John20:19-31, theme: "Unlocked Doors"
Locked doors keep us out of buildings and cars. They keep us out of places we shouldn't be in — often for our own safety. They can also keep us out of homes and cars that just happen to be our own. I won't ask for a show of hands of those who've locked themselves out of their own vehicle or even their home, but that explains why our neighbour has a spare key to our house. I knew of some seminary students years ago who had just arrived in town and locked themselves out of a town home they shared — a home in a somewhat troubled neighbourhood. Forgetting to ask, now what would Jesus do, one helped the other climb onto the roof above the entrance so he could climb through a window that had been left ajar, and all of this - just as the local police arrived and with a powerful spotlight helped illuminate the evening darkness. Sadly though, Brentwood, Missouri's finest doubted the seminarians' story which then resulted in a crash course in prison ministry even before the fall semester had begun. Fortunately their time of study was quite short as before long a roommate, who shared the apartment, arrived and was able to vouch for their integrity.
There are other locked doors in life — some far more substantial — the doors and walls of fear and doubt. Today in the transforming spotlight of the resurrection pray that we come to appreciate Jesus has unlocked the doors of death, of fear, and doubt. Pray that we realize believing is seeing things as they truly are — without the blinding distractions around us that tempt to see things otherwise. Pray we come to recognize the challenge of fear and doubt in our lives for the obstacles they can become blocking out our ability to see our Saviour for who He is, and what He has accomplished. And then trusting in the power of our risen Lord, let us strive by example, by words and actions to encourage others, who like us know what it is to struggle with fear and doubt — to encourage them that believing in the risen Lord is seeing life in a whole new way.
For a moment think of fear and the role it often plays in our lives. Someone isn't feeling well. They sense something isn't right but they put off going to the doctor. They may fear the testing that may be done, the lab work and scans but perhaps most of all they're afraid of what the doctor may tell them. It isn't always something as straightforward as you need to eat less dessert and exercise more.
Sometimes fear will keep us from asking questions in a class or other group. We're afraid we'll appear less informed or even foolish. We're afraid of what others may think of us and our ideas. That same fear can often keep us silent as well around others who put down the Christian faith and its worship. We fear rejection. We fear ridicule and so we keep silent when we should speak.
Sometimes fear will keep people from worshipping at all. They maybe haven't been in a long time but feel something is missing in life. They feel they should get back but are afraid of what people might say. Unfortunately how often hasn't someone said something in jest, meaning no harm but causing some anyway — things like, "Careful — the roof may fall in at any moment," or "Hey, I haven’t seen you in ages. I thought you'd died," or "You do realize it isn't Easter Sunday anymore?" - well actually Easter continues. If that isn't enough already they may also come with some baggage of uncertainty afraid of doing the wrong thing or of not knowing what to do next, of feeling out of place, or struggling with guilt that says, "God won't forgive me again. I'm not good enough. I’m not like all these good church going folks.”
Fear is a prison. It keeps us locked within ourselves — trapped by the limits of our understanding - believing the foolishness that we too often confuse with wisdom. Sometimes we’re too afraid to even take a step, to make a choice in any direction. The disciples were locked away in their guilt and fear. They had abandoned Jesus in the garden and fled out of fear for their lives. Even after the resurrection and numerous appearances of the risen Lord they were still gathering behind locked doors for fear of the Jews — fear that encouraged doubt — doubt about the past few years of their lives and what they were worth, doubt about what might happen next, doubt about what the future would hold.
Fear's closest friend — doubt leads us soon to question our abilities, to doubt our worthiness, to doubt each other. How often haven't we been disappointed by the broken promises of others but we'd have to acknowledge we are no less guilty. Ultimately doubt can cloud our relationship with others and even with the Lord as we question what we believe — asking for signs and wonders, doubting what others have taught us, even doubting the words of Scripture, and in the end Jesus himself and His resurrection.
The resurrection of Jesus can be seen as the pivot point on which the whole Christian faith revolves but - we weren't there to see it with our own eyes. We only know of Jesus’ rising from the dead through the eyes and words of those who, following His resurrection, witnessed His presence in the flesh and left their words for us to read about it so that we too might believe. To simply believe the fact of the resurrection, to accept intellectually that it happened though is not the same thing as knowing the peace and joy that it can bring to our lives. To believe it happened because surely no group of people as large as the number of witnesses could ever have faked such a story and kept it a secret is not the same thing as knowing in your heart the resurrection’s power. To think if four Gospel writers had been intent on covering up a hoax they would have surely attempted to keep all their reports the same but in fact they didn’t other than agreeing Jesus rose from the dead – that this somehow proves the resurrection is still not the same thing as knowing its overflowing peace and joy within. That only comes when we realize that Jesus lived, suffered, died, and rose again for you and for me. The resurrection of Jesus is personal. It's not just another Bible story. By the power of the Holy Spirit we have been baptized into His death and resurrection and raised to new life. Indeed, in Jesus we live.
This doesn't mean we’ll never experience fear again. Sometimes fear can be healthy. Some years ago there were routes that I would jog where I’d have to run past some pretty suspicious dogs and so I’d carry dog treats in the hope that I could distract them long enough to get well past. Nor does experiencing the power of the resurrection in our hearts mean we will never doubt again. We continue to live in the flesh as humans and can daily know what it is to feel afraid and to doubt but neither fear nor doubt can stop our risen Lord from loving us. Though His disciples were locked away for fear of the Jews — afraid for their very lives and that of their families — yet Jesus came to be with them. He went to them — sought them out that they might hear from His own lips the gift of peace — the knowledge that they were forgiven. They already knew of the resurrection. Peter and John had seen the empty tomb for themselves and yet here they were still locked away again. And though it may sound like a bold proclamation on their part when they told Thomas the good news — don't forget those locked doors. They believed that Jesus had risen because they saw His hands and His side but its power hadn't touched their lives. Thomas asked for nothing more than what they had already seen and Thomas got His wish.
Thomas was and is not alone in the desire to have tangible answers to life's deeper questions. In honesty we share that desire and so do many others. We need to be aware of the danger of somehow making someone feel that their faith isn't good enough or great enough if they have doubts. In the company of fellow Christians, wherever we may be, we all can struggle with doubts and work at dismantling our fears but we do so under God's grace — knowing that the Lord still loved Thomas anyway. He simply encouraged him to grow beyond where he was at that moment. As we support and encourage each other in our searching we need to remember that too, and together seek to grow in faith - learning from the Lord's words and being fed at His table. As we do so we'll often echo the prayer of the father who came to Jesus looking for a miracle and said, "Lord I believe. Help me in my unbelief." And the Lord always hears that prayer.
Easter has happened and continues to happen every day. That's a fact. Believing that unlocks the doors of fear and doubt freeing us to see the love of God at work in our lives through the thick and the thin, the ups and the downs. Believing that is knowing a peace the world can neither give nor understand, and having a joy in our hearts that surpasses any explanation. Why? Because Christ is risen. He is risen indeed!