What Comes Next

The season of Lent is over and we have completed another Easter holiday. For those who follow the Christian calendar it means we mark 40 days until Ascension Day. And 10 days after that—the fiftieth day after resurrection—we celebrate Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came upon the church. After that the church calendar goes into this long section all the way up to the beginning of Advent called Ordinary Time.

I am not sure why the church over the centuries has come to call it ordinary time. Last year when we as a church read through the book of Acts it was impressed upon me once again that this time which comes after the resurrection is anything but ordinary. It was an amazing time for the church as the apostles jumped into a whole new realm of living as a part of God’s redeemed people. But the transformation was not instantaneous. It isn’t as though the disciples woke up the day after Easter and had it all figured out. As the disciples struggled to grasp an understanding of Christ’s resurrection, they are confronted with a question: what comes next? Let’s consider that today, because I think in some sense, we are all confronted with that same question. For those of us in the church who have people of faith for many years, we still need to be reminded of how our lives are forever different now because of the resurrection. And just like the disciples, that transition can take some adjustment in our lives too.

John 20:19–31 (NIV)

John 20:19–31 NIV

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. 21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” 24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” 26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” 28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Author Mark Buchanan first caught my attention decodes ago with his book, Your God Is Too Safe. In one of his follow up books to that he writes:

“There’s an enormous gap between the life Jesus offered and the life we’re living. We feel it. We see it. We sense that whatever else Jesus came preaching, this can’t be what he had in mind: a roomful of people nodding to old platitudes, nodding off to old lullabies, perking up to Jonah-like rants, jumping up to split hairs or break company at the smallest provocation. He can’t have dreamed a church gorging itself on feeling good and allergic to self-denial. He can’t have hoped for a church that was more concerned with itself than with the world it inhabits. When Jesus announced that the kingdom was at hand, this can’t be what he meant. What happened? When did we start making it our priority to be safe instead of dangerous, nice instead of holy, cautious instead of bold, self-absorbed instead of counting everything loss in order to be found in Christ?”

In the concluding chapters of John’s gospel, he states that all his writing in this book is intended to strengthen people’s faith—that they may believe that Jesus is the Messiah…and that by believing they may have life in his name. John knows that belief in Christ brings dramatic transformation in the hearts of those who believe. Yet at the same time John throws these stories into those concluding chapters of his gospel which make it clear this transformation takes some adjustment.

All through the season of Lent we have focused upon that Old Testament idea of shalom. It is the thriving, flourishing, and wellbeing of the creation as God intended before sin. We have seen over and over again in the Bible that God’s purpose in redeeming the world through the Messiah is to bring about a restoration of God’s shalom. There are hints of that showing up in John. When Jesus appears to his disciples after the resurrection, the first thing he says is “shalom be with you!” He says it more than once. A week later when Jesus appears again, he greets them with the very same words, “shalom be with you!”

Jesus is focusing attention back in the direction of shalom | but the disciples are still trying to figure out what resurrection is all about

Jesus is declaring it. He is focusing our attention back in the direction of shalom. But the disciples are still trying to figure out what this is all about. They are still very much wondering to themselves, what comes next? And for those in our church-world today who share a similar sentiment along with Mark Buchanan that there must be something more, the shalom words of Jesus are helpful for us as well.

disciples go back to fishing | do they not know what else to do?

There is one more story in John’s gospel before it ends, which I did not read along with our passage today. It finds the disciples back up in Galilee by the lake. Several of the disciples are from that area. On the one hand it is not surprising to find them there. After all, this was home for many of them. On the other hand it presents an interesting question for us to consider. Did they return back to the place they were before Jesus entered their lives because they did not know what else to do? Several of the disciples were fishermen before becoming disciples of Jesus. John tells us that Peter decides he is going to go back to fishing, and many of the other disciples join him. Peter and the others do not know what is supposed to come next, so they go back to the only other thing they know—fishing.

Jesus reinstates Peter | affirms that his followers still have a mission

It is there by the lake that Jesus appears for the third time to the disciples. After Jesus directs them in throwing their nets to haul in a giant catch of fish, they come ashore to find that Jesus has prepared a breakfast picnic to share. It is at this same scene where Jesus asks Peter three times if Peter loves him, followed by the instruction to “feed my sheep.” The disciples are still trying to catch on to what is supposed to come next after the resurrection of Jesus.

what is it that comes next after the resurrection?

