Locking Jesus Out

Lectionary Reading: John 20:19-31

One of the things I’ve liked most in ministry is it allows you to encounter people in the full cycle of life. Each person is at a different place in the circle but its amazing to see the cylinders of life go round and round

You are there to bless, praise and celebrate on their very best days:
The day they born
The day they a baptized
The day they graduate from high school, college, grad school…
The day they marry
The day they tell you they are having a baby
The day they retire and tell you their grandchildren are born
The day you hold their hand as they pass from this life into God’s heaven

You are there to hold, pray and comfort on their very worst days:
The day a miscarriage occurs
The day a disappointment happens
The day a crash occurs or an Emergency Room visit is needed
The day a job is lost or a dream goes up in flames
The day a divorce splits a couple in two
The day a family becomes estranged
The day a loved one makes that journey into God’s heaven

The thing I like about counseling is that it puts me in the lives of people in all the other days:
Days after a great event is forgotten and hope needs to come back
Days after a sorrow has occurred
The long never-ending days of bickering that threaten a relationship
Sheets of dark, depressing days of grief
The years of days after a trauma – where resolutions and solutions are finally found
Days of light and inspiration where guidance is a pathway
Days of laughter breaking through rain
Days of being whole again

Pretty much between ministry and counseling – you’re busy every day! What’s even more amazing than that? The presence and power of God. God is present every second of every day of every life span – including the seconds before and the eternity after. There is not a second God is not a part of. There is no way to shield yourself from that presence. As Carl Jung said so well “Bidden or not bidden, God is present”. In other words – there is simply no way to lock God out. Jesus is the same way.

Locking Jesus Out in Fear

Our scripture takes place after the resurrection when Mary of Magdala and the others return to tell the disciples Jesus is alive. News and whispers are everywhere. Of course – no one quite has a handle on that truth yet. Some say his body was simply stolen. Others think the women are mad with grief. Romans don’t like all this disorder in their neatly ordered world. Pharisees don’t like the scrutiny this affair has shined onto their laws and behavior – including some backdoor deal that ended in the arrest of a rabbi and the suicide of his disciple. In all the rumor and ideas floating around – the group closest to Jesus knew one thing: as disciples of the Christ - it is not safe for them to be anywhere.

So they do what any sane person would do when they are being pursued by forces known and unknown, they hide away behind a locked door. For whatever reason, Thomas is not with them. Perhaps they sent him out to learn what’s going on or maybe he was just doing a run for some daily bread. Either way, they send him on a dangerous mission carefully locking the door behind them. When suddenly, they will see not just the news – but the truth standing before them. Jesus is there.

You know as they looked to their messiah it was like walking into bright afternoon sun after being in a small dark room. They squinted and blinked, their eyes now unaccustomed to the sight of him – but there he stood. What’s the next thing they do? Look over at the door. It was LOCKED. But here stands Jesus. And they learn the most wonderful way – no matter how afraid you are, you can’t lock Jesus out.

We build walls in our fears too. We keep people at arm’s length or simply don’t tell them how we feel. We decide not to reach out for a dream because we are afraid of failure. We don’t seek out folks who could help us because we are afraid to appear vulnerable. We pray about what we want, not who we are – because deep down we aren’t so sure we want to be that honest with God. Yet through all the walls from our all fears, Jesus walks right into the room of our lives. Never let yourself be fooled. You can keep people at bay for a while, but Jesus Christ who saves you and loves you is going to walk right in. Count on it.

Locking Jesus Out in Anger

So Thomas comes back with the latest edict or a couple of loaves of bread and finds everyone stirring with light and joy. You know he is going through an energy rush of his own. He just risked everything to run this errand and now he’s back but instead of being thankful or listening to him – they are all blathering about seeing Jesus who came through a locked door. Thomas figures 1 of three things has happened:

1. They have gone as mad with grief as the women and the people on the street saying Jesus is alive. He is now the only sane one left.

