As the Father has sent me, so I send you. John 20:21 

The Easter community does not seek to remain in isolation or behind closed doors and walls. If it is faithful, it reaches out—not on its own strength, but on the strength and courage that comes from the crucified Sharing 29 and risen Lord. Jesus, who was himself sent into this world by the Father (John 12:44-45), now sends his disciples out to be ambassadors of his promise for the rest of the world. As such sent ones, they are apostles of his grace. 

In the New Testament, the distinction of ministry is never one of laity and ordained but only old and new (2 Corinthians 3). And the new ministry, sharing the good news of Jesus the Christ, is never simply the responsibility of the ordained but the laity as well. When we gather as a community of faith in worship, the service always ends with a rite of sending: “Go in peace, serve the Lord.” How do we serve? By bringing Christ’s peace to others. The good news is meant to be shared with all the world!
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Jesus came and stood among them … John 20:19 

When the disciples had met together on the first Easter evening, even though they were in the same room, they were dismembered—separated, lonely and fearful. When Jesus came and stood among them, they were re-membered, brought together as his body, with joy and promise. Jesus’ promising presence is for his followers—past, present and future—our reason for being. Without our Lord, we are nothing—we are lost in our fears and futility. But with him in our midst, we are a community together that celebrates his life and hope. 

We value the community of faith because it is where Jesus is sharing his gifts with us through Word and sacrament and through our brothers and sisters who are gathered together with us. It is not the size of the community that matters, for Jesus said, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them” (Matthew 18:20). It is the joy of sharing Jesus in word, water, meal, liturgy, singing and the conversation of consolation. We should never underestimate it or stand alone. Grace is there for us in this gathering of Christ’s body
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Peace be with you. John 20:21, 26 

Sharing peace starts with the One who shares it first with us. Jesus’ Easter greeting to the disciples is a Jewish greeting—shalom alechem, peace be with you! But in sharing it with the disciples with the marks in his hands and side, he underscores just how deep that peace is. We are at peace with God, reconciled, brought home into the promise of love and forgiveness. The first response of the disciples was rejoicing. Sharing the peace with one another and with the world would come later. 

In such sharing, we are conveying to one another what Jesus the Christ first gave to us—the peace with God, the forgiveness of our sins. We do so with a spirit of wholeness in what this sharing represents. We have all been blessed with Jesus’ peace. It is God’s final word for us. And it is too good to keep this good news only to ourselves. That makes the moment of sharing all the more filled with rejoicing.
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My Lord and my God. John 20:28 

When we are healed, we confess—that is, we credit—the Source of our healing. Thomas had been a man filled with many doubts and anxieties. When he saw the risen Lord, and when he put his finger into Jesus’ hands and his hand into Jesus’ side, he believed. He confessed that Jesus was his Lord and God. And in the times of the early Church, such a confession would be bold indeed, for it would claim that no earthly ruler deserves such titles—only Jesus. 

To say that “Jesus is Lord” is and always has been at the heart of the Christian confession of faith (1 Corinthians 12:3; Philippians 2:11; Healing 27 Matthew 10:32). Martin Luther personalized it when, in the darkest moments of his own despair and in need of healing, he confessed, “But I am baptized!” By this, he grasped again the promise of the gospel that Jesus is Lord. When we confess our faith, we place our complete trust in Jesus as the Source of our healing, our hope and our promise. Confessing also serves as a helpful transition to our sharing the faith, for that is also what we do when we are bold to confess Christ as Lord and God.
 

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If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36 

When Jesus spoke of freedom, he connected into the truth of his own life, death and resurrection. Some could not understand what he meant by speaking of freedom and truth in this manner. They wanted to be free, but they did not want to give up their own traditions and practices. But Jesus sets us free from the truth of our sins and all our disease. He heals us to the core of our being by encouraging us to let go of all that to which we would cling in our own lives, and to embrace the freedom he gives that is his life over death. 

 Later in the Gospel of John, Jesus would raise Lazarus from the dead. When Lazarus emerged from the tomb, Jesus commanded, “Unbind him, and let him go” (John 11:44). Lazarus is free! He has been stripped from all that would hold him bound in death. We grasp by faith that Easter freedom. We let go of the bonds that hold us and cling to Jesus’ promise that we are free indeed.
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. John 14:27 

In the tradition of faith, the heart is the place where all decisions arise. A troubled or fearful heart means that decisions will arise out of worry and fear—and that can never lead to a good result. And with all the uneasiness in the world’s sense of peace, one can succumb to this unfaith. But Jesus, even in his dying moments, did not want any of us to live or be as a people of fear but a people of promise. His death on the cross is the new root of putting our fears and our troubles to death, and his resurrection is the victory of life for all our futures. 

We can be overcome in our worries and fears as we face our days ahead. Our hearts may not want to make any decisions that only imperil us further or lead us to retreat into a shell. But our Lord has healed us by his promise and saving grace. Trusting in Jesus, death is not the finality of life. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer said when he faced the gallows, “This is the end. But for me, it is the beginning of life.”
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,
 

I will not leave you orphaned … John 14:18 

As Jesus was sharing this farewell conversation with his disciples, he knew that his hour was near. The time of trial and death was impending. And he was aware that with his passing, the disciples themselves would feel as orphans, as people who were without his presence in their lives. But Jesus tells them that that is not to be the case. As the Gospel of Matthew concludes, the risen Jesus proclaims, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (28:20). 

Sometimes when a dear parent dies, or a mentor or friend we have known and trusted and leaned upon for years, there is an emptiness that comes upon us. We experience this scar of being left behind, like orphans. But the promise of Jesus is that we are never left behind in God’s enduring grace. We entrust our loved ones into the loving arms of our Lord, and we trust that his presence is always with us even as he is always with the saints who have gone before us.
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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,