Easter 2 (NL4) John B. Valentine
John 20:19-31 April 12, 2026

“THE AGE OF ANXIETY”

The year was like 1947 ... and the renowned poet W.H. Auden wrote a poem about life as he knew it.

It was a reflection on Western culture and Western society in the days just after World War Two ...

And he titled that poem “The Age of Anxiety” ...

A name which stuck ... because it was viewed as such an apt descriptor of the way people were feeling ...

A serious case of the post-wars blues ... punctuated by:

• human isolation ...
• collapsing traditions ...
• spiritual emptiness ... and
• a general sense of despair.

But ... regardless of how people were feeling in those days ... nowadays we look back on the late 1940's as a time of relative calm!

I mean ... think of some of the stressors that make this age right now an “Age of Anxiety”:

• Betwixt the war in Iran and the war in Ukraine ...

• Betwixt the collapse of civil discourse and the rise of so much hate-speech ...

• Betwixt the collapse of centrist politics and centrist values and centrist media ... and the rise of extremist politics and extremist values and extremist media ...

• Betwixt climate change ... the rise of the hyper-rich ... the “affordability” gap ...

• And ... perhaps most of all ... the looming specter of AI ... Artificial Intelligence.

Is our age not punctuated by increasing human isolation and the collapse of so-many traditions and an acute spiritual emptiness and a general sense of despair as well???

Are we not living in an “Age of Anxiety”???

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Now ... how was it that our gospel lesson this morning began?

“When it was evening on that day ... the first day of the week ... and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews.”

It was Easter night. Jesus’ little band of followers had gathered back together in that same upper room where they’d apparently shared their last supper together just three night before.

• They were still trying to make some sense out of everything that had happened.

• They were talking in muffled tones.

• They were meeting behind closed doors.

Anyone want to venture a guess as to why???

Because they were ANXIOUS!

Because they were FEARFUL!

Because they were scared to death that what had just happened to Jesus could just as soon happen to them.

And their anxiety ... their fear ... their stress did exactly what it is that fear does all too well ...

It paralyzed them and prevented them from doing anything at all.

Anxiety has an awful way of doing that ... doesn’t it?

• Keeping us from doing our best ...
• Keeping us from taking risks ....
• Keeping us from stepping out in faith and hope ...
• Sometimes even keeping us from doing anything fruitful ... or maybe even anything at all!

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You know ... or I guess I should say “You MAY know” ... that it’s the weekend of the Masters ... the most prestigious event in professional golf.

And I do know that some of you are planning to hunker down on your couch and watch the final round just as soon as you get home from worship today.

Anyhow ... its been kind of fascinating to hear about the fellow who currently shares a spot atop the leaderboard ... Rory McIlroy ... this week.

You see ... for the longest time ... Rory McIlroy has been acknowledged as one of the best golfers in the world.

And he’s had it within himself to win as much ... if not more ... than anyone else on the Pro Tour.

But .... year after year after year ... Rory McIlroy couldn’t find it within himself to win at the Masters ... and the sportswriters and the golf pundits had a field day.

• McIlroy ... they said ... lost his better judgment when it mattered most ...

• He spent too much time listening to the roar of the crowd elsewhere on the course and too little time playing his own game ...

• He just “couldn’t handle the pressure” ... which is a polite way of saying that Rory McIlroy was paralyzed by the moment.

But ... last year ... at long last ... Rory McIlroy won at Augusta National ... and donned the green jacket ...

And ... as of Saturday morning ... it looked like he may well be the biggest runaway winner at that tournament ever ... now that the anxiety and the pressure had been lifted!

But then ... yesterday ... it kind of looked like the anxiety and the pressure and the fear moved back in ... and again the pundits are want to suggest that Rory McIlroy is again paralyzed ... by the moment and by fear.

Let’s be honest ... Folks ... I doubt that any of us are ever going to be walking inside the ropes at Augusta National ...

But I suspect that many of us know something about what it means to be paralyzed by anxiety and fear.

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Anyhow ... Jesus knew that his first friends and followers were fearful and afraid. He knew full well that they were paralyzed by the moment.

So ... when he comes to them ... what is the first thing he says?

“PEACE BE WITH YOU.”

Isn’t that exactly what people who are anxious and fearful really need?

A sense of peace. The presence of peace. Peace that neutralizes our worst anxieties and fears?

Sure it is.

That peace that Jesus brought that evening was exactly what those anxious people needed ....

Much as the peace that Jesus brings may be exactly what we anxious people need even here today.

But HOW does the peace which Jesus offers actually come to us?

How does it get into us? ... How does it get through to us? ... What does it actually look like?

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It was just over a century ago now that authorities in Japan asked the famous American architect ... Frank Lloyd Wright ... to design a lavish hotel to be built in the city of Tokyo.

This massive new hotel ... to be called the Imperial ... was intended to be a showpiece for all the world ... and among the various requirements of the building was that it be able to withstand a major earthquake.

When Wright visited Tokyo to inspect the site where the hotel was going to be built ... he was appalled to find that the soil in that location was only about eight feet deep ... beneath which there was a layer of some sixty feet of soft and porous mud that slipped and shook like Jell-O.

So Wright had a series of test holes dug and they all immediately filled up with water ... not exactly the ideal foundation for a massive and lavish new hotel.

But Wright didn’t throw up his arms in dismay ... rather he accepted the challenge to design a hotel that could rest on fluid ground and actually withstand a major earthquake!

What Wright did design was an engineering wonder.

Since it was necessarily going to be built on that Jell-O-like surface ... he decided to build it like a ship ...

And ... rather than trying to keep it from moving during an earthquake ... he designed it to ride out the shock waves without any damage.

And ... since he knew that fire after an earthquake was always a major cause of destruction ... in part because broken water lines would prevent a fire from being fought ... he designed a huge outdoor pool in the courtyard of the Imperial Hotel ... as an emergency water supply “just in case”.

On September 1, 1923 ... soon after the hotel was completed ... Southern Japan experienced what was then the greatest earthquake in it’s history ... measuring more than 8.3 and killing more than 200,000 people.

And news reports about the quake were slow in arriving ... but rumor had it the Imperial Hotel had been completely destroyed ... and a major newspaper wanted to print the story.

So a reporter from that newspaper called Frank Lloyd Wright at his home in Arizona to ask him for comment ... and all that Wright said was something along the lines of “You can print that story if you’d like, but you’ll later have to retract it, because there’s no way that that story is actually true.”

And short while later ... Wright received a telegram from Tokyo ... confirming what he already knew to be true ... that the Imperial Hotel was completely undamaged.

And .. while fires raged all about it ... the hotel staff was able to defend the Imperial Hotel ... using the water that was found right there in the hotel pool.

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Frank Lloyd Wright knew about foundations. He knew what it took for a building to survive.

AND JESUS KNEW ... and still knows ... ABOUT FOUNDATIONS TOO.

What is it that building needs amid the fearful power of an earthquake?

A firm foundation.

What was it that Jesus first friends and followers needed on that night that they gathered in that upper room?

A firm foundation.

And what is it that people like you and I need amid the tension and the anxiety and the fear involved in living in these days in which we live?

A firm foundation.

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Peace is Jesus’ Easter gift to all of us ... folks.

Not just to his first friends and followers ... but ALL of his friends and followers.

It comes when he comes.

Because Jesus doesn’t just know about foundations ... folks. He IS the foundation.

And so my prayer for all of you today is that that peace that passes all understanding undergird your life ... and be your foundation ... amid these anxious days.

Amen!