Behind Closed Doors

I preached this sermon on April 24, 2017 at the Isesaki Covenant Church. It was the second Sunday of Easter.

John 20:19-31

Following Jesus isn’t always easy. In fact, at times it is most definitely difficult. And trying to do something difficult is often accompanied by fear. During this Easter season we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and read the scripture texts that bear witness to that great event. After coming thru the difficult Lenten season where we tend to focus on our own sins and shortcomings, Easter brings great joy! But there is a subtext of fear that is evident in almost every one of the resurrection and post-resurrection texts. Those who encountered the risen Lord all experienced a mix of joy and fear. Today we’ve read of the disciples who had locked themselves behind closed doors for fear of the people who had been behind Jesus’ death. It’s probably easy enough to imagine why they were afraid. After all, if an innocent man like Jesus could be falsely accused and killed for crimes he didn’t commit, it wouldn’t be that hard to kill his followers as well. Yes, the disciples probably were fearing for their lives. But then, in the midst of their fear the risen Christ came to them. He searched them out, and in spite of their attempts to hide behind locked doors, he found them and stood in their midst. His first words to them are significant for they directly address the matter of fear.

READ v.19

This is reminiscent of the first words the risen Lord spoke to Mary; “Do not be afraid”. Peace be with you. It’s really just another way of saying, “Don’t be afraid”. Fear takes away all peace. People who are consumed with fear have no peace in their hearts. But Jesus speaks words of peace to them. Jesus seeks to replace the fear in their hearts with peace.

While the immediate fears of the disciples probably had more to do with their own well-being than anything else, on a universal level Jesus’ death and resurrection address one of the most basic human fears of all; The fear of death. As much as Christians like to talk about not being afraid of death, there is still a basic human instinct in every one of us that fears death. Death carries a sense of finality that do few other things. Death marks the end of life; it stops everything. While a natural death after a long, happy life may feel normal on a conceptual level, when death works its way into our world afflicting those who aren’t supposed to die yet it is the greatest tragedy we know. And yet the event we celebrate at Easter has a resounding message. The God of life has defeated the powers of death. The resurrection of Jesus Christ proved once and for all that God’s life is more powerful than death. So Christians have celebrated this victory ever since; as Paul proclaimed so clearly in his letter to the church in Corinth.

READ 1 Corinthians 15:55

So when the risen Lord told those he met not to fear, when he brought them words of peace, it wasn’t just because they were scared and trembling for thinking they had seen a ghost. It wasn’t just because they were afraid of getting arrested, tortured or even killed by those who killed Jesus. As much as those things were true, the meaning of Jesus’ return from the grave goes much deeper. It meant that all of those fears were unnecessary because even if they were killed, that wasn’t then end. They no longer needed to fear because Jesus was living proof that there is hope in the face of darkness, peace in the midst of turmoil, and life that conquers death! Peace be with you. Do not be afraid.

What follows in today’s passage is quite fascinating but not the main focus of my thoughts today. First Jesus shows them his wounds from the cross. This is no ghost or apparition, but human flesh and blood. Then we read of Jesus commissioning the disciples.

READ v.21-23

Jesus explains that their task now is to continue the work that Jesus had begun here on earth. To reveal God to others and to work for the building of God’s kingdom. Then he empowers them with the Holy Spirit to give them what they need to accomplish that task. We’re used to thinking of the second chapter of Acts as the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came down and filled Jesus’ followers with power. But here in John we see that Jesus had already done this to at least some of them prior to his ascension and return to heaven. The final part of the commissioning is a reminder of the great responsibility that comes with this task. These disciples will be the first form of the church, the body of Jesus Christ. As such, their responsibilities with regard to how they treat others are extremely heavy. Of course this becomes a difficult passage if we read it to mean that they are somehow given the final say in determining whose sins are forgiven and whose are not. Let me assure you, it is only God who can impart forgiveness to anyone. But the church has the incredibly privilege of proclaiming that forgiveness. And the church has the challenging task of verbalizing how God confronts sin in this world. As such, if the church refuses to accept people who come to them, refuses to accept them as fellow members of the body, if the church drives certain people away from the community of believers, in all likelihood those people will not get to experience God’s love, mercy and grace. But when the church receives people into the body, then they get to experience life in the community of believers and that is where they will most likely have a life changing encounter with Jesus Christ. So in many ways the responsibility really does lie with the church. This is a profoundly heavy responsibility that we should never take lightly.

