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

The Ties that Bind

Fifth Sunday in Lent – Year A

April 6, 2014

John 11:1-45

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, "Lord, he whom you love is ill." But when Jesus heard it, he said, "This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God's glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it." Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

Then after this he said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again." The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?" Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them." After saying this, he told them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him." The disciples said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right." Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him." Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow-disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him."

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" She said to him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world."

When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you." And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"

Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead for four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upwards and said, "Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me." When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."

Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

It was when I was in cub scouts that I encountered it for the first time. Little did I know that it was going to be something that would hold a fascination for me for the rest of my life. Magic. It was Mr. Kephart the leader of our pack that inspired within us the love of magic. He was an amateur magician, he wasn't very good, but he knew enough to amuse and fascinate a group of young boys. We spent hours learning simple card tricks, tricks with cups and balls, tricks with rings. I could do this awesome trick where I could stuff a handkerchief into my balled up hand and make it disappear. Ever since my time in cub scouts, magic has been something that has interested me; and I'm willing to be that I'm not the only one who finds magic and magicians fascinating.

The power of magic is likely something that goes back to the very beginning of the time when us humans gathered together around a fire. Someone came up with the idea of making a stick or a rock disappear, and magic was born. The idea that someone can make something disappear, or appear out of or into nothing grabs our attention. The bigger the trick the more we look. Make a coin appear out of someone's ear and we glance, make an elephant appear and our attention is grabbed. Of course making things appear and disappear isn't the only thing magic does, there are tricks where we see the rules that we organize our lives by seemingly bent or shattered. How else can we explain sawing a person in half?

One of the things that magicians have been used for throughout history is to explain away things that are miraculous. Moses and Aaron had to contend against the magicians in Pharaoh's court in their labors to free the people of Israel from captivity in Egypt. At each step along the way, the magicians sought to copy what Moses did with God's help. And when they were able to copy the successfully, Pharaoh's heart was hardened. It was only when the magicians failed to do, or failed to reversed what Moses and Aaron did that Pharaoh began to question things. Magic is often put up against faith in a battle. If magic can do it, then it's not faith – it's a trick, and God had nothing to do with it.

But there are some things that magicians simply can't do. Turn water into wine? Yup, there's a trick for that. Walk on water? Yup, there's a trick for that too. Cure the blind or deaf? Ummm.... Make the lame walk? Um..... Raise the dead? Definitely No! That's definitely in the only God can do that category. Jesus goes to Bethany, to the home of his good friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. And does the miraculous: Lazarus is brought from death into life. Out of the dark grave he is called, out into the brightness of life. It's a powerful statement about Jesus, about God, about who has ultimate power. Death was feared, yet even death had to admit defeat in the presence of the man from Galilee.

In the church, we often speak of God setting us free. Most of the time we think of it in terms of sin or our old life, and what could be more powerful than setting us free from death itself? Or at least the fear that comes from death. I doubt that many of us, if any of us, will experience the type of miracle that Lazarus experienced, but we may very well know what it is to be set free from dark places that have held us. We may know the power of sin, the power of alcohol or drugs, the power of addictions of all kinds, the power of status and greed, the power of self-centeredness, the power of the things that are killing us. We know what it is like when Jesus calls out to us, “Come out! Leave where you are and begin life anew!”

The story of Lazarus being raised from the dead, of being set free from what literally kept him from living his life is a powerful one. In fact, it's the raising of Lazarus that is the final straw for the religious folk; it was after this action that the plotting for Jesus' death really began in earnest. Improving a persons life, curing their blindness, casting out demons, setting them free from disability was one thing, raising someone from the dead was just one step too far. In John's gospel, this was the beginning of the final steps toward Jerusalem and the cross.

The story of Lazarus is one that we probably all know well. I know I have heard it, read it, and studied it countless of times; and every time I read the Spirit allows me to see something new, something I had not seen. This time I was led to think more deeply about what happened after Jesus called Lazarus out of the grave, after Jesus brought him back to life. The text tells us that Jesus directed those present to, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

This phrase got me thinking about another story of someone rising from the dead. The account of Jesus coming out of the tomb. When bodies were prepared for burial, when bodies were put into their crypts there was a standard way in which it was done. The body was tightly wrapped with cloth from head to toe. Jesus and Lazarus were both wrapped tightly, like a mummy when they were placed in their tombs. And from their tombs they were both raised. Yet, there is a difference. When Jesus rose from the dead, the burial wrappings were left in the tomb. All that had been of death, the markings of death were left behind. When Lazarus comes out, he is still bound. And Jesus commands those present to unbind him.

Jesus has just done the miraculous. Death has been defeated. What else is there to do? Lazarus has been given life, a new life. There he stands. Waiting. Alive, yet still bound. Having been given a new life, yet unable to live it until he has been unbound. It seems that the people around were standing there, not moving forward. Rather than jumping forward to embrace their brother who had been dead, and was now alive, they stood at a distance unsure what to do. Or was there something else?

When Jesus tells them to remove the stone, Martha raises an objection. There are many different ways her objection has been translated. Yet my favorite, and perhaps the most accurate is, “But Lord, he stinks!” Martha objected to the stench, the stink, the smell of death she was concerned had filled the tomb. She didn't want to have that stink on her, or on those around her. Is this perhaps a reason why those present just stood there when Lazarus came out of the grave, still bound by what had been?

In our lives we will encounter people whose past makes us shiver. Do we ever cry out, “But, he stinks!” when we encounter the promise of God that new life is being given to those that have been dead. We don't want any of their stink to get on us – we don't want any of their past lives, their floundering in life to get on us, “they stink.” “If you want to enter into their stink God,” we say, “great, but don't bring their stink into us.” We'll stand at a distance, waiting to make sure that the stink is gone, that we won't be infected by it. “What if he still stinks? Those bindings have the stench of death on him, even if he is alive under them. Gross!”

The church, the community of the faithful, is the place where people are re-born, are given freedom from the things that have killed them; yet, how often do we expect them to unbind themselves? How often do we stand back waiting to make sure the stink is gone, that we won't get stinky ourselves if we get too close. Let's let God do it, or better yet, let's let the person who has been given a new life do the unbinding themselves.

And Jesus commands, “Unbind him” Jesus brought Lazarus to life, gave him life, yet he Lazarus could not unwrap himself from the things that bound him, Jesus gives that responsibility to the community into which Lazarus is welcomed. When we welcome someone new into the life of the church – do we think of it in terms of unbinding them from the things that had bound them. Can we understand Jesus' command to “unbind him, let him go!” as the challenge, calling, assignment, we have in the church to no longer allow that which was dead, marked the person as dead keep us from allowing them to live? Can we listen to the words, “let him go” as being synonymous with “forgive him!”. God has given him new life, will we do all we can to let him live, or will we keep him bound up in the past, bound up with the things that keep him from living?

God has brought each and every one of us out of the darkness, out from the stink of sin and death. All of us have been set free. God calls upon us to work, to unwrap, to unbind those who have also been set free, given new lives. God has raised them to new life, and calls us all to unbind them. To free them from the things that have bound them, from the things that may still bind them, from the things that keep us from seeing them as fellow children of God.

Unbinding someone, seeing them as child of God, looking past their past is not easy. It isn't always easy to embrace someone who we think once stunk. Yet, if we can do so, if we can unbind them, if we can accept the reality of the new life God has given them. The results, the effect on their lives and ours can truly be magical. Amen.