Peace, Purpose and Power

While for us the experience of Easter is one of great joy and hope at what the resurrection of Jesus means for our lives, for the disciples and the first followers of Jesus, the resurrection created a great deal of chaos and confusion. Just as they begin to process the reality of Jesus death – he is suddenly found alive, and trying to make sense out of the resurrection was not easy. Someone has said that for the disciples, trying to understand the resurrection of Jesus was like trying to put the ocean into a bottle. All that they were experiencing and learning with the resurrection of Jesus just didn’t fit their understanding. Things just didn’t make sense. Nothing like the resurrection had ever happened before and the disciples don’t know what to make of it at all, and just when they think they understand what’s going on, Jesus is off moving in a new direction. Literally, Jesus is there one moment and gone the next, and when he is gone the disciples are left questioning what it all means.

The gospel of Luke gives us a glimpse into this kind of chaos and confusion. Look at how Luke describes their emotions in the days following the resurrection. In Luke 24:37 it says that when Jesus appeared the disciples were startled and frightened, later on it says they were disbelieving but filled with joy and amazement. As we can see, their emotions are all over the place. The disciples are afraid because they really aren’t sure who or what Jesus is. They aren’t even sure Jesus is fully human at this point because he will suddenly appear out of nowhere and then just as quickly – be gone. Is he man or a ghost? They are filled with joy and amazement, and yet they are also confused and uncertain, & how frustrating that he never seems to stay around long enough to help them understand.

So the resurrection of Jesus brings an atmosphere of chaos: there is fear and yet joy, faith and yet disbelief and all of this contributes to an uncertain future. What does the resurrection of Jesus mean for the lives of the disciples now? For the last 3 years they had been in ministry with Jesus – was that going to continue? Would Jesus keep on teaching and preaching and healing the sick, or does the resurrection mean that the disciples will begin g to do something new? Should they start heading for home because their work is now over or get ready to keep following Jesus who knows where? Either way, the disciples have to be wondering what their future holds and where they will get the strength and the power to keep going.

Up until this point the strength they needed always came from Jesus who was right there with them and if there is one thing they are beginning to understand about the resurrected Jesus is that he is not always going to be right there with them. He is there one moment helping them understand the scriptures and sharing a meal with them, and then the next moment he is gone. If Jesus isn’t going to be with them all the time, where would they get the strength to carry on in life let alone in ministry. They had always looked to Jesus for strength because he was the one who had the power, literally. Jesus is the one who had the power to calm storms and still the seas. He was the one who had the power to heal the sick and forgive sin, and he is the one who had the power to silence crowds and religious leaders who opposed him. Jesus had a divine power that the disciples knew was always there when they needed it, but it was always there in Jesus, what was going to happen now when Jesus is not there. Where would the power come from? Where would their strength come from?

So here’s the situation for the disciples, they are confused by all they see going on around them, they are unsure of what their future holds, and they are feeling weak and powerless in the face of all the changes. Does any of that sound familiar? Confused by all we see around us; questions about what the future holds; an overwhelming sense of powerlessness in the face of life’s problems; our world and our lives today are not that different from what the disciples were experiencing in the days after Jesus’ resurrection. Whether it’s our health, jobs, family or finances, many of us feel just like the disciples: confused, uncertain about the future and powerless in the midst of it all.

If you can identify with any or all of that, then look at what Jesus offers his disciples.
In the midst of the confusion and chaos Jesus speaks words of comfort and blessing. On more than one occasion Jesus says to his disciples, Peace be with you. There is no better gift in the midst of a storm than peace. The storm for the disciples came from not knowing if Jesus was alive. Was Jesus presence with them a ghost or was he really there? Into their confusion Jesus doesn’t just offer empty words of peace, he proves to them that he is alive and with them by eating with them and showing them his physical flesh and blood. Look at Luke 24:37+

Jesus invites them to touch him so they can be confident that he is not a ghost but is really with them, and then to prove the point he takes a piece of fish and eats it with them in their presence. The peace Jesus offered wasn’t an empty word; it was a peace that came from knowing that Jesus was really with them. The peace we need today comes from knowing that Jesus is still alive and with us. When the world around us doesn’t seem to make sense, when it all gets overwhelming and chaotic, it’s important for to stop and remember that Jesus is with us. Jesus promised that where 2 or more were gathered in his name that he would be there, he said that he would be with us always, even to the end of the age, so we can find real peace today in knowing that Jesus is here with us. He is present with us in worship and he hears us when pray. Knowing that Jesus is with us doesn’t always make the confusion and chaos go away, and some of the questions and situations we struggle with will still be there, but it helps us to know that we aren’t alone. The peace we need comes in being able to trust that no matter what we are going through, Christ is with us.

