Sermon: 19 April 2020 (2nd Sunday of Easter) - 1 Peter 1:3-9, "Born Again to a Living Hope"
“According to His great mercy,
he has caused us to be born again to a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading,
kept in heaven for you,
who by God’s power are being guarded through faith
for a salvation to be revealed in the last time.”
1 Peter 1:3b-5
Brothers & Sisters in Christ,
Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
The Second Sunday of Easter always takes us to the Upper Room where the disciples had locked themselves away for fear of the Jews. This year, as we all are under a lock down of sorts, we may better appreciate what the disciples were going through. While our enemy is an unseen virus, theirs was the civil and spiritual authorities of their day. They saw what had happened to Jesus and knew the same was quite likely to happen to them as well. So, they were locked away in fear.
Jesus Offers Peace to His Disciples
It was on Easter Day, in the evening, when Jesus first appeared to His disciples. A locked door was no match for Jesus. He simply entered the room, and, seeming to have invisibly been present for a time, addresses them. “Peace…” was the first word He spoke to them because He knew they had no peace. They were anxious and fearful of what life held for them. They were uncertain of how to proceed. I can only imagine the number of plans they were making on how the future would now look. Remember the disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24, they spoke of hope in Jesus but in the past tense. They “had hoped” He was the One, the Christ of God. But they now thought, through His crucifixion and death that it was over. And yet, the talk of His resurrection confused them. “Could it be?” they wondered.
And so it is with the disciples in the Upper Room. Confused, anxious, uncertain and maybe even despairing, Jesus appears to them. “Peace,” He says, knowing their need. He assures them it is Him, showing His hands and feet. And then “Peace,” He says again. They had a real need for peace. Their peace had ended in the Garden on Maundy Thursday when Jesus was taken prisoner and they were scattered. Their peace was gone while Jesus stood trial before the Sanhedrin and before Pilate. That peace sunk even lower as Jesus hung on the cross and as they took his limp, dead body down and laid it in a tomb. There was no question about it as they saw all of this unravel, their hope was gone. They had no peace.
But, that Sunday evening, as Jesus appears to them hope is restored, and His gift is peace! Trying to find security behind locked doors He comes to them and gives peace, assuring them that it is Him and assuring them He is alive, He is risen from the dead.
And it was just a week later when, Thomas, the one was not there on Easter evening, is met by Jesus in the Upper Room. Thomas was adamant in His refusal to believe that Jesus had risen. He must have tangible evidence in Jesus wounds before He would believe. So, that second Sunday evening, as Jesus again appears behind locked doors, Thomas is offered, “Peace,” as Jesus comes to him, showing him His wounds, inviting Him to stop disbelieving and believe.
Peace was Thomas gift that night. Peace in knowing his risen Lord, being assured of His resurrection from the dead.
Jesus Offers Peace to Us
That same peace is the peace Jesus brings to us today. As St. Peter put it, it is a “living hope” that we have. We were brought into that through our Baptism when were “born again” of water and the Word. At the Baptismal Font we are made to be His children, born anew into His Kingdom which has no end. Baptized in Christ we have peace now and will have it even more fully in eternity.
St. Peter describes that future hope well as he says that it is “kept in heaven”. Hebrews 11:1, when it describes faith for us says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” The faith described here is one that looks to God and His future blessings, the assurance of life eternal with Him in heaven. But its blessings are realized here and now through that very faith. Because Christ has risen from the dead and reigns victorious, we have peace here and now. We know that life may be filled with troubles, yet our hope transcends this life.
The living hope St. Peter tells us about is our living Savior, Jesus Christ. Because He is risen and lives, we too know that through faith in Him we shall one day rise to be with Him. The inheritance of life eternal with all the glories of heaven is what St. Peter sets our eyes on today. He describes it wonderfully and beautifully with the words, “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you…” The gifts of God that await us are eternal. The things of this world are temporal and passing. Peace is Jesus gift and it is anchored in the eternal. The disciples and our lack of peace is anchored in our fears of the temporal and passing things of this world around us.
Remember Jesus words to His disciples in John 14 when Thomas spoke for them all? Jesus was telling how He would soon be leaving them, speaking of His impending crucifixion and death. But He assured them He would come back for them and take them to the place He was going. Through His suffering, death and resurrection Jesus went to prepare that place. Thomas said, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” (John 14:5) Jesus reassures them, saying, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)
Jesus has gone to be with the Father, to prepare a place a place for us. He has taken our sins and paid for them in full. He has opened the gates of heaven that we, clothed in His righteousness, may enter its eternal glories. Even today, as His Word and Sacraments work in our lives our eyes of faith are opened to see His glories. We have His peace now, in this sinful world, knowing that He has set all things right. We have His peace as we hear His Word of absolution, announcing the forgiveness of our sins. We know the eternal peace we will have in heaven where there will be no more pain or suffering, no more sin or evil, but all things will be good and glorious as we are with our Lord, face to face.
That’s a glorious hope, a living hope that we have, because it is anchored in our Living Savior, Jesus the Christ of God. And He is at work through that Word and Sacrament now, “guarding” our faith, leading us to live lives of daily repentance and clinging to His cross for our salvation. God is at work, daily and richly in our lives to hold us close.
We are in times of great stress for many in our world. Many lives are filled with fear as we sit in our homes waiting for assurance that it is safe to come out again. When we do venture out, it is often with gloves and masks, hand sanitizer and plenty of distancing. Fear is all around us, and rightly so, as this virus takes lives.
But in the face of that or any other fear we may have, Christ gives us His peace. He is victorious. His resurrection assures us of that. He has the last word. We need not be afraid or fearful. Rather, as His people, we remain confident, knowing the hope He offers. It is a “living hope”, for Jesus is alive risen from the dead. With God’s Spirit present with us now our eyes are set on “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation to be revealed in the last time.”
Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Amen.