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2nd
Sunday of Easter (year b)
 

Texts & Discussion:

Acts 4:32-35
Psalm 133
1 John 1:1-2:2
John 20:19-31

Other Resources:

Commentary:

Matthew Henry,    Wesley

Word Study:
Robertson

This Week's Themes:

Christian Fellowship
Christ our Advocate
Believing Without Seeing


 


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 Texts in Context | Imagining the Texts -- First LessonEpistleGospel | Prayer&Litanies |  
Hymns & Songs
| Children's Sermons | Sermons based on Texts


Sermons:

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Peace Be to You
based on John 20:19-31
by Rev. Dr. Cynthia Huling Hummel

One of the things that surprised me when I moved to a small town in upstate New York,  was how many people I’ve met who don’t lock their doors.  It is not at all unusual for someone to say to me,  “Well, Pastor if we’re not home when you get there, just go on in and sit down.  There’s some cold pop in the frig.  So help yourself. And please help yourself to the cookies on the kitchen counter, too.”

I remember going over to a church member’s house not so long ago.  She  told me that she may or may not be home, but that the door would be open.  I had something that I didn’t want to leave outside in the rain and so I tried the door and sure enough it was unlocked.  Not only did I walk in the back door, but her  “watchdog” nearly licked me to death.  Even thinking about that unlocked door gives me the willies.  Imagine, I just walked into that house. 

I’m just not used to unlocked doors. It’s probably because I’m from NJ: the “locked door state”.  When I lived there, we had not one, not two, but three locks on most of the doors to our house.  There was the regular lock that was part of the doorknob.  But we also installed a dead bolt in case someone jimmied the first lock.  And we also installed a chain, so you could open the door a little, but still be safe.  But that wasn’t all.  We also had a peep hole too, so that we wouldn’t have to unlock the door to see who was there.  But there’s more!  We also installed one of those motion lights that come on if anyone approaches the door.  We decided, if we were going to be robbed that we weren’t going to make it easy for the intruder! We’d make them work for it.. 

To this day, I have a  nightly door locking ritual.  I usually check the doors more than once, because I can’t remember if Iocked them or not.  You know how that is.  You’re lying in bed  thinking, “Did I or didn’t I?”  And finally you just get up to check to see if the door is locked, because you cant fall asleep worrying about it.   Now some people might think I’m paranoid- who knows, maybe I  am. But not without cause.  I’ve been robbed.  So thank goodness for locks.  Yes, locked doors give us a great sense of security. 

The reading that we’ve just heard from John’s gospel, the lectionary reading for the day is about locked doors and locked hearts.  It’s about doubt and it’s about faith.  Let’s spend some time together discovering what the text has to say to us about living our lives in doubt and in faithfulness.  John tells us that it was evening on “that day- the first day of the week”.  In other words it was Easter night.  It had been a long and difficult weekend of pain and loss.  Jesus had been crucified and buried on Friday.  That morning, Mary had discovered the tomb empty and she ran to tell Peter and the others and described how she had seen Jesus.  Jesus had even called out her name.  It was all too strange and too wonderful and so difficult to even begin to comprehend. 

But one thing the disciples knew for certain was their fear.  They has seen what had happened to Jesus and were terrified of what might happen to them  and so they hid.  They locked themselves away because they were afraid of what the Jewish authorities might do.  Yes, the doors were locked and the disciples  were locked in fear.   And it’s precisely then, that Jesus comes to them.  He knows that they are terrified and he comes  through the locked doors to unlock their fear and their faith.  And so one of the first questions that comes to us is: What is it that you and I are fearful of?  Where in our lives are we feeling that we are locked up or locked out?  Maybe we’re locked into a bad relationship or locked into a dead end job.  Or perhaps you are deadlocked in an addiction.  And perhaps we’ve locked someone out of our lives who wants to help us.  Where is it that we need Jesus to enter and to bring us peace?  Jesus has the power to unlock our fears!  We need only ask! [continue]