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World-Changing Gifts

Sermon by Rev. Paul Fahnestock — October 7, 2007
 

Introduction to Scripture
The first followers of Jesus had the very important responsibility of being witnesses to the earthly life, teachings, and miracles of Jesus. They were there when Jesus was crucified and buried. It was these first disciples to whom Jesus appeared as the resurrected Lord, which affirmed and confirmed the success of His redemptive work. They were the ones who would recount for future generations what Jesus said and did.

The apostle John was one of them, and he records in his gospel account how Jesus took upon himself the wrath of God on the cross. He, who knew no sin, took the penalty for our sin. But sin and death could not hold Him. His victory over these ancient enemies was confirmed in His resurrection. Our Scripture text this morning, John 20:19-23, carefully records the first encounter of the resurrected Jesus with the disciples.

      ¹⁹On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" ²⁰After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
      ²¹Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." ²²And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." (NIV)

Today is World Communion Sunday. Every time we celebrate Communion at First Presbyterian, we celebrate our unity in Christ with believers around the world. On this World Communion Sunday, we reaffirm our commitment to faithful witness in the world as we await the coming fullness of God’s reign of peace. I invite you to consider this morning what Jesus’ resurrection day encounter means to our being His faithful witnesses as we focus on what I believe are four world-changing gifts Jesus gives to those who put their faith in Him.

World-Changing Gift #1
The first thing that strikes me in our text is that since Jesus’ arrest, death, and burial, the disciples have been in fear. Jesus had not broken any laws, but the Jewish authorities had arrested Him, convicted Him of blasphemy, and manipulated the Roman authorities to crucify Him. Anyone associated with Jesus was now a candidate for similar treatment. Even as Jesus had predicted, Peter, out of fear, denied knowing Jesus three times on the night of His trial. Now Jesus was dead and buried in a borrowed tomb. The disciples’ hope that Jesus was the Messiah was over and, worse, they were now associated with a false messiah. On the first Sunday, the first day of the week, after Jesus’ Friday crucifixion, they were hiding behind locked doors in fear.

I find the next point very interesting. Nobody went to answer a knock at the locked door to let Jesus in. But that Sunday evening “Jesus came and stood among them.” This is no ordinary entrance. Their friend and teacher who was dead and buried just appears. It is an interesting clue to something new and different in the resurrected life, but save that thought, it is for another sermon. One thing is for sure: this was an entrance that would grab your attention.

Jesus greeted them, “Peace be with you.” And this brings us to the first world-changing gift Jesus offers His disciples — peace. Now at first glance there is nothing particularly special about this greeting. It was common among Jews of the first century, even as it is today to greet one another with “shalom” or “peace.” The significance is found in the repetition of His greeting. John writes, Jesus “showed them his hands and his side,” and then He said to them again, “Peace be with you.”

Upon seeing Jesus’ hands and side, they knew this was the same Jesus who was crucified, buried, and now raised from the dead. The temporal fear and danger of anything man could possibly do was replaced with the reality of peace with God through Christ. His sacrificial death had removed the enmity and separation from God and given them the confidence of eternal peace. The reality of reconciliation to God replaced fear and uncertainty with joy. The disciples’ world was changed; they were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Then and now, all who put their faith in Jesus Christ have peace with God. Jesus says to you today, “Peace be with you.”

World-Changing Gift #2
Next, Jesus gives a commission to the disciples and to all who receive His peace and joy. “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” In the original Greek it is interesting how John distinguishes a difference between how the Father sends Jesus and Jesus sends us. Two Greek verbs represent “to send” in this verse. The first verb “as the Father sent (apostello) me” is used to speak of one who is sent as an authoritative representative. Specifically, John uses it to refer to Christ being sent from heaven as God’s unique representative to humanity in order to accomplish redemption. The second verb “I am sending (pempo) you” is used to indicate one being sent to participate in the work of another. Jesus says, “I am sending you to carry on my work.”

We are not sent by the Father in the same way as Jesus was because there is only one Mediator between God and humanity who could redeem sinners, Jesus Christ. But we are sent with the message of God’s salvation and peace in Jesus Christ. We are sent to share this good news with sinners, those separated from God, throughout the whole world. We have been given the word of reconciliation to entreat others to be reconciled to God. In our identifying with Jesus’ ministry, our mission is to declare the reality and necessity of redemption, calling upon everyone to turn to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith. Wherever Jesus is not known, that is where Jesus has commissioned the church to go. So Jesus, the unique Mediator of God’s redemption, has given us this world-changing gift, the privilege of participating in His ongoing work.

World-Changing Gift #3
Imagine if you were in the room with Jesus that first Sunday evening and He assigned you this world-encompassing task. You have no money, no power, no technology, no formal education nor means of rapid transportation; neither do you have radio, television, telephone nor email. But Jesus gave the disciples another essential world-changing gift necessary to accomplish the mission. Our text says that after Jesus commissioned the disciples, “He breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”

When we put our faith in Christ, we become a brand-new creation. Even as at the first creation, God breathed into Adam the breath of life, so Jesus breathes new life into all those that believe in Him, and we receive the life and power to be His witnesses. And, it is only the Holy Spirit who will soften a hardened heart and break down a stubborn resistance to God’s message of salvation. When you consider such resistance as you may find in one of your children or another close relative or a friend, you realize you must rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to open their eyes and create in them a new heart.

The Holy Spirit is another of Jesus’ world-changing gifts. Every day, we must yield our lives to the Holy Spirit. Our courage and boldness to share Christ with others is a result of our dependence upon the Holy Spirit. Whatever role Jesus assigns us, whether planning, praying, giving, or going, even as Jesus depended upon the Holy Spirit in His work, we should do the same.

