It’s kind of easy for us today to look back at the disciples, cowering in fear behind their locked door, and maybe get a little smug about it
We might be tempted to say something like, oh, I would never do something like that
I would have been out there, boldly telling the world that Jesus had been raised
And maybe for some of us that would indeed have been the case
But I suspect that, for a lot more of us, there is a real ability to sympathize with them in their fear
I think a lot of us can understand what it’s like to be hiding behind locked doors
I say that because most, if not all of us hide behind locked doors
Oh, we might give the appearance, the impression, that we are bold, and out there
But in reality there are things we hide away
Things we keep locked up
We all hide behind locked doors
We hide our fears behind these locked doors
We hide our sorrow
We hide our pain
Maybe some of us are hiding our gifts and talents and abilities
But in general, what we tend to hide behind our locked doors are our wounds
We hide our woundedness behind locked doors, sometime behind some very heavily locked doors
Which is where todays gospel reading can be helpful
Oh, I know we want to focus on Thomas, and pat ourselves on the back for not being a so-called doubter like he was (though if we are honest, we are also hiding our doubts behind locked doors, too)
But I want us to see what Jesus does, not what Thomas does or doesn’t do
What Jesus does is come through their locked door
The locked door can’t keep the risen Jesus out
He just is there, in the midst of them
Locks aren’t going to keep Jesus out of their room
And locks aren’t going to keep Jesus out of our lives
Jesus comes through our locked doors, too
No matter how well we lock them, Jesus is easily able to come in
And when Jesus comes through our locked doors he brings us peace
The same peace he brought to his disciples
Just so today, Jesus comes through our locked doors and says to us, peace be with you
You, who are hiding your woundedness
Your who are hiding your hurt and pain and sorrow and loss and rejection and emptiness
Jesus says to us, peace is with you
My peace is with you
Right now
Right here
In the midst of your woundedness
In the midst of your hurt and pain and sorrow and loss and rejection and emptiness
Jesus is not kept out by our locks and our doors and our defenses and our barriers and our walls
Jesus comes right through them all, and so is now with us in our woundedness
In our fear
In our pain and sorrow and loss and rejection and emptiness
And not only is Jesus with us, Jesus is giving us peace to calm and strengthen and support and lift us
Jesus is giving us peace that can heal us, renew us, restore us, give us hope, give us energy, and give us comfort
Jesus comes to us in our woundedness and shows us his wounds
Just as he showed Thomas, so he shows us
And in showing us his holy wounds, Jesus now frees us to show him our wounds
It is a wounded Savior who stands before us
It is a wounded Savior who stands with us
It is a wounded Savior who says to us, show me your wounds, that I may touch them, and give you relief from them, and help you to be strong and free from them
You know, not all of our wounds are physical, like Jesus’ wounds
Not all of our wounds are plainly visible
Some of our wounds are emotional, or spiritual
Some of our wounds are very old, and very deep
Some of our wounds are hidden, covered up, buried deep inside of us
Jesus sees them all
Jesus shares them all
Jesus helps us to deal with them all
This is the grace of Jesus
That Jesus sees our wounds, knows our wounds, and loves us with our wounds
Loves us in spite of our wounds
Loves us because of our wounds
The grace of Jesus is this, that Jesus loves us, and saves us, and dies for us, and lives forever for us, wounds and all
Jesus welcomes us, Jesus comes to us, as we are
In the midst of our pain, and sorrow, and loss, and rejection, and emptiness
In the midst of our woundedness, Jesus comes in, Jesus comes through our locked doors, and gives us love
His love
Love that has no limits
Love that has no end
Love that hold us forever
Love that saves us and makes us new
Love that touches our wounds and says to us, it’s ok now, I’ve got you, and I’m always going to have you
Your wounds are my wounds now, and together, we can face them all, deal with them all, and come through them all
The risen Jesus is with us, despite our best efforts to maybe keep him out
Despite our desire to hide our wounds, Jesus is with us
And maybe, just maybe, this is how the church, you and I, ought to be with one another, as well
Maybe we need to be a place, a people, where locked doors can be opened
Where wounds can be shown and shared
Where grace is offered freely, in spite of, because of, our woundednedd
Maybe the church ought to be a place where all the wounded are welcome, and loved, and offered and shown the grace of God, the same grace we strive to live and share in our own lives
Maybe the church, maybe our church, can be this place
A place where the healing grace of God is shared and shown and lived and preached and is always real and constant
Maybe we can be a place where locked doors aren’t needed anymore, where our wounds are able to be visible so that they can be given to God and given to one another in love
Maybe….
May the risen Lord Jesus see your wounds, show you his wounds, and bring you his peace, his love, his grace, and in so doing free you from your wounds
Amen.