Pastor Timo’s sermon,
March 30, 2008
Second
Sunday of Easter
Gospel John 20:19-31
Translated by Katja Kupari
It starts
behind closed doors. The Disciples are frightened. Jesus was
crucified in front of their eyes. Young men who followed their
teacher and were always with Him where the action was, were now
gathering in secret, behind locked doors. Fear is a powerful
lock. The freedom of the disciples is threatened, they have
Jesus’ fate on their mind; arrest, abuse, death sentence.
Then
something happens, something that the disciples least expect;
suddenly Jesus appears to them. They are not imagining it, they
could all pinch themselves and each other to make sure that it
is not a dream or a delusion. Is is true after all! Jesus
Himself is standing among them and talking to them calmly. He
shows them His hands, pierced by nails, and His wounded side. He
lives and now He wants to talk peace to His disciples. He gives
them a mission to continue His work. He gives them Holy Spirit,
power and the spirit of love.
Easter
changes people’s reality. Christians talk about new life, new
hope, new beginning. Jesus who resurrected is now the center of
things. He who gives peace and calls us to be with Him, to
breathe the new, creative life of resurrection.
But another
visit behind closed doors is needed. One of the disciples,
Thomas, also wants to see Jesus. And not only see Him, but touch
Him, His wounded hands and side.
Sometimes a
lot of proof is needed for faith to develop. It is not enough
that a friend has experienced something that affected him. It is
not enough that ’this is how it’s always been said and done at
church’. No, one has to be able to personally experience and be
convinced of the fact the God exists, that Jesus is alive after
all and exists for me too.
The
disciples started out behind closed doors. A miracle was needed
to turn fear into peace and courage, grief into joy. Jesus came
to be among them through locked doors. The circumstances did not
change, though; the people were still against Jesus and His
followers. It was not ”in” or according to popular opinion to
confess one’s faith in Jesus, who had been crucified, killed,
and who now had resurrected from the dead, as many were now
telling.
Yes,
actually nothing changed in the atmosphere of the neighbourhood.
The situation only got worse, the disciples were threatened,
they were arrested and let die for faith. But something did
change, though. The crucial change took place on Easter and the
following Whitsunday. The frightened disciples became those who
courageously testified about Jesus, who gathered together to
pray under persecution, as recorded by Luke in the Acts;
.”
“Now,
Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak
your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and
perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your
holy servant Jesus."
(Acts 4:29-30).
And Luke
tells how this request was immediately answered;
”After they prayed, the place where
they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the
Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” (Acts
4:31)
A miracle
took place behind closed doors. Jesus’ resurrection and now
presence changed the lives of the disciples. It gave them peace,
joy and courage to set forth and preach the gospel of Jesus.
Our
altarpiece here depicts a picture of Jesus knocking at a door.
The artist has had Jesus’ words recorded in the Revelation in
mind:
”Here
I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice
and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with
me.” (Revelation 3:20).
This
painting may depict our very own core. There are times when the
doors of our heart are locked. Something has happened, suddenly
or gradually, and the door that used to be open, has now closed.
Life can be hard at times and our own core may have hardened
with it. We have had to protect ourselves, lock the doors. Maybe
the intention was just to close the door, not lock it, set
boundaries for certain things and people in life. Take a step
back, escape bad words, insults and disappointments, but the
door ended up locking. When the intention was to lock out one
thing, one relationship, it now feels like it still affects
other relationships. When the intention was to ignore, forget
about that one, somewhat insignificant thing, it now seems that
this one thing affects so many other things. And what used to be
open and honest, carefree and relaxed, is now behind locked
doors. When things didn’t go the way we wanted to, we stopped
praying, sighing and thanking God, and so God, too, was locked
out.
Christian or not, adept server of the Lord or not, on purpose or
by accident, nevertheless, the door can sometimes lock. And it
shows and you can feel it.
Dear friend, all of us; there are times when we can identify
with the situation the disciples were in on Easter. Life does or
did not feel complete, joy has or had disappeared. Fear of
people has or had crept in and the door has been latched.
If this image can somehow reach us all, then the gospel of
Easter is also shared; Jesus can come through locked doors. God
can make the impossible possible. He can change circumstances,
He can calm the storm, but He can also calm people surrounded by
storms – perform a miracle despite the circumstances. Jesus can
turn fear into courage, grief into joy, sin into forgiveness.
This is why Easter is not just a celebration
once a year, but a new reality of life, when our Savior Himself,
who resurrected, is with us. If He is not in our hearts, we must
only open our doors to the Lord of Easter and Savior and He has
promised to be with us.
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