Unlock the Doors

Text: John 20:19-31

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God the Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

It’s been a full week since Easter. One week since the chaos and excitement. One week since the empty tomb. One week since we first said Christ is risen. [He is risen indeed. Alleluia] It’s been one week since the resurrection and the disciples are in the same place they were on Easter night. They’re in the same room behind the same locked doors.

What’s changed? If the resurrection is such a big deal, such a life changing event, why are they still stuck in the same place? Has the empty tomb made any difference at all? Has it changed them or let them see themselves and their world differently? Has it done anything? It doesn’t look like it’s made much of a difference. They’re in the same house behind the same locked doors as a week ago. What’s changed?

That was one week after Easter 2,000 years ago. But today is one week after Easter as well. What has Christ’s resurrection done for you? Is your life different? Are you seeing and engaging the world in new ways? What difference has the empty tomb made in your life over the last week? I think back on my life this last week and it looks a whole lot like it did last Sunday, the week before, and the week before that. And when I look at the world it looks pretty much the same as before.

It would be pretty easy to think about that and get critical that our lives haven’t been monumentally transformed. Many people would do the same with the disciples. They’re stuck in the same place after all. Like it seems we sometimes are. They should have done better than that. We should have done better than that. After all, death has been defeated. Christ died and rose. And yet, the disciples are still behind locked doors, and our lives look pretty much the same. Why aren’t our lives different? Why are we stuck in the same place. We should be living this resurrection life better than we are. Come on. Christ is risen. [He is risen indeed. Alleluia]

It’s true. But it’s also a process. In fact, it’s a process that we’ll be engaged in for our whole lives. The truth is that Christ’s resurrection is a big deal. The biggest deal. The empty tomb is a life changing event. The resurrection does make a difference in our lives. And it’s also true that living the resurrection life is a life-long process.

Christ’s resurrection is a historical reality. A one-time event that’s changed the course of the entire world. But living this life steeped in the reality of this resurrection and its effect on us is a process. It’s the journey we’re all on. It’s the process of sanctification. And in that process, we don’t always see immediate change. In fact, there are times when it feels like one step forward and two steps back. It’s only by the grace of God that we make progress at all.

I think sometimes Easter Sunday comes and we contemplate the empty tomb expecting to wake up on Monday to a whole new life and a whole new world. But I’m guessing that you woke up on Easter Monday to the same life and world you had on Good Friday. I know that I did. The challenge is to realize that this happened not because the resurrection failed or because it didn’t make a difference in our lives. It’s because the work of God in our hearts and our minds isn’t a knee jerk reaction. Granted, there are times that God will grab ahold of His people and jolt them out of their slumber. Sometimes that’s necessary. But for most of us, this Christian life is one of slow and steady progress toward the holiness we’re being called to. And what we need to ultimately realize is that the process is never going to be complete until our life is done and we’re called to our eternal home.

Take, for instance, the story of Thomas. And let’s start off by giving him a little more credit than he normally gets. Think about it, if you were off doing your own thing one night and you came back to your ten friends telling you a totally unbelievable story, would you immediately believe that it was true? I think there’s a very good chance that you’d think they were playing a trick on you. “Oh, Thomas, guess what? Jesus was here. You just missed Him.” Before believing that your friend, who had just been crucified, was raised from the dead, you’d probably want a little proof. That’s all Thomas was asking for. “Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into His side, I will never believe.” Thomas was doing exactly what any one of us would have done. He just wanted proof that this extraordinary story was true.

But this was just the beginning of Thomas’ story. And the following week he decided to join the other disciples in that upper room. They’d locked themselves in again, and yet, “Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’” But that wasn’t all. Jesus singles Thomas out and says, “Put your finger here and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”

The one thing that we seem to think about Thomas is that he was a doubter. That might be the only fact that comes to mind. It’s so prevalent that we call him Doubting Thomas. But that’s not Thomas’ whole story. It’s just the beginning. Most people don’t know the end of his story. Do you know where he died? He died in India. He was the apostle to the people of India. He brought the gospel of Christ to that region. And he died a martyr after he was run through with five spears by five soldiers. That doesn’t sound much like a doubter, does it? It sounds like someone who grew and changed, someone for whom the resurrection of Christ was real. Someone for whom the empty tomb made a difference. It just took a little time, as it does for most of us.

We know Doubting Thomas, but let’s not forget about Confessing Thomas. He’s right there in today’s gospel as well. “My Lord and my God!” With those words Thomas recognized the new relationship he had with his Savior. He saw. He believed. And then he led a life of service to the One who had died for him. The One whose resurrection was real to him. Thomas’ doubt was just his starting place. It was the fact of his life and his circumstance. And we all have our own starting places.

What’s yours? Of course, the starting point for your resurrection life, and mine, is our baptism. So, this resurrection life we live could also be called our baptismal life. But we’re also each at a place today. A starting place for the remainder of our baptismal, or resurrection, life. What are the facts of your life today? The starting place for your resurrection life is whatever your life is today. Whatever your circumstances are. So, if that’s a place of deep loneliness, sorrow, and loss, that’s your starting point. That’s the room which Christ enters. Maybe you’re locked in a house of fear, confusion, or darkness. That’s your starting point and the place where Jesus will break in and bring His peace. If illness, old age, disability, or uncertainty are facts of your life, that’s your starting place. And it’s the place where Jesus will show up. If you feel lost, betrayed, disappointed, overwhelmed, that’s your starting place. And it’s the house that Jesus will enter. And if joy, gratitude, and celebration are the facts of your life today, that’s the starting place for your resurrection life.

All those places I just described, and a thousand others, are the many ways the doors of our house get locked. Whatever it might be for you, it is just the starting point, or a point along the way to where God is leading your to be. The great tragedy is not that the disciples are in the same house behind the same locked doors. The great tragedy would be if those disciples, after having been given the peace and presence of their risen Lord, refused to unlock the doors, refused to open the doors, and refused to get out the house.

We all have doors that we keep locked. They don’t keep Jesus out, but often times they keep us in. Out of fear, uncertainty, sorrow, or confusion. These are the things that keep us stuck in the same place. But that’s just our starting place. And if it’s where you’re at, it’s where Jesus is going to show up. It happened twice in today’s gospel. Both times the disciples are in the same house behind the same locked doors and Jesus shows up. He stands in the midst of them. The walls and the locked doors of their house couldn’t keep Jesus out. And the walls and locked doors of your house won’t keep him out either.

He steps into the midst of our house, through those locked doors, and breathes peace and life into us. He breathes peace and hope into us. He breathes peace and courage into us. And that breath of peace is the key that unlocks the door. So, take that peace that He gives. Take it all in, let it fill and enliven you. Let it give you the hope, courage, and strength to unlock and open the doors of your life so that you might live the resurrection and baptismal life that He’s calling you to live. The life that shows forth the reality of our resurrected Lord and Savior. The life that’s only possible because Christ is risen. [He is risen indeed. Alleluia!] Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.