Intro: Happy Easter! Well, Happy Easter to you! Isnʼt it fantastic to be celebrating together? For so many of us this has been a really long Lenten season and Easter, everything this season means, has come as such sweet relief. For those of you who were here last sunday, if felt so very good for us to celebrate didnʼt it? I was so proud of our church - we really went for it together and here we are this morning, the 2nd Sunday of Easter, and the celebration continues! Doesnʼt it feel good to sing happy songs, to stand and sing together - to rejoice together! And letʼs make it clear, Easter is here to STAY! The plan is to continue this celebration all the way through the season of Easter! Weʼre just at week 2, weʼve got 4 more weeks of celebrating, and Iʼm telling you Iʼm looking forward to each and every one! As a side-note, weʼve decided to keep the musicians here up front behind the altar throughout the 6 weeks of Easter. Weʼre doing this intentionally - just as we intentionally have the musicians off to the side during most of the year. This has everything to do with the role our music and musicians play here in worship at Pearl. See, the majority of the time, the music here at Pearl is designed to create space for worship - to create space for reflection and pause for our hearts to slow down at to worship the Lord deeply in Spirit and in Truth. And it is so fitting that our focus is on the altar, these icons of cross and color and candle - that represent and remind us of the unseen God whom we worship. But in this season of celebration, our musicians play a slightly different role - that of celebration leaders, almost cheerleaders - encouraging us to lift our hearts and voices and enter into the celebration of a risen Christ who offers hope in the very midst of chaos. And having them here, right behind the altar, allows them to lead us more directly, serving themselves as images of celebration and joy - reminding us there is something distinct and different about this season - a season unlike any other - for it is Easter! Christ is Risen!... Christ is risen... MOVE 1 - Identifying with Disciples on Road Question: Have you ever noticed that itʼs really difficult to speak good news to someone going through intense grief without sounding either trite or outright rude? Perhaps youʼre heard someone put their foot in their mouth in these kinds of situations before. Maybe youʼve been the one putting your foot in your mouth... Like telling someone whoʼs just lost a spouse that everything will be ok - in fact youʼre sure theyʼll find someone else who will probably be better for them anyway. Everything will be ok - somewhat trite... Youʼll find someone better - outright rude. Maybe youʼve overheard a victim of terrible physical suffering and disfigurement being told that time will heal their pain and that maybe God will even have a special ministry for them to those with similar ailments in the future. Even while these things might be true when they are said in the very moment of intense suffering, loss, and confusion, they sound nothing but trite or even rude. Sometimes, when the news we have to bring is so incredible and the pain and loss of the one to whom we wish to speak is so great, our words can sound a lot like a cruel joke. In the movie Good Will Hunting the main character played by Matt Damon is an
orphan, having been passed around from home to home, abused as a child, and grown into a hardened young man who trusts no one and has learned to cope by rejecting others before they have the opportunity to reject him. Heʼs paired with Robin Williamsʼ character, a therapist who he is ordered to see every week by the courts. Slowly, Will Hunting begins to open up and let someone in. Over the weeks of sessions a rapport develops between the two and tension builds to a final scene when Williamsʼ character finally talks to Will about the violent abuse heʼs suffered throughout his childhood. For those of you who have seen the movie, Iʼm sure you remember the powerful scene. Itʼs not your fault. He begins. I know, is the reply, brushing the words away. Itʼs not your fault, he continues, Itʼs not your fault, All of this - holding a folder with picture upon picture detailing the past abuse - itʼs not your fault. Eventually Will breaks down, sobbing, letting go and letting out all the pain heʼs kept inside for so long. But an interesting thing happens before this. Before he is able to take in those simple words, Itʼs not your fault he must get past the feeling that perhaps he is just being played with, being joked with, by a therapist who knows how to push his buttons and whispers, Itʼs not your fault. 8 times the therapist says, Itʼs not your fault and after times 3 through 6, will lashes back, Donʼt mess with me! Donʼt mess with me - not you - donʼt mess with me! Thatʼs the slightly edited version... You see, When oneʼs pain and loss is so great, even the best of news can sound at first trite, perhaps rude, or worse like a cruel joke. Question: Christ is Risen! How might these words have sat with the followers of Jesus in the very days following his brutal death on a cross? I wonder if they might have felt a lot a like a cruel joke someone was playing on them. See, in the verses directly preceding our passage today, some of the women among the disciples come racing back from the tomb reporting visions of angels who say Jesus has risen. But is it really any wonder that they didnʼt believe them? Luke says their words seemed to them like nonsense. Christ is risen!... Really? Christ is Risen! Donʼt mess with us. This is not the time, Donʼt mess with us. I believe itʼs incredibly important for us to understand, to empathize with, where these disciples were at in order that we might hear this text, this story, speaking powerfully to us today. So imagine with me weʼre Jesusʼ disciples. Not 21st century disciples here int he Pearl, but 1st century disciples who have spent the last 2 years living, traveling, eating, praying, and ministering with this man who we believed might be the messiah. Imagine: when other have fallen away, have been scandalized by his words and turned off by the cost of following this Jesus, we have persevered. Weʼve quit our jobs, left our homes and families, become part of this radical sect following our Rabbi, filled with the hope that he really is in fact the ONE. When others have hedged their bets, weʼve moved all-in, staking our very lives on the success this would-be messiah. Weʼve debated what it will be like when his kingdom finally comes, when he will restore Israel and reign justly over the nations. Weʼve imagined sitting by his side, in places of prominence in a new world where all is right and our sacrifices are proved wise by the glory that follows. Can you imagine this kind of anticipation - this level of commitment?
