Through Locked Doors……Easter
2a
Today,
in the first lesson, the reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we hear the very
first Christian sermon. Peter preaches
and starting with the concerns of his people he draws the lines to Jesus. Peter quotes a beloved psalm of his fellow
Israelites, Psalm 16 that we just prayed together:
For you will not abandon me to the grave,
*
nor let your Holy One see the Pit.
Peter startles his
audience with an amazing and unexpected twist. As Peter reveals, this old
familiar prayer of comfort and hope is a literal prophecy about Jesus. The psalmist prophesies that Jesus was never
forsaken. Jesus was never abandoned. The
psalmist prophesies that as the Holy One, the Messiah, Jesus was delivered from
the grave and from the pit because he was raised from the dead. Peter’s audience knew Jesus, they knew all
about his miracles and words, his confrontation with the chief priests and his
crucifixion. What they did not know was
that he was raised from the dead, not revived…not resuscitated…but
resurrected. Peter preaches that “A new moment has opened in the divine plan
for
The
dead stay dead for Thomas too. Just like
us, Thomas believes what common sense tells him. And we believe what science tells us and
science tells us that when it’s over, it’s over. The dead stay dead because
that’s a law of nature. Thomas speaks for
us all when he says, unless I put the finger of my hand into his side, I will
not believe.
John
tells us that a week later, when the disciples again were in the house and the
doors were locked, and when Thomas was present, Jesus again came among them and
said to Thomas, put your hand in my side and do not doubt but believe. Thomas reached out and discovered that there
was a new law of nature. Thomas reached
out and discovered that a new moment had opened in God’s plan for him and for
the world. Thomas reached out and called
out, “My Lord and my God.”
What
about you and me? Are we embarrassed by
the miracle of the resurrection? Is this
new law of nature too monstrous, too unacceptable? Is this new moment
humiliating for us in front of our cool and unbelieving friends? Or do we
reduce the resurrection to a metaphor, a sweet hallmark moment for our
convenience? When I am most honest with
myself, I realize that the risen Jesus who came through locked doors, will have
to come through those same locked doors of my resistance and my prejudice. Jesus will have to break through the locked
doors of my hard and proud cynicism.
Jesus will have to come through the locked doors of my armor plated
logic and knock down all the arguments of my rational mind. My Jesus will have come through locked doors to
replace my heart of stone with a heart of flesh. My Jesus will have to confront me face to
face, wound to wound to change my bitter no into a thankful yes.
My Jesus will have to come through locked
doors so that instead of saying “My God, what have you done to me?” I will say
instead “My God, what you have done to me!” There’s an old saying,
Be
careful what you pray for. If you ask
God to tear down this wall, he will leave you defenseless. Be careful what you
pray for: If you ask God to warm your cold heart, he will kindle an
unquenchable fire. Be careful what your
pray for: if you ask God to start something, he won’t stop until the job is
done. Be careful what you pray for: you will discover that this carpenter of
Amen.