3 Easter A May 4, 2014
Luther Memorial Church Seattle, WA
The Rev. Julie Guengerich Hutson
Acts 2: 14a, 36-41 + Ps 116: 1-4, 12-19 + 1 Peter 1: 17-23 + Luke 24: 13-35
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
Many of you know that I’ve been at the Festival of Preaching Northwest this week. This national event is held every two years here in Seattle and brings in preachers from across the country, eager to hear the Word preached by some of the most well known voices of our time. The festival is ecumenical in nature, meaning that we hear from many denominations, from American Baptist to UCC to United Methodist to Episcopalian to Lutheran. The Lutheran preacher was Heidi Neumark who serves in the South Bronx and is a remarkable bearer of the Gospel. It’s fascinating how easy it is to identify the “brand” of a preacher: Lutherans have a distinctive way of proclaiming the Gospel, as do others. But I was very proud to be a Lutheran, as much as any Lutheran is proud.
Those several hundred of us who had gathered for the festival, almost exclusively all preachers…we were like thirsty people in the desert, who had come to the waters of life. We were like starving people who had come to the richest banquet table. We needed to hear Jesus. We needed to see Jesus. We were longing for Jesus.
In the Gospel reading for today, the writer of Luke’s Gospel tells the story of the appearance of Jesus to Cleopas and to his unnamed friend, both followers of Christ. It is the day of the resurrection, or as the text says “the same day when Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene.” For whatever reason, these two followers are leaving Jerusalem, perhaps they had lost hope, or perhaps they were fleeing, or maybe they just needed a change of scenery. But they are walking along, we are told, and talking and discussing all of the things that had happened. No doubt, like all of the hungry preachers at the conference, these two also wanted to see Jesus.
Where have you seen Jesus this week? Just sit with that for a moment. Let that question dwell deeply in your heart and search your memory. Where have you seen Jesus this week?
Certainly, when hearing robust and faithful preaching, I expected to see Jesus. The theme of our conference was Preaching in a Post-Modern World. Very often these days, the Church is looking to the younger folks to help us find our way. But I must tell you, that at this Conference we were schooled by the elders. How grateful I am for all of the preachers, for the many ways I could see Jesus because of them. But in particular, the elders.
The Rev. Dr. Fleming Rutledge, an Episcopal priest in her late seventies took us to task, for being meek in our preaching, for shying away from the Gospel. She said: “The power of the Gospel is not a power that forces others to inhabit an alien story, but one that allows them to hear their story anew for the first time.” She reminded us that “the same God who is wrathful about sin is the same God who stands on our side and pleads our cause.” Listening to her, hearing her remind us of these truths, that God is pleading our cause and that the story of the Gospel is the very gift and vehicle through which I can claim and accept and inhabit my own story, oh, I could see Jesus. Like he was sitting right there beside me in the pew, smiling and nodding “Mmm hmmm…that’s right…what she said.”
A day or two later, at the final worship service we were privileged to have the Rev. Dr. James Forbes as our preacher. Dr. Forbes recently retired as the pastor of Riverside Church in New York City. Dr. Forbes stood before a room on that last day, before a group of conference participants who were rather itchy to get on the road. Some were flying back home and others were just driving across town to whatever tasks still awaited us. And Dr. Forbes’ preaching tended to us in ways that were so gentle and so generous, it felt as though Jesus had come near, as he did to Cleopas and his companion, and our eyes were kept from recognizing him. Only, we did recognize him. In the word as it was preached, we saw the Word made flesh, as surely as if he were walking along the road with us.
Now, as much as it was a gift to see Jesus in and through these sermons, I confess that there were times when we were left disappointed after hearing a preacher preach. Perhaps you know this feeling too. And on the first day of the conference, I felt like that. I had arrived with great anticipation because I’d heard these particular preachers before and again, I was hungry and thirsty and I needed to see Jesus. And I went away, still hungry, still thirsty. On a break, I wandered into the Center House at Seattle Center, in search of ice cream. Because goodness knows if you can’t find Jesus, you should at least be able to find ice cream. And there, on stage, was a choir of twelve little children from Hawthorne International School. I stopped to listen to them, forgetting about the ice cream for a minute. They sang songs that were filled with hope. Songs with titles like “Yes I Can” and “Be Glad.” Each song was introduced by one of the children, who ranged in age from four to seven. Their director would encourage the shy child: “Go ahead, baby, you can do this” and to the soloist trembling in her tiny shoes “You’ve got this baby, you know you do.” And then she entreated us. She said “Sisters and brothers….these children are learning about their self worth as they sing. And we need to teach them that they are worthy. Every day. And we need to remember that we are worthy. Every day.” Let’s sing some more.
I never did find ice cream in the center house, but I did find Jesus there. Standing on the risers with those little children as though he had just called them to himself. Present in the words of their director as she reminded us not to stand in their way.
When Cleopas and his companion were walking along the road to Emmaus, Jesus started walking with them. Only they couldn’t see him. They were so involved in their own conversation, they didn’t even recognize him. And he asks them what they are talking about and they tell him his own story. The story of his death and the way the women said he’d been raised. And then he tells them his entire story, interpreting everything about himself that was in the holy scriptures of the Hebrew people. And they still don’t recognize him. But they know that something is unique and special about this person. They are touched in ways that make their hearts burn within them. And they say to him “stay with us” and he does.
Where did you see Jesus this week? I saw him in the faces and in the music of little children and in the powerful words of the elders. Where did you see him?
When we see Jesus, it is tempting, it is perhaps the way of our culture, to just chat with him and dismiss the encounter as simply that, one encounter. But Jesus’ deep desire is never for one encounter. It is for DEEP relationship. It is for all that he is and all that he taught and all that the scriptures said of him to fill us and form us, so that we might serve others in his name…but also so that we might be fully known.
Cleopas and his companion finally recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread. And this is one of the ways we know him when we gather, we see him in bread and wine and water and one another. And we recall what we know of him….of his death for our sake and of his resurrection, which is also for our sake and for the sake of all people.
Cleopas and his friend didn’t stay put when they’d encountered Jesus, and they didn’t sit still when he stayed with them and was known to them. They got up right then, at that moment, and went back the seven miles to Jerusalem, on foot, so that they could tell the others what they had seen.
Sisters and brothers, Jesus is all around us….in more ways than we can see. But our task, our call, is to make him known to a world that is broken and walking and wondering on a long road to Emmaus.
Thanks be to God. Amen.