(This is an abridged version of the sermon preached at Epworth Chapel, Baltimore on Sunday, 4/22/12)
John 20:19-23
I’m certain that there are some among us who, like me, can recall the days when we didn’t feel unsafe keeping the doors to our homes unlocked. As a child, I can remember the days when all of the doors of my grand-parents’ home were unlocked. Those were days when it seemed that people were free to come and go as they pleased, and there was little fear of theft or injury.
Any cursory observation of the way we live today indicates that most of us now feel compelled to lock our doors. Today, security systems are big business. They have become a way of life for us. We live in a time when dead-bolts, alarms, chains, and even guard dogs are the rule rather than the exception of life.
Perhaps it is the case that barricaded and locked doors are outward and visible signs of the fears and trepidation that we hold within.
Terror, pirating, street violence, and domestic violence serve to remind us of the danger that pervades much of our world. Wherever we live, or work, or play - we face the possibility of such danger. Danger is all around us - and fear is the by-product -and thus we seek ways to secure ourselves – to make ourselves feel safe. Fear abounds.
In our Scripture text we are offered an account of Jesus’ first post-resurrection appearance to the disciples as a group. We are told that the doors to the place they were staying were locked out of fear. While I’m sure many of us would like to hope that the disciples would have been meeting to pray, to commune, to gather strength in their unity, even to discuss how they would move forward in ministry, we can surmise that they’ve gathered and locked the doors primarily out of fear. Would any of them be the next to be crucified if they were associated with Jesus who had died just a few days earlier? The disciples were understandably afraid and concerned for their safety. They were scared.
Jesus realized prior to his crucifixion that even this place was not exempt from fear. We recall that Jesus had washed the disciples’ feet in the upper room, and he had reassured them of his love and commitment, and reminded them of the coming of the Holy Spirit. Jesus knew that his friends would be filled with sorrow, and so he promised peace: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.”
The doors to the place they were staying were locked out of fear. Doors serve as barriers separating one reality from another reality. Doors serve to separate that which is inside from that which is outside. Over the course of our lives, I’m certain that all of us have had some doors opened for us, and maybe some doors closed in our faces.
One of the television shows I remember from my childhood was a game show called “Let’s Make a Deal.” On each episode there was usually one segment where a contestant was given the opportunity to choose between several doors. Behind each door was a prize. Some of the prizes were more attractive than others – behind one door may have been a car, and behind the others may have been something like goats or pigs.
But one thing we knew about the prizes on “Let’s Make a Deal” was that behind each door was a surprise. The contestant never knew what she or he was going to get until the door that they had chosen was opened and their prize was revealed.
Here, the disciples were back in the upper room and they had the door locked for they were afraid. And now, as they sat in despair, Jesus suddenly appeared to them again and amidst their fears – in the midst of that locked room, Jesus said, “Peace be with you.”
In a kind of twist on “Let’s Make a Deal” – the disciples were surprised as their door was opened and Jesus appeared to them. What a wonderful surprise it must have been.
Christ then breathed the Holy Spirit on those in the room, and they were set free from the stagnation and fear that had permeated the room and gripped their lives. Certainly, if nothing else, this wonderful, surprising appearance of Jesus to his disciples should serve to remind us that Christ meets us at the point of our fears, and offers us peace for the living of our days. He said, “Peace be with you.”
The disciples are a lot like many of us. Don’t we have locked doors that keep us inside, sequestered for fear’s sake? Don’t we too often have the tendency to close ourselves off from God and others out of fear of failure, fear of disappointment or injury, fear of the unknown?
The good news is the case that Christ seeks to open the doors of our lives and set us free to live more fully for him. He says to you and me, “Peace be with you.”
God wants to open doors for you and me today. I sense that surprising acts by God in Christ – when God shows up and opens the doors of our lives and enters in - are places where God’s grace is most evident. These points of divine intrusion and holy encounter are reminders for each of us who are the church that God is still present with us, and is really still in control of our lives. Growing up, we would sing that “God is always opening doors for me – making ways I cannot see.”
Where has God shown up for you lately? Where do we have a need today for God to show up, to open doors, to surprise us, and set us free for love and service? Where do we need for God to open the doors for us to love kindness, and do justice, and walk humbly with God and each other?
Well, the scripture doesn’t say, but as the disciples encountered Christ on that day, in their surprise at seeing Jesus, in their rejoicing and wonder, maybe they sang a hymn or two. Maybe they sang:
What a wonderful change in my life has been wrought
Since Jesus came into my heart.
I have floods in my soul for which long I have sought
Since Jesus came into my heart.
Floods of joy over my soul like sea billows roll
Since Jesus came into my heart.
Or maybe they sang:
Because he lives … we can face tomorrow
Because he lives … All fear is gone
Because we know … who holds the future
Life is worth the living …. just because he lives.
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