2 Easter A April 27, 2014
Luther Memorial Church Seattle, WA
The Rev. Julie Guengerich Hutson
Acts 2: 14a, 22-32 + Psalm 16 + 1 Peter 1: 3-9 + John 20: 19-31
Alleluia! Christ is risen! (Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!)
Here we are again – the Sunday after Easter Sunday and the Gospel for this day is always the same….it is the story of Thomas. For preachers and hearers alike, we have heard this story nuanced in a myriad of ways….Thomas is faithless or faithful; courageous or afraid; angry or disappointed.
And the text tells us exactly what was going on with the other disciples too. They were locked in a room because they were afraid that the Judean authorities were coming after them next. Fear was keeping them there, behind a locked door.
This is one of those Gospel readings so rich with preaching possibilities we apparently need to consider it every year. And interestingly enough, where we most often land in this text is that we try to figure out: what was going on with the disciples and Thomas? Why were the disciples afraid? What made them hide in a locked room when what Jesus had clearly told them was that they were to GO OUT and share the Good News? That they were to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and welcome the stranger. Locked doors aren’t very welcoming.
And what about Thomas? Oh, we label him with the moniker of the Doubter, and act as though none of us has ever doubted Jesus. Especially the resurrection – Thomas and the disciples and the women and us….we are asked to believe the unbelievable, that someone dead for three days is alive again.
Our Gospel readings these last two Sundays take us from the light of the resurrection dawn to the shadows of evening doubt behind locked doors.
Let’s consider together then, the disciples as they were hiding and Thomas as he was doubting; how we are like them and what we might learn from them.
I want to go on record as saying that there are times when it makes absolute sense to lock the doors. If someone is trying to get into your house who intends harm to you…lock the doors. If you are home alone…lock the doors. If you are a young mother, trying to take a bubble bath and someone responsible is home with your children….lock.the.doors.
I once was the supply pastor for a congregation while I was serving at LYONS. As the worship leaders waited in the narthex for the service to begin that morning, I saw an usher go to the main doors of the church and lock them. I asked why he was locking the doors. Did he know something we needed to be aware of? Oh no, he said….they always locked the doors during worship. They locked the doors of that congregation for the final time about a year later and condominiums now sit on that property, about 2 and a half miles from here.
There are times and places to lock our doors. But Jesus wasn’t big on locking doors and he wasn’t big on hiding either. In today’s Gospel he seems to somehow bypass locked doors, not once, but twice, in order to be with the disciples. And the first words he says to them, both times? Peace be with you.
Now, there are a couple of ways we can look at this story. We can consider it as a post-resurrection appearance full of warm fuzzies and rejoicing, but look at it again. The first time Jesus appears to them, he offers them peace, shows them his hands and side, so they know it’s him and then he gives them the Holy Spirit and the authority to forgive and retain sins. These are not necessary if your plan is to continue to hide behind a locked door. The gift of the Holy Spirit is a gift of empowerment. The gift of the Holy Spirit is a gift of “get out there and do the work I’ve called you to do.” The gift of the Holy Spirit is a kick in the pants to the disciples.
I have to wonder if the reason Jesus came looking for the disciples a week later was as much about reminding them that they had a job to do outside of those locked doors as it was about proving himself to Thomas. Because it doesn’t say he was looking for Thomas, it says that Thomas was with the other disciples. Locked up again in the house. And again, Jesus offers them peace and then offers to Thomas a way to believe.
We don’t know why Thomas wasn’t with the other disciples the first time Jesus appeared, but we know that he was not sure that Jesus had been raised. Who would be? Although Jesus had been telling them this all along, and although the women who had followed Jesus seemed to believe it enough to be at the tomb on the third day, Thomas still wasn’t sure.
But Thomas wasn’t locked away in some room in the house with the rest of the disciples, cowering in fear. We don’t know where he was, but he was out….there. Where Jesus had reminded them that they would find the hungry, the naked, the stranger, the imprisoned.
It’s easy to understand the reason the disciples were hiding . They were afraid that they too would wind up on a cross. Some of them did lose their lives later, for the sake of the Gospel. But they also had just had their entire reason for existing together turned on its head. Up until now, they were Jesus followers….literally. Where Jesus went, they followed. Gardens, stormy seas, sandy beach picnics breakfasts and hillside lunches. They were there. With Jesus. And now he’s gone. And despite all of the times he had tried to prepare them for this very thing, they have no clue what to do next. Of course they are going to huddle.
For about five decades following WWII the church served as the center of community life. It was where people went on Sunday mornings whether they believed in Jesus or not. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Here’s what we can learn from Thomas the Doubter on this Sunday after Easter. The church is big enough and God is big enough for our doubts and questions. It must be. At our Maundy Thursday Agape Meal Taliyah asked me why Good Friday is called Good when it was the day Jesus died. On Easter my own daughter asked why we don’t hear much more about Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jesus after the Easter story. If you ask anyone in this place if they have ever doubted Jesus I have to believe that we would each answer affirmatively. And there should be room for that doubt.
The reasons that people offer for not coming to church include that the church is not inclusive of all people and that we don’t have room for questions and they we are hypocritical. This congregation has publicly stated that All are Welcome here. All. And we are hypocritical despite ourselves, as Paul says we often do the very things we don’t want to do. But we must create ways for those folks who are not among us on Sunday mornings to receive the Good News of the Gospel. They are NOT going to just wander in here and say “Hey, tell me what’s going on.” Our task is going to be to unlock the doors, no matter how fearful we are, no matter our own doubts and say to ALL people….we love Jesus. We love you. Sometimes we are going to mess this up pretty terribly. Please forgive us.
And when we’re out there doing this, we must trust this peace giving Jesus. We must trust that there is a purpose and a task that he is filling us up with the Holy Spirit for. It might cause us to be fearful, to doubt, to lock ourselves up in the house and just talk to each other in ways that create anxiety and fearfulness. And then despite our attempts to keep him out, Jesus somehow gets in and says to us all “Peace be with you.” And then we touch him in bread and wine and water….and remember that he is always with us.
Thanks be to God. Amen.