APRIL 3, 2005 PASTOR SCOTT FULLER
I love this portion of the Gospel story. It offers an incredible glimpse into the lives of Jesus’ followers as they wrestle with: both the pain of his death and, now, the confusing rumors of his resurrection. In a very real sense, , these few verses reveal the core of “the good news,” the secret of life.
What is for you the most intriguing thing about this story?
-locked doors -Thomas’ doubt -disciples’ fear -T’s confession
-Jesus’ 1) sudden appearance; 2) greeting of peace; 3) visible wounds; 4) breath; 5) command about forgiveness.
The infamous character here, of course, is Thomas, forever branded as “the doubter.” Yet I’m not so sure that’s a fair appraisal of his spiritual integrity. It may be, but on the other hand, I know this is true: he doesn’t deserve to be singled out as the only one to doubt the stories of Jesus’ resurrection.
Everyone was convinced that the Lord was dead and gone, even those people most attuned to his ministry. Peter, who earlier had proclaimed, You are the Christ, the son of the living God (Matthew 16:16); Martha, who had also confessed, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world (John 11:27); then there’s John, the disciple whom Jesus loved (John 19:26) or the Mary’s, who stay close until he is buried.
When Mary Magdalene makes her way to the tomb on that first Easter morning, the furthest thing from her imagination is resurrection. She expects to find Jesus dead and buried, not alive and free; cold and pale, not hearty and hale.
The disciples as a group prove their pessimism by how they react to her strange claim. Says the Gospel writer Luke, these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them (Luke 24:11).
From Thomas to Mary and everyone in between, all were disappointed, sad frightened. They felt anger, grief and guilt. In a poetically perfect posture, these people who were alive reflected Jesus’ corpse in death. As his lifeless body was locked away in a tomb, so, too, these lifeless souls were locked away in a room. For all practical purposes, they were dead to the world.
…And you and I know what that’s like. We’re inclined to do the very same thing when confronted with disappointment, disaster, disease, divorce, death, despair. We turn in on ourselves, pull up the drawbridge, lock the doors, close the shades, and build a wall around our lives. We embrace the notion that no one or thing can heal the hurt that hangs so heavy in our hearts.
We watched a wonderful video a while ago entitled In America. Actually, Carolyn and Rachel had to convince me to watch it, but they were right, it was good and I highly recommend it to you.
Johnny and Sarah are salt-of-the-earth people, fresh from Ireland and trying to make a new life in New York City. They have two young daughters: Christy, a ten year old who is the commentator on their experience, always looking at the world through her little video camera; and Ariel, a seven year old whose wide-eyed innocence proves to be the anchor of faith to a family that labors under a burden of grief and guilt.
In many ways, the slice of their life that we get to see is set in a very similar in-between place to Jesus’ followers in our Gospel for today. We left the disciples huddled, hiding behind locked doors, harboring harsh feelings of guilt, fear and shame. The same is true with this family of four, struggling with a pain that is as old as life.
We soon discover the source of the family’s grief. Back in Ireland, their five-year-old son took a fall, suffered a severe head injury, and died. Their stated reason for moving to New York is to give Johnny a chance to work out his dream of acting on stage. In reality, the effect is the same as if they’d never left home but simply boarded up the windows and locked the doors, for that is what they have done with their hearts.
Dirt poor on top of it all, the only place they can afford to live is on the top floor of a run-down apartment building that is also home to junkies, prostitutes and other lost souls. The neighbor directly below them, Matteo, is nicknamed the screaming man. Yet he, of all the residents, is at least honest about his anger, his pain, his desire to shut out the world. Alone in NYC, he has been rejected by his wealthy family; he is dying of AIDS.
A hand painted sign in blood-red block letters hangs on his door. Its simple message is intended for the entire world: KEEP AWAY. And everyone does…until summer turns to fall and the girls hear of this strange American custom where children get free candy by knocking on their neighbors’ doors and calling out…Trick or Treat!
Ignoring Matteo’s warning, they knock and yell until…he finally opens the door…and lets them in. What follows, slowly but surely, is a sort of re-creation of that beautiful scene in our gospel for today. The girls get past Matteo’s defenses and somehow manage to bring peace to his anger-darkened world. In return, Matteo is able to get past the family’s defenses and is able to breathe life into their grief-darkened world.
As Jesus breathes the Spirit on his forlorn and frail followers, he equips them for a specific ministry. Into the hands of these guilt-ridden and fear-driven souls, he places the power to forgive or retain the sins of others.
Peace be with you, says the Lord, and shows them his bruised and battered flesh. Once again he says, Peace be with you.
Then, when he breathes upon them the Holy Spirit, he shares the secret of life, his vision of ministry, and it’s all about forgiveness.
Why? Why would his command fresh from death be about forgiveness?
All were guilty. Peter denied. Judas betrayed. Most of the others ran away. The women remained to see where his body finally lay, but they all failed to trust that God’s will for life is so much stronger than death. Forgiveness was Jesus’ first command because forgiveness is what they needed for life, forgiveness is what you and I need for life.
In that moment, they would have remembered Jesus’ teaching about
forgiving one’s neighbor seventy times seven.
In that moment, the would have heard again the Lord’s own prayer, forgive
us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
In that moment, they would have recalled his words at the last supper, This
bread and wine is for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sins.
And in that moment, they would flash back to Jesus’ prayer as he was nailed
to the cross, Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.
It’s no accident that forgiveness is foremost is of the utmost importance for Jesus after his resurrection from the dead. It is, after all, the secret of life.