Acts 2:14a, 36-47

Psalm 116:10-17

1 Peter 1:17-23

LUKE 24:13-35

Sermon – April 10, 2005

RESURRECTION VISION

Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. Luke 24:31

In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

On the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus, two people were walking that fateful Sunday evening. They were talking (I am sure) in a deep, agonized and perplexed manner. It was not a casual conversation. Their world had just been destroyed. All that they had hoped for had just ended in the worst possible way. Then a stranger joined them on their walk, and they began to tell him about their reality that had just been destroyed. “This Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people” had been crucified. And to screw up reality even more some women had gone to the tomb and had come back saying that the tomb was empty and that they had seen angels who said he was alive. Crazy women! To make it even worse though, some men, who should have known better, went to the tomb and came back saying it was so. But “Then their eyes were opened, and they knew him.”

“Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with a certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified.” Just a few short weeks ago, Peter, who had been with Jesus from the beginning of his ministry, had cut off a man’s ear trying to defend Jesus, denied knowing him three times in the course of an evening and then fled from the scene of his crucifixion. Now he was proclaiming him Lord and Messiah with such power that three thousand would be baptized in one day. In a few days, this one who had denied Jesus would heal a man born lame in the name of Jesus. All of that was just the beginning of what he would do in the name of Jesus.

As they approached Jerusalem on that last trip, the group of disciples gathered around Jesus was in deep conversation about the really important things--what it would be like to be among the chosen few when Jesus overthrew the Romans and sat upon the throne of Israel; who would be the greatest among them; and who would sit where, etc. A few weeks later this picture is given of that group and those gathered around them. “Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; . . . they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God.”

Alternative realities have been one of the great themes in our culture, first of science fiction, and now of physics. In the first century, those who encountered the risen Lord had an experience of an alternative reality. In the three years of traveling with him, of hearing him teach, of private sessions with him, of praying with him, of seeing his miracles, they did not get it. Their realities did not essentially change. When they encountered the risen Lord, their eyes were opened; they knew him; and their reality changed.

We could say that they believed, and that would be true. But something profoundly more powerful happened than believing in the sense that they had confidence that the body had been resuscitated because they had seen it walking around town. We could say that their lives were changed, and they most certainly were, but something much greater happened than a bunch of individuals lives being changed. When they encountered the risen Lord, it was like they got new glasses and they could see—not only him but a whole new world. What had previously been difficult to understand, strange and confusing, now became their reality. This new reality was what they saw and knew. It was where they lived. It was into this reality that they now lived their lives. This new reality was all that mattered. The other reality that they had known became strange and hard to understand. Who could possibly think like that? Who cared if the Jewish or Roman authorities tried to intimidate them? Who gave a thought as to who was to be the greatest, sit in what spot, etc? That reality no longer existed for them.

They had encountered the risen Lord. They had been baptized into a new reality—God’s reality. They had gone through the portal into that new world. As the hymns and songs have put it so well, they had become exiles and strangers, a colony from a different reality in this world.

Well, it is two thousand years later, and what has all of that got to do with anything today? That strange new reality is not still with us. It is long gone. A quick course in history will tell you that, and a look around you at the present will convince you even faster that that was then and this is now. But do not be so fast. Even back then it was only a few weeks before some of the pilgrims slipped back into the old reality and tried to pretend to be and do something that they were not and were not doing. It was not too many years before they were having a rip-roaring good fight about whether the uncircumcised could be a member of their reality. Surely those impure heathens could not be a part of God’s reality without first becoming good Jewish converts. No--that community did not remain the ideal, perfect example that Luke portrays in Acts for long, according to this world’s or God’s standards. Still, even though it was imperfect, that community struggled and persisted and witnessed and tried to be faithful. Through the power of God and that faithfulness, it changed the world.

So what of our time, our reality, our community? Where do we meet the risen Lord? How are we changed? Perhaps it is not the same or as powerful and world-shaking as it was for the apostles, but we can still meet the risen Lord. There are many places for us to this. Here are a few places that I might suggest.

First, start where the risen Jesus started – with the scriptures. My Baptist upbringing says “Yes, preach brother” on this. Knowing the scriptures is critical. During the season after Pentecost, we will read a collect in the service praying that we may “read, mark and inwardly digest” the scriptures. It is a worthy goal. When was the last time you read one of the prophets, even one of the shorter ones like Amos, Micah or Hosea? Do you read the Psalms, the prayer book of the Bible regularly? Do not just read the Psalms that uplift, inspire and comfort, but all of them, including the ones that really reveal the nature and desires of the human heart. Paul, like much of the Bible, can be very difficult to read. He has a tendency to develop very complex arguments. There is one place in the Corinthian letters that in English is divided into something like thirteen sentences and takes nearly a whole page. In Greek, it is all one sentence. I remember it well as a junior in college trying to translate it. There was one subordinate clause after another. I began to wonder if I would ever find a verb. Paul’s arguments can be like that, but they are worth the effort. All this takes commitment, and help. There a number of excellent introductions to the Bible and individual books written for lay persons that are now available. There is a regular class that meets in this parish. Join it.

A second way to meet the risen Lord is sitting before God in stillness. In the world’s reality, we suffer the illusion that we must always be on the go, always be available, and always be running our life according to the speed of Intel’s latest processor. In that life mode, we will never meet the risen Lord unless we first crash. Ideally the sitting before the Lord in quietness should be for a period of time (hours or possibly days) and away from the surrounding of everyday life. If you can do that, there are some wonderful places that are not too far from here. If you cannot do that, take a few minutes a day to quiet you mind and heart to be open to God.

Some contexts seem to be more filled with the potential of meeting the risen Lord than most. One that has been a place where thousands have met the risen one is in southern France – Taize. I have wanted to go there for years, but I have never made it. Perhaps I will make it now that I am retired. I have never known anyone who spent time there who was not changed.

Find the risen Christ in this community. Even though it may not be perfect, He is to be found in many places in its life – in its worship, in its service and ministry to one another and to outsiders, in its outreach to those in need, in its many meals and fellowship together. When we share joyfully and lovingly in the life of the community called in Christ’s name, we are very apt to meet him there.

Finally, I would like to address the issue of conflict. We see all of the conflict and disagreement in the church today, and we say that that cannot be Christian. Surely we cannot find Christ in a place that is so divided. But Acts tell us that conflicts arose in the church very early. Where there are humans gathered together, if we are all true to ourselves, there will be disagreements and conflicts. It is not a false peace, which comes by pretending that we do not care about an issue or just keeping quiet while we boil, that marks the community of Christ. What marks us a place where Christ may be found is whether, in conflict, we continue to love and respect each other, whether we continue to care for each other, whether we continue to work together for Christ’s kingdom. True community is where we can trust each enough to be honest about our beliefs and love enough to listen and respond in grace and respect. I find that is also present to a great degree in this place.

These are just a few of the places that we can encounter the risen Lord. If we seek him, we will find him.

Amen.

Fr. William O. Breedlove

St. Barnabas Episcopal Church

Monmouth Junction, New Jersey