Sunday, May 8, 2011

Third Sunday of Easter, cycle A

LUKE 24:13-35
EVERY NOW AND THEN YOU HEAR PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT HOW THE CHURCH HAS TO ADAPT TO THE WORLD WIDE WEB IF IT IS GOING TO COMPETE. IT NEEDS TO GET FAMILIAR WITH YOU TUBE AND TWITTER AND FACEBOOK. IF SAINT PAUL WERE ALIVE TODAY, YOU CAN BE SURE HE'D HAVE A BLOG AND PREACH THE GOSPEL USING THE NEW MEDIA. AND I'M NOT SAYING THAT THERE ISN'T SOME TRUTH IN THOSE KINDS OF STATEMENTS.
BUT LET US THINK A BIT ABOUT TODAY'S GOSPEL. TWO PERSONS, ONE OF WHOM WAS A MAN AND I LIKE TO THINK THE OTHER WAS HIS WIFE, WERE WALKING ALONG, THINKING ABOUT WHAT THEY HAD BEEN THROUGH. THEY WERE DEPRESSED, THEIR HEARTS WERE HEAVY. WHAT HAD HAPPENED DIDN'T MAKE SENSE; SOMETIMES IT'S SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND WHAT LIFE THROWS AT YOU. MY WEEK WAS LIKE THAT, AND YOURS PROBABLY WAS ALSO. I HAD TO TELL A PATIENT THAT HE HAD ABOUT SIX MONTHS TO LIVE IF HE WAS LUCKY. HE'D JUST GOTTEN MARRIED A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO. WE WERE ALL REMINDED OF THAT MOMENT TEN YEARS AGO WHEN OUR COUNTRY WAS ATTACKED BY TERRORISTS. WHERE WAS GOD? GASOLINE AND FOOD PRICES ARE GOING UP AT AN ALARMING RATE, NO ONE KNOWS WHAT TO DO. WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN? WE AREN'T TOO DIFFERENT FROM THOSE TWO MEN ON THE ROAD.
BUT IF WE ARE QUIET AND ATTENTIVE, WE MIGHT HEAR SOMEONE IN OUR MIDST, WHO WILL TELL US HOW FOOLISH WE ARE, BECAUSE WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN WHAT WE NEED TO MAKE SENSE OF THE WORLD, BUT WE DON'T USE IT. AND AT THE END OF OUR WEEK, WE ARE REMINDED OF THE MYSTERIES THAT HELP US SEE THE TRUTH – TODAY WE HEARD SOME OF THEM: YOU ARE THE SON OF GOD WHO FULFILLED THE WORDS FO THE PROPHETS; YOU ARE THE LAMB OF GOD WHO SHED HIS BLOOD FOR US; YOU SHOW US THE PATH OF LIFE, SO THAT WE CAN ATTAIN JOY -- AND TO EACH STATEMENT, WE REPLIED, LORD, HAVE MERCY. SIN IS AT THE ROOT NOT SO MUCH THINGS WE DO, BUT FAILURE OF TRUST, FAILURE TO BELIEVE, FAILURE TO LET GOD RUN OUR LIVES. AND WE NEED TO ASK HIS MERCY FOR THOSE FAILURES.
AND THAT PERSON IN OUR MIDST, THE ONE WHO PROMISED THAT WHERE TWO OR THREE ARE GATHERED IN HIS NAME, THERE HE WILL BE, DOES HAVE MERCY ON US, AND THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE SCRIPTURES WE ARE GIVEN, SHOWS US WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW, HOW WE NEED TO ACT; AND ONCE AGAIN, EQUIPS US WITH GOD'S WORD SO THAT WE CAN MAKE SENSE OF OUR WORLD. AND IF WE LISTEN TO THE SCRIPTURES AND LET THOSE WORDS TOUCH US, WE MIGHT ALSO HAVE THAT SENSATION OF OUR HEARTS BURNING WITHIN US; THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL, AFTER ALL, SET US ON FIRE IF WE LET HIM.
AND THE TWO TRAVELERS SEE SOMETHING ABOUT THIS STRANGER IN THEIR MIDST, AND DON'T WANT TO SAY GOODBYE – THEY WANT TO SPEND MORE TIME WITH HIM. SO THEY TAKE WHAT LITTLE THEY HAVE, SOME BREAD, SOME WINE, AND OFFER IT TO HIM. AND AFTER WE LISTEN TO THE SCRIPTURES, AFTER WE'VE EXPRESSED OUR FAITH, WE TAKE UP BREAD AND WINE, AND IN AN AGE-OLD CEREMONY, WE TAKE THESE BITS OF FOOD AND DRINK, AND OFFER THEM TO GOD, ALONG WITH ALL THOSE MOMENTS OF OUR WEEK, ALL THOSE TIMES WHEN OUR FAITH WAS WEAK, WHEN WE FAILED TO DO WHAT WE SHOULD HAVE DONE. SOMETIMES WE MAY EVEN FEEL THE URGE TO OFFER OURSELVES – IT'S SCARY AND IT'S HARD, AND USUALLY WHEN I TRY TO OFFER MYSELF, IT'S AN INCOMPLETE OFFERING AND I HOLD BACK.