2. They are playing some kind of mean joke on him. They have all made up this wild story to make him look like a sucker.

3. Jesus really is alive and did see them. Everyone got to be with their beloved Lord but Thomas. Even his twin brother got to see Jesus. Imagine how that could come between two so close in everything else. Thomas feels left out in the cold.

If its door number one: He’s all alone
If its door number two: He’s a laughing stock
If its door number three: He has been purposefully left out. He is “less than”

No matter which it is, he feels angry – and lets face it, we would too. No one wants to be left outside the circle, or laughed out, or alone. So in anger Thomas does what we do – he closes all the doors. Not just to the room – but the door to his heart, the door to his mind and the door to his faith also. “I don’t care what you say – unless I see his hands and I see touch his side with my own two little hands – I will not believe this.” In other words – Thomas is CLOSED.

A week later, Jesus appears again. This time Thomas is there. Jesus repeats the words Thomas uses and allows him to see his hands and touch his side. Most people think Jesus did that to chide Thomas for his hasty words, but I don’t. I think Jesus did it for one reason alone. To show Thomas that even though he couldn’t see Jesus in the room when he spoke his angry monologue, Jesus was there and heard every word. Jesus words and actions were saying:

“I’m not just around when you see my wounds or speak to me. I’m around even when you can't see me at all. I’m always here. Blessed are you when you realize you don’t have to see me, but you know I’m there anyway.”

In our anger, hurt and distress we sometimes lock Jesus out too. We get caught up in a situation, sorrow or feeling of helplessness that we decide that we just can’t see God in this. We react instead of act. We strike out instead of let in. We suffer alone at night because we won’t risk reaching to anyone anymore. We might even say we know Jesus is with us – but the truth is – we aren’t always so sure what good that does.

Yet Jesus is not kept out by our locked minds, strong wills or stone hearts. Jesus is in, and Jesus will keep speaking, appearing, helping (and sending helpers), until you touch his hands and touch his side and KNOW that the fact he is alive makes all the difference in your world.

This Eastertide, make a commitment to unlock the doors of your heart (since you aren’t keeping Jesus out anyway) and be open to seeing Christ in working, walking, healing ways all around you. Hear for yourself the words Jesus says when he comes through every locked door - Peace be with you.

Easter: Defying the Cult of Order

Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:1-14

The Cult of Order

In the year 203 CE, a 22 year old Roman woman named Vivia Perpetua and her slave known as Felicitas were arrested along with 3 other people for the crime of practicing Christianity. Roman Emperor Severus was desperately trying to align all the many religions of Rome into one ordered system. In his mind a Roman could worship any god he or she wanted, as long as they were willing to show honor to other gods as well. Two religions opposed this practice: Judaism and Christianity. Jews were not new to Roman experience and seemed to be an unconquerable people when it came to changing their faith. Christianity was still a new faith, quiet and law abiding, and it wasn’t really a religion a lot of people understood. It grew during the persecution of Christians under Nero in the year 68 CE, but had settled into the host of other religious entities until Severus started persecuting the sect and outlawed the converting of people to Christianity.

Vivia Perpetua and Felicitas were given the same choice all arrested Christians were: You could curse the name of Jesus and be set free, or you would be executed in the Coliseum with the rest of the criminals at noon. Even though they seemed to have everything to live for – Vivia Perpetua was a new mother and Felicitas gave birth while in prison - both women refused to turn their back on Christ or curse him. They were both taken into the Coliseum to be killed.

Perpetua was a Roman Citizen, which meant she couldn’t be crucified or ill-treated by guards. She was chained to a post to be killed by the wild beasts of the day. Although she was mauled, her wounds were not fatal. A guard was sent to kill her in front of the gathered crowd (executions were at noon, gladiators were before sunset – so the lunch time crowd was the rough and angry mob of the streets there to watch the bloodletting). He stabbed her, but his sword did not do enough damage and the wound was not fatal either. Claiming the power of Christ over the powers of death in this world, she grabbed the soldier’s sword and slit her own throat – defying Roman justice by taking her own life. The crowd was stunned in horrified, confused silence. They could not understand why a young mother would stick to her religion with such surety when the rest of them felt such doubt about it all.

