Sermon from September 1, 2024, by the Rev. Dr. Tara W. Bulger

Behind the Bulletin: Sharing God’s Love with the World

In the past few weeks, we have been looking at the different movements of worship, remembering that what we do in worship is a model for how we should live the rest of our lives. We began by remembering that we are a people who gather in God's name, not just here in worship, but in many different places in our life. We remembered that we are a people who should proclaim God's word. We are a people who should respond to hearing God's word. And today we will talk about sharing God's word with the world.

And to do that, we have another reading from John's Gospel, the 20th chapter verses 19 through 22. This takes place after Jesus has died and been resurrected.

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jewish authorities. 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 his disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said again to them, peace be with you as the Father has sent me. So I send you. When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit.

In the 12 step group of Alcoholics Anonymous, they have a saying that goes “to keep it, you have to give it away.” What that essentially means is that the people who have come into their program and have taken advantage of the community there and have worked those 12 steps, and who have been able to stop drinking, that they should in turn help others stop drinking. So to keep their own sobriety, they have to work on giving it away, on showing other people how to be sober. To keep it, you have to give it away.

In our passage today from John's Gospel, we have the disciples who have worked so long alongside Jesus. They have heard Jesus's words of love and healing and grace, and they have no desire to give it away. At the point that we read about them in John's gospel, in fact, they're in a locked room.

This locked room comes right after seeing Jesus being tortured in the passion. They've seen Jesus be crucified. Some of them have even said that they don't know who Jesus is. They've denied him over and over again. And so during this time, after the crucifixion, before the resurrected Jesus comes, they've locked themselves in the upper room, and they're terrified. They're terrified that they might be next, and they don't want anyone to know who they are or where they are.

But in his way, Jesus comes into that room and the first thing he says to them is, peace be with you. Now, if I were one of the disciples, I would be thinking, what do you mean peace? I have no peace. I'm worried and I'm scared. But Jesus gives them those words, peace. Peace meaning to be undisturbed. Jesus tells them to have peace, because in his resurrection, we know that all of the final things are now in God's hands. Even death will not hold us because Jesus has been resurrected. When Jesus tells them peace, he is telling them, look, I am with you and I will be with you. He tells them to touch his hand and his side proof that he is actually there. And then, in verse 20, we are told the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

Now, if you or I were writing the story, we might end it right there. Yay! Jesus is back and he's with us—end of scene. But we aren't writing the story. God is writing the story. And we're told that Jesus then tells them, peace be with you as the Father has sent me. So I send you, peace be with you. All the final things are now being cared for by Jesus. And I am calling on you to go out, disciples, just like Jesus did, and do the things that Jesus has done. These disciples are to go out and teach the world about love and forgiveness, and grace, just like Jesus did. In fact, we are told they should go out also and teach and preach and heal just like Jesus did. And when Jesus was teaching earlier in our first lesson, he reminds them that they will do great things because they have been sent out.

But in all of these things, they have to first leave the upper room, don't they? They gotta get out of that locked room. They are sent out into the world in order to do the things that Jesus has done. And then Jesus tells them, receive the Holy Spirit. And this is a reminder to those disciples that they won't be alone when they go out and try and love and heal the world, that the Holy Spirit will be with them, giving them everything they need for this work of loving and healing the world. Jesus leans in close and breathes the Holy Spirit on them. And Jesus has breathed the Holy Spirit onto us too. Because if I were writing the story of a Sunday morning, I would say, we come in together, we worship, and then we're done—end the scene, if Tara's writing it. But the truth is that we are told to go out to leave this place and do the things that Jesus has done, that we just like those first disciples. We are supposed to go out and love and offer words of healing and teach about grace and forgiveness just like the disciples we are to go out and teach and proclaim. And if that seems like an enormous job to you, remember the Holy Spirit and the peace of Jesus Christ is with us always.

Our calling as Christians does not end here at the church. In fact, this is the place where it begins. And for the rest of our days, we are to go out and share God's love with the world. It's the same thing that the early disciples were charged with, and it's what we are charged with.

This reminds me of a story once that Andrew Young, who is a minister and a civil rights icon, told about his daughter many years ago. He and his daugther Millard Fuller, who was the CEO of Habitat for Humanity. He was preaching at their church. Millard Fuller talked about all that Habitat for Humanity does in the States. But then he says this, “We will continue to do our good work in the United States, but what we now know is that the greatest area in the world that deals with unhoused people is in Uganda.”

At that time, there had been decades of civil and political strife, and they had the highest numbers of unhoused people in their country. And Millard Fuller says, “I hope some of you, especially you young adults, will come and work with me in Uganda building houses.”

Andrew Young is there with his daughter who's in college, and she leans over and says, “I wanna go to Uganda.” And Andrew Young pats her arm. After the service is over, she turns to him and says, “I'm serious. I wanna drop outta school and I wanna go to Uganda and build houses.” And he said, “honey, we'll just give a really big donation. You are needed right here in Atlanta.” So as they go through the line to speak with Millard Fuller, after the service, Andrew Young hands a really big donation check to Mr. Fuller and makes sure his daughter sees it. But his daughter comes in front of Mr. Fuller and says, “I would like to come work with you in Uganda. Here's my name and phone number.”  As they're leaving church, Andrew Young is saying to his daughter, “You're needed right here in Atlanta. You need to finish school.” And she says, “Daddy, how many times have I heard you preach that we are supposed to be a people who go out and serve?” And Andrew Young said, “I was just preaching. I wasn't talking to you.”

And finally, he makes a deal with her. If she will finish school, he and his wife will support her going to Uganda. And secretly he hoped she would forget about it.

Two years later, she graduates and she says, “Dad, I'm ready to go to Uganda.” And they have no recourse but to help her pack up her life and send her off to Uganda. So on the day Andrew Young and his wife are taking her to the airport, Andrew Young is crying. He just, he can't stop crying. And they take her to the airport and send her off. And his wife says, “You’re really having a hard time with her growing up, aren't you?” And he said, “I guess I am, but that's not what is making me cry.” And she says, “Well, please tell me what it is that's got you in this state.” And he said, “It's that all this time I thought I was raising a respectable Christian. I didn't know I was raising a real one.”

May we all be real Christians who leave this place to share God's love and serve the world. You won't do it alone. Jesus and the Holy Spirit will be with you. But friends, you can't keep it unless you give it away. Amen.