3 Easter A April 26, 2020
Acts 2:14a,36-47 Ps. 116:10-17
1 Peter 1:17-23 Luke 24:13-35
Lectionary Page
Do you like surprises? You probably immediately are thinking, well it depends upon what it is. The pandemic has been a surprise, probably the biggest surprise in our lifetimes and it is so dominating our lives and making us change our former routines for such a long time, we know that there will be a sea change and there cannot be a going back to the ways things were formerly. It is a surprise which has permanently altered our lives.
What is the main ingredient in a surprise? The main ingredient for the one or ones who experience it is that it is unplanned. I am going to have a planned surprise happen to me. That an oxymoron.
The disciples of Jesus on Easter Day were trying to cope with a very unfortunate surprise. Their friend and mentorJesus, who was a champion and a King, was taken by the Romans and crucified and he was buried. What kind of Messiah who did all of those wonderful things ends up dying on a cross? Surprise. "Well, we have to pack up and go home. The Movement is dead. Let get back to our village of Emmaus, even though we've heard some rumors about body snatching in Jerusalem, it is time to try to figure out what we're going to do next.
Let's just walk in silence and lick our wounds. But then we're joined by another person walking the route and he joins us and inquires about us and we talk about the hubbub in the Jerusalem and how Jesus was not who we thought he was and he was not a triumphant king like we wanted and hoped for. Messiahs and kings don't get put on a cross.
But the traveler seems to know his Hebrew Scriptures. We use the Hebrew Scripture as a template for understanding what greatness means for us and our people. But this traveler tells us that we've missed something in the Hebrew Scriptures, the part about the Person of God's anointing and choosing, being a Suffering Servant. He leads us to a different view of the Messiah and what greatness means for God's Messiah. The Messiah is Emmanuel or God with us, and where is God with us? Everywhere including in death and after death."
The two disciples of Jesus in their grief were engaged by this unrecognized traveler and they were challenged to change their model for what the Messiah would look like. They were presented with Suffering Servant model from the prophet Isaiah.
They were so engaged, they invited the traveler to their home for some food. And as they sat to break bread together, "Poof," the incognito Risen Christ suddenly became known to these forlorn disciples. And they were surprised, this time in a completely differently way. They had been surprised negatively in the death of Jesus on the Cross; but now they were surprised by this unique ability of the Risen Christ to be with them incognito and then suddenly be recognized and then suddenly spirited away.
St. Paul wrote that the resurrection involves our spiritual body which reconstitutes a fuller incorruptible self. And the appearances of the Risen Christ indicates that he was in his resurrected spiritual body which could be reconstituted as actual and apparent physical appearance to some, and then be gone. One could even believe that the love for Jesus and the loss of Jesus caused such a profound grief that it was a grief which invited Jesus to re-appear and encounter those who deeply mourned his loss.
The disciples on the road to Emmaus had a "peek a boo, I see you" encounter with the Risen Christ. And they were surprised. They did not control the surprise. They did not control how the Risen Christ became known to them. But they, in joy, received the surprise and responded with hope. "Let's get back to Jerusalem and see if the gang is still together. If someone can reappear after death, that would qualify as being a candidate for being the Messiah."
The Emmaus Road story encodes the two ways in which we believe that the church is given to known the presence of Christ. In Scriptures and in the breaking of the bread. But these two means of knowing the presence of Christ do not exhaust the many other ways that Christ can be known.
One of the narratives of Hope is the narrative of surprise. Our lives have been given content, timeline, and identity by the surprises in our lives. Each person has had Christ incognito surprises in life and maybe without even acknowledging it or knowing it. Hope also is the creative force that gives us some anticipation about some more surprises of the Risen Christ variety.
One of the first games we teach our babies is the game of Peek a boo, I see you. Unwittingly, we in this simple game are trying to wean our baby from our visual presence and then surprise them suddenly. We are trying to teach our babies that even when we are not with them by sight, sound, or touch, we still are with them with profound loving presence.
And that is what God is playing with us in our lives today. Seemingly absent or incognito and suddenly, "Peek a boo, I see you, I am alway seeing, I love you, I care for you."
