When Fear Tells a Lie

Introduction

A couple of months ago, a friend called me whose teenage son had been taken to the emergency room.

This boy was bright, creative, the kind of kid who fills notebooks with sketches and dreams about starting his own clothing brand someday.

But over time, his mother began to notice a shift.

He stopped drawing...

He spent more time alone in his room....

scrolling… withdrawing… growing quieter.

She told me about a time she walked past his room and noticed something taped to his mirror.

At the top of the page were the words:

“Things to fix about me.”

When she asked him about it, he admitted something that broke my friend’s heart...

He said he didn’t feel like he fit anywhere.

Not Black enough for one group...

Not White enough for another...

Not confident enough to feel like he belonged.

...and friends, what struck me most was not that he was broken...

...but that somewhere along the way...

...fear had begun whispering lies about who he was.

Fear had told him he didn’t belong.

Fear had told him to withdraw.

Fear had told him to stay hidden.

...you see friends, fear has always told lies.

It told the young man he didn’t belong.

...and when we turn to Scripture this morning...

We find the disciples believing the same kind of lie.

There are times when fear whispers lies that lock the doors of our lives.

Lies that say...

You are alone.

You don’t belong.

It’s safer to stay hidden.

Nothing will ever change...

When such times occur, Scripture reminds us that the risen Christ enters locked rooms...

...the risen Christ speaks peace into fearful hearts...

...and the risen Christ sends us to open doors for others.

Name the Lie Fear Tells

Scripture tells us that the disciples were gathered behind locked doors.

Not because they were lazy.

Not because they lacked faith.

But because they were afraid.

Afraid of what might happen next.

Afraid of who might come looking for them.

Afraid that everything they had believed in was over.

Fear told them to stay hidden, stay quiet, and stay safe.

Poor doubting Thomas, as he is remembered...

What if he was not faithless...

But rather… Thomas was honest.

He said: Unless I see… Unless I touch… Unless I know...

I cannot believe.

...and I wonder if Thomas has been misunderstood all these years.

We call him doubting, but what if Thomas was simply telling the truth about his fear?

What if Thomas was the only one brave enough to say out loud what others were whispering quietly in their hearts?

That doesn’t sound like rebellion.

Rather, it sounds like someone who has been wounded...

...someone who has been disappointed...

...someone who is trying to make sense of loss.

Fear has a way of doing that...

It convinces us to believe lies about ourselves...

...about others...

...about what is possible.

It tells us…

You don’t belong.

You’re the only one struggling.

You should keep this to yourself.

...and friends, those lies don’t just live in Scripture.

They live in bedrooms...

...on mirrors...

...in quiet thoughts we don’t share with anyone else.

Receive the Truth Resurrection Speaks

But here is the good news.

Jesus does not wait for courage.

Jesus enters the room anyway.

Doors locked...

Fear rising...

Hope fading...

...and still...

Jesus shows up.

...and the first words he speaks are not correction.

...not judgment...

...not disappointment...

But peace. “Peace be with you.”

“Peace be with you.”

Not once.… not twice… but three times...

“Peace be with you.”

...and then something remarkable happens… Jesus shows them his wounds.

Not polished hands, not erased scars...

...but wounds...

Because resurrection does not erase wounds, friends...

...resurrection transforms wounds into testimony.

...and notice what Jesus does with Thomas.

Jesus does not shame him.

Jesus does not dismiss his questions.

Jesus does not tell him to just believe harder.

Rather… Jesus creates space.

Jesus creates space.

Space for honesty.

Space for doubt.

Space for healing.

Thomas reaches out...

...touches the scars...

...and suddenly the lie begins to unravel.

The lie that death had won.

The lie that fear had the final word.

...and in that moment Thomas says... “My Lord and my God.”

“My Lord and my God.”

Not because he figured it out...

But because he encountered grace.

...and friends, this is why the work of mental health and care matters so deeply in the life of the church.

