Peace & Forgiveness

Hope For Weary & Agitated Believers

So, how are you doing? In weeks and months and years gone by, this was nothing more than an innocuous question. How are you doing? was meant to strike up a conversation. A simple way for people to begin to discuss simple things.

But not anymore. Sure, there are times where how are you doing? kickstarts a delightful dialogue. But there are other times when you feel like you’ve stumbled into a hornet’s nest. How are you doing? has become a conversational Russian roulette.

Not everyone is doing well, right now. Many of us are weary and worried. More than a few of us are agitated about the present state of affairs and anxious about the future. And we have plenty of reasons to be. The stress levels have been at a high level for quite sometime. We can point the finger at the present pandemic. But the truth is many people were weary and worried long before most of us even knew where Wuhan was. More than a few people were agitated about life if this world and anxious about the future of our world.

Despite being better connected than we ever have at almost any point in human history, our world feels more divided than ever. Despite having more access to information than our grandparents could ever imagine, it feels like nobody knows nothing anymore. Not for sure, anyway. Despite having plenty of stuff, at times we feel totally empty. Despite having more acquaintances than most of us can count, it feels like we have so few people that we can really count on, much less trust implicitly.

Despite all we possess, all we know, and all we have accomplished, our world is not doing well. Our society struggles with profound discontentment, despair, and loneliness. These problems suffocate us, smothering and suppressing almost any glimmer of hope. How are we doing? Not great.

Sometimes, I wonder what it would take to restore our hope. What if someone important and in the know traveled back in time 100 years to talk with us? What if everyone got a change to ask about all the troubles we are facing: the pandemic and the economy. Racial tensions and global warming. Threats to global peace and national stability. If a time-traveler answered all our questions, would the weariness & worries dissipate? Would our anxiety & agitation melt away?

Some of it, sure. But not all. Not by a long shot. Think about it. If you went back to 1920’s and they had questions about the future what would you say? Did the League of Nations bring about great global peace after the Great War? The League of what? No. Nowadays we call that World War 1. There was just this terribly deadly race riot in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Does that get better? I don’t even know where to start. I guess things get better, but nobody seems to be happy about it. Fine, how bout the Spanish flu, did they figure that out? Kind of. But it takes a while. Actually most of us had no idea about that whole thing until we had our own pandemic. What about life for me and my family? I don’t the history books have anything to say about you. At least the economy is roaring? Oh, boy. You’re gonna want to sit down for this.

We are weary and worried today because we have come to grips with our own limitations. We thought we had things under control. We were sure that if we planned and prepared and did things the right way we could live relatively carefree lives. We were certain that if we were mindful, if we took a measured approach to life, did things in moderation, we would be protected from great struggles, suffering, and untimely death. But we’ve discovered differently. And now we are anxious and agitated. Because we don’t know who to listen to, who to trust. We’re not even really sure if we can trust ourselves.

We find kindred spirits in our Gospel text from John 20, this morning. Weary and worried people like the disciples. Anxious and agitated individuals like Mary Magdalene. In short order, their world and their lives had been turned upside down. A week that had started off well, with palm branches and praises of Hosanna in the highest had ended tragically. Their Lord and their Teacher was arrested by the Jewish leaders, condemned by the Roman governor, and crucified just outside Jerusalem. It all happened so fast. All Jesus’ friends and followers felt so helpless. And now he was dead and buried. And they felt hopeless.

Hopelessness hits people differently. We know that from experience. And we see that in our text. The execution of their Teacher made Peter and John feel like marked men. So they laid low, for the most part. Tried not to draw any extra attention from those who had hunted down their Jesus. Did very little.

Mary’s grief goaded her to take action. Perhaps it was watching him suffer and die that struck her so deeply. Maybe it was seeing the hasty way that (Jn. 19:38-42) Joseph of Arimathea & Nicodemus laid him in the tomb. But to Mary Magdalene and the other women, perhaps that burial felt deficient. Jesus, her Lord and her Teacher, deserved better. She had to do something. So Mary and the other women (Lk. 23:56) prepared spices and perfumes to anoint his body.

At the first crack of dawn, (Jn. 20:1) while it was still dark, they made their way back to that tomb. They knew the very large stone would be a problem, but it was not enough of a hurdle to stop them from trying. As Mary went with the other women, they made a shocking discovery. (Jn. 20:1) The stone had been removed from the entrance. That sent Mary Magdalene tearing after Simon Peter and the disciples Jesus loved, like the author of this Gospel, John, the brother of James and the son of Zebedee. (Jn. 20:2) They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him! Who the “they” was, we don’t know. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus? The Romans? The Jewish leaders? Whoever it was, they had robbed Mary Magdalene of her last chance to pay her last respects, to give Jesus the burial he deserved.

Peter and John sprinted for the tomb. Mary must have given them directions because they had not been there before. John outpaced Peter and looked inside and saw something strange. The strips of linen that were the traditional burial cloth were (Jn. 20:5) lying there, not in a heap, but almost in a neat way. They were arranged, which would be strange for someone to do if they were looking to steal his corpse.

Soon after, Simon Peter arrived and did what Mary and John did not. He went (Jn. 20:6) straight into the tomb. Inside, he found the head cloth also (Jn. 20:7) lying in its place, separate from the rest of the burial cloths. John joined Peter and saw what he saw. And John tells us what seems to be two contradictory things about himself. (Jn. 20:8-9) He saw and he believed, but he and Peter still did not understand that Jesus had to rise from the dead.

