John 20:19-31
April 15. 2007
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco
When we first moved to Sausalito, we thought we were seeing an UFO appearing in the distance as we looked north from our house. The hovering light in the sky always came around 9:00 PM. When visitors came to our house, we would point to the UFO along with showing them that there’s Angel Island and on this side is Mt. Tamalpais! In time, we learned that the UFO was actually a helicopter over San Quentin Federal Prison as they locked down the inmates.
For all of us here, we have a key ring or key chain that is filled with keys: keys for our cars, keys for our offices or businesses, keys for our safe deposit box, keys for our public storage space, keys for our front door, back door, garage door. Even our granddaughter Sage has her own play car keys that look like the real thing! And some of you even have the privilege of having the possession of church keys! Keys are necessary to open up those priceless things that we have all locked up.
We are afraid that unless we lock up our valued possessions, we may discover that someone might take them. And in the case of our UFO, we lock down the prisoners in case they might get out and take what we treasure. We habitually click our car doors when driving in the city. We punch in our secret codes on our security alarm systems before leaving our houses. Whenever I leave the church, I check all three street doors to make sure they are pulled shut and locked up before going.
When I was a seminarian, I served a church in a working class neighborhood. The biggest employer was the Dennison Paper Company which was located in the back of the church along railroad tracks. One of my learning goals was to develop the skill of home visitations. We had a number of older members who lived in government supported housing apartments.
What I remembered most and what I like the least was that when I stood before the apartment door of one of our members, and knocked on the door, there would be a voice from within, “Who is it?”
I would announce myself as “Don, the church’s student minister.” And then the clicking would begin. I could hear first one lock unlock; then the chain; then the deadbolt; then the other lock; and finally a fumbling with the doorknob. This “click, click, click” only seemed to be an unwelcome message to my visit.
Once the locks were unlocked, and the door was open, I was always given a warm greeting with usually those Danish cookies in those blue tins and a cup of tea served on real china. I was always glad that I came to visit—one of the visitors these people ever had. Nevertheless, it was that “click, click, click” that made those visits difficult. I know the locks were designed to keep out certain people. But I couldn’t help thinking that they were there to keep me out as well.
After the September 11th terrorist attacks on the United States, the security system business skyrocketed. It’s a bit strange that most of these companies are limited to installing locks, burglary systems, things like that. Of course, none of these security measures offer us any protection from a terrorist. But those terrorists put us in a mood where we desired security above everything else.
One of the first things that a new homeowner does when moving into a new house is to change all the locks and install a deadbolt. But if a police officer would ever to come to see what we have done, he would say that these locks are mainly for us, not for a potential thief. Any serious thief has lots of ways to get around those locks. But if the locks make you feel better, that’s fine. And we would say, “Those locks did make us feel better until the police officer said what he said!”
Lock In
On this Second Sunday of Easter, we see in the gospel that a group of people are cowering behind a locked door. But this isn’t just any group of people; it’s the disciples of Jesus. It’s night time, a dangerous time in nearly any city when certain people think that it’s okay to do illegal things. But this is the city of Jerusalem, after the weekend of terrible violence against Jesus. So the disciples of Jesus had many reasons to be fearful.
The gospel said that they were hiding behind locked doors in fear of other Jews. Perhaps they were fearful of the scorn of their friends and families. The disciples of Jesus had followed him, risked all that they had to believe in the one who would redeem Israel. No doubt they were fearful of the mocking scorn of all those who said, “Some Messiah! Where is your Lord and Savior now?” We don’t blame them for locking the doors; if we were in their shoes, we would have done the same.
Locks come in all shapes and sizes, and not just in the hardware store.
It is quite natural when you have suffered some trauma in life, when you have been violated by some injustice in life, to lock yourself away. When someone in our church suffers the breakup of a relationship, or a disagreement or misunderstanding, I worry for them. Rather than risking being in pain again, better close the door, click, click, click, and, if you can’t have love or reconciliation, at least you can have some degree of security from pain.
Teachers in our public schools tell about the greatest challenge they have is day after day looking into the eyes of their high school students and seeing students who have simply shut down. The students had failed so often, had experienced so often the door slamming in their faces, that they had withdrawn; they had locked the door and thrown away the key, so to speak. Teachers spend most of their time desperately searching for keys that can unlock their students’ minds to give them a chance to succeed.
Like the first disciples, have we locked the door of our faith out of fear that we may not have the trust or courage to believe?
It is no small wonder that those who have closed the door and locked the locks are Jesus’ own disciples. This is not a story about all of the ways the world locks its doors against the claims of the Christian faith. This is a story about the way that those of us who are Christians lock our doors.
In locking our doors out of fear of the world and what it might do to us, the irony is that the disciples have locked their doors to Jesus, and what he might do to them and to us. The irony is that the soldiers of Caesar were not trying to get the disciples; their critics among their friends and family were not attempting to get the disciples in order to mock them. Jesus was trying to get to them in order to bless them, in order to forgive them and empower them.
Our securely locked doors are not a problem for Jesus. That’s the good news of Easter. Just as death could not hold him in the tomb, so our various locks cannot keep him from getting to us.
