1st Sunday after Easter at Epiphany on
John 20:19 On 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!" 20 After he said this, he
showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the
Lord. 21 Again 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. 23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are
forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." 24 Now
Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when
Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the
Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my
finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe
it." 26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and
Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among
them and said, "Peace be with you!" 27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put
your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side.
Stop doubting and believe." 28 Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my
God!" 29 Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have
believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." 30
Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which
are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may
have life in his name.
Satisfaction Guaranteed
Satisfaction guaranteed. That’s a good thing, isn’t it? If we subscribe to a magazine and it doesn’t quite live up to our expectations, we can cancel it and get our money back. If the steak we order at a restaurant isn’t done the way we asked, we send it back until it is cooked to our satisfaction. And many of the things we buy for our homes come satisfaction guaranteed – that if it’s not what we want, we can return it and try something else.
I learned this week that I can go online to order
Bible Classes, stewardship
presentations, humorous stories, and even whole sermons – all satisfaction
guaranteed. But then I asked myself, “How do I know if you were satisfied?” If
five of you tell me it was a good sermon, is that guaranteed satisfaction? If
only two say something, is that enough satisfaction? What is someone shakes my
hand at the end of service and says, “Pastor, I’ve heard better.”? Do I get my
money back then?
Satisfaction guaranteed. That’s a good thing, isn’t it? Or have we perhaps taken this a bit too far? Many people who aren’t satisfied with their marriages are simply canceling them and trying a new one. When some people aren’t satisfied with their lives, they simply leave one day – leave the marriage, leave the family, even leave this life.
Satisfaction guaranteed. People are even applying this standard to God. If they’re not satisfied with God, they’ll simply try another one. And so if the Christian God isn’t doing so well at running the world, there’s the Muslim god, or you can try the Buddhist god, or nowadays, you can believe in whatever god you would like to have, made up of bits and pieces from all the others. One to your liking. One made to your satisfaction. It seems that with things and your life and even your god, you have the right to satisfaction. Satisfaction guaranteed.
Which brings us to Thomas. He wasn’t satisfied. He wasn’t satisfied with the
testimony given to him by the other disciples that Jesus was alive. He will not
believe. Unless he gets
satisfaction from Jesus Himself. Unless he gets to feel the nail holes and the
spear hole. Unless he gets to see for himself. Unless he gets to run his fingers
over Jesus’ body like a blind man with a Braille book. “Unless I see the nail
marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into
his side, I will not believe it.”
Thomas, the first post-modern disciple. He wants satisfaction guaranteed. He
wants God to do what he wants him to do, just like so many people today.
And then God showed up! Jesus walked through the closed door. Jesus said to
Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into
my side. Stop doubting and believe.” And suddenly, Thomas is singing a different
tune! “My
Lord and my God!” he cries. Once
Jesus showed up, Thomas realized that whether or not he was satisfied
with God was really irrelevant. What was important was whether God was satisfied
with him!
Thomas knew what he had said. He knew his demands. He knew his unbelief. He knew
his doubts. He knew he had mouthed off. He knew his sin. What would the God of
life and death think? What would He do? What would He say? Would
He demand satisfaction?
And what about you and me? Are you, or have you been, dissatisfied with God? Do you ever become like Job challenging God for His unjust ways, “I cry out to you, O God, but you do not answer; I stand up but you merely look at me”? Is God not running the world to your liking? Do you have some advice for God? “You know God, we could really do without this recession and high taxes and national debt. We could do without difficulties in our church and school.” I’m sure you could come up with a list of improvements for God. “God, I’d really like more money, improved health, better grades, a bigger house, a newer car and better-behaved children. Then my happiness would be guaranteed and I’d be satisfied.” In my house with five women and only one full bathroom, just another bathroom would guarantee satisfaction. If only we could receive these things, then we would be satisfied.
So what if God showed up here this morning? What if God walked through these closed doors? What would you say? Would you give Him your list? Or would you shove it in your pocket before He can see it and exclaim, “My Lord and my God!”
Do you finally realize that whether or not you are satisfied with God doesn’t
really matter! What is more important – infinitely more important – is what God
thinks of you. Is God satisfied with you? Or would He demand satisfaction from
you? For your rebellion, for your sin, for your folly in questioning Him and His
ways? How have you doubted? Where have you not believed? When He comes, what
will the God of life and death think of you?
