The Third Sunday of Easter, Year A

If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile. 18 You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. 20 He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. 21 Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God. 22 Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart. 23 You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God. (1 Peter 1:17-23, NRSV)

NRSV Luke 24:13 Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, 16 but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, "What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?" They stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?" 19 He asked them, "What things?" They replied, "The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. 22 Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, 23 and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him." 25 Then he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! 26 Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?" 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. 28 As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. 29 But they urged him strongly, saying, "Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over." So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?" 33 That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. 34 They were saying, "The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!" 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread. (Luke 24:13-35, NRSV)

“RECOGNITION”


How do we recognize someone? There are a number of ways. One is by looks. I have a younger brother and, for a while, people thought we were twins. Personally, I could never see it. Another way is by a characteristic like a person’s voice. One time I called my niece, the daughter of the same brother, and she said, “Hi, Dad,” before I identified myself. Apparently, we sound the same, too. And we also recognize people by their actions and habits. I was describing my idea for a little hobby project, to take pictures from all the counties of Wisconsin, and the same niece said, “That sounds just like my dad.” There are things about a person we recognize, but sometimes, for all our closeness, we don’t always get it right.
The Gospel reading this morning is of one of the times Jesus appeared to the disciples after Easter, after his resurrection from the dead. Two of them were going to a village called Emmaus. Jesus had appeared to Mary Magdalene earlier that day, but now he approached these two disciples on the road and walked with them. He asked them what they were talking about and it was about him and the events of the past week in Jerusalem. They were shocked that Jesus asked them about these things as if he did not know about them, they were the talk of the town, how he suffered and was put to death. And not only that, they had heard that Jesus was still alive. Jesus tells them that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and explains it all to them from the Scriptures.
It was evening and they stopped for the night and urged Jesus to join them. At the table with them, Jesus took bread, blessed it and broke it and then they knew who this was. The Gospel says that their eyes were opened and they recognized him. It was not from his appearance, and not from the sound of his voice as they walked along. It was in what he did. Then, once they recognized him, they knew the truth of the resurrection, that Jesus was alive and walked with them. It is maybe a little strange to us that they walked with Jesus and yet did not identify him. We wonder if there might have been some kind of change in Jesus’ appearance after the resurrection, or perhaps they did not expect to actually meet him right there, right then. Maybe, until they sat down and he said those words that they had heard before or saw him in a familiar setting, at the table, they could not see. They have now what they did not have on the road. It is faith that allowed them and allows us to see Jesus. That filled them with such joy that they ran back all the way to share it.
The reading from First Peter starts to talk about the judgment. The Father will judge impartially. They were ransomed, not with money, but with the blood of Christ. It is through Christ that we come to trust in God and have obtained the imperishable new life. Christ directs our faith to God. In the judgment, what matters, then, is not if God sees our good works, or our status, our money. What matters is, if, in the judgment, God sees the redeeming work of Christ on us, in us, for us. That is how God recognizes us.
We recognize Jesus, as those disciples at the table near Emmaus did. Or sometimes, we, like the disciples while they were on the way to Emmaus, are slow to see him. We certainly don’t want to be like the disciples on the road, chattering on about Jesus, but not seeing that he is in our midst. We actually want to see Jesus. Sometimes, though, we don’t want to recognize things, especially if it is a problem or something that makes us look bad or feel bad. We, sometimes, do not want to look deeper into things and prefer not to make the connections, not to recognize what is there. When we do that, there are times we need those things, like the breaking of the bread, to help us see who is with us.

We begin to recognize Jesus, when we listen to and believe the gospel. Jesus said that the Scriptures pointed to him and it was in the breaking of the bread, perhaps reminiscent of the feeding of the crowds with loaves and fishes or the Last Supper, things given to the people to strengthen their faith, that they recognized him. God gives us things to enable us to see God, as Elizabeth Sherrill recalled one day when she checked on the barrel in the back of their garage that held their reclaimed road sand. Earlier she found that twenty-six pale green shoots had sprouted in the sand and now she found that they had wilted due to lack of water and light. She realized that she was wilting, too, from lack of contact with God. God not only gives us a new life, but also the means of sustaining and nourishing that life.
We also recognize Jesus when we see the things he has done in our lives. The way Jesus walked with the disciples on the road to Emmaus reminds us that he walks with us in life, although it might take us a while to see that as Linda Neukrug did. She had open-heart surgery as a child but somehow regretted that she never had one of those near-death experience in which people see Jesus. She did have a supportive family, good friends, and a caring doctor. A friend reminded her that she was not recognizing her blessings because she was looking for something else. We grow in faith as we know that Christ died for us. We grow in faith as we realize Christ lives among us. We grow in trusting God as we know what Christ did to conquer both sin and death. That we not only want to recognize him, but that by what he does for us, he recognizes us.

How do you see Jesus? How to you recognize him? We hear about him in the Gospel. We are one with him in the sacraments. We see him with the eyes of faith. Sometimes seeing Jesus does not happen all at once. Sometimes we see it in what God has done for us. Sometimes we see it in seeing God among us. We have the blessing that he will open our eyes. Then we will see and great joy will be ours.

