Jesus Christ, the Hope of All Humankind John 20:19-23, NIV 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!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” I would like to share the grace of God under the title, “Jesus Christ, the Hope of All Humankind,” which is based on John 20:19-23. Please repeat after me: Jesus Christ, the Hope of All Humankind - Jesus Christ, the Hope of All Humankind. The Lord Jesus has risen! He arose from the dead, putting an end to the power of sin and death. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the greatest and most awesome miracle in human history. The door of salvation has opened wide because Jesus, who was destined to live and die for the sacrifice’s of all men’s sins, also rose from the dead. Now the door to eternal life is open. The door to the kingdom of heaven is open. 1 Corinthians 15:20 says: “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.” Jesus became the first fruit of all who had fallen asleep believing before His death and resurrection. Just as they rose to live eternally; we who now believe will live eternally even if we die physically. Death should not generate utmost despair. To Christians death means a beginning. The moment we breathe our last on earth, the door to eternity will open to us. Our new life in heaven will begin. Christians should not fear at the time of their death. Because we have the life of resurrection; we can enjoy a victorious life with joy and gratitude. We cannot thank the Lord enough for His grace. We are saved. We are renewed. We have become the children of God. Jesus spent the evening of His Resurrection with his disciples. He delivered to them a wonderful blessing, which was not specific to his disciples of 2 000 years ago; but is also for us today. Within His blessing we find four marvelous messages. First: Jesus proclaimed peace. “Peace be with you! Peace be with you!” John 20:19 says: “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!’ ” His disciples huddled together behind closed doors after Jesus was crucified. They were afraid of the Jews, and must have been in deep despair. They spent their days in sighs and worries: “What can we do without Jesus? Now that He is dead, we are finished.” Then Jesus appeared, stood among them and said: “Peace be with you!” He said the same word twice as we find in verses 19 and 21. “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!’ ” “Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ ” This blessing of the Lord was a message of great hope to the disciples who were in despair. It equally is a message of great hope and blessing to us today. All the dark shadows of the mind scattered as the disciples heard this word from Jesus. These words set them free from worry, concern, and anxiety. These words are true. There is no greater blessing or joy while living in this world than maintaining peace of mind. We may have all things that this world has to offer but if we do not have peace of mind; we are still not free from feelings of hopelessness. Joshua Loth Liebman, an American Rabbi and best-selling author of the book called Peace of Mind, listed all the things he would like to have. His list was long and included such things as: health, love, talent, power, wealth, and fame. He showed his list to a wise teacher, an old friend of his family. The teacher looked the list over and replied: “Joshua, this is an excellent list but it appears that you have omitted the most important element of all. You have forgotten one ingredient; lacking which, each possession becomes a hideous torment, and your list as a whole an intolerable burden.” “And what is that missing ingredient?” Joshua asked. The teacher took a pencil and crossed out Joshua’s entire list. Then he wrote down three words: Peace of Mind. Joshua, deeply moved by his response, realized how important peace of mind was. Acknowledging that peace of mind was more important than health, love, talent, power, wealth, and fame, he wrote the inspiring book called Peace of Mind, published in 1946, which sold millions of copies. This book maintained its rank as #1 for more than a year on the New York Times Best Seller list. People will read books and go to resorts in search of peace of mind. No matter how many books they may read, or no matter how good a resort they may go to, they can have only short and temporary peace. Such peace cannot last forever. Where can we find true peace? We can find true peace of mind in our resurrected Jesus Christ, who said to His disciples as He continues to say to us today: “Peace be with you!” What kind of peace did Jesus give? John 14:27 says: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” The Lord gives us true and eternal peace that the world cannot give. No one can take the peace from the Lord away from us. When we have the peace of the Lord worry, trouble, anxiety, and pain will go away from us. Hallelujah! Peace! Peace wonderful peace, coming down from the Father above! Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray, In fathomless billows of love. Hallelujah! I pray that you will be filled with this peace coming from the Lord. This blessing of peace should be upon all Christians, including Korean Christians. This peace of the Lord should also be on North Korea. Then Korea, the last divided nation in our world today will be reunited. We will hold hands together praising the Lord. “Lord, bring Your peace on this land. Let our day of jubilee come soon so that we will praise You together, putting down all weapons aimed at each other to hold each other’s hands.” The Lord’s peace will come with abundant joy. John 20:20 says: “After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.” “The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.” I pray that you will also be filled with this same joy. The Lord says to us, “Peace be with you.” Second, Jesus said: “I am sending you.” Jesus has entrusted us with a mission. John 20:21 says: “Again Jesus said: ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ ” “I am sending you.” The Lord was saying to his disciples: “You should not hide with fear anymore. I am sending you out to the world. Now go!” Jesus is still saying the same thing to us today: “Now that you have received God’s grace, go into the world which is full of sin and hopelessness. I am sending you to the world full of problems and despair.” We are saved by the wonderful grace of the Lord Jesus. We have found peace of mind. We are filled with joy and thanksgiving. Now is the time for us to take the love of the Lord to those who suffer and moan in the middle of despair, sorrow, and pain. We must take peace to them. We must bring their dying spirits to life. The Lord promises to be with us when we take the gospel to other people. Matthew 28:20 says: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” The Lord will be with us to the very end of the age. The Lord entrusts us with a mission by sending us. He will never leave us until we accomplish our mission, leading our footsteps, manifesting the glory to God all over the world through our lives. Let us look around us. Do you know how many people are in pain? Do you know how many people are in despair? I was informed that recently 140 organizations for homeless people assembled together. These organizations said that there are so many homeless people today that their number cannot be accurately determined. Even the Korean government does not know how many homeless people we have. Some time ago I had heard that there were about 5,000 homeless people only around Young-deung-po Station; however according to other information; there could actually be as many as 20,000 people around this station. These people live day-to-day shuddering and sighing in hopelessness. Jesus Christ is their only hope of rescue from hopelessness. Today in Korea, there are both children and elderly citizens who are left to support themselves and live alone. Then there are the handicapped people to whom living itself is a challenge. Today there are many squatters who have no place to live; and there are children who are abandoned by their parents. Equally in Korea there are many foreign workers who are being trampled down. It is said that there are about 1.2 million registered foreign workers living in Korea; but reportedly there are more illegal residing foreigners that are being infringed upon. There are also children from Non-Korean parents. We have to also remember the families of the missing in action in the West Sea due to the sunken warship. We must go to all of these with the love of Jesus Christ. They will change when we go to them with the love of the Lord. They will be healed. They will be restored. They will feel the grace of God in their lives and will gain strength with which they can overcome all problems and trouble; when we share the true peace that no one else can give, when we share the life of Resurrection with them. One foreigner visited Korea right after the Korean War. He saw a missionary nurse tending the wounds of lepers. Astonished by what he saw, he said: “I could never do that even for a million dollars.” The nurse smiled and replied, “You are right. Neither could I for a million dollars. However, since the love of Christ compels me, I do this with joy and pride.” Only the love of Christ as demonstrated on the Cross can change us, break and melt our stubborn hearts. Only the love of the Cross can solve all the problems and pain of humanity. There are so many problems; and our Lord sends us into the world with a mission to solve these problems. There are many problems around us. The development of the four major rivers raises controversial issues. We must pray for the preservation of environment. “Heavenly Father, work things out beautifully in Your grace.” The birth rate in Korea is the lowest among OECD countries. The number of elementary students in Seoul today is only half the number 27 years ago. It is predicted that Korea’s labor market will be on the verge of collapse in 20 to 30 years. We must seriously consider this low birth rate and try to solve this problem. Today when I officiate a