commandments. Elijah went up on the mountaintop an defeated the prophets of Baal when God sent fire from heaven to consume the evening sacrifice, and he came down to an Israel that had turned away from idols. Jesus went up on the mountain with his disciples and was transfigured there, and they came down having seen the glory of God in Jesus. Upon on the mountaintop we meet God. But none of these people stayed on the mountain. They came down and returned to life among the people of God. But something had happened on the mountain. They were changed. The time on the mountaintop transformed life in the valleys.

So we gather here this morning having been on the mountain. We have met God. We have waited through the cross and the tomb, and we have seen the Risen Jesus. And we too have been changed as we reenter the valleys on this Sunday after Easter. Life in the valleys looks different after the resurrection.

Thankfully we are not alone on this journey. We have as traveling companions the disciples and Peter’s church, the people and the stories of the scriptures. The disciples are gathered in the house behind locked doors. They know about the empty tomb. That morning Peter and the disciple Jesus loved had seen the grave clothes laying in the tomb. And Mary had seen Jesus and talked with him. She had told the disciples everything Jesus had said. Yet that night we still see the disciples locked behind closed doors, locked in fear.

The disciples have good reason to be afraid of the Judeans. They were still in Jerusalem after all, and it was the temple leaders in Judea who had put Jesus to death. They had already decided in Jn 9 that everyone who said Jesus was the Messiah would be expelled from the synagogue. And the Jerusalem leaders wanted to kill Lazarus as well because many people believed in Jesus because of Lazarus. Peter knew to be afraid. He had stood in the high priest’s courtyard when the girl recognized him as a follower of Jesus. Yes, the disciples had good reason to be afraid.

But Mary had told them that Jesus was alive, and they themselves had seen the empty tomb. They knew Jesus was not dead. They had been to the mountaintop of Easter morning. The disciples knew Jesus was alive, but like us, they had to learn how the resurrection transforms the valleys.

Into a room full of fear and death, Jesus enters, right through the WALLS! The first words out of Jesus’ mouth are “peace be with you.” Peace, not fear. It’s hard to be afraid of the Judeans when the person they killed comes back to life. Fear has no power. “Peace be with you.”

Then Jesus shows them his hands and his side. He isn’t a ghost or a vision. Jesus really stands in the room. He has a real body, and he still carries the signs of his death. But death doesn’t have any power either. A resurrected, living man bears those holes in his hands, feet, and side.

As the disciples recognize Jesus, he says again, “Peace be with you,” and he sends them out to do God’s work. The first person they go to is Thomas. They tell him that they have seen Jesus, but he doesn’t seem to know what that means for life in the valleys. We can’t really blame Thomas for not understanding. After all, the disciples didn’t understand either when Mary told them.

So a week later, Jesus comes again, and this time Thomas is present. Again he says, “Peace be with you.” Peace, again? Jesus really wants to convey that his risen presence brings peace doesn’t he? In 7 verses, he says it 3 times. Peace, do not fear. Peace, Jesus is alive. Peace, all of your doubts disappear in his presence.

Jesus tells Thomas to put his fingers into the holes in his hands, but Thomas doesn’t do it. Jesus’ presence and his proclamation of peace actually bring peace for Thomas’ doubts. He proclaims, “My Lord and my God.” And Jesus responds with his famous line, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Blessed are those who have believed the testimony of others that Jesus is risen.

Blessed is Peter’s church. Peter encourages the people with the words, “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him.” Yes, Peter’s church also stands with us in the valleys after the mountaintop of Easter, and Peter is helping them navigate life in the valleys.

[Read from Bible] “In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade,” and “in this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.” This church is certainly in the valleys. They are being persecuted because they live in Christ. Later in the letter, we read that the people used to live as the pagans did, partying at the festivals, drinking for days, satisfying their lusts, and committing idolatry, but now they have stopped partying with their friends and started worshipping God. Their friends are persecuting and abusing the Christians. They are suffering under trials, but they rejoice in God’s power and strength.

The resurrection has transformed this church and its time in the valleys. They have been born into a living hope and they are not troubled by the trials and temptations. They are not afraid, and they are not doubting. They are not consumed by worry. They live in a state of peace. They have been given new birth. Birth is not a fleeting or occasional gift. When we were born, we entered the state of being alive. We are now a part of the world, and we cannot simply choose to be unborn whenever we like. This is Peter’s description of Christians. We have received birth into hope and an eternal inheritance. We have been born into joy and a peace which remains in spite of this life’s trials.

This is one of the ways we navigate life in the valleys. We are born into a state of peace when the Risen Jesus enters the room and transforms our lives. Think about life without Jesus. It is controlled by fear and worry. There is no one who has conquered death. There is no hope for transformation, and there is no confidence that God will sustain. People worry that their children’s career choices will never work out. They worry that they might one day get sick. Often they die in terror, worrying about the end of their existence. In a world of fear and worry, peace is one of our greatest witnesses to the Risen Jesus.