It’s almost baffling to our minds. We know what he saw—an empty tomb with burial clothes that were oddly orderly. But what did he believe? Did he believe that someone had taken Jesus’ body? Not likely. It doesn’t say that John believed her. In fact, John uses this believe word almost 100 times in his Gospel. Nearly every single use has a single object. Jesus. The others speak of believing in God, in the Father, in the Scriptures, and in the Word of Moses. It would be bizarre, that at this critical moment, John would want us to think that he believed in anything but the Jesus’ that promised (Jn. 2:19) Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.

The Jesus that said (Jn. 10:17-18) The reason the Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have the authority to lay it down and the authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father. Jesus so boldly predicted his resurrection that his enemies went to Pilate, after Jesus was dead, to make sure that his tomb was (Mt. 27:64) secure until the third day.

At that moment, in that place of death, John believed that Jesus was alive. And then he went and shouted it from the rooftops. He gave raspberries to all Jesus’ enemies. He boldly began witnessing to the city of Jerusalem and all the people that (Lk. 23:21) kept shouting Crucify him! Crucify him! just days earlier.

Or he did none of that. Even though he believed he was still anxious and agitated. Even when Mary Magdalene returned and told John and the other disciples that (Jn. 20:18) she had seen the Lord, they remained worried about (Jn. 20:19) the Jewish leaders.

Maybe that sounds foolish to you. How can John believe and still be anxious and afraid? It shouldn’t sound foolish to you. It should sound familiar. Do you believe that Jesus is still dead? Do you believe that Roman soldiers couldn’t stop some frightened fishermen and pencil-pushing tax collectors from stealing his body? Do you believe that these women spent all that time and energy preparing (Lk. 23:56) spices and perfumes to anoint his body only to fabricate a story about an empty tomb and angels? Do you believe that Mary Magdalene, who was previously certain that they have taken the Lord, changed her tune to I have seen the Lord? Do you believe that his disciples, who by their own admission were so afraid of the Jewish leaders that they hid behind (Jn. 20:19) locked doors, one day decided to be brave and speak openly about Jesus in Jerusalem at Pentecost? Do you believe that 50 days later Peter had no problem pointing the finger at all those people and saying (Acts 2:23,36) you crucified Jesus? Do you believe that (1 Cor. 15:6) more than 500 other witnesses had the same fever dream of a Resurrected Christ and were willing to face pain, persecution, and execution for a lie?

You do not believe any of those things. You believe that Jesus is alive. And like John, there are still times when you are still agitated and anxious and afraid. Because though you believe he is risen, he is risen indeed, you do not always understand or fully appreciate why he had to rise from the dead and what his resurrection means for you and the world around you.

Christ’s bodily resurrection is the all-surpassing hope that weary and worried people like us so desperately need. Christ’s bodily resurrection is the answer to our great agitation and anxieties. Christ’s bodily resurrection has the power to conquer our fears.

Remember how we acknowledged that a time-traveler could put some of our anxieties and worries to rest? Knowing what lies ahead can help clear some of the problems that clutter our minds and disturb our hearts. What we have in the Resurrected Lord is far better. We have in Jesus, someone who doesn’t just have unlimited knowledge, but unparalleled power in this world and unconditional love for us. He has stared down death. He has been laid in a tomb and lived to tell about it. He has been put to death and brought back to life. Just as he said. And now, having tasted death for us, he tells us death is nothing for us to fear. He tells us that (Jn. 11:11; 1 Th. 4:13) death is but a sleep. He promises that (Jn. 11:25) The one who believes in him will live, even though they die. He says that he will return to earth again one day and, as he did for Lazarus, he will command us to come out of the grave, (1 Th. 4:16-17) to rise to be with him forever. And death will not be able to deny his dominion. If this is what awaits us, why do we fear anything? What can any man do to us? Our enemies have been disarmed. Death has been defanged. The grave has been refashioned and repurposed and it is now the gateway to eternal life with Jesus. We have (1 Pt. 1:3) a living hope that even death cannot snuff out.

Christ’s bodily resurrection gives hope to weary and worried people. What makes us so weary? Because we are trying to make the most of our lives. We are desperately trying to make what we do meaningful and satisfying. We don’t want to mess this up. This (Rom. 8:34) Resurrected Christ Jesus is at the right hand of God interceding for us. (Rm. 8:35) No trouble or hardship, no persecution or pandemic, no global danger or local disaster can separate us from the love of God that is found in our risen and reigning Jesus.

We want a better life for our children and our grandchildren. We want to make our community, our country, our world a better place. That dream is beyond what any of can do. But not our resurrected Lord. It is he who brings peace to our loved ones. It is he who calls them to faith. It is he who lived, died, and rose for them. It is he who works out (Rm. 8:28) all things for their good, just as he has done for us. This same Risen Jesus calls people from (Rev. 7:9) every nation, tribe, people and language to believe that salvation belongs to our Lord. Our Risen Jesus not only loves the people of this world, but he loves his creation too. The one who calls earth his footstool, says that creation itself (Rom 8:21) will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

All of this, and so much more, is why Jesus had to rise from the dead. Because his world and his people are not now what he wants them to be. Not all of us are doing well, right now. All of us at some point, will struggle with worries and fear and anxious thoughts. In those moments, let us look to the one who does all things well. The one who has dealt with our worries, the one who has faced our fears, the one who addresses our anxious thoughts. Let us look in the tomb and see the the grave clothes are lying there, but he isn’t. And let us proclaim what we have seen, what we believe, what this means. He is risen. He is risen indeed. And that makes all the difference in the world. To all of us. Amen.