wedding, I encourage the couple to have a minimum of three children. I recommend five. They laugh. One child is too lonely, two are too simple. So having three children sounds adequate. I tell them to never have an abortion, recommending them to give glory to God with many children. A pastor in Kyunsang Province holds the honor for having the highest number of children. He has 13 children. His church will always have at least 15 people. He said he would be willing to have more if God gave them more. He has Sunday school teachers, pianists, conductors, and so on only within his family members. I think thirteen is too many. Three sounds adequate. Couples who are married and couples who are going to be married, I urge you to have as many children as God gives to you. There are problems that we cannot solve. The Lord has to help us to solve such problems. When we march forward with the love of Christ, clothed in humility; our Lord will be with us and will do His wonderful work. Alan Paton wrote a book called Ah, but Your Land is Beautiful. Paton tells a story about Judge Jan Christian Oliver, a prominent South African jurist, during the time of apartheid. This story takes place when South Africa suffered extreme racial discrimination. A black Pastor of the Holy Church of Zion invited Judge Oliver to a Holy Thursday Communion service. They were going to wash each other’s feet during this service. After all, it was Holy Thursday. They were to wash someone else’s feet as Jesus washed the feet of His disciples before the Last Supper. Judge Oliver was unaware that he would be a part of a foot-washing ceremony; so he hung back. His white-only society would not tolerate this kind of contact, care and presence that was being exhibited in this black community. One by one the people began to wash each other’s feet thinking that Oliver would surely step out of the church before it was his turn to wash. Oliver quickly found himself moving forward and being taken unaware, kneeling at the feet of a black woman whose name was Martha Fortuin. Ironically, Martha had been a servant in his house for 30 years; she took care of his household, often washing his children’s feet. He knelt at Martha’s feet and washed them: and as he did he cried; and Martha cried. And in that Holy Thursday moment there came a realization of God’s wonderful, awesome presence. Somehow the press learned of this event, gave it wide publicity; and cost Judge Oliver the chief judgeship which was to have been his. A few days later the black pastor called on Judge Oliver to ask his forgiveness for involving him in an act that destroyed his professional future. The judge replied, “Taking part in your service on Maundy Thursday is to me more important than any chief judgeship. Think no more about it.” Alan Paton wrote this judge’s story in his book and said: “He lost his job, but in that moment, he found his soul.” Hallelujah! We must fasten our waists with humility, washing the feet of our neighbors. We should never despise or look down upon the poor because we possess more or we have better education or a better position. I pray that we will be clothed in the humility of Jesus and take good care of all people as precious children of God. I remember Martin Luther King Junior’s last speech wherein he proclaimed: “If any of you are around when I have to meet my day, I don’t want a long funeral. I don’t want a long eulogy, either. Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize, that isn’t important. I’d like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King, Jr. tried to give his life serving others. I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry. I want you to be able to say that day that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked. I want you to say on that day that I did try in my life to visit those who were in prison. I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity.” I want his confession of service to others to be our confession as well. The Lord is saying to us: “I am sending you.” Third, Jesus said: “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Jesus tells us to receive the Holy Spirit. John 20:22 says: “And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’ ” Jesus breathed on His disciples and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit.” This passage of scripture reminds me of the scene of God’s creation of man. God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. When we believe in Jesus, He breathes the Holy Spirit into our nostrils to revive our dead souls and to make us the children of God. It is impossible to believe in Jesus without the Holy Spirit. We can come to believe in Jesus only when the Holy Spirit comes to us. We can live a powerful Christian life when we are filled with the Holy Spirit. