The Elevator Operator

First Lesson: Acts 4: 32-35
Responsive Reading: Psalm 133
Second Lesson: 1 John 1: 1 - 2:2
​Gospel Lesson: John 20: 19-31

---

Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
​
Elisha Graves Otis was born in Vermont in 1811[1].  His younger years did not bring much success as businessman overseeing multiple failed mills.  Otis eventually takes over as the manager of a bedstead factory.  Otis was plagued with a problem of getting debris from lower levels to upper levels of his factory. 
In 1851, many American buildings had elevators[2].  The problem was they didn’t work very well.  Ropes and pulleys would pull platforms up shafts.  The problem was the cables often would snap causing crashes to the ground which would destroy all the elevator’s contents.  Humans getting inside of an elevator would have been considered as dangerous as trying to fly by gripping onto the wings of an airplane.  The risk was beyond foolish in 1851. 

Otis wanted to find a different solution to his factory than a crude hoisting platform.  Elisha Otis by the age of 40 had become a skilled craftsmen.  Otis develops the idea to install a ratchet bar inside the elevator shaft, so even if the ropes did snap, a break would prevent the elevator from plummeting[3].  Otis initially didn’t think much of the invention.  He didn’t pursue a patent.  Nor did he have any interest in selling his newfound elevator.  He proceeded to keep working at the bedsted factory.  The bedsted factory goes under.  Otis decides he needs to try to convince a doubting, skeptical public that they can actually trust in elevators as a source of transportation.

The World’s Fair took place in New York City in 1853.  Otis rented out the main hall.  He decided to reconstruct an elevator platform and shaft[4].  He was going to give an elevator demonstration.  Otis on this day climbs on the platform, asks an assistant to hoist him three stories off the ground.  Otis then stared at everyone in the convention hall.  Then Otis proceeds to shock onlookers by instructing an axe man to cut the rope while Otis is suspended in mid-air. The audience gasped in amazement. The audience’s first thought is Otis is suicidal.  The platform began to drop, only to be rescued by Otis’s safety break[5]. 
The world would never be the same after Elisha Otis’ presentation on this day.  Within thirty years because of Otis’ invention, skyscrapers would come to major American cities[6].  Doubt had been turned to faith before a roomful of skeptical onlookers.   

Today we hear a similar story[7].  A story where a very skeptical man named Thomas has his whole world changed forever.  Thomas was not present when Jesus first appeared to the other Disciples.  Thomas was a nonsense sort of a man.  Thomas was bold enough even to interrupt Jesus during an earlier sermon when he said: “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way[8]?”  Only to hear Jesus reply “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me[9].” Thomas wouldn’t understand what Jesus truly meant though until the day of our lesson.

So when the Other Disciples say to Thomas they have seen Jesus, Thomas was skeptical like every single audience member of the 1853’ World Fair was skeptical as Elisha Otis elevated on a platform.  Thomas didn’t so much doubt only he was going along with what would have seemed like an exaggerated story without proof.  Jesus “Rose from the Dead!” He walked and talked among you, Thomas needed to see for himself.

For our friends aren’t always reliable arbiters of truth.  It might be a movie, a book, a restaurant or whether the Vikings are a better football team than the Packers.  We all know that just because our friends say something doesn’t make it true[10]. 

So Thomas makes his point known: “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”[11]

Thomas does eventually have his Resurrection moment when Jesus appears before him eight days later and says to him. “Peace be with you!... Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe[12].”

John’s Gospel highlights Thomas to make an important point.  Thomas’ story is written to a world of skeptics, doubters, and scoffers.  A world that often believes Jesus rising from the dead sounds way too good to be true.  “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands… I will not believe.” We often proclaim.   Here’s the thing signs of Resurrection often exist within our own lives even when we don’t believe it to be so. 

Louie Zamperini (Zamp-Er-Re-NI) was born in 1917.  He grew up in Torrance, California.  He was frequently bullied as a child as he only knew how to speak Italian[13].  As Zamperini became a teenager, he got in trouble all the time: smoking, drinking, fighting, skipping school, running away from home, and stealing[14].  Everyone in town knew to be on the lookout for Louie Zamperini; he was as skilled a thief as there could be.   Louie’s penchant for stealing discovered a hidden talent, he was a gifted runner.  He was so gifted in fact that he qualified for the 1936 Olympics in Berlin[15].  He was so good in fact there was talk that he would be the first man to break the 4-minute mile.  Zamperini would have run at the 1940 Olympics in Tokyo[16] only to see them canceled due to the outbreak of World War II. 

Louie enrolls in the Air Force.  Louie soon becomes decorated[17].  Eventually, though his plane goes down over the Pacific, Three of the nine members of Louie’s crew survive.  Louie’s crew was adrift in the ocean for 47 days with the Americans unable to find them; they are eventually captured by the Japanese[18].  Louie would spend the next two years of his life as a POW.  Conditions were harsh: hunger, disease, torture, forced labor, and random beatings.  Louie barely survived his time as a Japanese POW.
Louie returned home a hero.  He would eventually find the liquor bottle to be his most constant companion.  Louie was married, but the marriage was in trouble.  Louie could not find steady work because his mind was consumed with thoughts of revenge against the Japanese[19].

