It’s the first day of the week and we find our disciple-friends living in fear. They are uncertain about what has happened to their master Jesus. They are a confused and bewildered by the events of the past week. Even though Mary Magdelene told them that very morning that she saw Jesus alive again, the disciples don’t believe her. They are paralyzed by fear and apprehension.
They are afraid. They don’t want to be found or discovered. They are afraid and so they hide from the world and its troubles and difficulties. They are living in fear. They are asking themselves, “Now what do we do?” Waiting for an answer.
When life gets difficult, challenging, overwhelming, our tendency is to run and hide. Unless I’ve missed my guess there is someone here today who is overwhelmed by their circumstances and living in fear. Is there someone here today dealing with a broken relationship, a job loss, a move to a new home, a new school in the fall? Is there somebody here who put their faith in someone or something trusting that someone or something to come through for you, but in the end they didn’t and it hurts, a deep pain in your gut. Now what do we do?
In the midst of their fear and insecurity, the disciples see their Master, Jesus, the fully resurrected Jesus, in their presence. He’s live and in living Technicolor! He’s as real as you and me. So despite the fact that the doors and windows were locked, Jesus entered into their realm. Despite their best efforts to isolate themselves from the world around them, Jesus entered their realm with the purpose to re-build and re-gather this community of believers; to drive out the fear and uncertainty in their hearts so could become a community of faith once again.
In essence, the resurrection of Christ is a community-building event. It’s the central experience that unites all Christians. The Christian life of faith is lived in community. It can not be lived in isolation. I’ve heard it said that there is no point of going to church because I don’t get anything out of it. It’s not about getting, it’s about giving and serving others. I’ve heard it said that church is boring. I say stop adding to the boredom. Some say the church is filled with hypocrites. That’s because all human beings can be hypocritical at times. I have heard it said that you don’t need to go to church, as long as you are a good person and don’t hurt anyone. I say by whose standards are you measuring yourself, God’s or your own?
We can not live the Christian faith in isolation, only in community. For us that community is the church.
We witness the birth of this community, the church, when the resurrected Christ gives them the ultimate community-builder, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the presence of God that unites the body of Christ, the church.
With the Holy Spirit, the disciples of the past and the church of today have the power to come together to form a community of faith. As a community, we have the power to stand up courageously against fear, affliction, and injustice. As a community, we have the power of the Living God as seen and known in the resurrected Christ. We have the confidence and assurance to stand tall in the midst of pain and suffering as the body of Christ, to stand up against even the most fervent opposition. We don’t have to run anymore. We don’t need to hide anymore. We don’t need to live in fear anymore.
The walls the disciples’ constructed couldn’t keep the world out anymore than the huge stone could keep Jesus in the tomb.
As Christians, we are called to be members of the body of Christ, a part of the community of faith. We are called to make a difference in the world as His body. We are called to dream new dreams, form new visions and inspire one another to reach out to the community.
However, sin causes us to struggle to live in community as the body of Christ. Sin influences each of us to construct walls around ourselves to isolate ourselves from each other and the world.
We put up a wall by ignoring people. We don’t let anybody get too close to us. We don’t want anyone to know us too well. For some, just a simple friendly “Hi. How are you?” can pass for a meaningful relationship.
We put up a wall through the abuse of alcohol and other substances. Our fear of being known and the pain and suffering we experience are pushed away from ourselves through the abusive use of alcohol and drugs. The numbness that results serves as a wall isolating us from our families, friends, and co-workers, although only temporary.
We put up a wall by keeping a busy schedule of events and appointments. We rush through a never-ending maze of business meetings, play rehearsals, athletic practices and games, and various errands. When we are asked to volunteer our time for charitable cause, our reaction is often that we are too busy. Maybe some other time, we say, which almost always means never.
We put up a wall by surrounding ourselves with our material possessions and affluence. A large, fancy home, the latest fashions from the most fashionable designers, new cars, season tickets for sporting events, vacations to exotic ports of call staying at five-star hotels and restaurants. Such things keep us in our own worlds and isolate us from the unwanted suffering and pain of others.
By living our lives behind these walls and doors of isolation, we become comfortable and stable, stuck in a rut we don’t want to get out of. We become so comfortable and so stable that we don’t strive to reach out and take part in the body of Christ or the world around us.
We all need to realize that isolating ourselves from the body of Christ is all in vain! We can’t live the life God wants us to live in isolation behind walls of fear and insecurity. In order to live the life God wants us to live, we need to embrace the community, participate in it and through it, and to fellowship with one another.
Now what do we do? How can we embrace community? How we strengthen our own community of faith? It begins with our need to seek the Living God each and everyday. We need to pray asking God in Christ to dwell in our midst through the power and work of the Holy Spirit; to direct our steps and guide our thoughts.
I know this is not easy. It is not easy to change your life. With God’s grace, revealed to us in Jesus Christ, we no longer have to live for ourselves. We no longer have to be isolated from one another. Through the Holy Spirit, we can face our fears, our imperfections, our problems and our pain with a faith that comes from knowing Christ and Christ alone in the community of faith, the church of Jesus Christ.
With this faith, we move from living in fear and isolation to living in peace and in community. With this faith, we bear each other’s burdens with grace and love in community. With this faith, we are able as the church to share with the world the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And with this faith, we shall live in earnest for that day when our Risen Lord shall come again.
Amen.