Amen.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, 7 so that the genuineness of your faith-- being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire-- may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1.3-9, NRSV)

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." 24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin ), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe." 26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." 27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." 28 Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" 29 Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. (John 20.19-31, NRSV)

Sermon for the 2nd Sunday of Easter, Year A

“WHERE THERE’S HOPE, THERE’S LIFE”

The news events have covered the whole range of human experience in this week after Easter. It has gone from the lowest to the highest, covering the heights of joy and the depths of despair. There have been devastating storms in the South and a royal wedding in England. Amid the other news of the week, there were these in once-in-a-lifetime events. It fit this week after Easter well to hear stories both of lives snatched from the brink of death and of the beginning of a wonderful new life together. I caught these on radio and they said that you had to see the destruction of the tornados to believe it all. The descriptions on radio did not do it justice. Those who saw it tried their best to tell us about it. They also sent an experienced war correspondent to cover Prince William and Kate’s wedding. They asked him about it, figuring that having been in conflict-torn areas, he might not have much interest in the celebration. It turned out that he found it to be exciting. What he said, too, was that you had to be there to appreciate it.
The Gospel reading is of one the Jesus’ appearances. The disciples were hiding in fear and Jesus appeared to them to reassure them. He gives them peace and shows them his wounds. Thus they believed. Well, not all of them, as there was one, Thomas, not there at that time. He was not there and so was not able to appreciate it. And when he heard the story of what had taken place, he doubted. He makes this bold statement that he wants proof, absolute proof, wants to see for himself and touch Jesus’ wounds. And when the disciples were together a week later, Jesus appears to them again and lets Thomas see and touch his wounds. Then he, too, believed. It is better to believe without needing to see, but those who are honest in their doubts are heard and he gets the chance to believe, too. Jesus does not scold him or reject Thomas, but instead helps him. Once, though, he had been allowed to see for himself, he had no doubts. His doubts are changed into expressions of great faith as he sees for himself who Jesus is. Jesus is not only alive, having been raised from the dead; he is Thomas’ Lord and God. Now Thomas knows that Christ is alive and with him. Faith is born in him.
We come to faith by hearing, or seeing, or touching the Risen Lord. There are times when faith comes by touching or being touched, just as Thomas had the chance to do. There are times when faith comes alive then, is most real to us then. Mary Brown tells the story of how the ups and downs of fertility treatment left her exhausted. She knew that God was with her and yet longed to feel God’s embrace. When she went to pick up her daughter from preschool, the teacher walked over to her and gave her a hug. She concludes with this thought: “Maybe she simply wanted to let me know I was welcome, or maybe she saw a sadness in my eyes or heaviness in my step. Whatever it was, Laura Stein’s hug encouraged me in a way nothing else could, that, yes, God would carry me through this ordeal. Through her, He had even granted my desire to physically feel His love.”
We get the chance to see Thomas’ faith grow under the patient work of Jesus who helped him grow beyond his doubts. And we get the chance to see how Thomas’ faith grows into full confidence. He now knows that Christ is alive among them. He had to see it for himself, but once he did he believed strongly. This offers hope to all who may need to be strengthened in their faith. It is that Jesus is not done with us and can guide us into stronger faith if we honesty seek him, give him our doubts, and let ourselves feel the reality of his life among us.
In the First Letter of Peter, the author likewise proclaims a faith based on the resurrection. He blesses and thanks God for the great gift of a new birth into a living hope. All this is through God’s mercy and through Christ’s resurrection from the dead. It is through Christ’s new life that we receive the gift of a new life. It is a gift that is perfect and permanent and is able to help the Christians in Asia Minor and us endure suffering. Is not hope because they are alive, as if they produced the hope. It is because this hope is God’s gift, coming from outside themselves, that they are able to live. They believe in Christ even though they have not seen him. They have heard of him and believe. And that faith has the strength to give them joy, even joy in persecution and trials. They are part of this hope because of their faith, because of what Christ has done.
Christ gives the disciples in the upper room many things. To Thomas, he gives faith itself. But they all were given something else besides the joy of knowing that Jesus was alive. It is not only that they have hope because they are alive. It is because they have this hope, they have life. Because they have seen Jesus, they can fulfill a new purpose. From this hope they can live the new life. Jesus gives them peace, but they also are to give that peace to others, and they are given the gift of the Spirit, and he sends them as he has been sent. They are given the chance to do something in the world, to continue his work.
Rick Hamlin writes about the time they got rid of an almost new, large, double stroller. He weighed the possibilities for profit but also thought of a church thrift store near his office. His wife Carol had the last word: “Give it away.” A week later at church a friend had a double stroller that her mother found for her at a thrift shop when she had given up hope of finding one. Jesus’ word to them, too, about the gifts that he gives them, is: “Give it away.” That way Jesus’ presence continues.
John begins to conclude the Gospel by saying that there were many more things Jesus did. And there will be many more things that Jesus does as his followers find this truth, that they were sent and continue to go out into the world to be the living life of Christ to others, to help others see God through them, to let others touch God, to help others find faith, to share Christ’s peace, and to proclaim to all the world that Christ is alive and among us. That is a living hope. Amen.