Now imagine that over the last few weeks, weʼve come to look like the biggest fools on the face of the planet. Our hopes have been dashed and our very hearts have been broken by the events of the past week. Our leader, our teacher, our messiah has gone directly to Jerusalem, but instead of overthrowing the Romans as we had hoped, he has refused to be our hero, and in a whirlwind of tragedy and injustice heʼs been captured, tried, convicted of a crime he did not commit, then tortured and killed before our very eyes. Our lives are literally over. Our hope, wrapped up in the person of Jesus is dead. Lying in a tomb - DEAD. The party has ended before it even began and we are feeling every emotion from anger to terror, from bewilderment to regret, from the deepest sorrow and anguish to outright hopelessness. To make matters worse, some of our friends have tried to cheer us up and itʼs not working. They claim that they went to prepare Jesusʼ body for a proper burial, just this morning, and that the body wasnʼt there. They say they saw angels who told them Jesus was alive, but we knew this could not be. They keep holding onto hope; but for us, it is too late. Our hopes have been completely dashed and our only wish is that they had the good sense to leave well enough alone and let us sit in our grief with some semblance of peace. Can you IMAGINE? We are completely confused, some of our friends have already given up and headed back to fishing, and we ourselves decide we need to get out of the city and escape the terrible memories of the last few days. What must it have felt like to be these disciples? MOVE 2 - STORY Luke Chapter 24 verse 13: Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him. He asked them, "What are you discussing together as you walk along?" They stood still, their faces downcast. [ their faces downcast - this might qualify as the understatement of the year... keep in mind, these disciples are completely heartbroken. I would suggest their pain is evidenced by the sarcasm and disbelief in their tone back to Jesus.] One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, "Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?" [in other words, are you kidding? you really donʼt know? Youʼre not trying to play a joke on us too are you? This is not the time - donʼt mess with us! But jesus presses further:] "What things?" he asked. Well, the things "About Jesus of Nazareth," they replied. "He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn't find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see."
So now it all comes out, they explain to this stranger why theyʼre so depressed and how hopeless and confusing the entire situation has become. And catch this: directly into this place of hopelessness and confusion, Jesus begins to speak. Verse 25: He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. [side note: for those of you who enjoy a good theological conversation like me, this would have been a pretty amazing moment to have been a fly on the wall, donʼt you think? Imagine what this must have felt like: Jesus begins painting this picture for them of hope right in the midst of suffering and death, victory snapped from the Jaws of defeat, and theyʼre beginning to wonder if he might be right. What if this stranger is seeing things in their scriptures that have been there all along but theyʼve somehow missed? What if the cross could not destroy their messiah and the grave could not hold him? What if life was stronger than death, what if these last few days, which they had interpreted as the end of their lives, was just the beginning?] Verse 28: As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over." [It seems like they really like this stranger...] So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, "It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon." Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread. Amazing! Like so many times before, Jesus hi-jacks their meal and becomes the host of the table. And when he breaks the bread as heʼd done countless times before, their eyes are opened and they recognize him. In a split-second this table has become for them the moment of all moments, the epiphany of all epiphanies. And then, everything changed. In a moment, everything changed! And notice this: their epiphany at the table affects both their memory of the past and their experience of the future. Having recognized Jesus here in the breaking of the bread, they are now able to look back and recognize him as he was speaking to them on the road. They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" But this moment of moments also opens to them a future filled with hope and excitement. Jesus is not dead and lying in a tomb somewhere back in Jerusalem - he is here - right here - at our table, feeding us and teaching us. Hope has come to the hopeless as these disciples got up and returned at once or immediately as the text tells us - absolutely dying to tell the others about their epiphany.
