John 20:19-31

John 20:19-31

Grace, Mercy, and Peace be to you from God our Father and from our Risen Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ: Amen!

So it has been seven days since this Good News that Jesus has risen. Has it sunken in yet? Have you gotten over the excitement? Sometimes I think this reading should be read on Easter Sunday rather than seven days after the News that Jesus has risen. I do believe that it is Good to have God’s news and the immediate shock of seeing Jesus and having him identify the people he was close to see that he is indeed alive. It gives us the chance to be shocked as well. It gives us all the chance to experience the tomb being empty as the new beginning.

I also think that today is an important day for reading, maybe even on Easter morning. I believe it is important because we need to look at where the disciples are and what is their situation. So let’s do that this morning; let’s look at their situation. These 11 are sitting in a room and the door is locked. It is closed up; nothing gets in and nothing gets out. I wonder what that is all about? Several theologians have some ideas about the door being shut and I agree with their arguments.

The first one goes like this: They are locked in the room because they hung out with Jesus. They were Jesus disciples. They know all that Jesus taught and so they will carry on the teachings of Jesus. Remember, Jesus spoke out against the Pharisees and Sadduccees. He went around teaching that God is the one who makes people clean. He taught that the traditions that the leaders of the day were teaching was not according to God’s will. He taught that God’s forgiveness was offered to all who sought it; yes, there was God’s judgment but Jesus taught that it was never too late to seek and give forgiveness. Jesus went into the world proclaiming the Word of God. Basically, he was saying that God goes beyond a temple. Jesus taught all these things so there might be the fear, on the disciples part, that they would be sought out and they would be next to endure what happened to Jesus. You know, it’s the “Oh no! I am going to be next” thought.

Then there is this thought: After all that Jesus taught these 11 people, after all they had been through together – I mean, they saw Jesus heal, sit and eat with the unclean. Jesus taught them about God and God’s grace and mercy. They got to see, firsthand, the Son of God going into the world and doing all things that I just spoke of; they were witnesses to the power and Glory of God. They received the New Commandment to “love one another as I have loved you – after all that, when it came to the most difficult part of Jesus’ arrest what did they do? They scattered. They took off and left Jesus to fend for himself. Peter, who said he would never deny Jesus, did exactly what he said he would not do. Sure he followed but when it came to people noticing who he was, he swore an oath that he didn’t know Jesus. So, they could have been locked in this room, not out of fear, but out of shame. Shame for falling short with the Son of God.

Whatever reason they are locked up tight, there is one thing that is certain. Jesus comes to them. There are no doors that can locked or unlocked that keeps Jesus out of this room. There is nothing that Keeps Jesus from coming to them. Not only does he come to them, but he brings them peace. He brings God’s peace upon a room full of people that may have felt guilt or shame for their actions of fleeing. He brings God’s peace to a room full of people that might be in fear of being next to suffer the same fate as their beloved teacher. He brings God’s peace to once again be with those who knew him best, who listened to him, questioned him about God, followed his sending them out into the world by twos to proclaim the love and healing power of God.

I think we can relate to these disciples. I am sure that we have all had times in our lives where we were afraid, scared, or felt guilt from something that we said or did. Our lives are not perfect, which may come as a shock to some; we do make mistakes and sometimes we do things that are intentional. More clearly there are times when we put our wants and desires before considering others. There are times when we have to make tough decisions that are not popular; that may happen in our personal lives, in our jobs, and sometimes in our social lives. We may feel the guilt of feeling happy because we get to keep our job while a friend lost theirs. We may feel scared that our job may be next. Marriages may need to end because of abuse or neglect and there can be the double whammy of shame and guilt.

These are things that make us want to be like the disciples; we might want to lock that door to where no one can get in or out. It might be like a room where the only light that gets in is from a flashlight or candle. These feelings of fear and/or guilt can make us want to be lost or not visible to the world or to God.

But the Good News is that God still comes in that door. A door cannot keep Jesus, the Son of God, from coming into the room to offer us all the same peace that was offered to the disciples. It is that peace that with God, forgiveness, mercy, and love are possible and they are real. They are real because Jesus shows us that they are real. They are real in that Jesus comes to them to bring them peace and show them the scars that he endured through his crucifixion; and despite those nail wounds and the sword piercing his side, that God still offers new life to the disciples and TO US! Those scars don’t disappear, but because of Jesus on the cross and because of his resurrection, God shows us that the scars are not what define us but it is that mercy and love that God shows us and commands us to share with one another that help define us as children of the living and loving God.

I was speaking with someone this week about a friend who was invited to come to church. As he invited the person, the reason for not coming to church was that “I will come to church when I take it seriously.” When questioned as to what that means the friend explained that he still drinks and curses…Obviously he has not heard of the Lutheran Pastor Naida Bolz-Webber who wrote a book about how she curses and yet God called her to a thriving ministry. This person has not heard of a Lutheran Pastor who was a sailor and has seen some of the worst things that humans can do horrible things to one another…such as teenagers killing other teenagers for shoes.

This is not to put that person down. It is to show that we all do things that we may not want God to see. But God comes to us and is just waiting for us to ask God to be part of our lives. God’s message is to NOT let fear and guilt rule our lives. Let the Good News of the resurrected Christ and the teachings of Jesus define who we are and how we act as children of God.

I think this reading may just be in the right place. The excitement of finding the tomb empty may have long gone with the passing of the week. But my hope and prayer is that today’s Gospel sustains you in knowing that God is always there with us; in our good times as well as our worst times and may we all be comforted in knowing this.