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit; we can live victoriously not by our own might, but by the power of the Holy Spirit. D.L. Moody was a successful minister and evangelist. One day two women came up to him after a service. They said: “We have been praying for you.” “Why don’t you pray for the people?” he asked. “Because you need the power of the Spirit,” they said. He was stunned at their remark. He had the largest congregations in Chicago, with many conversions. Moody thought he had power: but when he heard those two women praying; he realized that he lacked the power in his ministry, and needed an anointing by the Holy Spirit. A great hunger entered into his soul. He began to cry out to God to fill him, saying: “Give me the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Fill me with the Holy Spirit.” After the great fire of Chicago, Rev. Moody was working to raise money to rebuild his tabernacle. During a fund-raising visit to New York, Moody cried that God would fill him with His Spirit. There he received the fire of the Holy Spirit. Moody described his experience this way: “The blessing came upon me suddenly like a flash of lightning. For months I had been hungering and thirsting for power in service. I had come to that point that I think I would have died if I had not got it. I remember I was walking the streets of New York. Right there, on the street, the power of God seemed to come upon me so wonderfully that I had to ask God to stay His hand. I was filled with a sense of God’s goodness, and I felt as though I could take the whole world to my heart.” After this experience, Rev. Moody could do greater things in his ministry. We can do great things when we are filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus. It is the Spirit that revives souls. It is the Spirit that heals. The Holy Spirit lets us do the work of the Lord. We cannot help but do the work of the Lord as the precious children of God when we are filled with the Holy Spirit. We will bear the nine fruit of the Holy Spirit-the characteristics of Jesus-in our lives when we are filled with the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23 says: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” This is true. We will each become a little Christ, witnessing the Lord Jesus to the ends of the earth, when we are filled with the Holy Spirit. C. S. Lewis said in his famous book Mere Christianity, “Every Christian is to become a little Christ. The whole purpose of becoming a Christian is simply nothing else.” Hallelujah! Indeed, we must each become a little Christ. This is the whole purpose of becoming a Christian. Let us become a little Christ, an instrument of healing, forgiveness, and change, by showing the love of the Lord to people. Fourth: We need to forgive one another to work as the man of the Spirit Jesus tells us to forgive each other. John 20:23 says: “If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Forgiveness is the climax of love and the completion of the message of Resurrection. We are saved and have become children of God by believing in Jesus, thanks to the infinite forgiveness and love of God. Once we have received salvation, which is free of charge; we must practice forgiveness and love to others. We need to forgive those who have harmed us. We need to forgive those who have hurt us. We need to forgive those who have caused trouble and inerasable damage to us. We need to love them. Laura Blumenfeld is a reporter to Washington Post. Her story of forgiveness is an outstanding one. Her father was a Jewish American. In 1986, her father was shot by a Palestinian terrorist while visiting Israel. Laura decided to find the man who killed her dad as she wanted to learn about vengeance. She learned both Hebrew and Arab languages and received her MA in International Relations from Columbia University. Laura became a reporter to the Washington Post and in 1998 volunteered to take a position in Israel. After searching all the court documents of 12 years previous; Laura found out that her father’s killer was Omar Hatib. He was arrested as one of the gangsters who were supported by Syrian terrorists. He was serving a 25 year prison term. She would often go to Omar’s home town and interview his family. Laura began to like his family a lot after many visits to his home. They were pure and unsuspecting people. Omar’s nephew liked to sit and play on Laura’s lap. The nephew of the man who killed her father dearly loved her. Laura became so close to Omar’s family that his aunt suggested to her pregnant daughter to name her baby after Laura. Finally Laura began an uncomfortable, correspondence with her father’s gunman in prison. She hid her true identity but as they continued to communicate, Laura was moved by the Holy Spirit to realize that their different values made him kill her father. Then at a court appearance in 1999, Laura identified herself as the daughter of the victim. She made a petition to the court to have mercy on Omar and to reduce his sentence. His family was deeply touched. Omar was shocked. Laura said: “Please, your honor, forgive him. This is my revenge.” Then Omar Hatib said: “You won.” This is the great victory of Christians. Laura forgave the one who had killed her father and embraced his family with love. This is the picture of love and