The Second Sunday of Easter. Sermon preached by The Rev. Katie Hudak

Sermon Sunday April 27, 2025 The Second Sunday of

Easter

Lessons: Acts 5:27-32

Psalm 150

Revelation 1:4-8

John 20: 19-31

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy

Spirit. Amen.

Peace be with you. La Paz esté con Uds. Heiwaga anatato

tomoni arimasu yõ ni, a paz eteja com vocě, pokojz tobą,

shalom aleikhem, pax tibi; and there are as many ways to

say peace be with you as there are languages in the world.

What does peace be with you mean? For some People, I

imagine it is probably a perfunctory greeting, with as much

meaning as the boss going through the office saying

morning, because it is expected for them to say that as they

make their way to their office. It’s just a formality with no

real meaning behind it. For other folks saying peace be with

you is a phrase of joy, something we do at our Eucharist to

greet our neighbors and friends, often accompanied by a

hug, or a slap on the back, or a word or two of

encouragement. It is heartfelt, but may be a fleeting

moment. Peace be with you for some, may be the answer to

our fervent prayer asked for at 2 am when we can’t sleep

because we are worried for ourselves or for a loved one,

seriously lacking peace. Peace be with you might seem like

a cruel joke instead of a greeting to someone living in Gaza,

or the Ukraine, or the Sudan, or in Russia, Israel, or the

United States of America.

Peace may have many different meanings to each of us. To a

harried Mom, peace might mean an hour to herself. To a

family living paycheck to paycheck, peace might mean

freedom from financial worry. To that person living in Gaza,

it may very well mean, “the absence of war,” that old,

classic definition. On this Second Sunday of Easter, we

might take a moment and ask ourselves, what does peace

mean to each of us?

In today’s Gospel from John we have a very familiar Bible

passage. The apostles are locked away in the upper room.

Jesus has been crucified and they area very afraid. They are

afraid that they too will be arrested and put through the

same, horrible death that Jesus went through. They are afraid

because they have lost their leader, their north star, their

reason for being, or so they believe. They are grieving the

loss of their dear friend. They are rudderless, when wham,

who walks in but that very same friend in whom they put all

their hope for their lives and the life of their nation. If the

apostles weren’t frightened before, they were probably

frantic by now!

And the very first thing that Jesus says to the apostles is

“Peace be with you.”, and THEN he shows them the wounds

from his crucifixion. “Look ma, no hands!” just to let them

know “it’s me”, no need to worry! Now do you believe,

because you sure had a hard time of it when I was doing all

those “signs” or miracles!

So, what was Jesus trying to say to the apostles beyond a

simple greeting of “hi, how y’all doin”? He said shalom, or

peace. Shalom has the meaning of wholeness or

completeness in Hebrew. It can mean something like a

ceramic bowl without any cracks in it, but it is deeper than

that. It is being in a state of wholeness or completeness, in

other words, well-being. It refers to life being complex, full

of parts that move and many relationships that can be tricky.

So, when things are not in alignment or when something is

not right in one’s life, “shalom” or peace breaks down.

Things are not as they should be, and your “shalom” needs

to be put back together or restored. You need to complete

your shalom, by taking what is missing and restoring

wholeness, whether it is a damage we have done to

someone, or damage one of our animals has done to a

neighbor’s yard, for example, or whether our shalom has

been damaged in a broken relationship between persons or

nations. Most likely, the apostles’ shalom had taken a pretty

rough beating, right?

Therefore, God’s meaning of shalom is to take what is

missing and make it whole, make right all wrongs, and heal

the brokenness. With Jesus’ birth we have the arrival of

Eirene, or the Greek term or peace, or Shalom in our world,

in a physical sense! And with Jesus’ death, shalom was

restored between humans and God---a restoration of a

broken relationship for all, and broken relationships between

all, offered for all. Jesus is the complete human, the shalom,

the shalom for us all. And because we are Jesus’ disciples,

we are to create shalom in ourselves, with each other, and in

the world. This is not an easy task, surely? But Jesus did the

hard part for us, and His resurrection is the result.

So, it wasn’t just a “how ya doin’ guys” when Jesus came

through those doors and said, “Peace be with you.” Jesus

wished wholeness, completeness, and well-being on the

apostles because their shalom was seriously out of whack.

He was wishing them that shalom to mend relationships with

Him and with God. He was wishing them that shalom to

mend relationships with each other. Can’t you see and hear

it? The accusations flying around that upper room? “Peter,

you denied Him!” says John. Peter responds, “where were

the rest of you? I didn’t see anybody else hanging around

when He was on trial.” The other apostles saying to John,

‘How come you got picked to take care of His Mom? What

are we, swiss cheese?” And John saying, “well, he did pick

me!” Peace be with you indeed!

Jesus was wishing them that shalom to not only bring that

wholeness among themselves, but with those whom they

might be blaming---Judas? Pilate? The chief priests?

Themselves? The peace, the shalom, doesn’t mean to forget

what was done, but that those who have done the wrong

doing are willing to recognize it and make amends.

It’s why Saul/Paul of Tarsus was possible. Otherwise we

shake the dirt from out feet and move on if the shalom is

rejected.

Peace be with you. Shalom aleikehm, aleikhem shalom, and

basically that means peace be upon you. Peace be with you,

and also with you. We are offering a profound sense of

wholeness, of completeness, of well-being when we say

those words and when we respond. Perhaps this is what we

mean when we say that God gives to us a peace that

surpasses all understanding. It is certainly the peace that

Jesus offered to the apostles on that Sunday of the

Resurrection, and it is certainly that peace that Jesus offers

to us during this Easter Season, but also throughout the rest

of the year.

That shalom, that completeness, and wholeness, and well-

being is also offered between us and the earth, between our

use of natural resources and ourselves, between the creatures

of this world and ourselves.

We may keep asking ourselves, well, why is there still so

much heartache and devastation if Jesus has already said to

us, “Peace be with you.” If he is God’s peace? Perhaps the

question we need to be asking ourselves is if we, as a human

race, all of us, have accepted that shalom? And a companion

questions, what we as the Body of Christ can do about it?

Shalom aleikhem. La paz esté con Uds. Heiwaga anatato

tomoni arimasu yõ ni, a paz eteja com vocě, pokojz tobą,

pax tibi. Amen.