Chris Taylor’s Sermon – 3/23/08 - Easter
A Glimpse of Life
Isaiah 25:6-9
Luke 24:12-21, 28-32
I want to recognize and thank all those who have had a part in bringing this service to you: the choir and all our musicians; our ushers and office staff; our worship leaders and caretakers; so many different committee members working behind the scenes and then all those who donated these flowers that bring such beauty into our sanctuary. It takes not just a handful but literally dozens of people to make this service happen – our thanks to each and every one of you.
In stark contrast to the beauty and glory of this setting, we catch two of Jesus’ followers at a low point in their journey. This is a great story with a wonderful message, and through it we catch a glimpse of that light which broke into this world with Jesus’ resurrection.
Jesus has been crucified. It is the third day. Early that morning some women had gone to the tomb only to find it empty. And then two angels had appeared to them, and had told them that Jesus was alive. They told the eleven and told the rest of the community what they had seen, but apparently no one knew what to make of their story; not even Peter who went to the tomb to explore it for himself and found it exactly as the women had described it.
That’s the setting, then, as we enter into this story of these two followers making their way to Emmaus. They were part of the group that heard the women’s testimony but clearly it hadn’t changed their perspective. They were downcast. They were talking to each other about everything that had happened. And it is at this point that Jesus, unrecognized, joins them.
There are two clues here to their state of mind. First, in verse 19, they refer to Jesus not as the Messiah or the Son of God, but simply as a prophet. Jesus has taken a huge step down in their assessment. Second, verse 21, they use the imperfect, not the present, in speaking of their hopes for him; “We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.” In their minds Jesus is gone. It’s over. It’s finished.
Where is God in all of this? These two come across as very much alone, very frightened, and very confused.
Most of us, I suspect, have had moments when we feel suffused with a sense of well-being; when we look around and realize what an extraordinary gift this life is and how truly blessed we are. These are those times when everything has come together in a very beautiful way. But there are other times, and these come to almost all of us at some point along the way when what we feel is just the opposite – moments when, like these two followers, we’ve hit a low point and find ourselves wondering if God has turned away.
It can happen with the news that we’ve been laid off, “riffed” to use the popular acronym, and suddenly we are wondering how we are going to pay the mortgage or support our kids. Or it can be that moment when our spouse announces that he or she has had enough; they are leaving, or that they have found someone else. It can be that spot that suddenly shows up in our x-rays, or the accident that takes the life of someone very dear to us. Or it can be a depression that slips in and wraps its darkness around every facet of our lives until all light seems to have been obliterated.
Whatever the cause, it can happen with a devastating swiftness, and it is not at all unusually to wonder where God is; why God would allow this to happen; and why we feel so desperately alone.
Two followers on their way to Emmaus. Their world has fallen apart. Everything they had believed, everything they had hoped – they have lost it all. Where’s Jesus? Why have things turned out this way? Part of the beauty of this text, and part of its power, is that we know that Jesus is right there; literally right beside them. The issue isn’t that Jesus is gone. The issue, rather, is that they simply don’t see him. They don’t understand.
Part of what it means to say that Jesus has risen, is that he is very much alive. Now, at this moment, Jesus is alive. It means that he is right here; here in that Kingdom – that eternity – which is wrapped around this very moment.
Do you remember what Jesus promised his followers, promised to all of us, following his resurrection? It was part of his charge to them; the last words of the Great Commission, and the very last words of Matthew’s Gospel, “Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Not with us sometimes; not with us only in those moments when we feel his nearness. With us always, and to the very end of time itself. That’s the reality those two followers experienced in the midst of their despair; that’s the promise that Jesus makes to each and every one of us. I am with you always.
Some of you may remember the earthquake that hit Armenia about eighteen years ago. It was catastrophic with something over 30,000 people dying in less than four minutes.
One of the stories that came out of that devastation was of a father who had rushed to his son’s school after the earthquake. He found the entire school had been flattened. As he looked at the pile of debris and felt the hopelessness of the situation, tears began to fill his eyes. Then he remembered the promise that he had once made to his son, “No matter what, I’ll always be there for you.”
That father found his way to the back right corner of the building, back to where he knew his son’s classroom had been. He began to dig.
Others tried to pull him away, “It’s too late!” “They’re dead!” “You can’t help.” “Go home!” But he refused. Refused when the other parents tried to drag him away. Refused when the fire chief told him to stop because of the danger. Refused when the police tried to send him home.
Each time he asked, “Are you going to help me?” And then he would keep on digging, stone by stone, driven by his promise and by the need to know if his son was truly dead.
He dug alone for eight hours, then twelve, then twenty four, then thirty six. Then, in the thirty-eighth hour he pulled a boulder back and thought he heard his son’s voice.
He screamed his name, “Armand!” And then he heard, “Dad?! It’s me, Dad! I told the other kids not to worry. I told them that if you were alive, you’d save me and when you saved me, they’d be saved. You promised… you did it Dad!”
Because of the father’s perseverance, fourteen students were saved. Because of his promise, his son and thirteen of his classmates never gave up.
Jesus has risen! He has risen indeed! It just doesn’t get any bigger for us. Our culture might make a far bigger deal of Christmas with all the gifts and carols and movies about Santa, but for us it is this day that stands at the center of our faith; this day which lends significance to all the rest.
No matter how great, how insightful Jesus’ teaching might have been, without the resurrection there would have been no Christian community, no Christian movement to change the course of human history. Those two followers were part of the committed core, but look at what they were doing. Look at what they were thinking. They weren’t in Jerusalem anymore. They were already leaving. Those two followers had already given up all hope.
It was their encounter with the risen Jesus that changed everything for them. It was Jesus’ resurrection that caused them to see his life, his teachings, most especially his death in a whole new way. It is because he is alive that Jesus can promise to be there with us no matter what we might face in life. Years ago, in an article titled “Please Omit Sympathy,” author Walter Lowen wrote:
Let me tell you what the doctor who attended my wife did for me as I stood dazed and lost at the foot of her bed, knowing not only that the 37 years we had together were over, but feeling also that all meaning had gone from my life forever. He took my arm and held it for a moment. And then he said in a matter-of-fact voice, “You’ll see her again.” That was all. But that was all I needed to hear.
This is something that we can hold onto: hold onto amid the joys of this life; and hold onto, most especially, in those moments when we hit bottom – when we reach the limit of our own resources, and when it feel like the emptiness and darkness have finally won. God is with us, God will not abandon us. That’s the promise. In Jesus’ resurrection we catch a glimpse of all eternity. We see that life that lies beyond us and all around us. And for us, living here amid the joys and struggles of this earthly existence, that’s all the hope and all the promise that you and I will ever need.