Second Sunday of Easter, 04/19/2009

Sermon on John 20:19-31, by David Zersen

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it." A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you maybelieve that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

LOCKED DOORS AND OPEN HEARTS

Some years ago, in a context I no longer remember, the eminent criminologist, George Beto, who also happened to be a Lutheran pastor, said that when you calculate the cost of fear in our world you can't only think of prisons and court rooms and police forces. You must also include the cost of locks on doors and windows, of locksmiths and glaziers, of insurance and even psychologists who counsel those who have been robbed or abused. We can be afraid of many things, and there are many approaches to calming our fears. Today's text has an important one.

My grandmother had a reputation for being unafraid. I wish she were still around so I could ask her why she never locked her doors at 23^rd and Hadley where she lived in Milwaukee? Why she fed the squirrels with her hands without fear of being bitten and getting rabies? Why she talked to the Indians when they came to the spring to get water when she was a little girl on the farm in central Wisconsin? Of course, that was another era and perhaps those are questions only a little boy would ask.

Now I am an adult and I have more mature questions, but I wonder if she would deal with them in the same fearless way. I wonder, for example, when and if we will have a sound financial outlook again? I wonder if the instability in my legs is a sign of MS or of back troubles? I wonder whether sorting cans and bottles from garbage will ultimately help the environment? I wonder whether the airbags in my car would really protect me in a collision? There are many things to be anxious about in our modern world. Yet fear is an ancient emotion and some of us deal with it more rationally or spiritually than others.

Many years ago, Jesus disciples were gathered in a room with the door locked because they were afraid of the Jews. In any case, that's what our text tells us. What are people really afraid of when they lock the doors? Of course, there was the matter of their having befriended Jesus, the one whom Jewish leaders helped to execute. Perhaps now that he was out of the way, the leaders would come after the disciples. They might hurt them physically and even accuse them of sedition worthy of execution. Keeping the doors locked seemed like a good idea.

More profoundly, however, these disciples had abandoned their leader in allowing him to be crucified. Some had claimed they didn't even know him. And now he was dead. Surely there was guilt and embarrassment. What do you do when you can't face what you have done? You can crawl in bed or eat yourself into oblivion or you can lock the doors. You don't want to face anyone or have anyone come face to face with you.

But in this setting, our Gospel lesson for today, Jesus ignores their fears and locked doors and walks right through them. "Peace," he says to them, "Shalom." "If you forgive anyone, they are forgiven." Wow. Talk about hitting the nail on the head. Jesus knew exactly what was wrong here. Just as he had accepted them and forgiven their sins, he now unlocked the doors of their minds and hearts and sent them out to forgive others. He sent them out to remove the fear of physical hurt and spiritual guilt that imprisons people everywhere. He was sending them out to explain what the crucifixion and resurrection had really accomplished.

John Donne, the great English poet and Anglican priest wrote a powerful poem about fear and the forgiveness that Jesus brings. He worried that if God forgives his sin, would he really be done (play on the poet's name), because there are more? And he worried about those sins with which he provided the door for others to sin. And if God could forgive even those sins, he was not done, for Donne had more. He said:

I have a sinne of fear, then when I have spunne my last thred, I shall perish on the shore;

Swear then by thyself, that at my death, thy Son shall shine as he shines now, and

heretofore;

And having done that, Thou hast done. I fear no more. ( from Willt thou forgive that

sinne)

Done was a real worrier. He feared that he would not be able to stand before God in the judgement because of his sin, because of having led others to sin, and because his fear locked the door between him and God.

John is telling us in today's text that that door has been broken down for the disciples, for John Donne and for you and me. It is a burden to be afraid of anything, whether of physical hurt or pain-whether of failure or rejection-whether of guilt or shame. Jesus says to the disciples and to us, "Peace." He lets us know that we are loved and accepted despite our lack of trust. He assures us that we are forgiven no matter what we have done.

In effect, while we at times think it best to secure the situation for the time being by locking the doors to protect us from the future, Jesus opens our hearts to assure that we can live life unafraid. What does it mean to face the future with an open heart, one that has been cleansed of sin and allowed to look at tomorrow unafraid? My wife and I attended Easter services this year at St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, the church where Bach was the music director for 23 years. As a soprano soloist sang "I know that my Redeemer lives" from Handel's Messiah, I studied the pulpit and altar hangings. In this old gothic church, these modern paraments offered a series of open rectangles placed inside of one another to give the effect of a tunnel. It was a simple and powerful statement of the message of Easter-that God had opened the future to us in the Resurrection of Jesus from the grave.

In this openness to the future lies the power of the Easter message. No matter what we have done, we know that Jesus who rises victories over sin and sin's power can say to each of us, "Shalom. Peace." Nothing stands between you and God. The burden of guilt is removed and your heart is open and clean. With John Donne, we can know there are sins that we will commit again and again. However, at our death, Jesus will shine for us as he does now, and heretofore. Knowing that we are assured of this destiny because of God's love for us, we have the confidence to forgive others who have wronged us and to face the circumstances of life unafraid.

"Peace," Jesus says. "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." Do you know of someone this morning from whom you are alienated-or someone who needs to hear your word of peace to them just as Jesus shared it with us: Of course, that's where the "Sharing of the Peace" in the liturgy comes from. Before we go to the Lord's Table to accept once again his acceptance of us, we approach not just those who are standing next to us but those who need to hear a word of love and forgiveness? Do you know whom I'm talking about? Do you know how to find one another this morning?

The door is open. The table is set. This room is filled with God's peace. Let us open our hearts to one another and know that Jesus is sending us.

Prof. Dr. Dr., President Emeritus David Zersen
Concordia University Texas
Austin, Texas

E-Mail: djzersen@aol.com

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