The next part of today’s reading takes us to the famous (or infamous) story of Thomas. Poor Thomas! He’s been labeled as the doubter for centuries. Once again this isn’t the main focus of my thoughts, but let me just point out that Thomas is no different than any of the other disciples. He hears news of Jesus’ return to life and he has trouble believing it. Remember how the disciples acted when the women returned from the grave and claimed they had met the risen Lord? The disciples thought it was foolishness. The same thing happened when Mary Magdalene told them of her encounter. And once again when the two who met Jesus on the road to Emmaus shared their story. The disciples didn’t believe it. But then Jesus came to them in today’s reading and showed them his wounds and finally they believed. Thomas only asked for the same thing; to see Jesus’ wounds in person. The beautiful thing is that Jesus lovingly returned to the disciples a week later and this time Thomas was there. Immediately Jesus showed Thomas his wounds and Thomas immediately believed, and expressed his faith with the beautiful confession found in v.28

READ v.28  Thomas was no different than anyone else.

But here is what concerns me about the second half of today’s text.

READ v.26

Why are the doors still locked? Jesus had already appeared to them. They knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus was alive. They had received the powerful victory message of Easter; God has accomplished victory over death. They had received words of peace from Jesus repeatedly. They had received his words of commission. They had been empowered with the Holy Spirit. And yet, they are still cowering behind closed doors! Why are they so slow to understand? Why are they still so cowardly? Where is their faith? Where is their conviction? Where is their confidence?

God’s dominion over everything, even the powers of death had just been demonstrated in the most powerful manner. The disciples had been commissioned to take that victorious message out into the world. And yet they are fearfully hiding in a room with the doors closed. This was the biggest news in the history of humankind, and yet those who were first to receive it were keeping it locked up in a tiny room. How sad! But lest we becoming overly critical I suggest we look at our own actions in comparison. Our situation is generally much safer than that of the disciples. I doubt any of us has ever had to fear for their lives because they chose to follow Jesus. And yet I can’t help but think that we all too often act like we are afraid of something. As a result we all too easily fall into the trap of keeping the good news behind closed doors. Of course we may not actually lock our church doors or try to physically keep people out. But in many ways we are guilty of keeping the good news bottled up in these little rooms we call sanctuaries. Once we arrive here we are full of confidence, happy to proclaim our faith, ready to celebrate the joy of following Jesus. But then we leave this place and things change. We are somehow hesitant to proclaim our faith in Jesus once we step out these doors. We don’t act and speak with the confidence that we display when we are here. And if other people show interest in learning more about the good news, we almost always tell them to come to this place. It’s almost as if we are keeping the good news locked up in this little room. Oh, that we would have the confidence to throw open the doors and let the gospel out! Oh, that we would have the conviction to let everyone know how we feel about Jesus! Actually I’m glad to say that in some cases we have been able to do just that. Huge numbers of Jesus’ followers go to disaster zones when natural disasters strike; intent on sharing and living out the good news. And even right here in this congregation, you have sought to reach out to young kids in ways that go far beyond this room. Most recently you have taken a meeting that was being held here and moved it to a hospital. What a wonderful move that was. After all, the whole theme of the meetings had to do with sick people so what better place to have it than a hospital? Young kids from your sister church, Point Gospel, and your gospel hula group have been visiting the elderly care homes to share the love and joy of Jesus. These are precisely the sorts of things for which Jesus commissioned his disciples. These are the sorts of ministries for which we are given the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. So I bless you all for your living example of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. And yet I also challenge you to keep vigilant against the temptation to lock up the gospel in this room. Keep thinking about how you might still be doing just that, and come up with ways to correct it. Fear will always try to get the better of us and sometimes it will be at least partially successful. But the beautiful news is that even when we fall into this trap, Jesus is still there. Jesus still comes to us, as he did to the frightened disciples eight days later. Jesus still reminds us not to fear and he still speaks words of peace over us. Peace be with you. In the name of the father, son and holy ghost; Amen