Peace Be With You!

John 20:19-20

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, the disciples were together behind locked doors because of their fear of the Jews. Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. So the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

Dearly Beloved of the Lord,

This past Lenten season and Holy Week, we were reminded that Jesus came as a warrior to defeat our enemies of sin, death, and the Devil. The empty tomb on Easter morning proclaimed that victory to the world. Our Warrior Savior had won the battle! He is Risen! He is risen indeed! Our enemies have been defeated. We now live in peace!

The disciples of Christ on that first Easter did not yet understand the great victory which had been won. They cowered behind locked doors for fear of the Jews. They feared that what happened to Jesus might happen to them. They did not yet know or understand the peace of God, which was theirs through faith. It is at that moment the risen Lord appears to the disciples and speaks, “Peace be with you!” 

Currently, we have much in common with the disciples on that first Easter. We are behind closed doors out of fear, not out of fear of the Jews but our fear is of a virus. Jesus comes into our midst and says to us, “Peace be with you!” We too need to hear and take these words of comfort to heart that we do not need to be afraid.

It is sin that turns our hearts to fear and makes us afraid. Satan wants us to forget the victory that Jesus our Warrior won for us over sin. Satan wants to take from us the comfort of the peace that the Lord gives to us through His victory over our enemies. It is because of this fear that we need to return to our baptism daily, to partake of the Holy Sacrament, to hear the words of Holy Absolution, and the Word preached in order to receive the victory of Jesus through faith.

Whatever we face, we stand with the disciples and confess Jesus Christ, our Warrior, is our crucified and risen Lord. Surrounded by fear and living in the threat of the unknown, we may be tempted to despair and to be choked by fear.  Faith answers these not with explanations but with the Name of Jesus and the confession of faith that the apostle Thomas proclaimed – “My Lord and My God.”

In the end, nobody can talk you out of your fears or release you from your sins or answer the threat of death. Not me and not anyone else. There is only One who can stop fear. Jesus. The Lord who shows us Himself in living water, in the bread of heaven and the cup of salvation, in the voice of absolution, and in the Word preached. 

People, loved by God, we are not without hope, not without consolation, and not without power.  For Christ is with us, Christ is for us, pleading His blood for our sins, and Christ went before us, the first born of the dead in whom we too shall rise. Christ is our Warrior who defeated our enemies. So be of good courage and have peace.  In times of great threat and uncertainty, what we need to remember is that Christ is our God and we are His people – and this is the only thing that matters. 

Christ is Risen!  He is Risen Indeed!  Alleluia!  Amen.

Be Still My Soul

(CW #415)

Be still, my soul; the Lord is on your side;
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
Leave to your God to order and provide;
In ev’ry change he faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul; your best, your heav’nly friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul; your God will undertake
To guide the future as he has the past.
Your hope, your confidence, let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul; the waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled them while he lived below.

Be still, my soul, though dearest friends depart
And all is darkened in the vale of tears;
Then you will better know his love, his heart,
Who comes to soothe your sorrows and your fears.
Be still, my soul; your Jesus can repay
From his own fullness all he takes away.

Be still, my soul; the hour is hast’ning on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul; when change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.