John 20:19-31

Many people in this stressful world live their lives hiding in their own locked doors by listening to and focusing on the footsteps of their own problems, and that includes believers. Psychologists say that this is the “inner prison” of anxiety and fear. It is a dark place somewhere inside us, where even our own breath feels like an enemy. The worse part is many of them even don’t know they themselves are the victims of their own “inner prison”.

Today’s story from John’s Gospel tells us that ‘the disciples, too, were hiding in the upper room. Imagine, for a moment, the silence in that upper room. They had locked the doors because now fear had become their reality. Outside, the world felt dangerous. The authorities were searching for them frantically, and their leader, Jesus, had been taken. In their minds, it was over. Their time with Christ felt like a summer dream. Everything was over.

Then, something miraculous happens. John tells us the doors were locked, but suddenly, Jesus stood among them. He didn’t wait for them to get their act together. He didn’t wait for them to find enough courage to unlock the door. He didn’t even knock. He simply arrived.

We may not be hiding from Roman soldiers today, but many of us live behind “locked doors” the spaces that we created inside us. We lock ourselves behind the door of Anxiety. We hide behind the door of Uncertainty. We retreat into the secret room of Loneliness, thinking no one understands our pain.

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John 20:1-18; Colossians 3:1-4

Photo by Bruno van der Kraan on Unsplash

Our Easter reading today comes from two different places: John chapter 20 and Colossians chapter 3. This morning, we are going to focus on the passage from Colossians.

I’ll be leading you through something of a Bible study today. While the ideas might seem a bit complex at first, they are worth exploring— because they lead us directly to the most important message Paul shared with the early churches in the first and second centuries.

To start, I’d like to draw your attention to verse 1 of today’s reading in Colossians. Paul uses a very interesting and unique Greek word here. He writes, ‘You have been raised to life with Christ.’

In English, we call this the ‘present perfect’ tense, but in Greek It carries a special meaning. It is an aorist tense and suggests something that has already happened, but is not yet finished. It is like saying, ‘You have already been raised, but not yet.’ Some call this the ‘Already-But-Not-Yet’ Resurrection.

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Psalm 95 Mighty God of creation
John 4:5-42 Woman at the well

We’ve had a lot of hot days this summer! We are all told to ‘Stay hydrated’. Drink more water. It matters to have enough water. We carry around our water bottles. We appreciate a shower and keep chilled water in the fridge. Water is necessary for life.

About fifteen years ago, my husband Ron and I had the opportunity to visit South India. We were the guests of Church of South India and were there to visit some of the projects that Uniting Church in Australia was supporting through Uniting World. It was similar to the project for East Timor that we just saw on the video. In South India, we saw projects linked to Education, small business, recovery after the 2003 tsunami and other projects. One of many projects was for wells to provide water to some villages in the area south of Vellore in the south east. The wells needed to be very deep, but at last they now had a tap in their own village. So much joy.

A tap and water, right in their own village. By the time we reached the last village it was already dark. Very few houses had electric light so the headlights of our vehicle were left on so we could see enough for the ceremony of turning on their tap.

As an older white woman, I was a very rare and exotic visitor. Through an interpreter, they told me what access to clean water would mean for them. In good seasons, it was only a walk of a couple of kilometers to carry their water pots to fill from irrigation channels. But in the dry season, they had to walk much further. There were times when wealthy landowners refused to let them walk across their land, so their daily trip to carry their water pot on their heads was even longer. Even then, the water was often polluted. To have a tap, with clean water, in their own village was a miracle for future health. We have just watched the video about Timor-Leste. They too have to struggle to get clean water for their daily needs. We have taps in our own houses. Let’s not take this gift for granted.

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John 3:1-17, Revelation 7:13-17

We often smile at Nicodemus. When Jesus says, “You must be born again,” Nicodemus immediately thinks of biology and asks: “How can a grown man crawl back into his mother’s womb?” It sounds like a silly question, doesn’t it?

But before we judge Nicodemus, we should realize that many of us fall into the same trap. In some traditions and churches, there is a lot of pressure to point to the exact moment you were born again or saved. The idea is that if you can’t name the specific date or time, you aren’t seen as a ‘proper’ or committed believer. Like Nicodemus, many of us today try to turn the deep, spiritual mystery into a simple, mechanical formula. Why? Because we often desire physical, visible, or even ‘scientific’ proof for our salvation moments. But the mysteries of God sit far beyond human logic. They are not math problems to be solved; they are meant to be experienced through the ministry of the Spirit in our daily lives.

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Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7.   Matthew 4:1-4, 8-11 

The story of the Garden of Eden in today’s reading from Genesis 2 is by no means an easy passage. It carries some complicated theological implications and presents us with several dilemmas. However, I would like us to look at this story through the lens of our Gospel reading in Matthew 4, ‘Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness’.

Genesis account begins with God placing humans in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and guard it with a clear instruction: “You may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden, except the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad. You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, you will die the same day.”

While every tree in the garden was theirs to enjoy, one remained off-limits: the tree in the middle.  Here, we see that God placed humanity in a sanctuary of abundance and gave one protective boundary.

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