He gets through the locked doors. He shows his wounds and scars from the cross to them. And if the disciples were afraid that Jesus was going to be revengeful when they all deserted him, Jesus says, “peace be with you.” The risen Christ will not be locked by death in the tomb, nor will he be locked away from his people, the church. We can no longer lock Jesus away then we can stop the sunlight coming to earth.
Unlock Fears
One of the biggest roadblocks to accomplishment is doubt: doubt of our own abilities, doubt that others care, doubt that we have adequate information to move forward. We know that “if we think we can’t, we can’t.” In learning a new skill, a sport, another language, or a piece of music, if we let fear or a sense of inadequacy cripples us, we are finished before we start. That’s what was happening to Thomas. He had his doubts about the resurrection. His doubts led him to the same company as the other disciples behind locked doors.
But on the other hand, if we are confident that we have what it takes, or that we know where to find help if we get confused, there is little we cannot accomplish. Thomas could have been locked inside with his doubts that he would have never ventured outside. But when he met the risen Christ, he exclaimed, “My Lord, and my God!”
In response to Thomas’ affirmation of his faith in Jesus, Jesus said, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” Did you know that Jesus was speaking to us? Jesus was blessing us because we are those who have not seen but still believe. That’s us!
Jesus unlocked the doubt and fears that could have kept Thomas from fulfilling his mission as a disciple in Christ. Jesus told his disciples in the upper room that he was going away to return to the Father so that the Advocate, the Holy Spirit would come. God the Spirit is not limited by geography or opportunity, the Spirit is always with us. We, who have not seen and yet believe, are blessed richly by the presence of the Holy Spirit who strengthens, guides, consoles and cares for us, bringing us that peace Jesus gives to his first disciples.
With the peace that only Christ can give to us, God has unlocked our fears and doubts to become modern day disciples in the world. As ones who believe but have not seen for ourselves, we are connected with the apostles who would go out into the world to preach the good news, with succeeding generations of believers whose faith rests on their shoulders. One by one, they began the long, unbroken key chain of witness that came, eventually, to us. And we are now the key bearers of that message. Who have we told? Will the chain be broken, or will we continue to tell the story of Jesus and his love, of a living Christ who is with us today?
We all know the point that the Church is always one generation from extinction.
Lock Out
How many of you have ever been locked out before? It’s an awful feeling when you close the door to your car and at that very moment you remember that your car keys were still in the ignition. Or when you may be outside your house and a sudden surge of wind slam shut your door and you have no other key hidden in your flower beds to get back in. You have this empty feeling of what have I done now.
I suspect that all of our attempts to lock Jesus out and to secure ourselves against his incursions are unintended. But when we stayed away from coming to church, we are locking Jesus out. When we avoid signing up for Bible study or not attending Sunday school, we are locking Jesus out. When we find other things to do on a Sunday and find other activities to allocate our time rather than to pray, we are locking Jesus out. When we don’t have Jesus inside us, we get this awful and empty feeling because the one who can be the key to the meaning and purpose for our lives is Jesus Christ.
Outside our 15 Waverly entrance is a great piece of security system. People would ring the doorbell and unbeknown to them, we can see who they are. If we don’t recognize them, we can refuse to buzz them in. There’re a lot of people in Chinatown who don’t share our faith. They don’t see the world as we see it. In fact, they think that our Christian view of the world is downright silly. They can’t believe who in their right mind would believe in someone who was crucified on the cross. So we keep our church doors securely locked up so that we wouldn’t expose ourselves to the world’s criticism and ridicule.
It’s better for me to stay upstairs in my office behind closed doors. Wait for those who really believe to show up and ask for ministry. Buzz in only those people who share our view of the world. And in the meantime, click, click, click.
We didn’t know that we were locking Christ out when we kept our faith safely tucked away with ourselves, when our religion became something that we practice only in the safe confines behind closed doors of the church, rather than out in the world where we work and spend so much of our lives. But we did.
But the purpose of my sermon is not an exhortation for you to unlock your door, to throw wide the doors of your heart, to let Jesus into your life. Although, I have done that. No, my sermon ends with the good news of a promise. Christ miraculously came to the disciples when they were cowered behind locked doors. If we put up locks on our doors, Jesus will still come to you. No lock can deter Jesus from working a miracle in you.
You can’t lock him down. You can’t lock him in. You can’t lock him out. Our God is wonderfully resourceful, imaginative, persistent, and determined to have us. Even in our lostness, even in our betrayal, the first thing he does at Easter is to come out to get us.
I believe even now, even in this sermon, in this service, here at this church, as you go forth in your daily life, Christ is coming out to get you. He came after me and look at where I am right now. There is no sure lock against Jesus. You don’t have enough click, click, click to keep him out. You can’t lock him down. You can’t lock him in. You can’t lock him out. There is no way to secure yourself against his intrusion.
Jesus Christ is risen from the big rock lock they put in front of his tomb! Alleluia!
Let us pray.
O God, our Lord Jesus Christ is freed in the world. He has sent the Holy Spirit, the Advocate and our Comforter to lead us out of our self-imposed locked prisons and safe haven to go into the world with the joy of redemption and salvation. Thank you, dear God for blessings us with the peace of Jesus Christ that only he can give for we have come to believe even when we have not seen with our own eyes. In the name of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, we pray. Amen.