Because Jesus did not fear shame.

Jesus did not hide wounds.

Jesus created a space where honesty could lead to healing.

...and that is the kind of church we are called to become...

...a place where people do not have to pretend...

...a place where struggles can be named...

...a place where peace can enter the room...

Live the Truth by Opening Doors

But the story does not end behind locked doors.

Because when we turn to Acts of the Apostles, we find something astonishing.

The same disciples who once hid...

Now stand.

Scripture says: “Peter, standing with the eleven...”

Standing… Not hiding… Not retreating…

But standing.

...and think about how remarkable that is.

Not long before this moment, Peter had denied even following Jesus.

Three times!

In the courtyard, under pressure, surrounded by fear...

Peter chose silence over witness.

But the resurrection has a way of reshaping people.

The same Peter who once hid now speaks.

The same Peter who once feared now proclaims.

The same Peter who once stood alone now stands with others...

...together, united, strengthened by community.

Because resurrection does not just change individuals...

Resurrection forms communities.

That is one of the greatest gifts from Jesus.

Communities formed where people stand together...

...speak truth together...

...and live hope together...

...and friends, that is exactly the moment we find ourselves in as a congregation.

Because resurrection does not just comfort us...

...it sends us.

Living Resurrection

This week, we are spotlighting two ways we are choosing to live resurrection together.

Not programs… Not checklists...

Practices of resurrection.

We are committing ourselves to intentional fellowship...

...gathering beyond worship to strengthen relationships and foster belonging.

Because every time we gather intentionally...

...we are resisting the lie that says, "You are alone."

Friends… fellowship is not just about food and conversation.

Fellowship is about belonging.

It is about creating spaces where people can laugh together...

...share stories...

...build trust...

...and discover that they are not alone in their struggles or their hopes.

In a world where loneliness has become an epidemic...

...gathering intentionally becomes an act of resurrection.

Every shared meal...

...every conversation across generations...

...every moment of laughter in community...

...becomes a quiet declaration that isolation does not win.

...and we are committing ourselves to creating a mental health support initiative...

...offering education, training volunteers, and building resources so that people know where to turn.

Because every time we create space for care...

...we are resisting the lie that says...

“Hide your wounds.”

...and maybe for some of you, resurrection is calling you to help create those spaces.

Maybe resurrection is calling you to host a gathering...

...to welcome someone new...

...to help organize a meal where strangers become friends.

Maybe resurrection is calling you to learn how to listen more deeply...

...to receive training...

...to walk alongside someone who is struggling...

...to become a steady presence when life feels overwhelming.

Because resurrection is not just what happens to Jesus...

...resurrection is what happens through people who answer the call.

...and resurrection also calls us to open doors beyond our comfort.

Resurrection calls us to open doors beyond our comfort zone.

Because there are neighbors in our community who live with fear every day...

...fear of separation...

...fear of rejection...

...fear of being told they do not belong.

...and the witnesses to Acts of the Apostles remind us that the Spirit gathered people from many nations...

...many languages...

...many stories...

...and called them one community.

...and in the days ahead, we will continue discerning how resurrection calls us to extend belonging not only inside these walls...

...but into the lives of those standing outside the door.

Kerygmatic Fulfillment

We began this morning with a story about a young man who stared into a mirror...

...trying to fix what was never broken.

Because fear had told him a lie.

But the good news of resurrection is this...

Fear does not get the final word.

Death does not get the final word.

Isolation does not get the final word.

For the risen Christ still enters locked rooms...

...still speaks peace into fearful hearts...

...still gathers people into a community...

...still sends ordinary people to do extraordinary things in love.

...and today friends...

...we are not just hearing a story about resurrection.

We are being called into it!

We are being called to open doors where fear once ruled.

Called to create belonging where loneliness once lived.

Called to become witnesses of hope in a world hungry for healing.

So friends...

Name the lie.

Receive the truth.

Answer the call.

In the name of the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. Amen.