Think of the tax commercial playing this year. The men are in a sauna, and the one says that he can’t sweat anymore. The other men say he will sweat because of tax season, but he says that he has people. We are like that man. We have Jesus, so we live in a state of peace. We follow Jesus, unafraid of how we might be treated. Maybe the boss will be unhappy that we won’t work on Sundays, but we know that the boss’s opinion is not the one that really matters. Maybe our friends will ridicule and stand up against us, but we know that Jesus has promised to surround us with his power. Maybe children will make poor choices, but we know that Jesus has promised to be with them and is working to lead them to live wisely and follow God faithfully. In a world where many conversations are filled with worry, fear, and stress, the church who sees the risen Jesus and lives in peace is quite a witness.

Peace is the reality of the Christian life. It is like we are standing in the middle of a garden. Tranquility reigns, and our hearts and minds are stilled to be with God. But the world outside of the garden is busy, tired, stressed, and afraid, and there are many doors leading into this world of worry. We are constantly tempted to leave the garden of peace and worry like the outside world worries. If you have left the garden, look back to the Risen Jesus who stands in our midst and come back to this state of peace. Your presence in this realm of peace will draw others in as well, and they too will meet the Risen Lord.

WE live lives of peace transformed by the presence of Jesus standing in our midst. Easter was a mountaintop, and it was peaceful up there. But the valleys are also changed by our time on the mountain. Our companions today have show us that life in the valleys is also a life of peace, even in a world of worry and fear. But as we walk down this mountain into the valleys, the peace we have because we have seen the Lord witnesses back to the mountain, to Easter, to the resurrection, and to the Risen Jesus who stands among us. So walk down this mountain with peace in your hearts.

As Bebo’s song plays for us, I invite you to go to God in prayer and ask whether you have been seduced to leaving the garden of peace. Ask if your life of peace is witnessing to the mountaintop. Finally, ask if you are crouched on the mountaintop and God wants you to walk down the mountain transformed for the valley to witness to his resurrection.

The Leaders Among Us

I’ve been thinking a lot this week about the needs of our church leaders. I’ve had several conversations in the last three days that have made me realize just how much prayer our leaders need. Of course, I’ve always known that, and I’ve coveted those prayers for myself as I lead various groups and churches.

Leadership isn’t easy, and our leaders are isolated in so many ways. Think about the last time you had a conversation with a pastor or professor when you really heard what is happening in their lives, both joys and struggles. It doesn’t happen often. Our shepherds cannot lay their burdens on the shoulders of the sheep. That is not the call God has given to them. That also means that the shepherds rely on each other for strength and support. Hopefully they get the support they need. Either way, they really need our prayers.

I’ve been blessed by shepherds who were willing to be vulnerable (in appropriate ways of course) with their sheep. But that vulnerability reveals the spiritual warfare that they face every day. Temptation to rely on their own strength. Temptation to seek the glory of men instead of the glory of God. Temptation to lose focus and get carried away into sin or absurdity. Attacks from people who disagree with the decisions they make. Attacks from people who want to maintain control over others. Attacks from people who don’t understand the church or Christianity. Attacks from people who think that using gifts for the service of the church (either as pastors or professors) instead of to further an academic career is a waste of time. The loss of loved ones. Pressure to perform. Personal illness. Doubts. Demands to publish. Committee requirements. Family sacrifices. Mourning. Constant accessibility.

Even when we don’t know what is happening in the lives of our shepherds, they need our constant prayers. They need God’s protection over them to be healthy. So many of our shepherds struggle with major health problems. Perhaps like Paul, this is just a thorn in the flesh. But if these are attacks of the devil, we need to pray for release. I’m thinking about one of the church leaders who almost died five times shortly before he was supposed to answer a call to run a charitable foundation. This was no ordinary illness. We need to pray that God will sustain our leaders’ health to be able to fulfill the commissions God has given them.

We need to pray for renewal and rest for our shepherds. They serve on committees, make decisions, do research and study, spend hours in conversations with their sheep, and pour out themselves in the service and love of God and their neighbors. They are fulfilling a call, and they are blessed to be able to serve in their roles, but even a call can end in burnout if our shepherds do not have the space and resources to be renewed themselves. We need to pray that God will continually refresh them with the joy of their call. We need to pray that they will have the discipline to spend time seeking God and waiting on his voice. We need to pray that they will experience daily the life- and joy-giving presence of God in their lives.

We need to pray for the constant guidance and direction for our leaders. It is so easy to lose sight of whom we are serving and why. Too many of our shepherds “fall from grace.” It isn’t just the media cases who struggle with these temptations. Any one of our leaders can get too caught up with the praise or criticism of others. Any one of us can begin to think that we are important and draw attention to ourselves instead of pointing to God. Any one of us can choose paths that are easy instead of paths that are faithful. The kings of Israel provide ample examples of people who ended up falling themselves and often bringing most of Israel with them in the process. We need to pray that God will give our leaders the strength to resist temptation.

The last couple of days at WTS/SPS have been difficult as I have been faced with my own negligence in prayer for these shepherds in my own life. I have too easily assumed that things were smooth sailing because I did not know that they were difficult. I’ve watched the pain, uncertainty, and resilience in these shepherds faces as they shared their lives with me. I’ve heard the brokenness of people who watched their friends and colleagues fall into sin. I’ve seen the struggles of church leaders who work with churches in crisis after pastors make destructive decisions. Their stories speak volumes to their own need. Our shepherds need us to place them on our permanent prayer list and to pray for them by name every day. If we doubt that, we need only think of the prayers we would desire if we were in similar situations.