World-Changing Gift #4
Finally, let’s be clear about what Jesus has sent us to do. There are many good things that we could do to help other people. Not a day goes by that we do not hear or read about the tremendous needs concerning world hunger, clean water, medical assistance, education and housing. And Scripture is clear that the church is called to be involved in these needs. Acts of compassion and kindness to alleviate suffering are worthy of our investment of time and resources, but the mission that Jesus called His disciples to on that first encounter after His resurrection has a specific aim.

All the physical and social needs of the world can be addressed without any reference to being reconciled to God in Christ. There are many government and non-governmental agencies that are involved in meeting the issues of hunger, health and suffering, but they have no interest in sharing the message of God’s eternal salvation through Jesus Christ. Whether we are building shelters, feeding the hungry or meeting the needs of the sick, we as Christians need to keep in mind that our specific commission from Christ is proclaiming the good news of reconciliation and peace with God through Jesus Christ.

Christ has given us a world-changing message, and the message we have to share is understood from our text where Jesus said, “If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” To begin to understand this statement, we must first remember that only God forgives sins in relation to himself. And only God knows a person’s heart, and whether or not they have repented and put their faith in the salvation that comes from Christ. Jesus is not saying you and I will grant forgiveness to sinners; only God has that power. The Greek verbs “forgive” or “not forgive” John uses in the text are both in the passive voice. Thus, John indicates God alone forgives and God alone judges men and women in their sin.

Jesus has given us the world-changing message. We, as Christians, declare the message of forgiveness based on Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. Our message is to explain what Christ has already completed. His perfect life and sacrificial death have opened the way for a sinner to be restored to right relationship with God, and all who come to Christ in repentance and faith have been delivered from the guilt, power and bondage of sin.

The negative side of the message — “… if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven” — is God’s judgment upon those who refuse to turn to God in repentance and receive His grace in Jesus Christ. One New Testament scholar says that this may seem harsh, but men and women have a choice when confronted with Jesus Christ: they repent and embrace God’s costly gift of forgiveness, or they do not respond, or they reject the offer of God’s grace and peace and are left in the condition that they are already in — sinners separated from God. It should give us great comfort to know that we are not responsible for saving anyone or judging anyone, but Jesus does send us with God’s world-changing message. That is our responsibility.

World-Changing Gifts at Work
Our resurrected, living Lord has given us wonderful world-changing gifts — peace with God, the privilege of being coworkers with Him, the life and the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish the task, and the message of reconciliation with God. We see how these gifts changed the disciples’ world from fear to joy on that first Sunday. I look out on this congregation gathered this morning and I know how these gifts have brought peace and joy to your lives. And I know how God’s peace, Spirit, and message have brought joy and purpose to Linda and to me.

We went to Brazil as Presbyterian missionaries because these gifts were at work in us, and they were at work in the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil (IPIB), the denomination with whom we partnered in ministry. The focus of our ministry was in the semi-arid interior of Northeast Brazil known as the Sertão. Twenty million Brazilians live in the Sertão, and it is a region that needs the good news of Jesus Christ.

The IPIB had not established one organized church in this huge region of Brazil in their 100-year history. In 1998, the IPIB leadership, motivated by the Holy Spirit, decided it was time to establish an IPIB presence for Christ in the Sertão. Linda and I were invited to work together with them towards this goal. In 1999, a Brazilian team of missionaries was formed, and we began working in five cities of the Sertão. Some of you met the team director, Rev. Jango Miranda, and his wife Sandra this past week at our Brazil Partnership Celebration. Today, eight years later, there are six new churches in these five cities.

Last December, I had the wonderful privilege to participate in the worship service in which the first church of the IPIB in its 100-year history was organized in the Sertão — the Jardim Queiroz Presbyterian Church of Patos, Brazil. And this year, this group of Brazilian missionaries began work in three new cities in the Sertão. The world-changing gifts of Jesus Christ are at work, and this scenario is being repeated in multiple thousands of regions every place in the world.

We live in a very exciting time. More has been accomplished in the past two hundred years to share God’s salvation in Christ with the world than in the previous 1800 years. In the year 1800, only 25% of the world population had access to the message of God’s peace in Jesus Christ. By the year 1900, the Holy Spirit had worked powerfully through Christ’s followers and 46% had heard the good news. Today, 72% of the population of the world is hearing the world-changing message of God’s salvation in Jesus Christ. Thirty-three percent of the world’s population — 2.2 billion men, women and children around the world on every continent — have believed the message and are Christians.

Conclusion
Jesus’ world-changing gifts are working through His followers today. As the Father sent Jesus, Jesus sends you and me. He calls us to be His messengers to declare His salvation to our families, our neighbors, our classmates, our colleagues, to those near and far, even to the ends of the earth. We are all commissioned by the Lord Jesus Himself, sent into the world with the most important business we will ever encounter in this life. Wherever we are, whatever we are doing, may we be conscious of the need around us of those who have not heard of God’s salvation in Jesus Christ.

And remember, God will do the saving (you don’t have to save anyone); the Holy Spirit will empower you to be Christ’s witness; you have the message and the message is Jesus Christ; Jesus is the way (you need only point people to Him; invite them to come to FPC with you); and the Holy Spirit will make the message effective and transform hearts and lives. May Christ’s world-changing gifts continue to transform your lives and through you be a blessing to all the peoples of our world.

Let us pray.
By your word, O God, your creation sprang forth, and we were given the breath of life. By your word, eternal God, death is overcome, Christ is raised from the tomb, and we are given a new life in the power of your Spirit. May we faithfully and boldly proclaim this good news, by the words of our mouths and the deeds of our lives, rejoicing always in your powerful presence; through Jesus Christ our risen Lord. Amen.