What in the world is God doing?

From Death to Life

Luke 24:36–48 NIV84

36 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38 He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” 40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. 41 And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate it in their presence. 44 He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” 45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.

Let me ask a question this morning - it may be on your mind as well: What in the world is God doing?

It has been another difficult week across America. To be completely transparent with you, sometimes I would rather not watch the news - I’d rather remain ignorant of what is happening in places like Minnesota and Chicago. Sometimes I’d like to just shut and lock my door and hide from the racial tension & strife that exists. But we cannot just look away and ignore the discord and the struggles that we face.

It has been over a year now that we have been battling this disease called Covid-19, and we have so often been locked in our own houses - many have had to experience times of quarantine - our daughter, Lynea, and her family are in quarantine right now as Lynea battles Covid. The fear of getting Covid or passing Covid on to somebody we love that is more vulnerable has been difficult to bear over these many, many months, and so we lock ourselves behind the door of fear.

Economic uncertainty continues to threaten our well-being and our comfort. Unemployment continues to be high, although the very fact that those on unemployment are getting paid extra money to stay home is driving unemployment even higher. Will our favorite restaurant survive the pandemic? Who knows? We hear about more and more that are unable to be open because they cannot hire staff - seemingly, there are not very many people that want to work.

Between us all here this morning, and those watching on our livestream, we have experienced loss and the pain of death of loved ones and friends.

Many have also been dealing with harsh realities of getting older, and some have dealt with difficult words to hear about painful diagnoses.

And, we may even wonder - “what in the world is God doing?” We may not word it quite that way - we would say “what is God doing in the world?” But that isn’t really much different than “what in the world is God doing?”

That’s where the disciples were on that day described in Luke chapter 24. In this chapter, Luke has already described how the women had found the tomb empty - Peter had ran to the tomb only to find it empty, and in Luke’s words - “he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.” The followers of Jesus had begun to disperse, and two of them headed back home to Emmaus, and on the way, Jesus appeared to them. It is hard for us to imagine, but they didn’t recognize Him until He broke bread with them. They rushed back to Jerusalem and found the other disciples locked in the room, and that is when Jesus appears before them, saying “peace be with you.”

Over the past two Sundays, we have been looking at John’s gospel, and his telling of the story of that first Easter evening and the week after. In our scripture passage that we read this morning, we see Luke’s version of the same event, and he adds some insight for us.

Have you ever wondered, what in the world God is doing? We have been told about His return for our whole lives - Christians have awaited His return for centuries, and as we look around at the state of the world around us and sometimes, I wonder - “what in the world is God doing? What in the world is He waiting for?”

My question for you this morning, is - as you wait for His return, “behind what locked doors are you hiding this morning?”

The disciples had locked themselves in for fear of what may happen to them now that their leader had been put to death. They gathered in both fear and amazement because they had been hearing rumblings and seeing evidence that He was no longer in the tomb, but they really had no idea what that meant.

Yet, in the midst of that fear and wonderment, Jesus appears in their presence. and He says: “Peace be with you.” Far from peace, their initial reaction was amazement and fear! Let’s be honest this morning, that would have been our reaction as well. Their first thought is that they were seeing a ghost! Again, if we were truly honest this morning, that would have been our thinking as well. People don’t just get up and walk out of tombs!

Jesus responds to their amazement and fear in two ways:

Look at me! A ghost sighting is how we often think about this first encounter that the disciples had with Jesus. After all, how did He appear in their presence when the door was locked? We don’t and can’t really understand that, but Jesus goes to great lengths to make it clear that they are not seeing a ghost! He tells them to look at His hands and His feet - the very place where the wounds were. The soldiers had pierced His hands and feet, and if He were a ghost, those wounds wouldn’t remain - but He clearly tells them “I am not a ghost - I am flesh and bones.” and He invites them to examine the evidence. Yet, clearly, they remained unconvinced and although they were overjoyed, they still couldn’t believe it!

When He sees that just examining the wounds wasn’t convincing them, He says: “Let’s eat!” And everybody knows that ghosts don’t need to eat! It was normal that when the disciples and Jesus were together they would eat - it is what they had done the last time they had seen each other as they ate the passover meal together. It was as if He was acting as if nothing had happened—His body, wounded, but intact was hungry —He seemed normal. But this was anything but normal! They had watched Him die. They were there when He cried out to God asking “Why have you abandoned me?” They knew He had been laid in a tomb - this is the furthest thing from normal!

