Locked Out

Second Sunday after Easter – Year A

April 27, 2014

John 20:19-31

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were 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 his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

It's something that likely each and every one of us has done at some time in our lives. I probably did it the first time when I was about 10 years old; and I've done it countless times since: locking myself out. When I was ten it was locking myself out of the house. I was a latch key kid, and I had forgotten my key at home when I left in the morning for school, and so when I came home from school in the afternoon I had to wait a little bit for my mom to come home and let me and my brother in. Luckily the weather was nice, and we just used the time to play as we waited. That time, being locked out wasn't so bad.

But there have been other times that weren't quite so easy. I've locked myself out of my car when I needed to be at work in just a little bit of time. I've locked myself out my car in the pouring rain. I've locked myself out of our house several times in the last few years. Luckily my in-laws live just a short distance away and as long as I have my phone or a neighbor is home I can give them a call and they will come to my rescue. Being locked out is uncomfortable to say the least.

There was a time, and there are still areas where people rarely if ever lock their doors. You didn't feel like you needed to. You knew everyone who lived around, so if they came into your house it wasn't that big a deal. And besides, what did you have that was worth protecting any way? Now, it seems like if you don't lock your doors you are considered foolish. Every day when you watch television you will likely see an advertisement about a security service for your home. You are protected, you don't have to worry about someone breaking in when you are asleep or away from your house. And protection costs.

I know someone who is obsessive about making sure every single door and window in her home is locked before she leaves her house. I have received phone calls to go and check, make sure that the doors are indeed locked. She worries about being in her home, and that's here in town, in a safe place. There hasn't been a break in or robbery in her neighborhood in years, she could likely leave her doors sitting wide open and nothing would happen. Yet, every evening, and every time leaves the house, she goes from door to door checking and rechecking to make sure everything is locked up tight.

We lock our doors and windows to keep things out, to keep ourselves safe; or at least to make us feel like we are safer. In our text, the disciples were locked away behind closed doors, locked in fear. We read this text today, the Sunday after Easter, but the first part takes place on Easter itself. The disciples had heard the testimony of Mary that she had seen Jesus alive, they had heard from Simon Peter and the disciple Jesus loved that the tomb was indeed empty. Yet, rather than celebrating they were hiding, locked away, afraid.

They were afraid of the Jews, but the Jews get a bad rap in John's gospel. It's his way of labeling all those in the religious establishment, the Roman sympathizers that didn't see things the way Jesus did. Those that had sought out and silenced Jesus. The disciples were afraid they might be next. The disciples were afraid that they would be accused of stealing Jesus' body, the disciples were afraid of the unknown. The disciples were afraid of the images they had created in their minds of all the things that could happen next. So they locked themselves away and hid behind closed doors.

There are all sorts of things that hide behind closed doors, all kinds of monsters that go bump in the night, all kinds of things we try to hide or deny. Behind closed doors you find women terrified of when their spouse will come home, terrified of the abuse they know is coming. Behind closed doors you find people who try to drown their fears in a bottle every night. Behind closed doors you find the person who cries themselves to sleep every night, unsure if they can make it through tomorrow. Behind closed doors there sits a couple going through their bills, trying to decide which bill they have to pay this month, which bills will have to wait. Behind closed doors you find the child whimpering as they fall asleep without having anything to eat once again. There are all sorts of things we hide behind closed doors.

I've heard people describe themselves as being locked out of a job, out of opportunities. We like to think that in this country, if you work hard enough, you can achieve whatever you put your mind to. But, there are countless people who say that isn't true; that they have been locked away from certain opportunities. Countless people talk about being locked into a job they hate because they need the benefits. People talk about being locked into a certain standard of living because of their background, where they grew up, where they went to school People feel locked away when they are being perceived and treated one way, because of the color of their skin, the ability of their body, the accent of their tongue, the person they love. I think all of us have felt locked in, or locked out at some time in our life; trapped and blocked by the walls around us; some we have built, and others that were built for us.

But, Jesus hasn't met a wall he can't overcome. The disciples have locked themselves away, hidden in an upper room, the doors have been locked. They are hiding from the world, hiding from their fears; and Jesus appears in their midst. Walls could not hold him back, locked doors could not block his entry into the place the disciples had created at the center of their fears. He comes into the middle of their fears, into the center of their worry, into the very place they were trying to keep hidden. He comes, into the locked room, he comes into our locked and hidden places; he comes not just to visit, drop by and say hi, he comes and brings peace.

Into the midst of fear, into the center of worry and insecurity Jesus comes. He comes and shows us his hands and side; shows us he knows what it is to be afraid, to know fear to know insecurity. He has lived it. He comes and says, “Peace be with you.” He doesn't say the worries aren't real. He doesn't say the fears aren't worth fearing. He doesn't say that everything will be all right. He says, “Peace be with you.” Then he breathes on the disciples, giving them the gift of the Holy Spirit in John's version of Pentecost, and Jesus sends them out. They have received peace, they are now charged with ensuring that the world knows of that peace. They cannot remain where they are. The doors they locked to keep the world out also keep them locked inside, those doors need to be thrown open. They cannot remain locked away behind those doors, the world is outside waiting.

When Jesus sends out the disciples, he tasks them with a responsibility: they are told that if they forgive the sins of any they will be forgiven, and if they retain the sins of any, they will be retained. Notice, this isn't a task that is given to just pastors. Jesus tasks all those present in the room with this forgiving and retaining of sin. In order to understand how we are all called to this task, we must first remember that in John's gospel, sin is not about some moral failing, it is about a failure to believe. “Jesus is not giving his disciples some special power to decide whose sins will be forgiven and whose will not. Rather, he is further specifying what it means to be sent, to make known the love of God that Jesus himself has made known. As people come to know and abide in Jesus, they will be “released” (aphiemi) from their sins. If, however, those sent by Jesus fail to bear witness, people will remain stuck in their unbelief; their sins will be “retained” or “held onto” (kratéo).”¹

Jesus' call for the disciples, for us to forgive is perfectly in sync with his giving of peace. To forgive is to make a person aware of the grace of God, to retain is to keep that person away from that reality. To forgive is to unlock and throw open the doors, to retain is to huddle in fear, to remain locked away. God call is for us to open our doors, to unlock our hearts.

God comes in the midst of our fear and doubts, in the midst of our questioning and worries, comes to where we are hiding, locked up to both protect and preserve and says, “Peace be with you.” Whatever is keeping you bound, whatever is keeping you trapped, whatever walls you have erected to protect yourself or to keep things out, God comes and says, “Peace be with you.” Regardless of the emptiness we feel, regardless of the hunger we have within our very souls, regardless of the feelings of inadequacy or complacency, God comes and says, “Peace be with you.”

Jesus comes through the doors we have locked, Jesus comes through the walls we have put up. Jesus comes and calls us to his table, he welcomes us at his feast, he feeds us and then he sends us out. We are sent out into a world that is all too often afraid, filled with people who have been locked up by their lives, by their doubts, by their fears, by their situations, by things they can control and things beyond their control. Jesus sends us out into the world to be justice and peace, to be salt and light, to share peace and hope. The doors have been opened, the world is before us. As God sent Jesus, as Jesus sent the disciples, we too are sent. Peace be with you. Amen.

1http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1991