“On that evening of the day that followed the Sabbath, the Disciples were together with the doors locked out of fear of the authorities. And Jesus came and stood in their midst and said, ‘Peace to you'” (John 20.19).
In high school, I sat through chapel every week. And in and among the warnings about chastity and the evils of premarital sex there was the constant warning that we needed go guard our hearts and minds from the Evil One.
We have to be careful, I was told, who we associate with, particularly anyone who holds ideas and beliefs different from our own. The more we could keep to our congregations and our Christian friends, the safer we’d be. Because, when you went too far out into the world full of strange beliefs, you were likely to give the Devil a foothold in your heart. He’s, after all, a snake, and they don’t need much of a crack in order to sneak inside.
It’s a lesson that’s important now more than ever when there are so many radical and extreme thoughts out there. The more we can keep with those who are like-minded, the less chance we’ll be seduced by some idea fashioned by Satan that might draw us away from the communities we’ve known all our long lives and find ourselves on the other side of the secure doors that have kept us safe.
It’s a good thing that Jesus isn’t confined by bolts, locks, or chains.
The Disciples, we’re told, locked themselves away in an upper room out of fear. The authorities were on the lookout for anyone associated with the troublemaker who, days before, they’d put to death. If they could lay their hands on one or two of his followers and put them to the sword, that’d discourage anyone from trying to take up Jesus’ mission.
I often wonder, if Jesus had not come into their midst and challenged them to go back out into the wide and dangerous world, how long would they have remained locked away, isolated from those who didn’t believe as they did. Maybe their little movement would have remained small, invisible to the world beyond the walls with which they surrounded themselves.
Maybe the Jesus movement would have looked a lot like it looks today, with groups keeping to themselves, fearful of those who maybe don’t believe or vote or act the same way. None of which, despite my high school chapel services warning, was how Jesus approached the world. He appeared to relish having dinner and long conversations with people who didn’t think the way he did. And no one ever seems to worry that the Devil got hold of his mind and heart.
It’s a reckless way to live, though. If we step outside the locked doors of our rooms, we might encounter thinking we have always thought to be heresies in our communities. We might be tempted to cast off some beliefs not just about God but about other people we’ve held all our lives. It’s even possible we might start knocking on doors and asking others to come out with us.
We may even find that locked doors are no longer a barrier for us.
Resurrected One, who not even death and stones can bind, give me the courage to open the doors locked by fear.