Let’s take a step back and consider that today on this Sunday following Easter. What is it that is supposed to come next after the resurrection? I think the overarching focus of the prophets we have seen over the weeks of Lent is helpful. The greetings of Jesus in these passages from John is also helpful. These things focus us back again to the ways in which shalom is integrated into the salvation God provides through the Messiah. Back up with me and consider the 30,000-foot view of scripture through the lens of shalom.

shalom begins in a garden (Genesis: Eden)

I have mentioned before that the entire story of the bible both begins and ends in a garden. Creation begins in the garden of Eden in which there is perfect shalom. And the book of Revelation ends with a garden in the New Jerusalem. It is a place where a river flows from the tree of life. It is a place where the perfect shalom of God is completely restored. The story of salvation happens between those two gardens, with Jesus at the very center of it. After Adam and Eve sin and the entire creation is plunged into the grip of sin, God begins enacting his plan of salvation.

Abraham — God appoints a community of holy people called to be agents of shalom

Beginning with Abraham, God calls a specific group of people to be the agents of his blessing and renewal in a fallen and broken world. The Israelites are supposed to be the group of people called by God as the conduit of his shalom blessing. The promise that God makes with Abraham back in Genesis is that Abraham and his descendants will receive God’s blessing and that the whole world will be blessed through them. God intends for the nation of Israel to be agents of shalom in the world.

Jesus — God himself must begin the restoration of shalom

As the story of the Old Testament plays out, it becomes obvious that the Israelites—and by extension, all humanity—is incapable of overcoming sin in order to be the agents of shalom God intends. This is where we saw week after week during Lent the prophets speaking of God’s intention to bring about the restoration of shalom through a Messiah. The entire focus of God’s plan of salvation now comes down to one thing, Jesus.

The only way for the sin of this world to be accounted for is for Jesus himself to make it right. It is Jesus who takes the guilt of our sin to the cross. It is Jesus who brings about justice for all our wrongs. It is Jesus who confers upon each one of us his perfect righteousness at the cross. We are now free from the guilt of our sin because of Jesus. When God looks at you now, the only thing God sees is perfect righteousness, because you and I are covered in the righteousness of Christ. Jesus rises from the grave as a glorious confirmation that everything he said about himself is true. It is a confirmation and assurance to us that we are indeed forgiven because of God’s grace given to us in Jesus.

The entire arch of salvation throughout scripture moves in that direction. It begins back in Genesis in a world of perfect shalom. God’s salvation moves towards the particular appointing of a holy people called to be the agents of shalom into the world. God’s salvation moves from there to a specific individual. Jesus who is both fully God and fully human fulfils everything that the Old Testament prophets point towards. The pinnacle of this shalom restoration arch happens at Easter. Resurrection is the very beginning—it is the first move towards shalom restoration in the world.

by grace through faith — salvation begins with personal invitation to believe

It is this arch of scripture which provides the disciples with a path forward in what comes next. It is this same arch of scripture which displays the same path to us. From the resurrection of Jesus, the scope of God’s salvation shalom begins working back outward again. It begins very personally and individually. It is the gift of faith given to individual believers which turns hearts back to God. The apostle Paul confirms this in Ephesians.

Ephesians 2:4–5 (NIV)

Ephesians 2:4–5 NIV

4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

church — God appoints a community of holy people called to be agents of shalom

From here the arch of scripture works its way back to where it started. The disciples are wondering what comes next after the resurrection. The thing that comes next is a new focus on the same trajectory which God has been moving towards all along. It is the appointing of a holy people called to be agents of shalom into the world. The New Testament church is launched to move us towards the same shalom restoration which God has been working towards all along.

It does not take long into the book of Acts for the disciples to begin figuring this out. They begin to catch on that they have been given salvation for a purpose. There is an answer to the question of what comes next. They take up the mantle of shalom restoration through the gospel of Jesus. They recognize that any continuing effort towards shalom restoration which does not include salvation through Jesus falls short. But they also recognize that any salvation through Jesus that does not include the restoration of shalom also falls short.

The church of the New Testament, then, becomes this community of people appointed as God’s holy people called to be agents of shalom in the world. Once again God’s people have a purpose and a mission. There is a reason for Christ’s salvation to be brought into your life. Again, the apostle Paul affirms this. The very next thing he says after declaring our salvation by grace though faith is this.

Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)

Ephesians 2:10 NIV

10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Shalom is restored in a garden (Revelation: new creation)

God is in the business of shalom-restoring. And by grace through faith you and I are now called to join in. It took a while for the disciples to get this worked out. They didn’t necessarily catch on right away. However, by the power of the Holy Spirit they got there. You and I are given the Holy Spirit as well. We are equipped by God to be the same agents of shalom restoration as well. All of this comes to us through the cross of Jesus and by the resurrection of Jesus. All of the Old Testament community of God points forward to that. And all of what we do now as the New Testament community of God points back to that.

shalom restoration should always point to Jesus