Locked Doors
Christ Enters The Locked Doors Of Our Hearts, Homes, And Lives
by Eric Elkin
The Administrative Council of our congregation gathered on Zoom to discuss plans to reopen. Leadership in the Minnesota Conference of the United Methodist Church was encouraging us to start these conversations. But how do you begin this conversation? Where do you start?
In my head, I had some questions to ask the group. They were practical questions, like, “Do we provide people masks to wear or not?” One of our leaders went in a different, and more appropriate, direction. He asked, “What are our values? Do we open because we value getting back to normal? Or, is it because we value people being together? Maybe we value spreading of the Word in person?”
Reopening really is about values. When a congregation defies a shelter-in order, they are making a statement of value. To me, it says, our ability to meet is more important than the health of the members. In a religion full of martyrs, this, unfortunately, is an easy message to sell. I can hear it now, “Paul went to prison for his faith, you can defy the government.”
The shelter-in conditions of this pandemic are forcing people of faith to ask questions about their values. I think this is an excellent and long-overdue conversation. To date, debates about how to be the Church in the 21st Century are more geared towards survival and relevancy. The pandemic influenced reflection is about who we are as people of God.
Some of the most intriguing conversations have revolved around communion. Can you celebrate communion virtually? I typically try to avoid public statements about the theology of communion. In the Lutheran Church, we are saved by grace, but we will stone someone for poor communion theology.
Spoiler alert, there is nothing special about the bread, the wine, or the grape juice used in communion. As a matter of fact, I am still not convinced those styrofoam wafers have anything to do with bread. We do not purchase a fine wine for communion. Every pastor has used hot dog buns for communion at least once in their life.
In its simplest expression, communion is ordinary elements combined with the Word of God shared with the people of God. When these three come together, Christ is present in the breaking of the bread. It is Christ’s presence through the Holy Spirit, which makes the meal holy. As one author reflected, “Christ is always virtually present, so why not now?”
All of these thoughts about values, government, people, Church, and communion were on my mind as I prepared my sermon for Pentecost. As I was reading the Gospel of John, one line jumped out at me in the story of Doubting Thomas. “Even though the doors were locked, Jesus entered and stood among them.”
We would do well to remember these words today. They should be on our lips as we move out in the world as it reopens and as we head into an uncertain future. Jesus enters and stands among us even when the doors of hearts, homes, and lives are locked. We do not come to Christ. Christ comes to us because God values creation and all its creatures..
Click to read John 20: 19-23
Reflection Questions:
What has this time helped you discover you value ?
Where do you find yourself most confined?
Where is Christ most present to you?
What locked door do you wish he would enter?