There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear.
I John 4:18a, NIV

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.
Isaiah 43:1b, NRSV

Note: I have been tongue-tied since Monday morning's tragedy in Blacksburg.  On Wednesday evening at the candlelight vigil on Clemson's campus I listened to one of my campus ministry colleagues speak eloquently to the students while my internal struggle continued.  As a minister, it is always difficult to be at a loss for words, because in many ways a "word" is all that we have to offer.  The source of my struggle, however, had more to do with how what I preached the day before, on Sunday, April 15, related to what happened on Monday, April 16.  As the events have unfolded throughout this week, I have kept asking myself, "Do YOU really believe what you proclaimed with passion on Sunday?"

Following are manuscript excerpts from what I preached at St. Mark UMC in Seneca, SC on Sunday morning.  The primary text for the day was the resurrection story of Jesus, the disciples and Thomas found in the twentieth chapter of the Gospel of John.  I continue to believe, even and especially in light of the events on Monday of this week, that it is God's word for me, and maybe for you as well.  CLG

A great American once said during a tumultuous time, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

In Mark's Gospel, Easter Sunday begins with three women making their way to the tomb to anoint Jesus' body with spices. And as they traveled toward the tomb, they asked themselves, "Who will help us roll away the stone?" But as they drew closer, they noticed that the stone had already been rolled away. Entering the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe and they were alarmed, or afraid. "Don’t be afraid," the young man said.  "Jesus is not here. He is risen. He is going ahead of you into Galilee - you will find him there."

And how did the three women respond. They trembled and they were bewildered as they fled the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

This same fear persisted and is captured in the story from the Gospel of the John. Later that evening on Easter Sunday, the disciples have gathered together behind locked doors. Why? Out of fear. And into this room with closed doors, Jesus appears and speaks these words: "What are you doing? Why did you abandon me during my time of trial? With friends like you who needs enemies?"

No, he did not say this, even though it would have made sense.  What he said was simple yet remarkable: "Peace be with you."  And then he showed him his hands and his side, and they were overjoyed - for they knew it must be their Lord, not a ghost or apparition, who had entered their midst.

Once again Jesus speaks these words, "Peace be with you. As the father has sent me, so now I am sending you." And then he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." And then, abruptly, the scene ends there.

And we know how the story goes. Thomas was not there.  He says, "I'll believe it when I see it," and nothing apparently happens for another week. My guess?  The disciples are still behind locked doors out of fear - which is where Jesus finds them once again, including this time Thomas. And what does he say this second time? "Why are you still here? I told you that I was sending you out to proclaim forgiveness of sins. Don’t you remember, I breathed the Holy Spirit on you?"

No, no, he did not say these things, even though it would have made perfect sense!  Once again he says, "Peace be with you."  And he turns to Thomas and invites him to touch his wounds so that he might stop doubting and now believe.  Blown away by his Lord's words, Thomas makes the most significant acclamation of Jesus' identity when he cries out, "My Kurios and My Theos!  My Lord and My God!"

And then Jesus says to Thomas - and really to us as well. "Because you have seen me, you have believed. But blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed!"

Now there are many fascinating parts to this story that are worth consideration. The fact that a resurrected Jesus still has wounds. Why Jesus chose to greet them with words of compassion and blessing rather than with words of contempt. Why Thomas was not there that night - why did he react to Jesus death in a different way?

Yes, there are many different angles that we could take. But the word that I want to lift up today, especially in the crazy, post 9-11 world in which we live, is this:

To be a witness to the Resurrection is to live a life without fear, a life NOT behind locked doors.  First John 4 puts it this way. "There is no fear in love. Perfect love - the love that the Risen Christ has for us and brings into our hearts - casts out all fear."

I might be wrong, but it seems to me that so many of us are living lives consumed with fear these days, where we lock ourselves behind literal or figurative doors, bury our heads under a pillow, stick our heads in the sand, and just hope that we are somehow experiencing a bad dream.  Many of us are filled the fear of being attacked by terrorists or having to live through another 9-11.  I must say, I believe that our media and our government has preyed on those fears now for far too long!  Others of us, young and old alike, are so fearful of death.  I started out my week on Monday memorializing a young, 23 year old student who died in a car wreck over Clemson's spring break, and I ended my day yesterday visiting the home of a 93 year old woman, Miss Minnie Mae Walker, who died that morning after Hospice had been called in a few days before.  We all know that to live is to one day die, but the fear of death grips us so much that it prevents many of us from ever living at all.

Fear of being a bad father, fear of being not worthy of ever being forgiven by God, fear of cancer, fear of heights, fear of planes, fear of failure - the list goes on and on.  Now I don't know what you struggle with, but I do know this. First, we ALL have our struggles with fear.  And second, the Good News is that God is at work daily, hourly, to liberate us from those fears, to fling open those locks doors, to set us free for service to the world around us.

And the message that we find in today's passage from the Gospel of John - "Don't be afraid, I have come to bring you peace" is the message of the entire Gospel story. Remember what the angels said to Zechariah, to Joseph, to Mary and to the shepherds as well before John and Jesus were born - "Don't be afraid."  Remember what Jesus said when he called his first disciples, "Don't be afraid." Remember what Jesus said in the boat on that night when the disciples were fearing for their lives, "Don't be afraid."  Remember what Jesus said as Peter tried to walk across the water toward him on another occasion, "Don't be afraid."  Remember what Jesus said to the disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration, "Don't be afraid." And remember Jesus' famous words from John 14, often read at funerals.  "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled, do not be afraid."

These are indeed tumultuous times for many of us and for our world, and it is important to be reminded of those famous words, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."  But more importantly I believe, it is important to remember the actions and words of our Resurrected Lord in those days following that first Easter Sunday.  Breaking through the locked doors of fear and speaking these words, not once but three times, "Peace be with you."

To live as a child of Resurrection, whether you are 15, 55 or 95 years old, is to know that the best is yet to come.  There is no need to be afraid - Jesus is constantly at work to break into those locked doors in our lives, to set us free, to liberate us so that we might go out, in his name and filled with his peace, to serve the world until the very end.  How does the old Easter hymn put it?

                Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
                Because he lives, all fear is gone. 
                Because I know, he holds the future,
                and life is worth the living just because he lives. 

May the perfect love of Christ fill your hearts during this difficult time,
lane

Rev. C. Lane Glaze
Director - Clemson Wesley Foundation
Campus Minister - Clemson UMC
PO Box 1703 Clemson SC 29633
864-207-9135 (c) or 864-654-5547 (o)

Feel free to forward this email to a friend. The Clemson Wesley Weekly Devotional is a ministry of Rev. Lane Glaze and the Clemson Wesley Foundation, the United Methodist Church's ministry to students on the campus of Clemson University.  The purpose of this email is to look at issues relevant to the life of Clemson students through the lens of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you would like your name added to this list, email Lane at glaze@clemson.edu.