Sermon: April 6, 2008

Prayer: Dear gracious Lord, we give you thanks this day for your love and compassion and for revealing yourself to us in your word and sacrament. We ask Lord that you give us the courage and faith to be better witnesses to your love and salvation and that with your guidance and wisdom that we can be clear in our understanding of Jesus ministry and grace for all people. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

 Brothers and sisters in Christ, grace and peace to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

 When my family and I lived in Maryland several years back we would at times be invited to the church of friends of ours for special occasions like a baptisms, First Communions or confirmations. On this one particular Sunday we were invited to attend the confirmation and reception of the daughter of close friends and we eagerly and happily accepted the invitation with great joy for the family. When we arrived at church we were warmly welcomed by members of the congregation and then introduced personally by our friends to a few people who they believed we should meet. After the handshakes and greetings were extended we were shown to our seats and enjoyed the worship service and then the reception that followed. It was a fine morning and we felt very good for having attended and being supportive to both parents and daughter. After all isn’t that what Christian community is all about, showing each other the care, love and support of Christ in both good and happy times and in times of despair and depression as well?

 Upon returning home we found a welcoming committee of several people from the church standing in our driveway and holding a bag. They said hi, introduced themselves and said that it was nice to have us in church this morning. They handed us the bag and took off. Looking into the bag we found several items that had been placed inside by members of the church. There was a copy of the church’s newsletter, copy of the Sunday morning bulletin, several brochures detailing the programs and activities provided by the church and lastly a freshly baked loaf of bread with a note attached that said, and I paraphrase, “Bob, Terri and children…please accept this gift of bread as a thank you for being part of our worship service today and for joining with us in the celebration of our young peoples public proclamation of their faith and their communion. We were happy to have you be part of our community of faith and invite you to consider making Hope Lutheran Church of Columbia, Maryland your church home if you don’t already have a place of worship. It was signed by the Pastors and the Evangelism team.

 Terri and I looked at each other surprised and amazed at such a gracious gift and act of love. We came as strangers but became welcomed as brothers and sisters in Christ and included as part of this community of faith. In this act of invitation, hospitality and grace the church showed us what they were; who they represented…and how they spoke and acted demonstrated their faith and witness.

 I remembered this story as I reflected on our Gospel reading this week and how Jesus reveals himself to the disciples and to us as well in word and sacrament and how Jesus extends to us through these same means of grace, here today, his presence, love, compassion, forgiveness and hospitality. 

 Turning to our reading today in this post resurrection story from Luke, it is Easter evening and the two disciples were on their way from Jerusalem to Emmaus after experiencing and being witness to the distressing and horrific events of the past days, Jesus meets them on the road but they do not recognize Jesus, they were kept from immediately recognizing Jesus as the scripture states, Jesus walks with them as they discussed these events. They expressed their dismay, discouragement and despair at the fact that Jesus had been given up by the religious leaders to be crucified. Not only was Jesus their friend, but they saw him as a great prophet from God and the potential redeemer of Israel who would set their people free from the Roman Empire.

 Jesus full of compassion and love for them and sensing their despair, however, has to set the record straight. He has heard enough and points to their lack of insight and their slowness of heart to understand the words of scripture as told by the prophets that predicted the Messiah’s suffering and all that was to come. Jesus then reviews for them, teaches them, all that was foretold from Moses through the prophets to the greatest prophet of all, Jesus himself. Even at the hearing of the Jesus teachings it is still not time for their eyes to be opened to recognize Jesus, although as we have heard later in the passage that their hearts were burning within them as Jesus told and explained the scriptures to them.

  There is an irony here in this section in that even though these disciples know the facts of what happened to Jesus, in the presence of a Jesus that they don’t recognize, the fact is that prior to Jesus crucifixion and his preaching and teaching you wonder if they really ever understood and recognized who Jesus was and what his ministry was about. But so as not to beat up on an easy target in the hearing of this story, I’m also sure that if truth be told, that the same claim could be made about us this day, that although we have heard the story on countless occasions we can still get it wrong as well. We are also guilty of having our own personal images of who and what we want Jesus to be, how he should act and judge, and who’s an insider with Jesus and those we would like to keep at a distance. Whether it be ethnic, political, social or just our own little personal box that we put Jesus into for our own purposes we also want to believe that we know and understand who Jesus is. But on many occasions we also fall short in our own comprehending as well, and can’t recognize Jesus. 

 On the road to Emmaus the disciples refer to Jesus as a stranger, a prophet and the redeemer of Israel not understanding that what Jesus has been preaching is a new kingdom, a new way of living life, a new way of being and caring for others, a new way of living with and for God…forgiveness, grace and salvation for the whole world, Jew and Gentile alike, for those who believe in his word and promise and also for those yet to believe.

 As they come near Emmaus Jesus starts to walk away from the disciples as to continue on, but they take notice and urge him strongly to stay with them, offering Jesus an invitation to be with them and accept their home and hospitality and Jesus goes with them. At the table, in their home, Jesus turns from guest to host, takes the bread, blesses it, breaks it and gives it to them to eat. Their eyes are immediately opened to Jesus and they recognize him. And in a moment as our reading has stated, Jesus vanishes from their sight. But the important aspect of this moment is in their recognition of the Risen Christ and the fact that death has been defeated. This post resurrection meal has become the first meal of the new creation as promised by God and fulfilled in Jesus. The disciples reflect upon their journey with Jesus and how he opened scripture to them. They immediately get up and return to Jerusalem to witness and share with the eleven and their followers and reaffirm that the previous reports from the women and Peter are true, the Lord has risen indeed, this they know for certain from first hand experience. For these two disciples their witness has turned completely around and the person they once called stranger, prophet and redeemer they now call Lord. 

 We here are also invited to know Jesus this day in the hearing of the scripture and the breaking of the bread, the sharing of this meal in which Jesus is present. And like the experience of the disciples and all people who partake in this Holy Communion it’s both Scripture and sacrament, word and meal that are united tightly together that joins us to Christ and all people of faith in the Risen Lord. To quote a passage that I read in preparing for this sermon the writer states, “The popular mind still tends to think of the Lord’s Supper generally in terms of the Last Supper. It is forgotten that the Last Supper only provides one facet of meaning to the Eucharistic meal. Today, in the midst of Easter, we are reminded that the Lord’s Supper is also a resurrection meal, one in which we anticipate the heavenly banquet.”

 I believe those folks from Hope Lutheran Church in Columbia, Maryland knew as much in bringing that loaf of bread to our home and extending the invitation for us to join their church. They understood, I believe, that even though we might have our own congregation to which we belonged and would be absent from them physically, we could still recognize Christ and were joined together with them as part of the body of Christ through the hearing of Gods’ Word and participation with them in the breaking of the bread at the Lord’s Supper. In this act our hearts were warmed (and bellies satisfied I might add) by the hospitality and grace shown to us in the name of Jesus. They set an example for us that day that we could still follow. Thanks be to God. Amen.