Debbie Cato
Luke 24:36 - 48
Church of the Indian Fellowship
Third Sunday of Easter
April 15, 2018
From Locked Doors to
Opened Minds
On
this 3rd Sunday of Easter, it’s time for us to reflect on the meaning of the
resurrection for ourselves. What does it
mean for you that Christ was crucified, died, and three days later rose from
the dead?
John’s
Gospel tells how Mary Magdalene’s arrival at Jesus’ empty tomb that first
Easter morning transformed her weeping and fear into indescribable joy when she
meets the resurrected Christ. We learn
that it was in the utterance of her name – Mary – that her eyes are opened so
she is able to recognize Jesus. We feel
her joy; her excitement as she rushes to the disciples, telling them, “I have
seen the Lord! I have seen the
Lord!”
But
the disciples don’t believe Mary when she gives them the news. Perhaps they think she is an hysterical
woman, so distraught that she imagined seeing Jesus. Maybe it was just too hard to believe someone
else’s testimony that Jesus was alive.
Regardless of the reason, the disciples did not believe.
We
found the disciples locked in a room because they were afraid. They were afraid
because their rabbi, their teacher, their friend, their Lord was dead. I imagine the air was sucked right out of
them. They gave up everything to follow
Jesus. How could this happen?
Last
week, we talked about the conflicting emotions the disciples faced. Shame that
they deserted Jesus when he needed them most.
Deep grief at the death of their teacher; their friend. Anger that they had left everything they had
to follow him only to have him die. Intense
fear that the authorities would come after them. They are followers of Jesus and he was
crucified. What will happen to
them? Perhaps they were even fearful of
being mocked and scorned by all those who said, “Some Messiah! Where’s your Lord and Savior now?” Imagine trying to process everything they had
experienced.
I
think we agreed that we couldn’t really blame them for locking their
doors! We understood why they were
scared – why they were paralyzed with fear.
Have
you ever been “paralyzed with fear?”
Paralyzed with a job loss?
Paralyzed with a diagnosis?
Paralyzed from bad news? A dying
loved one? Most of us know what it
means to be paralyzed with fear.
It
is into this locked room that the disciples, paralyzed with fear are hidden
away. Their nerves are raw. The tension is thick. And, in walks Jesus! Through locked doors! I doubt the disciples expected to see him
that day but, suddenly, there he is!
It
doesn't matter that the disciples are behind locked doors. Jesus will not be locked away from his
people. A door cannot hold him back. He
rose from the dead after all! He shows
them his wounds – the holes from the nails that were hammered into his feet and
hands. He shows them the hole where the
spear pierced his side. He
eats and drinks with them in order to convince them that he’s not a ghost. He
accommodates his disciples' fear rather than condemning it. He is patient with
their persistent doubt. Luke's
description is stunning ... and it rings true: "in their joy they were
disbelieving and still wondering..." Even those who saw the resurrected
Jesus had a hard time! I like
that. “In their joy they were
disbelieving and still wondering.” They
were thrilled to see Jesus, and yet they still weren’t sure it was true. They still didn’t believe. They still wondered. Friends, that gives room for our
unbelief! It allows for our
wondering. Those times when our faith is
weak, or let’s admit it – non-existent. This
is good news!
Jesus knows their struggle. He knows they are filled with disbelief. He knows they wonder how it can be true. But Jesus stays with them. He opens up the Scriptures so that they can
understand how what had just happened fits into the larger story of God's
salvation. He explains things to them –
patiently. Knowing what they now know, knowing
what happened over the last week, the rest finally makes more sense. They finally understand what Jesus had been
trying to tell them.
But it isn’t enough for them to just
understand. No. Jesus calls his disciples -- then and now --
to be witnesses. I'd love to soft-pedal it, but I just don't think there's any
way to get around it: we are called to be witnesses to what God has done -- and
is still doing -- for us and all the world in and through Christ.
Now did you notice that even though the
disciples experience faith as this mixture of joy and doubt and wonder -- they are still
called to be witnesses! Jesus did not
expect perfect faith. He did not expect
unwavering faith. But he did expect his
disciples to go out and be witnesses in spite of their doubts!
If that's true for them friends, then
it's true for us. Part of being "resurrection people" is being
witnesses.[1] Even
though our faith is not perfect! Even
though our faith wavers – sometimes it’s strong and sometimes it’s buried so
deep it completely disappears. Even
though we have doubts, we are still called to be witnesses! I
don't know – maybe the fact that our faith is not perfect, it actually makes us
better witnesses.
Think about it! We can witness to others that in spite of
difficult circumstances; in spite of really dark times, we feel the presence of
Christ with us. We can witness that when
we are paralyzed with fear, we somehow feel the peace of Christ surround
us. We can tell others that we wouldn't
make it through, if Christ was not holding us up when we didn't have the
strength to go it alone. We don’t
understand it. We can’t explain. We don’t get it. But He’s there. Somehow we just know it.
Just like the disciples, we too have
fears. We have doubts – lots of them. We hide behind locked doors thinking we are
keeping our fears at bay; keeping ourselves safe. We close off our hearts so we
don’t get hurt. But instead of keeping out our fears, we are the prisoners; captive
by our fears.
Sometimes, I see us the Church doing
that. We are afraid of change; afraid of
being uncomfortable; afraid of doing something different; something new;
something unfamiliar. We are afraid of
losing control. And so we stay locked
behind the closed doors of the church in fear of our survival.
We stay the same. And as a result, we grow older and
smaller. We continue to bury our beloved
members. We continue to watch as more
and more of us become home bound, unable to attend. We continue to do things that make us
feel good.
God brings opportunities to us to be
involved in our neighborhood, in our community in new and exciting ways; to
witness the love and hope of the gospel.
He’s inviting us to unlock the doors and take risks. Risks that might result in growth and life
for His church. Ministry is messy; we'll
make mistakes; we'll fail at some things.
But we will grow in faith and grow in knowledge as we are faithful to
Jesus' call to be witnesses.
The hope of the resurrection is
grounded in the experience of those first followers. The power of the resurrection is the power to
plant the seeds of transformation.
Think about it. Jesus suddenly appears in the midst of his
early followers. Locked behind closed doors in fear for their survival. He
brought change to their lives as they moved from
Being
afraid to being
Filled
with joy while still disbelieving and confused to
Having
open and understanding minds and hearts.
When Jesus opened their minds and
hearts, it began a shift in the core of their being. This shift led them to take great risks;
witnessing to the risen Christ. Jesus
did not bring them security. Rather,
they risked everything in order to follow his call.
Those first followers came to
understand that Jesus had conquered the ultimate threat, death itself, and
their fears were groundless.[2] Jesus’ words “Peace be with you!” was
achieved in their hearts and as a result, they were willing to risk everything
to be witnesses, to pass on the good news as resurrection people to future
generations.
Jesus’ words, “Peace be with you!” are
spoken to us, too. And like those first followers so many years ago, even
though we may not completely believe -- we are still called to be witnesses. Through Christ, we are resurrection people
to future generations.
How will being resurrection people
transform us and our community and our future?
Please be praying about what this means for you individually and for you
as a church. Ask yourself the question: Am I willing to risk everything to live out
my faith?
May
the Peace of Christ Be with You. Amen.
