Jesus said, Peace be with you
When it comes to hockey, one of the issues that has been debated over a period of time is the matter of the frequency of “head shots”, and people receiving concussions, repeated concussions.  I don’t know if some of you have had a concussion.  But I wonder about those people, who have been hit badly, returning to the game so soon after they have been hit.  It may be a physical accomplishment.  But, I would say, it is also a psychological accomplishment, to do this.
Years ago, I had a concussion. I was riding a bicycle in the month of March, in London Ontario, without a helmet, I must add—with a toque on instead (not a good idea, as it turned out).  I put on the brakes.  The front brakes jammed.  I was going down a hill.  And I flipped over the handle bars, and I woke up in the hospital.  I couldn’t put one sentence together properly.  So Linda, who heard me on the phone, was a bit disturbed and distressed.  Over the months that followed, I was hyper-sensitive to the prospect of collision.  I would be driving along in the car, perhaps as a passenger, and someone would come up suddenly to the intersection, and I would react.  I was overly sensitive.  So I wonder about those NHL players who have received a  big “hit”, and how they are able to get back into a game which is extremely rough.
Yesterday, in the one newspaper I read, there was an article concerning the election.  You have heard a lot about the upcoming election.  But let me just share with you one of the points made in this article by Denise Bombardier.  Denise heard a comment by a French-speaking person in Trois-Rivières, who said that he was going to vote for Jack Layton, because it wouldn’t matter anyway.
And that stuck in her mind.  Her feeling is that, in Quebec, there has been a series of events—of course, the repatriation of the constitution [without Quebec’s signature], the failed Meech Lake accord, and also the matter of the sponsorship scandal.  All of those have had, apparently, a huge impact.  Now, the sponsorship scandal was some time ago.  But, as I said to the children, in the children’s message, “Once bitten, twice shy”.  There is a sense that Quebecers, as a whole, are not willing to trust Canada, and their national parties, or the parties that are liable to form the government.
The author of this particular article found that distressing.  She felt that Quebecers have a problem with power, and how to deal with it.  Perhaps—she didn’t make this point, but I  make the point—perhaps it is time to let fear be replaced by confidence in the project which is Canada.
The main point of what I am talking about is fear.  And fear is what we see in John’s gospel, John 20, where the disciples are behind closed doors, we are told, for fear of the Jews.  They’re not going anywhere, apparently.  It’s hard to know whether to interpret this passage in terms of what immediately goes before it in John 20, or simply as a sequel to Jesus’ crucifixion.  That was traumatic for all concerned, and certainly for the disciples.  They were afraid.
However, into that situation, Jesus came, through those locked doors, as the Risen One, and he said to them, “Peace be with you.”  He showed them his hands and his side.  And then the disciples, we are told, rejoiced when they saw the Lord.  So, in the context of fear, and how fear tends to paralyze us, Jesus’ coming into their midst was a freeing experience.
“Freeing”, first of all, because they were being given a sense of joy.  They weren’t cast down anymore.  Joy was their experience now, as they encountered the risen Lord.
Now, let me say, to begin with, that one of the tools of the interpretation of Scripture is that we interpret scripture in terms of itself (i.e. the Bible as a whole).  That’s one of the main interpretive guides of scripture.  But I would say more contemporary biblical study would have us interpret scripture in terms of the book or the letter in which that scripture (or passage) is contained, or would emphasize that rule quite strongly.  So the passage from John’s gospel that I mentioned (John 20:19f.) is, or can be, interpreted in light of previous words from John’s gospel.
So, for example, in John 16, Jesus says, 
... You have pain now; but I will see you again [the resurrection], and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.  [And then, at the end, he says:]  Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.
In John’s gospel, and, in fact, in all of the gospels, we hear that Jesus actually prays to the Father.  And, thanks to the resurrection, and the peace he has achieved through his death and his resurrection, the disciples are also encouraged to make their prayers known to God, to receive God’s answer, and find joy in that.
Now, we don’t live our lives on a constant level.  There are valleys; there are mountains.  And this is part of our faith—we are “crucified” with Christ, but we are also raised to new life, in communion with him.  And part of the way in which we conduct our lives is through prayer to the Father, in Jesus’ name, in order to receive the joy that God wants for us.
And that’s a joy which the world cannot give, no matter what things or experiences we might have.  That is not the same joy as the joy that the Son has in receiving the Father’s response, and the children of God have in receiving the Father’s response to them.
There is a good deal of sadness and distress in the world.  This is an antidote to that distress, as well as to fear—the joy that God wishes to give us, as we pray to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.  The joy that comes through prayer, and the joy that comes through resurrection, is the antidote to fear.
The passage goes on by saying,
Jesus said to them again, “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.”
Well, in John 17 (prior to Jesus’ passion and death), Jesus prays to the Father on behalf of the disciples:
As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world...	I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one.
And, throughout John’s gospel, there is an emphasis on the unity that exists between the Father and the Son.  Jesus says, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.”  “The Father works and I work.”  There is a great of emphasis on the unity of Father and Son, and Holy Spirit.
That is the unity into which we are called.  We are called into the same unity which is the fellowship with God in the power of the Spirit.  It’s a fellowship, a unity, which we also experience in company with one another.
And surely, one of the antidotes to fear is the encouragement that we bring to one another, in the fellowship of faith.  We have the unity, which we have in God, through Christ, which stands behind us, which protects us “against the evil one” (to use the language of John’s gospel again).  All of this is an antidote to fear.
So joy that we receive, thanks to the resurrection, and in answer to prayer, and also this unity we have with God and with one another— are all antidotes to fear.
Now this one segment of the passage concludes:
When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
Now, as I have said, one way to interpret the passage is not only to look at Scripture as a whole, but to look at John’s gospel in particular—and John 16, for example, where Jesus says, [When I go away, the Advocate (the Holy Spirit) will come to you...]
And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment:  about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.
Well, I mention that, because the last words of Jesus to his disciples at this point are as follows:
... He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
The Son, Jesus, sends the Spirit to the disciples.  In some sense, we ourselves, who put our faith in God, through Jesus Christ, find the gift of the Spirit; and our actions, our manner of life, can be, by God’s grace, a testimony to the reality of the Spirit, challenging people to a change in direction of their lives, to faith as a worthwhile response to the Risen One, and to a realization that evil has found its match in Jesus Christ, who is the resurrection and the life.
So, in addition to the joy which comes through making our prayers known to God, the fellowship that we have with one another, also the Spirit which God can send into our hearts but also into our midst, can be a means whereby we are a form of encouragement to others in the world, so that they can turn from a manner of life, as we have turned from a manner of life, and find the hope, the encouragement that God wishes for us, the life that he wishes for us in the communion of the Holy Spirit.
“Once bitten, twice shy”—so goes the expression.  But God calls us, thanks to Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, and through the giving of the Spirit, to find things which encourage us not to be paralyzed by fear, but to live full and productive lives in service to God—in the power of his joy, his fellowship, and also the Spirit, which we ourselves, in our lives, can testify to, and, by God’s grace, share with others.