The doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked in fear…
Fear. It controlled the disciples. Ever since Jesus’ arrest, they lived in fear. Fear of arrest. Fear of what might come next.
On that first Easter night, even with the words of Mary Magdalene that he is risen still ringing in their heads, the male disciples locked themselves away in fear.
And Jesus stood among them – Peace be with you.
In the midst of fear, Jesus offers peace.
As Dietrich Bonhoeffer observes, “"Peace be with you"—that means: he who himself is this peace, Jesus Christ, the crucified and resurrected, is with you. The word and sign of the living Lord brings the disciples joy. Community with the Lord, after anxious, dark days, has been found again.”
In that moment, the disciples had some joy. Had some peace. They even told Thomas about what had happened while he wasn’t with them. But it didn’t last…
When they gather again, the next week. The doors are again locked. Old habits die hard. Fear was still there, and this time Thomas was with them.
Again, Jesus comes among them and he says, Peace be with you. And he shows Thomas his wounds.
Do not doubt but believe. Jesus says to Thomas. And Thomas does. But those words could easily be said to the disciples who were still in the grip of fear.
Do not doubt, do not be afraid, live into my peace.
Fear is so controlling that even after they had seen Jesus, they still locked the doors.
It is easy in our time to live in fear. Fear of the stranger. Fear of a deadly virus. Fear of losing control. Fear for what might come.
Jesus comes to bring peace to our lives and to our world. But I wonder if we have lost sight of him.
So much angst in our country right now is centered around “the freedom from any constraint/the ability to do whatever I want and Christian freedom which is liberation from the self for the sake of God and neighbor.” (from Bp. Matt Gunter) Freedom to stay home, stay safe for the sake of others and ourselves.
Again from Bonhoeffer: "In the language of the Bible, freedom is not something man has for himself but something he has for others . . . In truth, freedom is a relationship between two persons. . . Being free means 'being free for the other', because the other has bound me to him. Only in relationship with the other am I free." (Creation and Fall)
We are called by Jesus, to not live in fear but to live in peace, to be free to love others and our God.
Christine Kingery will never forget her grandmother’s stories. She shared some of them on the NPR series This I Believe.
Christine’s Russian-born grandmother was captured by the Nazis and taken to a work camp in Germany when she was 17. They shaved off her waist-length hair and tortured her. She never saw her parents or siblings again. The resourceful young woman escaped the camp and worked for many months as a nurse in underground movements in Germany and Belgium until she was captured a second time by the Nazis and taken to a concentration camp. There she met Christine’s grandfather, and the two escaped. Eventually, they and their newborn-daughter — Christine’s mother — came to America.
Christine remembers hearing these stories when she was eight years old. She said to her grandmother, “I hate the Germans for what they did to you! Don’t you just get so mad at them?”
Christine never forgot her grandmother’s response. She said in her broken English, “The Germans are my friends. When I escaped and had nowhere to go, the Germans gave me food, shelter, and clothes. They were my friends even in the camps. The Germans are the kindest people I know.”
Her answer shocked Christine. It was her first introduction to the meaning of compassion.
A few years later, when Christine was in high school, she had the chance to go to Japan. She visited Nagasaki, the city where the US dropped its second atomic bomb in WW II. The experience was overwhelming. In every photograph, in every Japanese victim’s face in the museum’s exhibits, she saw her grandmother’s reflection. Christine had to go outside to Peace Park on the bomb-site grounds. Beautiful colorful origami cranes — thousands of them — were draped over statues and trees. Christine sat on a bench and cried and cried. An old Japanese woman saw the teenager on the bench. She was about her grandmother’s age. She sat next to Christine and put her wrinkled hands in Christine’s. In broken English, the old woman said, “Peace starts right here. Peace starts with you and me. It starts today.”
On Easter night, the Risen Christ gives his disciples the gift of peace, a peace that is so much more than the absence of conflict. The peace of Christ transforms, re-creates and renews; it is a peace centered in compassion, wisdom, integrity and an attitude of thanksgiving.
It is a peace born of gratitude and humility, peace that values the hopes and dreams and needs of another over one’s own, peace that welcomes back the lost, heals the brokenhearted, and respects the dignity of every man, woman and child as a son and daughter of God. May we embrace the gift of such transforming peace in this Easter season and resist the influence of fear on our lives. For Christ is risen and his peace rests with you and me. Amen.
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