A little while of not seeing Jesus

Sermon for Jubilate – Easter 3

1 Peter 2:11-20  +  John 16:16-23

“A little while, and you will not see me. And again, a little while, and you will see me, because I am going to the Father.” That saying of Jesus confused His disciples greatly at the time, but it would all make sense within just a few days. He spoke those words on Maundy Thursday as He was walking with them from the upper room to the Garden of Gethsemane, and sure, enough, in a little while, in just a couple of hours, He would be arrested and they would flee from Him. Within less than 24 hours, they would see Him crucified, dead, and buried, and then they wouldn’t see Him at all until the evening of Easter Sunday. They were sorrowful and sad for that little while, and the world rejoiced that they didn’t have to see Jesus anymore. But then all the disciples’ sorrow was washed away in a moment when they saw Jesus again, alive.

That’s fine for the disciples. But what about us? Do these words have any meaning for us who have never seen Jesus, even for a little while, and who won’t see Him until our earthly life comes to an end? They do have meaning for us, but the meaning is more spiritual than literal. Let’s think about that for a moment this morning.

It was literally a little while before the disciples didn’t see Jesus, then literally a little while before they saw Him again. It would be nice if it were literally just a little while before we could see Jesus. But then, think about the reason why the disciples didn’t see Jesus. They didn’t see Him, because He was literally dead. Dead and buried. Crucified, dead, and buried. Be thankful you’ve never known a time, not even a little while, when Jesus was literally dead. Since the moment you were born, the One who gave His life for you on the cross has been alive. Alive and well. Alive and ruling over all things. There has never been even a little while in your life when the Lord of life was lying dead in a tomb.

You never had to experience that little while of not seeing Jesus, the little while when He was literally dead. But you may have experienced a little while in your life when you thought He was dead, when you didn’t believe in the living Lord Jesus. Even on that first Easter, between the morning when Jesus rose from the dead and the evening when He appeared to His disciples, He wasn’t dead any longer, but they were still sorrowful, because they still thought He was dead.

If you had to deal with your own sins and bad behavior and self-absorption, you would be sorrowful, too. You’ve messed up, in God’s sight. You’ve been messing up on the inside since the moment you were born, and it quickly moved to the outside. You know that your flesh, your old man, still doubts God, still doesn’t want to be under His rule, still focuses on serving himself. To live with the holy God, you have to be holy like God, not just a “good person” or a “decent person,” but a holy person. And you aren’t that. Without an advocate, with a mediator to make your case before God, you have no hope, only sorrow.

There was a time in your life, even if you were too little to remember it, when you were in that position, without an advocate before God, without a mediator. But then you learned that God has, in fact, provided a mediator for every sinner. You learned that the Mediator was crucified for your sins, and you learned that He was raised from the dead, that you can rely on Him to make your case before God, based on His own record of goodness and holiness. And so you began to use the living Christ as your Mediator before God. You began to trust in Him as your Redeemer from sin. And the sorrow that came with guilt, the sorrow that came with despair was replaced with joy. You didn’t see Jesus for a little while, before you heard and believed the Gospel. But when you heard it and believed it, every time you hear it and believe it, sorrow gives way to joy in the living Christ.

There is another little while of not seeing Jesus that we need to talk about, and that’s the “little while” before Jesus returns visibly to the earth, a time which often includes suffering for us who don’t see Him now. St. Peter refers to a “little while” when, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials. Right now, we don’t see Jesus. What we see is a world that hates Him and that hates Christians, and that hatred is becoming more and more open. And I suppose one reason for that is that, during a time of crisis or uncertainty, people tend to move closer to their G/god.

For unbelievers, that means moving closer to the devil, the father of lies and the first hater to ever exist. He rules by deception, fear, chaos, mockery, timidity, anger, selfishness, and lawlessness. He is the ultimate tyrant. All the tyranny in the world owes its origins to him and all the tyrants in the world take their direction from him as they draw closer and closer to him. As Jesus told His disciples, Truly, truly, I tell you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. That’s happening now. The world, even in its panic and uncertainty, rejoices that Jesus is gone; rejoices that churches are closed; rejoices that Christians are being silenced and marginalized. The world rejoices, because people think they are finally going to get complete control over this world, and they will rule with an iron fist, just like their father, the devil.

But for Christians, during a time of crisis or uncertainty, we take refuge more and more in the risen Lord Jesus and find joy and peace in knowing that, even though we can’t see Him now, we will see Him soon, in a little while, when He comes to rescue us from this evil world. And even the reason we don’t see Him now gives us comfort: we don’t see Him now because he’s ruling as King at the right hand of God. He rules by truth, boldness, peace, kindness, courage, wisdom, justice, and love. And even though we don’t see those things flourishing in the world, we pray that they may flourish in us and among us, even as we believe in the One who rules by those things. And when we trust in Him and when we strive to live like Him, we win. We overcome the world and its devil-tyrant, through faith in the Lord whom we don’t see now, but will see in a little while.

Peter has some advice for Christians while we wait to see Jesus. As the world pursues fleshly lusts more and more, Peter says, abstain from fleshly lusts. As the world behaves badly, Peter says, behave well among the Gentiles, so that, when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good works and glorify God on the day of visitation. Notice, Peter doesn’t expect unbelievers to praise God for the good works of Christians during this life. Now they will speak against you as evildoers. But on the day of visitation, when Jesus returns, they will have to begrudgingly acknowledge before God that His people did good, not evil.

Of course, that means, as Peter also points out, that we need to be especially careful not to do evil, but to do good, which includes submitting to the authorities, unless their commands conflict with God’s commands, as when they try to keep us from gathering for worship. It’s hard to “honor the king” when the king is dishonorable, and you can judge for yourselves, with the wisdom God has given you, which “kings” are honorable or dishonorable. But God has granted a certain amount of honor to all governors and rulers, so I urge you to keep that in mind even when you disagree with them and may have to take a stand against some of the things they’re doing. Even if they stoke the fires of persecution, don’t behave as the devil’s children do, with rage and anger and gnashing of teeth, but as God’s children who know that it is commendable if a person, for the sake of conscience toward God, endures grief when suffering wrongfully.

In any case, none of this will last more than a little while (relatively speaking). Then we will see Jesus again, and the world’s dreams of total control will vanish in an instant, and we will have all eternity to live in total peace and safety. You have sorrow now, Jesus says. But I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you. Remember that Jesus rose from the dead. Remember that He reigns. Remember that He’s coming again. And when you remember, rejoice! Amen.