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On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, 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’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
- John 20:19-23
What do you think to church? Do you like it?
It might be interesting for you to know that C. S. Lewis, the twentieth century's greatest Christian apologist, didn’t like it at all - at least at when he first became a Christian. He spoke about “the fussy, time-wasting botheration of it all… the crowds, the umbrellas, the notices, the bustle, the perpetual arranging and organizing…”
The thought that following Jesus is something we can do on our own is still with us. But that misses something essential about what the resurrection does in the world.
In John 20, Mary meets the risen Jesus and clings to him. But Jesus tells her, “Do not hold on to me.” Mary is trying to return to the old world, but a new world is breaking in. The resurrection is not a repair job on the past but the beginning of “New Creation” - a completely transformed reality. And this New Creation requires a new kind of human being.
Humanity as it currently exists is deeply broken by sin - not just individual wrongdoing, but a condition that shapes and distorts everything. If the world is to be renewed, people must be renewed too.
Jesus begins with his disciples. He appears among them, speaks peace (“shalom” - wholeness, restoration), shows his wounds, commissions them, and breathes the Holy Spirit into them. This is creation itself: just as God breathed life into humanity in Genesis, Jesus breathes new life into his followers.
The same pattern of encounter, transformation, and sending that we see with Mary is repeated with the disciples. They are gathered, restored, and then sent out to invite others into this New Creation.
Like the disciples, we meet every Sunday - every resurrection day! We meet because a new way of being human is being formed in us. The “botheration” of it all - the gatherings, rhythms, and structures - is the place where Jesus meets people, brings life to what is dead, and sends them out again. It is where broken people receive peace, purpose, and the Spirit.
In other words, if Jesus rose from the dead… go to church!
