A Congregational Letter to Morgan’s Point and Forks Road East United Churches
Every year I come to this day, the Second Sunday of Easter, and I wonder what difference last Sunday, Easter Sunday, has made in our lives and in the world. Are we, and is our world, different because of Easter, and, if so, how and in what ways?
Today’s Gospel lesson from John 20:19-31, is the same one we heard last year on this day, the year before, and the year before that. It is the disciples’ story of uncertainty, fear, and struggle with understanding Jesus’ resurrection.
Apparently, even after hearing Mary’s good news that Christ has risen, the disciples, out of fear, decided to lock the doors of their house. Yet, in spite of their fear, locked doors cannot keep Jesus out, and He steps into their midst. “Peace be with you,” Jesus says. He breathes on the disciples. He shares his life with them. He gives them the Holy Spirit. But, John’s Gospel records, that a week later, still nothing has changed for the disciples. They are in the same house, behind the same locked doors.
That sounds a lot like life today, doesn’t it? I wonder what doors of your house you’ve closed, and locked. What are you afraid of? What will it take to unlock the doors of your house? And I am not asking about the house in which you are social distancing, or quarantining. I am asking about the house of your heart; the house of your imagination; the house of your deepest longings and desires; the house of your dreams and delights. What doors need to be unlocked, and opened, in order for you to live life more whole heartedly, more fully?
As long as we remain behind the locked doors of our houses, nothing will change. The world and our lives, today, will look the same as they did before Easter, and if things look the same as they did before Easter, then you and I need to start looking for, and unlocking, some doors. Every time we unlock, and open a door in our house, we step into our own resurrection.
Easter morning, Resurrection Sunday, is Jesus inviting, asking, and calling us into new life, and more life. It means the unattainable is now within reach, and the impossible is now possible. Easter is Jesus’ promise that there is a future on the other side of our doors, but it is up to you, and me, to unlock, and open, those doors. Did you notice that in today’s gospel Jesus did not unlock the doors for the disciples. They have to do that for themselves, and so do you and I. That is our Easter life, and you and I already hold in our hands the key of this new life, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Our Easter life holds new possibilities, new hope, and new promises, so let us enter into this new beginning, today.
Let us continue to pray for one another every morning at 10:30, remembering that God grants us wisdom, love, and peace as we hold each other in God’s tender keeping. Much love and care to you all. Keep well and safe.
God’s Blessings, Pastor Laura
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