Locked Doors and Locked Hearts Part II
This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy's and St. Mark's. The text is John 20:19-31.
Thomas
no different than any of these folks. Once he sees, he believes (vv. 25,
27-28).Thomas has been given a bad name because he didn’t believe without
seeing Jesus. He has been called “doubting Thomas.” However, he wanted the same
opportunity to see Jesus in person, to be really sure it was him and not a
ghost or figment of the other disciples’ imaginations. Can’t you identify with
Thomas? Don’t you feel deep down that the other disciples really felt the same
way Thomas did, but either never spoke it or the gospel accounts don’t include
it.
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Have you ever been afraid? I mean have
you ever really been afraid? I’m talking about quaking in your boots,
perspiration dripping down your forehead, shortness of breath, hair standing up
on the back of your neck, fear. The kind of fear you experience in a nightmare,
where you are being chased by a tarantasaurus rex.
Fear is powerful. It affects us
emotionally and physically. Fear can immobilize us, preventing us from living
the abundant life God has in mind for us.
During holy week, Jesus’ disciples had
experienced an emotionally draining week. Their master had been killed. He was
buried in a tomb and now three days later, they heard from some women that he
was alive. They had no proof of it for themselves, however.
The disciples were terrified and with
good reason. Jesus was put into a tomb, but now his body was missing. The
authorities were circulating rumors that his followers had taken the body out
of the tomb and moved it somewhere else, to make it look like he was raised
from the dead. Jesus’ disciples knew what happened to John the Baptist. They saw what happened to Jesus. They could
be next.
So, what do people do when they’re
afraid? They hide, just like the
disciples did. In addition to hiding, they locked the doors behind them so
they’d be safe. Jesus’ disciples were too scared to go anywhere. They would
just lay low behind locked doors until everything settled down.
Fear
was the driving force that kept the disciples locked in that house. As much as
locks kept others out, fear kept them in the house. Locked doors were a sign of
their locked hearts, paralyzed by fear.
In
today’s gospel, we have two accounts of Jesus’ appearing to his disciples, the
first without Thomas and the second with him. Jesus has a habit of showing up
in the least expected places.
Those
doors were locked good and tight, but here he is. We don’t know if Jesus’
resurrected body allowed him to walk through the doors or if he just suddenly
appeared or if the doors opened up for him, but there he was. And he was not a
ghost. Jesus had not been resuscitated either. He had been completely dead and
was raised. The bottom line is that the locked doors were no obstacle at all to
the resurrected Jesus.
The disciples see Jesus, but do not
respond…not until they saw his scars on his hands and side. Then they knew it
was Jesus, so they rejoiced. The risen Jesus is the continuing presence of the
Crucified One. The exalted Christ does not put the nail prints behind him, but
reigns as the Crucified Christ.
There
have been various responses to the risen Lord in this chapter of John. A Beloved
disciple sees the empty tomb and discarded grave clothes and believes Mary's
witness. Peter views same evidence, but is still skeptical. Mary Magdalene sees
the stone rolled away, but continues to grieve--until Jesus calls her name and she
sees him.
Thomas
no different than any of these folks. Once he sees, he believes (vv. 25,
27-28).Thomas has been given a bad name because he didn’t believe without
seeing Jesus. He has been called “doubting Thomas.” However, he wanted the same
opportunity to see Jesus in person, to be really sure it was him and not a
ghost or figment of the other disciples’ imaginations. Can’t you identify with
Thomas? Don’t you feel deep down that the other disciples really felt the same
way Thomas did, but either never spoke it or the gospel accounts don’t include
it.
There is a lot of irony and finger
pointing in the way people responded about being told of the resurrection. The
disciples chided Thomas for his disbelief when they told him, “We have seen the
Lord” (v. 25). Yet, the disciples did not believe Mary when she told them that
she had seen the Lord (v. 18). Because of fear, the disciples were still behind
locked doors. This shows us that if they had believed the reports, it didn’t
make any difference in their lives.
Jesus appears to his disciples bearing
three gifts. The first is peace. Three times in our gospel reading, Jesus uses
the greeting, “Peace be with you” (vv. 19, 21, 26). The greeting of “peace” is
one that has been used among the Hebrew people from antiquity and is still used
today. We know it as shalom. This address should have gotten the disciples’
attention. Earlier in John’s gospel (14:27), Jesus gave them his peace and told
them to not let their hearts be afraid. The Greek could be translated, “Peace
is with you or is yours.” In this exchange between Jesus and his disciples, the
promised peace given earlier in the gospel is conferred upon them at this time.
What
is meant by peace in scripture? It is far more than a feeling of calmness. It
describes a relationship between people rather than personal inner tranquility.
The peace of God’s kingdom is primarily the way people and all creation and God
will relate to each other in a harmonious existence.
The second gift is purpose. Jesus has a job for his disciples.
The
disciples are empowered to forgive. Jesus deputizes his disciples to be agents
who are engaged in the same declaration of peace as their Lord. The forgiveness
of sins must be understood as the Spirit-empowered mission of the church today
in the world.
The third gift Jesus gives his
disciples is power. Then he breathed on
them to receive the Holy Spirit. The disciples have been given peace and
empowerment. They are empowered for a purpose, to declare the reign of God. Our
sending today is an extension of God’s own sending. The disciples are
incorporated into Jesus’ mission. When Jesus entrusts his disciples with a
mission, that mission comes with the gifts of the Holy Spirit for power to do
what God has called them to do In today’s world.
When does Jesus come with this peace,
purpose and power? When people are locked in grief—like Mary; locked in
fear—like the disciples; and locked in darkness—like the world.
What
are our locked doors? What shuts our hearts and locks them down? We too may be
dealing with fear—fear of what the future will bring: will we have our health? Will we have enough
money to retire or will we have to continue working two or three jobs simply to
survive?
Perhaps
we are angry with God because he hasn’t answered prayer in the way we hoped or
he has taken a loved one from us. Being Christians does not make us immune to
the difficult things, the sad things, the awful things life sometimes throws
our way. We need to allow God to give us his peace and to trust we
have been given the Holy Spirit with the power to do what God has called us to
do. The church receives the promised
Paraclete who brings both an agenda and a promise.
God desires abundant life for his
people, which is only obtainable through relationship with God through Jesus
Christ. That is why John wrote his gospel, for those who were a couple
generations away from Jesus’ time on earth and for us who are even farther
removed. John wrote, “ Now Jesus did many other signs in the
presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are
written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of
God, and that through believing you may have life in his name” (vv. 30, 31).
Thomas responded with a confession of
faith, unlike the other disciples. What will our response be? Will we step
boldly into the world and proclaim that Christ is risen or will we hide
sheepishly behind locked doors?
This week, I have a mission for you. Pay special attention
and look for God in the places you would least expect him. Don’t be surprised,
He’ll be with you wherever you go. God has entrusted us with the mission of
sharing the good news of our God sightings with the world. Don’t keep this news
to yourself.
Amen.
Resources
Alyce M. McKenzie, Edgy
Exegesis, http://www.patheos.com/Progressive-Christian/Locked-In-Locked-Out-04-02-2013.html.
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