First Presbyterian Church
Rev. Michael J. Imperiale
Salt Lake City, Utah
“So I Send You”
John 20: 19-31; I Peter 1: 3-9
Introduction
Eva Hart remembers the night in April 1912. Twenty lifeboats and rafts were launched into icy North Atlantic. With those boats too few and only partly filled, most of Titanic’s passengers struggled and perished while those in the boats waited a safe distance away. Miss Hart remembers seeing the horror of the massive ship’s sinking and even more dreadful, the cries of drowning people.
Lifeboat No. 14 did row back chasing the cries in the darkness, seeking and saving a precious few. Incredibly, no other boat joined in. The Titanic exhibition at the ZCMI Center portrayed and captured the magnitude of this human disaster and loss of life.
Our Savior said, “I came to seek and to save the lost.” Last Sunday, Easter Sunday, we celebrated the fulfillment of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. He has indeed secured our salvation when we simply put our trust in him. He himself is our lifeboat, our rescue, our peace.
But now he says to his disciples and to us, “As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” The unsinkable Titanic of this world (our human pride, self-assurance, ego-centric confidence, certainty of will) has crashed into the iceberg of human sin and fallen-ness. And while people drown in the treacherous waters of frigid existence without God, we are tempted to stay dry and make certain no one rocks the boat.
I. Joy in the Risen Lord (vs. 19-20)
“On the evening of that first day of the week (the first Easter), when the disciples were together (in church as it were), for fear of the Jewish leaders (they wondered if their allegiance to Jesus would bring about the same kind of treatment), Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.” They remembered how Jesus once said to them, “You will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy… now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy” (John 16:20-22).
Peter preached this joyful gospel in his letters. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!” we read this morning. “In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (I Peter 1:3).
Easter is meant to bring to you and to me a very full sense of joy. God’s plan for our lives cannot and will not be thwarted. No matter what happens to us in this life (and we all know difficult and distressing times and events), God will bring about the miraculous transformation of grace and goodness. The apostle Paul put it this way in Romans 8: “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us… We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose… What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
II. That You May Believe and Have Life (21-23, 31)
“Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you’… These things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
A Christian couple from the U.S. was in Moscow on a short-term mission trip. John was teaching a seminar on outreach and evangelism. Brenda was offering approaches of sharing Christ with others. As their trip was nearing an end, they met a man, a doctor named Mirza from Azerbaijan. John was telling him about the Lord and wanted to give him some Christian literature. To his dismay, he realized that they had given away all the Bibles and pamphlets they had brought with them.
Mirza showed up again the next day as John and Brenda were leaving for the airport. John thought: Lord, what I’d give for a Russian New Testament right now. Not ten seconds later, Brenda answered a knock at the door. The Russian Gideons were there with a whole load of New Testaments. They had just received permission from the hotel management to place bibles in every room! One of them held out a New Testament to John and Brenda as if to say, “Is this what you wanted?” They handed it to Mirza and they all said their good-byes.
Where is God sending you to share your faith? When traveling on business or to see family or while on vacation, don’t you know and won’t you realize that God has a person like Mirza who is ready and waiting to hear about your faith in Christ? Day to day here at home, at work or in school, in your neighborhood or here at the church (for heaven’s sake!), are you open, willing, and ready to meet the person God has brought to you?
What ministry with others is God calling you to be part of? We have Gideons right here in Salt Lake City (just ask Doug and Gini Gould – they will tell you all bout it). A pregnancy resource center not only helps young mothers with formula, blankets, clothing and instruction for their new babies, but they also share the love and grace of Jesus Christ with those in the midst of a challenging life situation. Prisons at I-15 and 3300 South and at the point of the mountain have inmates in desperate need of friendship, outside contact and the freeing Gospel of Christ. Interfaith roundtable groups are promoting friendship and understanding between the growing, varied religions in Salt Lake. It is good for Muslim, Hindu, Jew, Christian, LDS, and others at least to talk with one another, reduce conflict and misunderstanding. Sharing the gospel will have its life-giving impact in the process. That’s what God does.
I am so thankful to a college ministry (I can’t even remember his name!) that came to my campus. Through the sharing and caring of friends and leaders during my freshman year, I came to a personal, life-changing, life-giving faith in Jesus Christ. We have the U, Westminster, SLCC right here. Just ask Brad Bertelsen how campus ministry works.
Conclusion
The life, death and resurrection of Jesus are meant to offer God’s saving grace, forgiveness, new and eternal to you and me. We have celebrated Easter with great joy, inspiring music and worship. Now what? “Just as the Father sent me, so I send you,” said Jesus. There are countless people both here and around the world who are waiting and ready to read and hear, to believe in Jesus as Savior, Messiah, Redeemer and Lord. Through your love and joy, your friendship and interest, your words and attention, by believing they too will have life in his name. Please don’t just sit out there in a lifeboat observing. Jesus is sending you. Amen.