MOVE 3 - We are these Disciples Isnʼt this a beautiful story? Perhaps a little odd, but none the less, an absolutely amazing story! Itʼs the kind of story that makes us think: How incredible it must have been to be these disciples! Completely confused and heartbroken, walking away from a life they believed had just ended only to be met on the road by Jesus himself. And then Jesus walks with them, listens to them, begins teaching them and explaining the method to his madness. Then, Jesus dines with them and in a miracle of a moment, they recognize him in the breaking of the bread! This moment brings clarity to their past and gives them hope and excitement for the future. It almost begs the question: How incredible would it be if something like this could ever happen to us!? Thomas Merton, a great catholic theologian and monk writes in his autobiography about the day he first recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread: I was kneeling right at the altar rail. The bright sanctuary was all mine. I could hear the priestʼs voice and the responses of the server and when the little bells were rung I knew what was happening. I saw the raised Host - the silence and simplicity with which Christ once again triumphed, raised up, drawing all things to himself - drawing me to himself. Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who taketh away the sins of the world. And my first communion began to come toward me, down the steps. Christ, hidden in the small Host, was giving himself for me and to me - and with himself the entire Godhead and Trinity - and a great sense of the power and grasp of their indwelling. I left the altar rail and went back to the pew and I hid my face in my hands. In the temple of God that I had just become, the one eternal and pure sacrifice was offered up to the God dwelling in me: the sacrifice of God to God, and me sacrificed together with God. Christ born in me, a new Bethlehem, and sacrificed in me, His new calvary, and risen in me. With these words, Merton, describes the first time he came to a table like the one that stands here before us. Just like the disciples, his eyes were opened and he recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread. The Host as he calls the bread, was brought into his body he recognized it as God himself, filling and indwelling him in such powerful way that he could no longer look back at the past and his sins in the same way, nor could he help but move into the future with hope and excitement. Brothers and sisters here at Pearl, I submit to you this morning that just like our friend, Thomas Merton, when we come to this table every week, we ARE these disciples. Their story is our story. We too have walked through a week in a world where death has appeared to stamp out life, where hopelessness has pressed in at every turn, and perhaps without us noticing, Jesus himself has come and has walked with us and now takes over the table where we come to dine. He becomes the host and if we recognize him here - in the breaking of the bread - well then everything changes. Perhaps the first thing to change is our interpretation of the past. When we come to this table and recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread, we begin to look back into our weeks and see things differently. Perhaps our weeks have seemed murky and dim, sometimes void of purpose and movement, full of questions as to where God might be
and what he is doing in our lives. But because we recognize Jesus here, the way we see the past changes. We begin recognizing him at work in all sorts of circumstances and in all sorts of ways and through all sorts of people! I wonder what sorts of ways and in what people we will recognize Jesus as having been at work in our lives as a result of coming to this table this morning and recognizing him here! I also think this epiphany - recognizing Jesus here in this place - sheds new light on each of our pasts especially related to our failures and sins. Keep in mind, these disciples had just days earlier deserted their teacher in his moment of need. They had fled, running for their lives, away from the garden and now away from the city that represented not just his failure to conquer the romans but also their failure to remain faithful to the Messiah. So how reassuring it must have felt to recognize Jesus again, still remaining faithful to them, still leading and teaching and feeding. It reminds me a lot of the story John tells at the end of his gospel, when Jesus comes to Peter, not surprisingly over a meal and asks him, Peter, do you love me? Yes, Lord, you know I love you. Feed my sheep is Jesusʼ reply. Peter, do you love me? Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. Then feed my sheep! You are forgiven, you are loved, you are reinstated into this gospel kingdom. How incredible might it be if we each heard those words, spoken by our savior who has conquered death for you and for me. Because of this table; our failures and our sins do not separate us from Godʼs work and Godʼs kingdom, instead we recognize a Jesus who graciously forgives and reinstates again and again and again. But more than just bringing redemption to the past - this table offers hope for the future. For if we recognize him here, in the breaking of the bread, then we recognize a very alive and very present Jesus - still feeding his followers, still breaking with the broken and still suffering among the least of these. If he was there, breaking with us in the past then perhaps he will be there this coming week, throughout our days, feeding and leading and teaching and healing. This epiphany sends us out into our weeks with hope that, as mike said last week, even in the darkest of circumstances, God himself may indeed show up, bringing life in all kinds of ways we might never expect. All because we recognize him here, in the breaking of the bread. Amazing, isnʼt it? Easter - the risen Christ appearing to his disciples. For these disciples in Luke, Christ came to them along the road and then they recognized him in the breaking of the bread. Centuries later, the risen Christ came to Thomas Merton through the host of a simple communion wafer - EASTER - Christ alive and well and active right there in his very life. So what about us? How will easter - the risen Christ appearing to his disciples - How will easter come to us? Well, if this story right at the close of Lukeʼs gospel has anything to say about it, thereʼs a good chance that Easter comes to us each and every week when we come to this table. From this perspective Easter is not something that happened back then, it is something that is happening here and now, to us and in us.
In our world, just like that of these disciples in luke, this good news: Christ is risen - this is far to good to simply be true. These words are either the cruelest of jokes played on men and women already flattened by the suffering and hopelessness of this world - OR - they are the kind of epiphany that causes us to completely reinterpret our pasts and re-imagine our futures. And maybe thatʼs what this table can be for us, not just this week, but every week as we come and meet with Jesus. Perhaps if we recognize Jesus here, in the breaking of the bread, we will find our hearts, just like these disciples in Luke, gathering together saying, it is true! Itʼs true. Christ is risen.