I hope that you have known God to be a loving parent playing with you, "Peek a boo, I see you." God respects the world enough that God created such that even under every stone unturned there can be a surprise, "Peek a boo, I see you, I love you, I care for you." Amen
Lectionary Page
Do you like surprises? You probably immediately are thinking, well it depends upon what it is. The pandemic has been a surprise, probably the biggest surprise in our lifetimes and it is so dominating our lives and making us change our former routines for such a long time, we know that there will be a sea change and there cannot be a going back to the ways things were formerly. It is a surprise which has permanently altered our lives.
What is the main ingredient in a surprise? The main ingredient for the one or ones who experience it is that it is unplanned. I am going to have a planned surprise happen to me. That an oxymoron.
The disciples of Jesus on Easter Day were trying to cope with a very unfortunate surprise. Their friend and mentorJesus, who was a champion and a King, was taken by the Romans and crucified and he was buried. What kind of Messiah who did all of those wonderful things ends up dying on a cross? Surprise. "Well, we have to pack up and go home. The Movement is dead. Let get back to our village of Emmaus, even though we've heard some rumors about body snatching in Jerusalem, it is time to try to figure out what we're going to do next.
Let's just walk in silence and lick our wounds. But then we're joined by another person walking the route and he joins us and inquires about us and we talk about the hubbub in the Jerusalem and how Jesus was not who we thought he was and he was not a triumphant king like we wanted and hoped for. Messiahs and kings don't get put on a cross.
But the traveler seems to know his Hebrew Scriptures. We use the Hebrew Scripture as a template for understanding what greatness means for us and our people. But this traveler tells us that we've missed something in the Hebrew Scriptures, the part about the Person of God's anointing and choosing, being a Suffering Servant. He leads us to a different view of the Messiah and what greatness means for God's Messiah. The Messiah is Emmanuel or God with us, and where is God with us? Everywhere including in death and after death."
The two disciples of Jesus in their grief were engaged by this unrecognized traveler and they were challenged to change their model for what the Messiah would look like. They were presented with Suffering Servant model from the prophet Isaiah.
They were so engaged, they invited the traveler to their home for some food. And as they sat to break bread together, "Poof," the incognito Risen Christ suddenly became known to these forlorn disciples. And they were surprised, this time in a completely differently way. They had been surprised negatively in the death of Jesus on the Cross; but now they were surprised by this unique ability of the Risen Christ to be with them incognito and then suddenly be recognized and then suddenly spirited away.
St. Paul wrote that the resurrection involves our spiritual body which reconstitutes a fuller incorruptible self. And the appearances of the Risen Christ indicates that he was in his resurrected spiritual body which could be reconstituted as actual and apparent physical appearance to some, and then be gone. One could even believe that the love for Jesus and the loss of Jesus caused such a profound grief that it was a grief which invited Jesus to re-appear and encounter those who deeply mourned his loss.
The disciples on the road to Emmaus had a "peek a boo, I see you" encounter with the Risen Christ. And they were surprised. They did not control the surprise. They did not control how the Risen Christ became known to them. But they, in joy, received the surprise and responded with hope. "Let's get back to Jerusalem and see if the gang is still together. If someone can reappear after death, that would qualify as being a candidate for being the Messiah."
The Emmaus Road story encodes the two ways in which we believe that the church is given to known the presence of Christ. In Scriptures and in the breaking of the bread. But these two means of knowing the presence of Christ do not exhaust the many other ways that Christ can be known.
One of the narratives of Hope is the narrative of surprise. Our lives have been given content, timeline, and identity by the surprises in our lives. Each person has had Christ incognito surprises in life and maybe without even acknowledging it or knowing it. Hope also is the creative force that gives us some anticipation about some more surprises of the Risen Christ variety.
One of the first games we teach our babies is the game of Peek a boo, I see you. Unwittingly, we in this simple game are trying to wean our baby from our visual presence and then surprise them suddenly. We are trying to teach our babies that even when we are not with them by sight, sound, or touch, we still are with them with profound loving presence.
And that is what God is playing with us in our lives today. Seemingly absent or incognito and suddenly, "Peek a boo, I see you, I am alway seeing, I love you, I care for you."
I hope that you have known God to be a loving parent playing with you, "Peek a boo, I see you." God respects the world enough that God created such that even under every stone unturned there can be a surprise, "Peek a boo, I see you, I love you, I care for you." Amen
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