Be Open-Minded!
A sermon based on Luke 24:36-49
Sunday, April 26, 2009 - Easter 3B
“Keep an open mind.” Have you heard that advice before? Have you given that advice before? What do you think: Good idea? Or bad? Well, I'd say it depends on how open your mind is. Someone once compared an open mind to an open door. You keep it open to anyone and anything and you're sure to have some unwelcome, even harmful, guest. But keep it closed and you'll be pretty lonely.
This morning we hear how the disciples attempted the latter. Driven by fear of who might come in, they hid themselves behind locked doors. But a locked door couldn't keep the risen Jesus out! He appeared behind locked doors, not to open the door, but to open their minds.
And this morning, he does the same for us. Just as he did for the disciples, he opens our minds to believe in his resurrection and he opens our minds to his Word. Listen now to the Easter account recorded for us in Luke 24:36-49 and let Jesus open your mind!
36 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." 37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38 He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have." 40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. 41 And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, "Do you have anything here to eat?" 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate it in their presence. 44 He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." 45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."
I. Open to the Resurrection
Perhaps you've heard the story of the Yugoslavian judge who was electrocuted when he reached up to turn on the light while still standing in the bathtub. The guy's poor wife found his body sprawled on the bathroom floor, where the paramedics pronounced him dead and sent him to the county morgue.
But something unusual happened: in the middle of the night, the judge came to. The judge looked around and quickly figured out where he was. Naturally he was excited to correct the error and ran over to the night guard. But far from being helpful, the guard was terrified and took off. Eventuually the guard returned with a friend, and they released the newly-revived judge. The judge's first action was to call his wife and reassure her that he really wasn't dead. Unfortunately, he got no farther than, "Honey... it's me," when his wife screamed and fainted.
So, he decided that enlist some friends to help. He went to visit several friends, but because they'd all heard the news of his death from his distraught wife, they all doubted that he was really alive. They were all convinced he was a fraud or even a ghost. Finally, he contacted a friend in another city who hadn't heard about his death. And that person was able to convince his family and friends that the judge really was alive.
Sort of sounds like our account for this morning doesn't it? Last week we studied “Doubting” Thomas, but really all of the disciples were “Doubting Thomases” at first. But Jesus wouldn't abandon them to their unbelief. By whatever means necessary he would convince them that he wasn't a ghost. He really was alive.
38 He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have." 40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. 41 And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, "Do you have anything here to eat?" 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate it in their presence.
A ghost doesn't have hands and feet. A ghost can't be touched. A ghost doesn't eat fish. It was Jesus. The very Jesus that died on the cross. They could see the holes where the nails were driven through him and to the cross. And in his love for them, Jesus opened their minds to see that he really was alive in the flesh and blood!
And doesn't Jesus do the same for us? Are you ever tempted to buy into the stories that suggest Jesus didn't rise from the dead, physically and literally? Then be open-minded to the evidence. If the stories of the apostles are nothing more than myths that they created, why would they make themselves out to be so full of stubborn doubt instead of the heroes of the story? Why would they make women the first eye witnesses in a culture where the testimony of women would be dismissed simply because they were women? No! The testimony that the disciples left reads like the honest account of those reporting what they saw and heard, not like myth or fable or exaggerated legend.
And it's through these accounts that Jesus opens our mind to believe that Jesus' physical, literal resurrection is a historical fact that took place almost 2000 years ago! But why is that so important? What does Jesus resurrection mean? The disciples wonder the same thing. That Jesus was alive, they now understood and believed. But why he was alive, they didn't really get... until Jesus opened their minds to the Scripture...
II. Open to the Scriptures
44 [Jesus] said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." 45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.
None of what happened to Jesus that first Holy Week should have been a surprise to any of his disciples. Jesus had told them exactly what would happen time and time again. And if they didn't believe him, they should have at least believed the Scriptures. Hundreds, even thousands, of years earlier, God's prophets predicted exactly what would happen.
Moses taught that the Messiah would be the subsitute for the people, the sacrifice, the scapegoat, the bronze snake, and the Passover lamb. King David prophesied in Psalm 16(:10), “You will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.” Isaiah prophesied in chapter 53(:10-11) of his book, “Though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his day... After the suffering of his soul he will see the light of life...” And think of all the other details of the many Old Testament prophecies about Jesus: the birth in Bethlehem, the flight into Egypt, the 30 pieces of silver, the pierced side.
He said that is the way it would be, and that is the way it was! God didn't just fulfill his promises “more or less.” No! “[Jesus] said... Everything must be fulfilled that [was] written about [him]...”
But because the disciples didn't understand the clear Scriptures, they didn't get it. And instead of the peace God would have them know, they knew only fear―fear that brought out their superstitions of ghosts, fear that brought home their guilt of letting Jesus down, fear that burst through their locked doors, fear that lasted until Jesus opened their minds.
And though we might think, “Come on, guys! Didn't you get it?!” we can't really blame them. For we're not much different. After all, how often do you pick up your Bible to gain a better understanding of who Jesus is and why he came? How often do you dig into it to really grasp why he had to do what he did? "I'd love to,” you say, “But I just don't have time for all of that!" But do you have time for TV? For browsing the web? For a game of golf? For another book? Then it's not about time! All too often we have our minds open to what's on TV, what's on the internet, or what's in our self-centered interests, but closed to God's Word.
“Okay,” you argue, “so I don't read God's Word as often as I should, but I still love God.” But think about it. If you wrote a love letter to someone you cared deeply about and they said, “Thanks. That's nice. I'll maybe read it if I can find the time. Maybe after my show's done or maybe tomorrow. I'm too tired tonight. How would you feel?” That's how you and I make God feel. And for our neglect of his Word―his love letter to us―we deserve to feel the same Easter fear the disciples felt, because we do deserve hell. And when our minds are closed to God's Word, they're also closed to the peace that God would have us feel.
But Jesus didn't appear to his disciples to make them feel worse. He appeared to comfort them. They were forgiven, even for abandoning him when he needed them the most. Jesus... said to them, "Peace be with you." And though “Shalom” was a typical Jewish greeting, coming from Jesus it actually gave what he said: Peace―through the forgiveness of sins.
And Jesus comes to give you peace too. As you hear his Word today, Jesus opens your mind to the Scriptures. And Jesus not only shows you how he has fulfilled the Scriptures, but what the significance of all these events is: “The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations...”
When we repent―that is change our minds―about our sin and about our Savior, putting our trust in him, every one of our sins is forgiven―ever time we've neglected his Word and every time we've failed to be his witnesses. Jesus has risen from the dead to guarantee your resurrection to eternal life with him! And with sins forgiven, we're heaven bound, and death no longer frightens, but excites us, and we are truly at peace with God.
And with our minds opened to the Scriptures, we want to keep them opened. We want to stay connected to Jesus in the Word. Don't let the dust grow any thicker on your Bibles! Make an appointment to meet with your Savior each week in worship! Talk to him in prayer and listen to him speak to you though a devotion or time in the Word each day! And then as you open your mind to the Scriptures, you'll do what he's called you to do. “You are witnesses of these things.”
And through us, “repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning...” right here in Raleigh! Look for the opportunities you have at work, with your family, through your church! Be open-minded to them and take advantage of them whenever you can. And as you do, you'll help others to keep an open mind.... about Jesus and his resurrection, about the Word, and about they peace they too can have with him. In Jesus' name and by the peace he gives, amen.
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