What did Jesus do that night in the upper room? When He came, He said to His disciples, “Peace be with you.” He doesn’t chastise them for being afraid, for running away when He was arrested, or for not believing the women when then said He had risen. He doesn’t criticize Peter and say, “See I told you that you would deny me!” He doesn’t say to Thomas what an awful, unworthy disciple he is. He doesn’t tell them how disappointed He is in them for letting Him down. He doesn’t bring any of that up, and He never does! He is always offering forgiveness. It’s as if all of this unbelief and doubting and fear and confusion never happened at all. It’s already been forgiven. It seems as if Jesus is just happy to be with His disciples and give them peace. Peace of mind, peace of conscience, and peace of heart. The peace that they needed.
In fact, that is the very reason Jesus is there in the room a week after Easter. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead means satisfaction guaranteed. It means that God is satisfied with us. It means that the satisfaction demanded by God for our sin and rebellion and our mutinous thoughts, words, and deeds has been paid in full by Jesus on the cross. Jesus’ death is the payment. Jesus’ resurrection is God’s receipt. It’s as if all of this unbelief and doubting and fear and confusion never happened at all. It’s already been forgiven. It means that when God now looks at us, He doesn’t see a bunch of people to judge. He now sees His children who He is happy to be with; who He has come to bring peace to; who He has come to bring life to.
And so Jesus now comes to say to Peter and Thomas and you and me: “God is
satisfied with you. I am the guarantee! I did it. That’s why I died. That’s why
I went willingly. That’s why I didn’t fight back or let you fight back. That’s
why I didn’t jump down from the cross. That’s why I came. Don’t feel guilty. God
is not going to cancel you or trade you in or send you back. Your sins are
forgiven and they are gone! Your satisfaction, redemption, salvation, is
guaranteed!” And that’s a good thing, isn’t it!
When you purchase that maintenance warranty on your washing machine and the motor burns up or you purchased the 100,000 mile guarantee on your new vehicle and there is a clunking noise under the hood, how do you feel? Relief, calm, peace.
And isn’t peace really what we come to worship to receive? Isn’t peace the result of God’s satisfaction with us? Doesn’t God guarantee you peace through Jesus? Note how many times we receive peace in our worship service.
The same Jesus who came to the disciples in the upper room is the same Jesus who comes to us in this room. He comes to you who are frightened and fearful, who wonder and worry, who doubt and disbelieve. He comes to grant you peace. This is the peace I announce to you at the beginning of our worship here every week, as I stand before you and declare: “As a called servant of Christ and by his authority, I forgive you all your sins.” This is the peace that Jesus commissioned His apostles to give. The peace of sins forgiven. “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” This peace is yours.
Right before you come to the Lord’s Table, you hear of the peace you are about to receive. “The peace of the Lord be with you always.” Then you sing “O Christ, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world; grant us your peace.” This room becomes the upper room – filled with often frightened and distracted disciples. Jesus is calming us with His presence. “Peace be with you.”
While we may not be able to put our fingers into the holes of Jesus’ hands or our hand into his side, we do have His body on our tongues and His blood poured on our lips. This is peace personified.
After we return from the Lord’s Table we sing the Song of Simeon, “Lord, now let
your servant depart in peace.” We leave this room as brothers and sisters at
peace with each other and receive the Lord’s blessing, “The Lord look on you
with favor and give you peace.” Peace through Jesus is what the Christian Church
is all about. God’s satisfaction guaranteed.
President Herbert Hoover was quite a man. At one time, he was one of the most
popular men in the world. Not more than two years later, he was one of the most
hated and criticized. Late in life, a reporter asked him if all of the ups and
downs had bothered him.
Do you have peace at your center? Sure, we feel pretty good when things are going right, but how about when we’re on a downhill slide? How about when people are criticizing us and life seems to be falling apart? Do we have peace then? Our Lord Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” God’s peace is not something that depends on what happens or how people feel. Indeed, God's peace is most profound when things aren’t going well. It is when you have this peace of God, then you’ll find, like President Hoover, that no matter what happens, good or bad, you have peace at the center.
So while there are always going to be people in this world who are not satisfied with God – including sometimes you and me! – today we heard the answer to a far greater question; one that matters a whole lot more: is God satisfied with me? And we see the answer in the empty tomb: yes! For Christ is risen, and our sins are gone. Christ is risen, and we have peace. Christ is risen, and God’s satisfaction is guaranteed. And that’s a good thing, isn’t it!
Peace be with you! Amen.
The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and
your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen. (Philippians 4:7)