A Walk to Emmaus

Sermon Luke 24:13-35 April 26, 2020 3^rd Sunday of Easter

A Walk to Emmaus

Gathering with you this morning in the intimacy of our safe sacred spaces, our sanctuaries beyond these walls, our sanctuaries at home is a real blessing. 

We have the opportunity to worship our God beyond all praising; to offer our voices to a love so amazing, to the gift of God sent to us and revealed to us, with whom we rise to bless. These are the words from the anthem we’ll sing soon. But, I think on this morning as we gather across the internet, its important to be mindful of this gift of praising God from wherever we are.

It wasn’t until we’ve had this shelter in place order that I began to look at this post resurrection story of Cleopas and his friend differently.

Here we are today all hunkered down in our homes waiting for a moment to allow us to get on with life.

We are all waiting for the word that this mess we’re in is all over.

We’re all waiting for the word that we’ve emerged healthy and unscathed.

Cleopas and his friend are scared, disillusioned, and bewildered of the events of their past few days. They only want to go home, to get away from the turmoil and agony of the cross. This story is about the walk to Emmaus. That seven mile journey from Jerusalem.

But, these days all the familiar things we do that offer us solace, we are unable to do. It’s hard to identify with this story.

We can’t participate in all the familiar things they mention.

We can’t journey far,

we can’t gather at table with friends,

we can’t engage with strangers.

These elements in our lives are the things we miss. This story has the potential to create an even deeper sadness.

And yet, we are here holding God’s Word in our hand wondering, hoping, trusting, how Jesus will be revealed for us, to us today.

Cleopas and his friend were at their home and they had invited Jesus to join them. And in their home at table together, they recognized him in the familiar acts of their life.

Perhaps, this is all we need to remember today.

You see all the stuff that happened on the road to their home was important. That’s how they wondered and recapped the events and did their best to process out loud with each other what had just happened in history, what had just happened to Jesus, what had just happened to them. It was more than they could bare. They didn’t have enough within them to go on. They didn’t have what they needed-they didn’t have Jesus anymore.

Jesus was the one who they followed and who all the disciples loved. Jesus was the one who provided for them in a way they had never experienced before. It wasn’t the miracles. It wasn’t the preaching. It wasn’t, well, they couldn’t put their finger on exactly what it was that caused their hearts to be moved when they were with him.

And now he was gone and they missed him and all that had become familiar to them seemed to be gone too.

Through their connection with Jesus they experienced the joy of family and community with the other disciples. They experienced their lives transformed into a new identity with Jesus. They experienced the power of God within them to sustain them from day to day. And the cross took all that away from them…so they thought.

We too have important connections with one another.

Coming to church gives us the joy of family and community.

Coming to church reminds us we are a transformed people with our identity in Christ.

Coming to church we experience the power of God at work within us to sustain us from day to day.

And this covid crisis has taken all that away from us…so we think.

Mike and I learned a lot when we took our trip sailing across the Atlantic. Every time I look around at my life in these last four months since our return, I see a connection of our trip with our life as it is right now. And that’s just it. It’s connections. When we joined the World Cruising Club Atlantic Rally Crossing we had no idea how important the connections we made were for us before we sailed. We discovered how the relationships we built with the crews of the different boats prior to our departure created what we needed. We discovered the connections of the church and our family prior to our departure became an important part of our daily routine. We knew we were far apart from each other while we were by ourselves on our little boat out in the middle of the Atlantic. But, our faith in our connections with one another allowed us to know we were never alone out there. Whether by radio, or email, or looking at the same night sky, we knew we were present with those beyond our reach.

On this Sunday we are all beyond the reach of one another.

And yet, through the connections of radio, email, letters, computers, the night sky and the sun, we can know we are fully present with one another.

The one thing that seals this connection is the invitation to Jesus.

Cleopas and his friend invite Jesus into their home.

And there they are together at the table enjoying a meal.

And then they remember!

And then they recognize him!

And they are lifted up in the joy of his presence.

We do not have to pretend that we have it all together.

We do not have to pretend that life is dandy.

We do not have to pretend that ‘we’ve got this’ staying at home gig figured out or are even coping.

We can be truthful.

We can speak the truth of where we are and how we are.

 And then we can do one thing.

Just one thing is all we need. And that is to invite Jesus in.

We can invite him into our home to be with us.

To sit with us.

To cry with us.

To laugh with us.

To sustain us.

Wherever we are Jesus shows up at our invitation.

It is a gift.

The greatest gift of amazing love.

As one podcaster said (KCBowler) when there is more than enough for us to bear, the math of self care is not enough. Kate C Bowler says, when we no longer have enough for ourselves the prayer for the Holy Spirit to show up for us, to carry us is real. God shows up, she says, to put us in our hamster bubble and push around for awhile when we just can’t do it ourselves any longer.

Cleopas and his friend couldn’t do life the way it was any longer. At their home they invite Jesus in. and in that moment of returning to the familiar, a meal together, they recognize the gift of the fullness of his presence with them.

And so on this Sunday, you out there, and we in here.

Trust the promise.

Trust the invitation.

Jesus has us connected with one another.

We are not alone.

In life and in death, in all our circumstances, we belong to God and to each other-and these are our blessed connections.

We are gathered this morning in the intimacy of our safe sacred spaces, our sanctuaries beyond these walls, our sanctuaries at home with Jesus at our tables, and we are blessed. Let us lift up our sacrifice of praise. Amen.

