Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
Jesus has died, and his disciples are cowering in the upper room. Mary Magdalene, the formerly-possessed-turned-devout-companion-but-not-named-disciple has just returned to the named disciples telling them she’s seen the risen Jesus in the tomb. This reading is often read on Easter morning, and when proclaiming this Gospel, I can just see the scoffing looks on the other disciples, and the exasperation from Mary, as she tries, in vain, to convince them of her truth.
So here are the disciples in the locked upper room. They’ve locked themselves inside, fearful of further persecution. The Gospel says that Jesus came and ‘stood among them, showing them his hands and side, and then they rejoiced. Not being done with his requests of them, he reminds them that just as he’s come to them, they are to go to others. After this, he breathed on them, and uttered the same words we say when we baptize someone. “Receive the Holy Spirit”.
The disciples are charged, even after Jesus’ death, to go. To go and be peace and love and light. And to help them, Jesus leaves them with the Holy Spirit. This is precisely what we are all called to do. To go. To be peace and love.
One of the things I do liturgically as a deacon is I offer the dismissal. After the gathered have heard God’s word, confessed their individual and collective sins, been reminded of God’s perpetual love and forgiveness, and shared in a holy meal, I have the honor of sending them out. From the back of the church, I pronounce, “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord”. It feels like a little commissioning; I am privileged to repeat these words of Jesus. Go. Love. Serve. It’s a small part of the service, and I wonder if those who hear these words, her them in the same spirit I say them. When preparing for this short-term mission trip, I am reminded that we are all sent by God to Go. To Love. To Serve.
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