Felicitas was a slave and condemned to be crucified. She suffered mightily at the hands of the guards prior to her crucifixion and was tortured both prior to and after being nailed to the cross. Her singing and prayer during her suffering began to dampen the spirit of the crowd. They could not understand the strength a mere slave girl had to withstand such torture. The Roman Historian Eutropilius reported the crowd left the arena as she suffered – their desire to watch a ugly death stunted, the games were cancelled for the evening. She was found alive in the morning and killed by the arena master.

(Note: There are many different stories of Perpetua and Felicity, including Roman Catholic Dogma that names them as Saints and adds miracles to their tales, however this account is from Roman records and verified from scholars at Oxford as the most accurate account we have).

The Age of Doubt

Perpetua and Felicitas are credited with bringing Rome into the age of doubt. They defied the cult of order Romans lived by. In the Roman world, everything was neat, even, orderly and went entirely to plan. If things didn’t go as planned, the Emperor simply changed that plan so it did. Nothing was left to change. Nothing unexpected should happen. Romans - the folks who gave us the calendar, the aqueduct system, and paved roads – knew everything would be okay as long as it was orderly.

Then these Christian women died in front of them claiming death was not final, life was eternal and the son of God had rose from the grave to live again. That was certainly not an orderly thought. Christianity was downright disorderly! And powerful. They began to look around. Would they die for their gods? Certainly not! There were hundreds of gods that governed daily life – how would you even know which one to die for? Did they even believe in the gods anymore, or was it just the orderly thing to do? Why was Severus determined to fit all the religions into one system and why was the Christian God too big, too powerful, and too amazing to fall into line with the others? Suddenly common Romans, Centurions, plebeians and politicians all begin to wonder if there wasn’t something more. There was something those women had gotten from their faith in a resurrected Jewish Rabbi who preached love and life.

Doubt is not always a bad thing. It led Rome to question its orderly system of gods and policies and accept a change. In 313 the Emperor Constantine declared tolerance for Christianity, and later sought the make the Roman Empire a Christian nation. The Roman’s ability to accept and embrace Christianity is often credited to the age of doubt they went through as a result of the witness of the martyrs.

The Life of Christ

Easter Sunday is a day we celebrate Christ’s resurrection. It’s the day we as God’s sons and daughters defy the cult of order around us. Believing someone rose from the dead is not orderly, reasonable, or scientifically verifiable. It doesn’t fit into a “system” of thought at all (which is why I find “systemic theology” to be such a funny term). In a world where people are still governed by many gods – media, status, money, greed, work, achievement, vanity, etc – Easter Sunday stands proudly as a day to say “none of those things will add one day to your life but Jesus Christ is eternal and his love makes you eternal too”. Instead of scholars at the Jesus Seminar doubting whether or not the resurrection really happened, it is the people of the world who look to us with the eyes of doubt. They doubt their petty gods of rationalization and emotions are real or lasting at all. That doubt can open the door to their freedom from the tyranny of order into the flowing, pulsing, healing, eternal life in Christ.

Easter sermons are oh-so-easy to write. You can talk about life out of death, the women who found him and thought he was a gardener, Peter who ran to the tomb and was forgiven for his cowardice, the walk to Emmaus, the empty tomb, the rolled away stone, the angel…but this Easter I want to do something different. I was us to remember that the resurrection is a fact – an order defying, logic upturning, fact. And because it is a fact – the world will change. Carry Easter in your heart this year not as an empty tomb, a lily and some chocolate eggs. Carry it as a light shining out of a terrible darkness that Jesus is alive and because of that truth the world and its petty little gods will never be the same.

This Easter remember: We may not be called to die for Christ like Vivia Perpetua or suffer the pains of Felicitas. But we are called to live for Jesus and spread the light of peace, hope, and strength to overcome the pains of this world in all that we do and all that we are.

Christ is risen from the dead! Go and be among the living. Go and live among the dying. Go.