A Word from Pastor Lisa: "Liberation Unlocked"
I’m thankful to Scott Hoezee with the Center for Excellence in Preaching, especially for a sermon titled “All Locked Up” (click here) which helped to form some of the following thoughts. This sermon references John 20:19-31.
Following the discovery of the empty tomb, the disciples of Jesus hide in a room and lock the door. Our scripture says it’s for fear of the Judeans. But that doesn’t make sense. If they were afraid of their fellow Judeans, or even the religious leaders or Roman soldiers, why did some of them run straight for Jesus’ tomb earlier in the day? Fear didn’t stop the disciples when they thought a grave robbery occurred. So why does fear lock them up when resurrection lingers? Of whom are they really afraid?
Perhaps they are afraid of running into Jesus himself. Peter certainly has reason to fear. The last night he spoke with Jesus, he was confident he would stick with Jesus no matter what. Peter said, “Even if I must die alongside you, I won’t deny you!” (Matthew 26:34). By the time the cock crowed, Peter had denied Jesus three times and was considering the same path as Judas. Likewise, in Jesus’ hour of need, all of the other disciples fled Gethsemane. Then they watched the crucifixion from afar, knowing they were somehow complicit.
So when Mary proclaims Jesus is alive, what if he’s carrying a grudge? Have you ever said something nasty behind someone’s back, only for them to catch wind of it? Are you eager to run into that person again? Maybe the disciples were actually afraid to find Jesus. Their day began with weeping and lamenting a violent death, but it’s ending with locked doors and great fear of new life.
Theologian Craig Barnes says that being locked-up mirrors so much of our lives, even to this day. Every door of our houses has a lock, sometimes two or a chain. We put a stick in the track of the sliding door. We’ve got a ring camera, a security system, and caller ID. We do this to keep the world out, but it’s possible we also keep ourselves in. Shame, guilt, and fear are first cousins. We all have things that make us feel unworthy that we don’t want others to know about us. When those things keep piling up, they become insurmountable, and we live in fear of ourselves.
Perhaps the disciples lock the door, telling themselves they’re keeping others out, when really they are keeping themselves locked in. Hear the Good News: Jesus comes in anyway. He appears in the room, enters the heart, and breaks into the shame and fear.
Jesus says, “Peace be with you!” He squelches the shame. He removes any doubt he’s harboring a grudge. He’s creating a whole new world when he breathes on them the sweetness of the Holy Spirit, like the first breath of life from the Creator across the formless void and into the first human’s lungs. Jesus never mentions their past transgressions, their debts, their betrayals, or denials. Instead, he gives them a Spirit that sends them out into the world to forgive the sins of others.
The word here used for “sin” means missing the mark, as in, the mark of love for God and neighbor. Sometimes our sins look like our failure to love. Another word we use for “sin” is “debt.” In Matthew’s version of the Lord’s prayer, we ask God to “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” So many people of Jesus’ day, as in ours, struggled with financial debt. In Deuteronomy, God instructs the people every 50 years to free slaves and eliminate debts, although we have no proof they ever followed through on God’s command. When we talk about the freedom Jesus intends for our lives, he liberates us from sin and financial debt, both what we owe others and what others owe us.
Our church is celebrating our liberation from debt. Our mortgage on the education wing is PAID IN FULL! Alleluia! We have been able to pay off our mortgage debt through the grace of the One who paid our debts and enables our generosity. Thank you SO much! We’re relieved the burden is lifted, much like your household feels when you’ve paid off the debts you owe. As we consider the future, I sense a tinge of fear mixed with anxiety about what’s next. For 26 years, we’ve been able to huddle behind the locked door of debt saying, “We’ll take care of that maintenance when the mortgage is paid off.” Or “If only we didn’t have $113,000 a year coming out of our budget for a mortgage payment, we could launch a new ministry.” Freedom from debt comes with responsibility. How will we handle God’s next vision for us?
Some preachers love the verse from Revelation that says Jesus stands at the door and knocks. Will you let him into your life? The problem with the image is that it’s not the Jesus we see in John’s Gospel. This Jesus doesn’t bother knocking. He just shows up! He passes right through our locked doors and breathes his peace upon us. He calls us out of our shame, guilt, fear, and indebtedness. He unlocks a new future for us. I can’t wait to see what this Jesus will do to inspire our generosity and our service in Bloomington and beyond. May we be liberated to follow his peaceful Spirit into the world! Amen.