Jesus not only offered the gift of peace, he also gave his disciples a new sense of purpose and direction. The resurrection of Jesus was going to change the mission and direction of the disciples. For three years all the disciples did was follow Jesus and learn from him, but now things would be different. Instead of Jesus teaching and preaching and offering forgiveness and new life, it would now be the disciples doing this. Look at Luke 24:46-48.
The purpose given to the disciples was to preach and teach that there was forgiveness of sin and new life in Jesus name. They were to share with the world all that Jesus had done and they were start in Jerusalem. While they still had many questions about how this was going to take place, their new mission and sense of purpose at least gave them a direction to go. At least they know now that they weren’t supposed to go home and become fishermen again. Knowing God still has a purpose for them gave them hope and a future.

It’s important for us to remember that no matter how uncertain the future may be for us, God still has a purpose and a plan for our lives. If we have a lost a job, or are in danger of losing a job, or if we are just feeling unsettled about where we are in life, it’s important to remember that God still has a purpose for us. God says in Jeremiah 29, I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Even if our future looks uncertain, it’s important to remember that God always has a purpose for our lives. If nothing else, God still calls us to be a witness to the love and grace of Jesus Christ. Part of our purpose is to continue to remind people that there is forgiveness and new life that we can find in Jesus.

As a church we need to continue to share this good news with the world. The purpose of Faith Church today is the same purpose given to the disciples by Jesus in the days after the resurrection. We are to proclaim that Christ died and rose again on the third day and that we can find forgiveness and new life in Jesus. As a church we are to continue to call people to repentance, to turn away from sin and turn toward a new life in Christ. How we teach and preach and bear witness to Jesus Christ in the world may change from time to time, but the message never changes. The purpose of the church never changes – we are called to go and make disciples, and as Jesus says we need to do this in all nations, but we need to start right where we are. We need to be a witness to Jesus Christ right here Bellefonte, and in Zion, and in Centre County, and then we need to spread out to all the world. Jesus called the disciples to preach to all the nations but they were to start in Jerusalem, right where they were, and then they were to slowly move out. We need to give a witness to the love and grace of God right here in Bellefonte, but we can’t stop here, there’s the growing community of Zion right down the road and as more and more people move into Zion, God is calling us to be a witness to them and to share with them that there is life in Jesus name.

So in the midst of our confusion, Jesus offers peace. In the midst of uncertainty about our future, Jesus provides a purpose and a plan, and in the midst of weakness, Jesus offers power. Look at Luke 24:49. Jesus promises the disciples that they will be clothed in power from on high. This must have been a huge encouragement for them because up until this point Jesus had been their sole source of power. Jesus gave them the strength they needed each and every time they needed it, and if Jesus was not physically going to be with them, then the disciples needed to know that power, divine power, would still be available to them, and that power did come. On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples and it gave them the strength to do things they had never been able to do before. Once the power of God came upon them, the disciples left the upper room and went out into the streets of Jerusalem where they preached that people needed to repent of their sins and trust in Jesus. Even when opposition and persecution came, the Holy Spirit gave the disciples the strength they needed to remain faithful to God and continue to carry out God’s purpose for them.

When we are feeling weak or powerless in any situation, we need to remember that God continues to clothe us with power from on high. The Holy Spirit is in us. The same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is now part of our lives and so we have the strength to face any and every situation. While there are times when we feel weak and like we just can’t keep going – it is precisely these moments that we need to turn to God and find His strength. In the children’s song Jesus loves me there is that great line that says, little ones to him belong, we are weak, but He is strong. There are times when we are weak that we won’t be strong, we just need to rely upon God to be strong in us and for us. God can be our strength deep within us, if we will allow him to, and when we let God be strong for us we will find that the Holy Spirit we will be able to do more in us and through us than we ever thought or imagined. If we are feeling powerless, weak and like we are unable to keep going, then it is right time to turn and trust in the power of God that is within us.

The truth is that our world today, our lives as followers of Jesus today are no different than it was 2000 years ago. There is a lot of confusion and uncertainty today and there is a growing sense of powerlessness when we look at our lives and our world and our future. What we need to remember is that it is exactly in situations like this that Jesus comes and offers us peace, purpose and power. W need those gifts of Jesus today, so let us open our hearts and our lives to receive them.