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Easter 2C (2016)

John 20: 19-31

Do you remember reading a while back how passengers on a flight from Hawaii to Los Angeles were surprised when a man got up from his seat and began pacing up and down the aisle, clearly disturbed about something. When he began reading his Bible aloud that was the last straw. The other passengers subdued the man,strapped him to his seat with ducttape and put a piece across his mouth for good measure. When the plane landed, the LA police took him into custody.
What do you suppose got into this individual? Was he afraid of flying, or had he suffered some emotional trauma? Obviously, he was deeply disturbed.Most of us would never make a scene like that on a plane, but of course that doesn't mean our hearts are at peace either. Some of us lie awake at night as worries, problems and concerns race through our minds. Others experience ulcers, high blood pressure, or other stress-related illnesses. We snap at our loved ones for no apparent reason. We sabotage ourselves in our work and in our relationships. We're troubled people and sadly we often don't know why.
About 25 years ago, Rabbi Joshua Liebman wrote a best-selling book titled Peace of Mind. After the publication of this book, Rabbi Liebman was swamped with letters from people seeking peace. His mail was heavy; his telephone rang constantly; strangersdropped by to see him. He was a young, kind-hearted rabbi, only 38 years old. He tried to help everyone who contacted him. He died just three years later at the age of 41. He just could not stand up to the burden. But before he died, he said, "I am appalled at the multitude of people who have never learned to empty their minds."
The first word that Jesus spoke to his disciples gathered together after his resurrection was the word, "Peace." We read in today’s Gospel: "When it was evening on that day… and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you.' After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you . . .”
How do we find peace? How do we empty our minds of all the worry, fear, resentment, and pain that living in this world brings? How do we find that peace which passes all understanding?
A man said that his therapist suggested that he might find inner peace if he would just finish the things he had started. He observed, "Today I finished two bags of potato chips and a chocolate cake. I feel better already."We have a name for it, don't we? Comfort food. Be honest about it. Chocolate, maybe a doughnut or two and certainly ice cream all help to relieve your stress—although not your waistline, which causes more stress.
Sometime backthe satirical digital magazine TheOnionpublished a fake press release. The press release touted an imaginary snack food meant to ease the "hideously bleak emptiness of modern life." The writer described the snack like this: "We're proud to introduce T.C. McCrispee's as the antidote you've been reaching out for. Our tasty new snack cracker will, if only for a few lovely moments, significantly lessen the aching, gnawing angst that haunts your very soul."According to this press release, participants in taste trials testified that the "satisfying crunch distracted them from the parade of tears that is life." A fictitious spokesperson summed up the campaign by saying: "We're selling the salty, unctuous illusion of happiness." Illusion is the key word here. Peace is not found in a snack food or a chemical. After all, what are drugs or alcohol except away to chemically induce peace of mind?
Jesus said, "Peace be with you." But how and where do we find that peace?For many of us, peace will come only when we come to grips with our past for we are haunted by guilt, resentments, past failures, and lingering hurts.
In his book, Everyday Miracles, David Spangler writes about life in New Orleans. Situated near the mouth of the mighty Mississippi river, New Orleans was carved out of swamp land. Much of the city lies below sea level and remains dry only because of a complex network of canals and pumps which keep the ever-encroaching swamp at bay.Just outside the city limits there are several wonderful parks that allow hiking and canoeing through the marshes. One of Spangler's favorite spots is a swamp where there are raised boardwalks which run for a couple miles alongside several bayous. Among the inhabitants of those bayous is one of nature's most fierce creatures--alligators.Spangler learned that if you wanted to see a gator all you had to do was toss a marshmallow out into the bayou, then sit back and wait. In a matter of seconds a pair of eyes would surface and silently glide through the water toward the white, bobbing morsel of sugar.Almost magically, two eyes would become four, and four eyes would become six, then eight, as the alligators would slink out of the shade and paddle over to the marshmallow. Often without warning, one of the brave reptiles would lunge forward and steal the marshmallow with a quick, powerful snap of its jaws.
Spangler noted the rather creepy fact was that these alligators had been watching him silently all along. No doubt they had watched him hike for the mile or so through the swamp and along the bayou. Their piercing eyes and acute sense of smell had sensed the presence of flesh and blood as they stalked him like any other prey. All the while, he was completely unaware of their hungry vigil. It wasn't until he tossed the marshmallow out into the water that they abandoned their hiding places in the brush and revealed their presence."Those alligators," writes Spangler, "are like our memories. Even when we think we are alone and totally free, powerful memories swim just beneath the murky waters of our awareness. Just behind the bushes that grow in the landscapes of our lives are many unsuspected eyes that watch us and, if we allow, control us."
That's powerful, isn't it? Some of us will never have peace of mind until we come to grips with the alligators in our past. Deep within the cells of our bodies reside the memories of every past sin, every past hurt, every past resentment we have ever experienced. Without warning these past sins, hurts, and resentments rise up into our consciousness. They trouble us, frighten us and throw us off balance. We may not even consciously know they are there, but still they eat at us and rob us of our joy. In order to have true peace of mind, we need to come to grips with our past.

In what’s called The Exhortation, the Prayer Book encourages anyone who feels troubled or burdened by the past to seek out the counsel of a discreet and understanding priest and to confess one’s sins in order to receive the benefit of absolution and spiritual advice. To that end, the Prayer Book also provides a rite of private confession to assure us of God’s forgiveness and pardon. Perhaps more time in the confessional and less time with therapists might be worth considering.

In the Greek language of New Testament times, two words were commonly used for canceling a contract. One of the wordsmeant “to cross out." That's when you took out the contract, drew a big X over it and declared the contract null and void.The other word meant "to wipe clean", like taking an eraser to an old-fashioned blackboard. The words of the contract were wiped completely away as if they had never been written.Author Judson Cornwall, in his bookLet Us Enjoy Forgiveness, states that the Greek word St. Paul used for forgiveness is the onewhich means "wiped clean away." Jesus didnot just cover over our sins; he wiped the slate clean as if nothing had ever happened. Many of us, in order to experience God's peace, will need to come to grips with our past.
Others of us will need to come to grips with our future. Some of us are living troubled lives because we are terrified of what tomorrow may bring. And who can blame us? Five minutes of the nightly news confirms that this is a cruel world. On a personal level we hear of friends who are declining in health and spirit.We watch loved ones suffer – and we know our day is coming. We are confronted with brokenness on the home front and across the sea. That is a sobering thought for anyone preoccupied with the challenges of the present world. Who can help but be concerned about the future? In the face of such a world, how quickly we can forget God's promises.
From time to time I’ve been asked to briefly summarize my faith. I always respond that I have a deep, abiding and unshakable sense in my life of the providence of God. That is to say, I know that God, the Almighty Creator of the universe and author of all life, loves and cares for me. And ultimately this love and care will bring about the healing of my present brokenness and I will be made whole. This faith is expressed in a poem called Footsteps in the Sand which I’m sure you have seen. In part it reads, “I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was one only. This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints, so I said to the Lord, ‘You promised me Lord,that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of footprints in the sand.Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?’ The Lord replied, ‘The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when I carried you.’”

How do we find peace of mind? First, by coming to grips with our past. It’s over and done with, gone; don’t let it rob you of your joy. As for the future--that is what the whole Easter event is all about. The same God who raised Christ from the dead watches over you and will not leave you or forsake you. "Peace be with you," said Jesus. Leave here today embracing that gift of peace.