A Family Reunion

John 20:19-22

This past weekend, we had a family reunion in Blowing Rock, NC. Our time together was a lot of fun that included going to the Mystery Hill where my grandkids loved seeing a ball roll uphill. They also went panning for gem stones and visited The Blowing Rock.

However, some of our most enjoyable times together were spent sitting on the deck of our mountain rental house with Grandfather’s Mountain in the distance. Talking, laughing and crying while we relaxed together on the deck was memorable.

The verses in John 20 also tell a story of a reunion. But this reunion, was under far different circumstances than the one my family had in Blowing Rock.

The disciples didn’t know what to expect. Jesus had recently been crucified by the Jews, so they were understandably afraid of them. But then, some had claimed to see Jesus. If that was true, why hadn’t he appeared to all of them? Was he angry with them? Was he really even alive? If so, what should they do?

When Jesus did appear, he could have shamed them for rejecting him in his time of greatest need. He could have let them suffer a little longer before appearing to them. He could have chewed them out for sitting around afraid, doing nothing. He could have laid out their strategy for world evangelism. He could have given them a big pep talk. Instead, he did none of these.

²¹ Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” ²² And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit”.           NIV

The crucifixion had dealt a great shock to the disciples. They were heading in one direction when the crucifixion stopped them dead in their tracks. Their family reunion was the jump start they needed to get them off the couch and onto the playing field moving in the right direction.

John’s words ring out over the millennia to us. Like the disciples, Jesus gives us peace no matter what is happening in our lives; he sends us into the world to share his Good

News; and gives us the power of the Holy Spirit to achieve his mission.

We have been sent with peace and power.

Whom Shall I Send?

Matthew 28:16-20

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2028%3A16-20&version=NIV;GNT

  

Do you remember where you were on September 11, 2001? I do. I was in a meeting when one of the members got word of a plane flying into the World Trade Center. According to the History Channel website, President George W Bush spoke to America that night from the Oval Office declaring:

 

“Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.”

 

Later, in a reference to the eventual U.S. military response he declared, “We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them.”

 

As a result, the United States military was sent to oust the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and destroy Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network. With the authority of President Bush, our men and women engaged in this mission.

 

¹⁸ Jesus drew near and said to them, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples: baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you.     GNT

 

With these words, Jesus sent his disciples into action; into battle really. He could do this because all authority had been given to him. It was with that authority, that the disciples turned the world upside down.

 

Being “sent” is a very familiar concept in the Bible. God sent Abraham to a land he had never seen. God sent Moses to Egypt to lead His people. The prophets were sent to speak God’s word. God sent Jesus to bring salvation. In turn, Jesus sent his disciples to make disciples. And now, God sends you and me.

 

He sends us to our work place; to our neighborhood; to our church; to our community; and to our family. Wherever we are, there we have been sent to make disciples with the promise that Jesus will be with us always.

 

⁸ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”                       Isaiah 6:8 NIV

 

It’s time for us to go now. For we have been sent.

 

 

 

 

 

Sent? Yes. Alone? Never.

Some of the tensest moments in life are those “first solo flight” experiences when, for the first time, we’re on our own and “it’s all on us.”  Do you remember your first sales call?  What about the day you brought your firstborn home from the hospital?  Your public speaking debut?  Or maybe for you it literally was a solo flight!   Life’s “firsts” jolt us like unseen caffeine. 

It was the night before Jesus’ crucifixion; he was about to finish his Father’s work and return to him.  And it was time for the Christ to hand over the keys to his disciples.  Their turn to drive.  There would be no more learning at the feet of him who is wisdom and truth personified ... no more ringside seats to the greatest miracle show on earth ... gone now was their safe bystander status while Jesus took on the opposition, outwitting and confounding even the sharpest among them.

Can you even begin to imagine going solo after Jesus?  How do you pick up and move forward from that?!?  Yet there they would be, on their own.  Or so it must have seemed to them.

But we know different!  Jesus’ first followers would not be left alone any more than we who follow him today.  Rather, they who had walked with Christ by sight would now live in him by faith.  Just as we do now.  And so Jesus shared these final instructions – this “Trinity teaching” – not only for their benefit, but also for ours.

Obey the Son, as the Son has obeyed the Father.  Jesus said, “the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.”  The Son did not decide what he would do for the Father; the Father decided and the Son obeyed.  It's a model that applies to us.  Jesus said, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.  My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” 

Listen for the Holy Spirit, who is sent by the Father and the Son.  In our own power, obeying Jesus’ commands is impossible.  We have neither the ability nor the inclination to do so.  But the Father and the Son have given us the means to accomplish them; we have been given the Holy Spirit who teaches us “all things” and reminds us of everything Jesus has taught.  And if we don't hear him?  Wait.  He will speak.

Rest in Christ who is faithful and true.  Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you....  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”  We can rest – we can be at peace – because the truth of the matter is, we’re not on our own at all.  Much the opposite!  The Christ who once walked with his people now lives in his people.  Our power is nothing short of the Spirit of Christ in us, and his Word is our authority.  His Kingdom has come, and it is within us.

So let’s go.  Obediently.  Patiently.  Peacefully.  And boldly!  For we are ever sent ... and never alone.

[Click here to see the daily reading in John 14:23-31.]