THE TWO TRAVELERS SHARE THEIR MEAL WITH THE STRANGER, WHO BEGINS THE PRAYER OF BLESSING, THE COMMON GRACE USED BY DEVOUT JEWS EVEN TODAY THAT BEGINS WITH SIMPLE WORDS: “BLESSED ARE YOU, LORD OUR GOD, KING OF THE UNIVERSE, WHO BRINGS FORTH BREAD FROM THE EARTH.” AND THE STRANGER CONTINUES THE PRAYER, AND THEN TAKES BREAD AND BREAKS IT AND OFFERS IT AND SAYS, “THIS IS MY BODY”. AND THE TWO TRAVELERS IN A BURST OF RECOGNITION REALIZE THAT THE STRANGER IS THEIR TEACHER, THE HOPE OF ISRAEL, THE SAME ONE THAT THEY WATCHED DIE ON THAT CROSS. AND IN THAT MOMENT THEY SEE HIM NO MORE, BUT THEY KNOW HE IS WITH THEM, BECAUSE TIME AND SPACE CAN NO LONGER CONTAIN HIM. AND WE TOO BEGIN OUR PRAYER WITH WORDS WHICH RESEMBLE THOSE THAT OUR SPIRITUAL ANCESTORS HAVE USED SINCE TIME IMMEMORIAL, AND FOR US TOO A MOMENT COMES WHEN BREAD IS BROKEN AND OUR PRIEST WHO STANDS IN OUR MIDST TO REPRESENT CHRIST TO US, PRONOUNCES THOSE SAME WORDS, “THIS IS MY BODY, THIS IS MY BLOOD”. AND WE JOYFULLY EAT AND DRINK WHAT HAS BEEN TRANSFORMED, AND JESUS, NO LONGER LIMITED BY TIME OR SPACE, IS WITH US ONCE AGAIN.
THE TWO TRAVELERS HAVE ENCOUNTERED THE RISEN CHRIST, AND THEIR SADNESS HAS TURNED TO JOY, THEIR CONFUSION TO CLARITY, THEIR EXHAUSTION TO BOUNDLESS ENERGY, AND THEY LEAVE THE TABLE, AND ALMOST RUN THE SEVEN MILES BACK TO JERUSALEM. THEY CAN'T WAIT TO PROCLAIM THAT JESUS HAS RISEN FROM THE DEAD, AND BECAUSE OF THAT, EVERYTHING THAT SEEMS SO MEANINGLESS, SO DEPRESSING, SO CONFUSING, IS SEEN WITH NEW EYES. TO ONE WHO HAS SEEN AND UNDERSTOOD THAT CHRIST HAS DIED AND IS NOW ALIVE FOR ALL ETERNITY, EVERYTHING IS TRANSFORMED, EVERYTHING IS CLEAR, NOTHING IS LOST. AND THINGS SHOULD NOT BE ANY DIFFERENT TODAY. WHEN WE LEAVE OUR TABLE, WE TOO SHOULD GO OUT CARRYING CHRIST IN OUR HEARTS, AND PROCLAIMING THE GOOD NEWS.
WHEN YOU HEAR THIS GOSPEL PASSAGE, THIS STORY OF THE TRAVELERS ON THE ROAD TO EMMAUS, DON'T YOU HEAR ECHOES OF OUR OWN LIVES AND THE FACT THAT THE MASS IS THE FOCAL POINT OF OUR WHOLE WEEK? THE MASS IS THE PLACE WHERE WE ARE RENEWED, COMFORTED, ENLIGHTENED, AND MADE HOLY; THE PLACE WHERE WE ENCOUNTER CHRIST.
LIKE THE TRAVELERS WE ENCOUNTER HIM IN THE COMMUNITY. WHEN WE GATHER, HE IS IN OUR MIDST. WE ENCOUNTER HIM IN FORGIVENESS AND REPENTANCE; WE ENCOUNTER HIM IN HIS WORD. AND FINALLY WE ENCOUNTER HIM IN THE FLESH, IN HIS BODY AND BLOOD AT THE SACRED MEAL. AND HE NOURISHES US, AND TRANSFORMS US, AND MAKES US FIT TO GO OUT AND PROCLAIM TO THE WORLD THAT HE IS RISEN, AND THAT MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE. AND WE HAVE TO HAVE THIS WEEKLY CELEBRATION, WHERE WE PHYSICALLY COME TOGETHER; WE CANNOT ENCOUNTER THE LIVING JESUS ON FACEBOOK OR TWITTER OR YOU TUBE; WE NEED EACH OTHER, WE NEED THE SCRIPTURES, WE NEED THE BODY AND BLOOD.
JESUS PROMISED THAT HE WOULD NOT LEAVE US ORPHANS. AND IN THE GOSPEL STORY, AND INDEED IN ALL THE STORIES OF THOSE DAYS AFTER THE FIRST EASTER, HE FULFILLS THE PROMISE HE MADE. AND SINCE THEN AND FOR ALL THE REST OF TIME UNTIL THE LAST JUDGMENT, HE FULFILLS THE PROMISE IN THE MASS. MAY OUR FAITH GROW STRONG SO THAT OUR HEARTS WILL BURN WITHIN US, AND WE WILL MEET THE LORD AND BE GIVEN THE STRENGTH TO TRANSFORM THE WORLD.