The Jewish religious leaders and the Roman authorities had banded together to put an end to the feared rebellion that was stirring. Jesus had been condemned as a traitor and the earthly powers that be had triumphed when He breathed His last. He was found guilty as charged, and the authorities had put an end to it all.

Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year B, Volume 2 Homiletical Perspective

By raising Jesus from the dead, God declared to the religious and political leaders, “This is not about you!” While they thought they had the upper hand and exercised all power that mattered, God declared that God has been working behind the scenes the whole time.

Just as the disciples were mourning their loss and reminiscing and dreaming of what could have been, Jesus appears and brings the message - “not so fast!” He was not a ghost - He had risen from the dead! That is our hope and our victory in Christ. If Jesus were a ghost, where would the victory be in that! But He was dead, and is now living, breathing, and even eating! His resurrection body is different, for sure, and we cannot fully comprehend that, but He was no ghost!

3. As He had always done in the past, He begins to teach His disciples and help them to understand that this is exactly what He had been talking about and what had been referred to in the scriptures. He opens their minds and sheds light on the meaning of scripture. Jesus had predicted His own death and resurrection, but His prediction was based on and in the truth of the Old Testament scripture as well. In the light of His resurrection, the scriptures become clear and the disciples are able to begin to understand what Jesus had been preaching about all along.

4. The question that would have been on the disciples mind was: “How can this be? We watched as you died, and now you are alive again.” If I had been there, I would have wanted Him to explain what had happened - I would have wanted to know what He had been doing these last couple of days while we had been mourning, but Jesus doesn’t explain Himself - He doesn’t need to. It was enough that they could see and know that He was alive again. So He turns His mind toward teaching the disciples what His whole life, death, and resurrection were all about. It was about “what in the world God is doing!”

God has always been about this business and this task of reconciling the world to God’s self!

Luke 9–24: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition In the Text

Luke consistently emphasizes that repentance and forgiveness define the new paradigm of salvation.

It is not the elect who are saved, but the forgiven. It is not election that determines inclusion in the new kingdom, but the forgiveness of sins in his name. It is not the Jews who are privileged in this new paradigm, but all nations to whom this message is preached. This is not to the exclusion of God’s historic people, but the reach of salvation now extends beyond them to encompass the whole earth.

God, in Jesus Christ has been doing a new thing - it is not enough to be a Jew - to be one of the chosen people. It is through forgiveness that God forms a new kingdom. Jesus shows up, in the flesh, and declares to these fearful and demoralized followers that His kingdom is not over, His kingdom is just beginning! They have found inclusion in this kingdom, not because of who they are or what they have done, but because God has forgiven them and welcomed them into the new kingdom.

And in this new kingdom - Jesus’ followers have a job to do! Not only those that were locked away in the room with Jesus on that first Easter, but all of us who are His followers yet today - we have a job to do. We are to be witnesses of these things!

In Feasting on the Word, Barbara Essex says: “Wherever there is inhumanity, exploitation, discrimination, and hopelessness, Jesus shows up offering comfort, assurance, and a bit of fussing. He invites us to be witnesses that it is all about God—God’s intention to bring peace, unity, harmony, love, compassion, grace, justice, and mercy to a world that is broken and sinful.”

You and I - both those of you who are here in person and those of you who are watching online this morning -we have a job to do. We have been commissioned by our resurrected savior to go and be witnesses. That doesn’t just mean that we go and tell people about Jesus. As important as it is to tell the hurting and broken people around us about Jesus, it is even more important that we go to the broken and hurting around us and show them that Jesus is alive and breathing in us! Paul said that the church is the body of Christ in the world. So, “What in the world is God doing?” I have another question for us to ponder this morning - “What in the world is the body of Christ — His church, doing?”

A televised news report told of two women who were 9/11 widows. Grateful for the outpouring of support they received, they started thinking about the women in Afghanistan who, when widowed, lose status in that society and therefore find their already difficult lives even harder. They raised money and formed a foundation called Beyond the 11th to support Afghani widows, and even made visits to Afghanistan to meet the widows they were helping. I don’t know anything about these women, but I know that they are modeling the kind of love and giving that Jesus has given to all of us.

Let me close this morning by inviting you to be His witnesses of these things. But you can’t be a witness to what you have not experienced. So, if you have not experienced the forgiveness of sins and cleansing within that comes from knowing Jesus as your savior, let me invite you this morning to repent - that means to turn away from your sins and find forgiveness through the death and resurrection of Jesus. He gave His life on the cross so that you can find forgiveness for the sins you have committed and cleansing of Sin in your life and so that you can join in with His body as a witness to all that He has done!