"Tearing Down the Walls (Part 1)"

Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

The text which serves as the basis for this morning’s message is from the Gospel reading for today, John 20:19-20: "On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord."

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus,

Christ is risen! Alleluia! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

There are two ways to understand Easter, two ways to look at Christianity, two ways to understand our relationship with God our Father in heaven.

The first way understands that there are many things that stand between us and God, many things getting in the way between you and a right relationship with God. Things like doubt, things like confusion, things like fear, things like sinfulness, things like death. All these things act like walls between us and God, they keep us from knowing God, they keep us from following God. It’s as if we’re barricaded from God by all these walls.

So, the question is, how can we get to God through all these walls?

Well, this "first way" says, YOU must find a way to get through those walls, or get around them, or get over them. For example, if doubt is a wall separating you from God, you must get rid of your doubts about God. YOU must remove the wall, or get over it, or get around it. If confusion is a wall separating you from God, same thing. YOU must remove the wall, or get over it, or get around it. If sinfulness is a wall separating you from God, if a guilty conscience separates you from God, remove it, get over it, or get around it. Then, once you’ve cleared all those walls out of the way, God will be there, you’ll know Him well, you’ll be able to rejoice in a right and close relationship with Him.

So, this "first way" says, if you feel distant from God, if you don’t know God well enough, if you feel guilty before God, then seek Him, find Him, get rid of all the walls that stand between you and Him, overcome the barricades that hold you from God—and once you do that, there He’ll be. It’s up to you.

Of course, this "first way" makes a critical assumption. It assumes that these walls between us and God are walls that we are able to overcome from our side. The wall of doubt, we assume, is a wall we can overcome if we try hard enough. The wall of confusion, we assume, is a wall we can overcome if we try hard enough. The wall of sinfulness, we assume, is a wall we can overcome if we try hard enough.

But, are these assumptions valid? Are we, by our own strength, able to overcome the walls of sin and doubt and confusion and even death?

Well, we could try I guess. And we might make some progress. But if we look at our track record in this regard, if we look at past experience, then we’d have to be honest and say that things like sin and doubt and confusion and death are not walls that we can get through on our own with any real success. These walls we’re talking about are not just flimsy drywall covered by one coat of plaster. These walls are much stronger than that, much more stubborn than that.

Look at these disciples in today’s Gospel lesson from John 20. It’s Easter evening. The disciples have locked themselves in a room. They’re surrounded by walls. Does that sound familiar? They’re frozen by fear—fear of persecution, fear of the future, fear of death—maybe even fear of Jesus, since most of them had abandoned Jesus right when He had needed them most. The "first way" I was just describing to you would tell these disciples to get over their fears and get themselves out from behind these walls. But that’s not happening. The doors are locked. These disciples are going nowhere.

But watch closely what happens next. Here comes the exciting part. There’s another way to understand Easter, another way to look at Christianity, another way to understand our relationship with God our Father in heaven. This other way isn’t about you and I breaking through our walls to get to God. It’s about God breaking through our walls to get to us. John tells us that "Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." In other words, they couldn’t break out from their walls. But Jesus could break in. And He did. The doors were locked. But Jesus appeared among them anyway.

And when He did, walls started falling right and left. Jesus said "Peace be with you." There goes one wall. There goes the wall called sin. There goes the wall called "guilty conscience." There goes the wall called "regret." All these things that take away our peace with God, Jesus had gone to the cross to pay for. Now, because Jesus had received in their place their punishment for their sins, these disciples are at peace with God. Now, because Jesus has received in your place your punishment for your sins, you disciples are at peace with God. The dividing wall of sin has been removed. Romans 5:1 says "we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."

But Jesus wasn’t finished yet. More walls are coming down. After He says "Peace be with you," He shows them His hands and feet. That is, He shows them the wounds He suffered on the cross. He shows them that He really is the guy that died on the cross. He shows them that He who was dead is, in fact, now alive again. Death has been defeated. As Paul says, "Death has been swallowed up in victory." There goes another wall. In Jesus, by Jesus, the walls of sin and death that would separate us from God have been destroyed.

In the next few weeks, the disciples would watch many walls come down. Doubt was the next wall to go—look at what happened to Thomas. Walls of fear would be destroyed. Walls of confusion would be knocked down. Easter is the Good News that God has broken through the walls to save us. Easter is the Good News that God still breaks through the walls to save us. To this day, through His Word, God tears down walls to save us. He proclaims to us the Good News that Jesus died and rose again to save us from sin and death. Through Baptism, He calls us by name into His family and declares us to be covered by the righteousness of Jesus. Through the Lord’s Supper, He strengthens us in our faith as we He comes to us in His body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins. Walls coming down, as God reaches down to save us.

What walls still trouble you in this world? What things still try to stand between you and God? Do you struggle with doubt? Is there a certain sin weighing heavily on your conscience that you can’t seem to get away from? Are you having trouble forgiving someone who has sinned against you? Are you afraid? These walls may seem insurmountable to us—and the truth is, they are! But they are not insurmountable to God. During these Sundays in Easter we’re going to walk with these disciples and see how Jesus broke through their walls. And we’ll see how that same Jesus still breaks through our walls today.

Because nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love God has for us in Christ Jesus.

To which we respond: Christ is risen! Alleluia! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!