Be careful what you pray for tonight…

The Gospel story today is about some of the disciples walking wearily home, depressed because they had believed their friend Jesus was going to make a big difference in the world.

But Jesus was just dead and buried like anybody else. Nothing had happened.

Then as they were walking home, they were joined by a stranger who asked them why they were so devastated. They were offended and asked him if he were the only man in Jerusalem who did not know what had just happened. Then to their surprise, he told them the whole story of what had happened and all that they had experienced with Jesus and more.

The stranger reviewed the whole life and meaning of Jesus, and how he had fulfilled what had been foreseen by the prophets in the scriptures. Their hearts were warmed and they invited the stranger to join them for dinner. Then at the dinner in their house, the stranger became the host, fed them, broke the bread and shared it with them. And in that intimacy they recognized their Lord and believed he had risen from the dead.

That is what we wish to happen to us. We would like to meet the resurrected Jesus and know that the story of the resurrection is true. Now we too are weary of this world, its promises and its disappointments. We too are fearful that we are just living and dying without meaning. We too are desperate to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, risen from the dead for us. We want to believe. Indeed we want to know that we too are something more than just another mammal that lives, breeds and dies.

You have heard the Easter story before since you first came to church. But at the same time you live in the world a world that has come to believe in reason and science and the nation itself as our destiny and security. Only in church do you hear the ancient testimony of the first disciples who saw and believed. Only in church do hear about spiritual values that transcend the things and styles of the world.

If you believe what you read and listen to what you hear, there is no evidence that post mortem experiences are possible. No one says it out loud, but what we teach in church about the resurrection would be an illegal teaching in a public school. Only in church will you be able to hear the tradition and weigh all the evidence. In the church (this church) we get to listen all the witnesses, both the authority of the church and the reason and judgment of the cynics who demand measurable proofs. Only here will you get to decide in favor of the stranger who has joined us tonight for this Eucharistic meal. Like those first disciples, you too may decide that Jesus is the host here, tonight, sharing this intimate meal, his bread, blood and life. You too may be saved as those disciples were that night when he joined them and they joined him.

I wish the story could end there. I bet the disciples wish the story had ended there too. But the story did not end when the disciples recognized Jesus and believed. With their recognition of Jesus and the meaning of Jesus, they became responsible for something more than themselves. Jesus did not simply congratulate them and send them on their way. Neither can we congratulate ourselves and just move on. We too must recognize that believing gives us a sacred responsibility and a commission. That evening at Emmaus Jesus did not simply feed people and promise them their own resurrection. His presence commissioned those who believed to give witness to the world. You too are not here just to eat and go home as your would at a restaurant. You too are commissioned to become a Jesus in your own right. Like those first disciples, you too are to gather new disciples who can believe - believe in you. Like those first disciples, you too are to share your bread and your truth. You too are commissioned to go out into the world . . . spreading the Gospel of The Lord. Believing means serving the people of the world, and saving the people of the world, not from their sins but in their sins. Like those first disciples you are sent not to judge the sinners, but to be judged by them.

When people met Jesus they judged him to be a loving and accepting man. When the disciples went out into the world, they were judged by the world to be loving and accepting men and women. We believe they were judged to be honest and trustworthy teachers of the truth, representatives of Jesus Christ who was/is a loving man. Those first disciples who recognized Jesus that night became people like Jesus serving and loving strangers, sharing what they had with the people they met along the way.

How will you be judged when you present yourself to the world as a believing member of this church? Will people recognize the Christ in you? Will people recognize the Christ in you when you break bread with them? When you join distressed and devastated people will they invite you join them? Be careful what you pray for tonight. You may get more than a good warm feeling and a meal with Jesus. You may get a commission too.

Amen

Charles