Unlock the doors

 

Reflection 11^th April 2021 Second Sunday of Easter

For many of us Easter Sunday was the day when our churches reopened for worship. It was good to be together once again after several months of lockdown. It was good to celebrate, as best we could behind masks, the resurrection of our saviour Jesus Christ. It was good to hear the familiar Bible stories of the encounters with our risen Lord in the garden, to hear of the stone rolled away, to hear of the excitement and bewilderment of the disciples on that first Easter Day.

Now, on what is the second Sunday of the Easter season, we hear another familiar story – that of the disciples in a locked room and of Thomas and his doubts.

I want to think of the first part of the story – the disciples behind a locked door.

One thing to point out straightaway is that John talks of “the disciples”. They’re not identified as “the Eleven” (the Twelve minus Judas) and we’d be mistaken to think of the gathering as just that -  the Eleven. John in his Gospel rarely speaks of the Twelve. So, for John, the gathering of the disciples may well have included the core group, but there is no indication that it is limited to them. This gathering represents the wider group of Jesus’ followers.

This story follows immediately on from John’s telling of the encounter between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. It is the same day

 it was evening on that day, the first day of the week John 20: 19

The disciples fearful conduct suggests they don’t believe Mary Magdalene’s story. Or even if they do, they are still fearful “of the Jews” v19. John’s phrase “the Jews” means the Jewish authorities intent on persecuting Jesus’ followers now that “the Jews” believe Jesus is dead.

Into the locked room, into the group of fearful disciples, Jesus suddenly appears

and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. John 20: 19 – 20 NRSV

“Peace be with you” was a conventional greeting. But here it has a wider significance. Earlier in John’s Gospel Jesus promises the disciples he will give them his peace (John 14:27). This gift of peace is significant. It is given to a community that will experience the world’s hatred and persecution as Jesus foretold in John 15: 18 – 25 The gift of peace to the disciples is a clear reminder to the disciples, and to those reading John’s Gospel, that there is nothing to fear or be anxious about with the peace of Jesus resting on Jesus’ followers.

John then tells us

²¹ Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ ²² When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.

We tend to think of Pentecost as the birth of the Church. But here Jesus gives the disciples the Holy Spirit by breathing on them – just as the Spirit came at Pentecost in tongues of flame. The gift of the Holy Spirit is a sign to the disciples that they are now being sent out into the world “Just as the Father sent me, so I send you”

It is as if Jesus is telling the disciples “unlock the door, do not be afraid, get out there and get on with the job of making disciples. Get out there and share the Good News. Get out there and be me in the world.”

Over this last year I’ve had a lot of conversations with many of the people in the congregations of the churches I serve. A constant theme has been the uncertainty and the fear caused by Covid19. This time has been like nothing any of us has ever known. All our lives have changed dramatically. And I believe that this last year has enabled Jesus’ current disciples to take stock. To re-evaluate our own lives and also to re-evaluate what Jesus wants us to be doing as his disciples.

Reading this passage of scripture, I’ve been really struck by the imagery of being behind locked doors. The disciples are gathered behind locked doors for their own needs, for their own safety. They are not concerned with what is on the other side of those doors unless it affects them. 

A constant question I’ve been asked throughout this last year is “When do you think we can go back to church?” It’s important to worship together it really is. But I do think we forget what we really should be about. Jesus didn’t say to his disciples to unlock the doors, go out to build churches to worship in, and then lock the doors behind them! Is this where we are? Is this our mindset?

I really like Christian cartoonist Dave Walker. I’ve followed him for years. But during the pandemic he has produced some excellent cartoons about church. His cartoons primarily draw on Church of England references. But they hold true for all of us. These two are an important reminder of how we should be thinking

Produced with permission © Dave Walker https://cartoonchurch.com/

In other words, we might not have been able to worship in our buildings, but the life of the Church goes on outside our buildings. The life of the Church goes on in loving other people where we are. The life of the Church goes on in you and me. (See Acts 4: 32 – 35)

Our church buildings can be useful as bases for mission to enable us to be disciples. But if we are not of that mindset, if the doors of the house where the disciples meet are locked, for fear of our equivalent of “the Jews”, we should be praying for Jesus to come among us. We should be praying for Jesus to come to us saying ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ We should be praying for Jesus to breathe his Holy Spirit on us - “To fill us with life anew”