Resources: Podcast Working Preacher podcast for April 26, 2020  Rolf Jacobson, Karoline Lewis, Joy J. Moore, and Matt Skinner; Podcast Kate C Bowler; NIB Luke

Sent Out in Jesus’ Name

Sermon Mark 6:1-13 July 8, 2018 Ordinary Time

Sent Out in Jesus’ Name

Sometimes we come to Scripture texts like this one in Mark chapter 6, and we prefer to listen to another story about Jesus. But, it is times like these when we need to gather to the hard lessons. It’s always easier to learn about a Jesus who was not only loving but also loved. It is always easier to learn about disciples who turned the world upside down and brought thousands to faith in Jesus, and not notice the times of rejection. Yet, we need to hear about the tough times, the rough times, and the especially about those moments of being turned away, unloved, and unappreciated.

We are not what others proclaim us to be,

but who God has called us to be.

We are children of God,

loved and redeemed.

Called and sent out in Jesus’ name.

These words-

Control, faith,

rejection, love,

reputation, mercy,

power, grace

come into our life, into our being, into our vocabulary, into our response to a world out there and a soul within.

These words and actions in our life can come to us to guide us,

help us,

hinder us,

deny us,

and/or heal and hold us.

We spend a lot of energy worrying about what people think of us and how we make them feel or how they make us feel.

Our hearts can be bursting with anxiety, fear, and worry hoping we can control the thoughts of others about who we are. It is a serious concern in today’s society as social media has a way of wrapping people up in the power of the opinions of others.

Today, we witness Jesus in his hometown-imagine what Instagram, or twitter would have said about him!

Jesus had a mission to tell all the world about the love of God.

And not everyone wants to hear that message.

Not everyone is happy about Jesus-the carpenter’s son-being the messiah with power and wisdom.

His own people mock him.

His family who one would hope would embrace him, rejects him too.

We want people to know about the love of God.

But, it is not in our control who receives it or who rejects it.

It is not in our control how people feel about us, or our message.

What is in our control is how we love and show compassion.

One of the greatest lessons in pastoral care in seminary was from a professor who said, “If you think you can get everyone to like you in ministry and that is how you function in the church of your calling, you will be doomed. Because, you will have made the ministry a mockery about yourself and not about God.” There was quite a bit of arguing with the professor. But, he held his ground. He made it clear that to be called out in Jesus Name meant that is the name on our lips as we offer love at every turn. It is the name that drives us to reach out and help without judgment. It is the name that calls us to open our arms with peace even when the rocks are being hurled at us.

There are a few things to notice of in this Scripture text of Mark 6. One-Jesus is unwelcome in his home town because they remember him as the boy of the carpenter. He is rendered powerless in the face of rejection.

 

Stoning of Stephen-museum-Corfu, Greece

It makes me wonder;

how do we limit those around us

because we expect them to be the same

as we have known them in their past?

How do we render people powerless because we judge

they are not worthy or not ‘good enough’

to be able to do the powerful and miraculous

things we expect others to do?

A second thing to notice - immediately following his not so pleasant going home experience, Jesus sends out the twelve on a mission to other villages to preach the good news. He gives them instructions about shaking the dust off their feet. This was an old Jewish custom to shake off the unclean gentile dust before they entered their clean homes.

Jesus gives the action another context.

Leave the rejection at the doorstep,

do not carry it with you to the next house.

Leave it at the doorstep,

wipe your feet and remember

this is not about you it is about them.

This rejection does not define you.

You have more places to go. You are mine.

Jesus didn’t differentiate between mission and evangelism. Doing and telling were one in the same. Perhaps, that’s what we’re most afraid of, the telling. Perhaps, we’re as unsure about our faith story as the disciples were. They didn’t know quite what to say or what to do. Jesus sent them out with little instruction. He sent them out to tell the good news and heal the sick and have power of unclean spirits.

So, the twelve went as Jesus sent them. Even with their anxiety, they went. Even with the fear of their reputation, they went. Even with the looming possibilities of all that could go wrong, they went. And perhaps, that’s the message for us. Even with all our frailties and our inabilities, Jesus is still sending us out.

I recently watched the movie Sully. It was the movie about the pilot who landed the plane on the Hudson River and all 155 souls on board were saved. The movie told the story of what happened after the flight. It told about the investigation and the probability of pilot error. Sully said, “I’ve flown for forty years and delivered a million people safely to their destination but, my entire career, my life and reputation will be based on 208 seconds.”

A woman pastor was upset because she was unable to do the funeral of young man who passed away. Only later she found out the man was the grandson of one of the members of her church. People in her congregation were upset at her for not showing the compassion they expected her to show. She did what she could to make amends explaining it was difficult to reach out when she was unaware. She became worried about her reputation among the congregation and the community. She was given sage advice from other pastors- “Your reputation-It was never in your power to control what other people thought of you anyway.”

We can’t let fear of what others think of us deter us from doing what we believe is right.

Sully landed that plane because he knew it was the only choice he had to save the lives of the people on the plane. And later the safety board agreed with him. The pastor did what she understood was right at the time with the information she was given. And the congregation embraced her with new understanding.

The truth is, both these people-Sully & the woman pastor-

acted out of love and compassion before, 

during, and after their situations.

And isn’t that what God asks of us.

God asks for our faithfulness,

our love,

our compassion

to be lived and to shared.

God asks us to be steadfast,

to not be afraid,

to speak the truth,

to not worry about those

who are not ready to hear they are loved,

to go out anyway,

in Jesus name

and proclaim the gospel.

We are not what others proclaim us to be,

but who God has called us to be.

We are children of God,

loved and redeemed.

Called and sent out in Jesus’ name.

Go and do likewise. Amen.

Resources: Feasting on the Word, NIB. Working Preacher, me