forgiveness that all Christians must show. Jesus taught his disciples this quality of forgiveness in the Lord’s Prayer. Matthew 6:12 says: “Forgive us our debts,?as we also have forgiven our debtors.” When we forgive wonderful things happen. Problems will be solved. God’s glory will be upon us. God will give us the keys of the kingdom of heaven when we forgive. Matthew 16:19 says: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” We must forgive one another with the love of Jesus. We see so many people fight for trivial things. Once Rev. Tae-Bok Kim told me a story! He officiated at many wedding ceremonies but one wedding ended very awkwardly. Rev. Kim officiated the wedding while another pastor presided the ceremony. The new couple was about to march out after the benediction. The Presider wanted to create some humor so he said to the groom: “Bridegroom, lie down on your hands, perform push-ups three times, and give a cheer.” But the humor did not sit very well with the bridegroom who just glared at the Presider. Most people would have complied and done what the Presider asked of them but this groom glared sharply at the Presider, who felt very awkward, and said: “Quickly, please.” The groom plucked his boutonniere out of his suit jacket lapel and threw it on the floor, saying: “No way!” The Presider hurried the newlywed couple out as a resolution to this embarrassing issue. Pastor Kim said to me that the life of the newlyweds looked gloomy since the groom showed his sharp temperament. As to not dampen his wedding day, the bridegroom could have gone down on his hands, performed push-ups three times, and given a cheer even though he did not like to this. Instead he chose to almost yell: “No way!” as he threw his boutonniere on the floor. The bridegroom’s reaction to doing something he didn’t want to do is a demonstration of us losing our temper over small things. We rise up in anger for nothing. We yell and shout. We keep fighting. Our next door neighbors are professional fighters. We must be changed by the love of Jesus. We need to change. We need to be united by love. On such a small land, why should there be regionalism? People keep asking where the other guy is from. The correct answer is that we are all from earth. There are conflicts between classes. There also are conflicts between workers and management; the rich and the poor; the learned and the illiterate; the left and the right. Various conflicts between classes of people cause serious damage to our Korean society. We must heal these wounds and conflicts, being armed with the love of Christ. We must be the incarnation of love and forgiveness and enter into problems to solve them. We want to heal. We want to change. Lord, use us! There is a famous epitaph written on a tombstone found in a native Indians church graveyard in Oklahoma. We can read the following words of forgiveness on Charles Journeycake’s tombstone: “We have bankrupted six times and moved away. Our belongings were looted each time. We thought it would be safe to cross the Missouri River and settle there. But in a few years, the whites pursued us and looted all our possessions. We moved to another place and built good farms, comfortable homes, barns, schools for our children, and churches to hear the gospel. The whites rummaged our town and took our horses and cows. Whoever pursued them was killed. We have tried to forget everything. However, we cannot forget the gospel that the whites have brought. It gave us far greater things than our tribulation. We forgive it all.” We forgive it all. Hallelujah! This is the love of Christ. This is the forgiveness of Christ. Although the native Indians were deprived of all their possessions, and some of their family members were killed; they could forgive their enemies because they had the gospel of the forgiveness of Christ in their hearts. We often hurt other people because we are weak. We hurt people because we speak and act carelessly. It is often hard to forget the hurts and wounds we have received from others. Sometimes even after a long time; we still remember and agonize over these hurts. Now that we have received forgiveness without charge, and have become the children of God; we must forgive each other. “Heavenly Father, help me to forgive other people for the rest of my life.” I want you to listen to the voice of the Lord and make resolutions this morning. “Peace be with you - I am sending you - Receive the Holy Spirit - Forgive one another.” The message that Jesus delivered 2000 years ago should be the same message given to us today. Let this message echo in our hearts so that we will practice love and forgiveness all the time. This is my earnest prayer for you. Let us pray. Our Father of infinite love, grace, and mercy, we give thanks to You. We thank You for teaching us Your love and forgiveness on this Easter Sunday. “Peace be with you - I am sending you - Receive the Holy Spirit - Forgive one another.” Help us live for the glory of God with this inscription embedded upon our hearts. I pray in the Name of Jesus. Amen. 2