Louie’s wife eventually leaves him for a time.  She eventually comes across a preacher named Billy Graham.  She invited Louie to go along.  Louie’s heart at this point was as hard as a man’s could be.  Louie had grown up in the depression where food was hard to come by, Louie had seen his dreams as a runner crushed because of the war, Louie had two years of torment in a Japanese prison camp and now Louie was out of work with a marriage falling apart.  Louie seemed to be the most unlikely person on the planet to be converted to the cause of Jesus.   Louie like Thomas had all sorts of good reasons to doubt what he heard about God’s place in the world. 

Louie’s wife eventually convinces him to hear Billy Graham.  Graham during his sermon starts talking about forgiveness.  Louie starts to storm out because of Graham’s foolishness[20].  Billy Graham certainly hadn’t spent years a Japanese POW, Graham’s talk was nothing but foolishness.  Louie was ready to exit the door of the revival meeting. 

Louie then, almost as if the Lord touched him just like he touched Thomas, had a flashback.  Louie remembered after his plane went down over the Pacific.  Louie remembered calling out: “Lord if you save me, I will spend the rest of my life serving you[21].”  Louie’s promise was no different than Martin Luther’s caught up in a thunderstorm on the Road to Erfurt in 1505.  Louie drops down to his knees.  His reaction is similar to Thomas in our Gospel lesson “My Lord and my God.”   The Lord had touched now Louie like Thomas touched Jesus so long ago.  Louie on this night turned from doubter to believer.

Louie would eventually return to Japan only this time to proclaim forgiveness to his prior captors[22].  Louie would return in 1998 to carry the Olympic torch not far from the POW Camp in Nagano where he was previously held[23]. Zamperini would have a bestselling book and film made about his life titled Unbroken.   Despite living a life as remarkable as few individuals within the twentieth century, the defining mission of the last sixty-five years of Louie Zamperini’s life was proclaiming that the Lord Jesus had indeed risen from the dead.  Louie had experienced this Resurrection first hand in his own life as the greatest of doubts had become the strongest of faiths.   

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”- John 14:27

The point of Thomas’ story isn’t don’t be like Thomas.  Like Elisha Otis and Louie Zamperini, we will all have our experiences which creep doubts into our minds: whether they be history, personal struggle, broken dreams, or an uncertain future.  Life will have its share of elevators, yet Our Lord promises there will be no crash from which we cannot recover.  What our Lord says to us on this day is this.  Signs of the Resurrection that has come and the Resurrection that will come are in the world all around you[24].  Doubt like in the case of Elisha Oats, Louie Zamperini, or the Apostle Thomas will soon turn to faith before our very eyes. 

The story of Thomas during Holy Week is he had every imaginable emotion pass before his eyes: the triumph of Palm Sunday, the turmoil of Jesus’ arrest, the sadness of Jesus’ crucifixion, the uncertainty regarding the rumors of Resurrection.  Thomas would soon see standing before him the one to whom he truly belonged[25].  Thomas in spite of all turmoil in his life would hear words directly from Jesus of forgiveness and ultimately promise.

“Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed[26].”  Amen 

 


[1] “Elisha Otis.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 10.Mar.2018. Web. Apr.3.2018. 
[2] Pink, Daniel H.. To Sell is Human. Riverhead Books/Penguin Publishing. 2012.  Print. P.153. 
[3] Pink, Daniel H.. To Sell is Human.P.153. 
[4] Pink, Daniel H.. To Sell is Human. P.154
[5] Pink, Daniel H.. To Sell is Human. P.154
[6] “Skyscrapers.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 2. Apr.2018. Web. Apr.3.2018. 
[7] John 20:19-31
[8] John 14:5. 
[9] John 14:6
[10] Hinkle Shore, Mary. “Commentary on John 20:19-31.” Working Preacher. Luther Seminary. 8.Apr.2018. Web. Apr.3.2018.
[11] John 20:25.
[12] John 20:27. 
[13] “Louis Zamperini.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 31.Mar.2018. Web. Apr.3.2018. 
[14] Stier, Leon. “Billy and Louie: part one of three” Email Mediations. 14.Mar.2018. Web. Apr.3.2018.    Taken from a March 11th, 2018 sermon.
[15] Stier, Leon. “Billy and Louie: part one of three.”
[16] “1940 Summer Olympics.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. 23.Feb. 2018. Web. Apr.3.2018. 
[17] Stier, Leon. “Billy and Louie: part two of three” Email Mediations.15.Mar.2018. Web. Apr.3.2018. 
[18] Stier, Leon. “Billy and Louie: part two of three.”
[19] Stier, Leon. “Billy and Louie: part two of three.”
[20] Stier, Leon. “Billy and Louie: part two of three.”
[21] Stier, Leon. “Billy and Louie: part two of three.”
[22] Stier, Leon. “Billy and Louie: part three of three” Email Mediations.16.Mar.2018. Web. Apr.3.2018. 
[23] Stier, Leon. “Billy and Louie: part three of three.”
[24] Lewis, Karoline. “When Seeing is Believing.” Working Preacher: Dear Working Preacher Column. Luther Seminary. 1.Apr.2018. Web. Apr.3.2018. 
[25] Molin, Steve. “Elated…Deflated.” Sermon Writer. 2008. Web. Apr.3.2018. 
[26] John 20:29.