Readings for the day (3rd Sunday of Easter – Sunday, April 26, 2020):
Dear friends in Christ, grace to you and peace from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus the risen Christ. Amen.
First of all, how are you doing? Six weeks ago today our journey began, when we first heard that school was going to distance learning. So how are you doing with all of this? If you’re coming to us through Facebook or YouTube, you can leave a comment below. Or you can always reach out to Pr. Stephanie, Pr. Eric or myself with a text or a personal message on Facebook. Or give us a call. We care about you and we care about your well-being. Know that we’re praying for you. And even if your doing well, we’d love to hear from you.
Today we have the Road to Emmaus story. It is set on Easter Sunday. After seeing Jesus crucified, died and placed in a tomb, these two disciples decided to leave Jerusalem. On their journey, they were discussing and lamenting all of the crazy, unexplainable things that took place over the last couple of days in Jerusalem. As they’re explaining all of this craziness, a man joins them on their journey. This man is Jesus, although they don’t realize that it’s Him. So they continue to lament while Jesus just listens. He doesn’t interrupt them. He doesn’t correct them or stop them. He simply lets them lament about losing their teacher.
Lamenting is important. Lamenting is okay. Right now we have many things to lament about – the ending of the school year, the changes in our work from the loss of work, to the increased work load, to doing work in a different way. We also lament not being able to gather together with friends and family. We lament not being able to worship in person and receive Holy Communion. We lament the loss of what our normal life was like before this new journey began six weeks ago. But even though we lament the journey. Even though we lament all of the many ways our lives have changed; at least temporarily, Jesus still joins us on the journey. To use the phrase that Pastor Eric used last week when talking about the eleven disciples locking themselves in a room, “Jesus shows up.” Jesus shows up when we need Him the most.
On that road to Emmaus, these two disciples were grieving the loss of their teacher. Today, like many of you, I grieve the loss of our normal school year. We kind of knew that this decision was coming, but hearing it on Thursday was still tough. And yet, even in this grief, even in this frustration and lamenting, Jesus shows up. Jesus shows up, not to interrupt the lamenting, but to listen. Jesus shows up to allow them to vent, not to stop them from lamenting.
You are not alone in this journey. We are not alone in this journey. For Jesus shows up to be with us. Plus, we also have each other. Pick up the phone and call your friends and family. Grab your computer or tablet and video call someone. Check in on your grandkids. We all are on this journey together. And together we will get through this. Plus Jesus is with us every step of the way. Just as He was with these disciples as they journeyed to Emmaus.
We’re on a journey. And it’s a hell of a journey we’re on. But it’s a journey that we’re not alone on either. God is with us. And we don’t have to look too hard to see God’s presence among us. I see God in the way parents are bringing the classroom into their home. I see God in how resilient our children are despite all of the wild changes they have gone through in six short weeks. I see God in the way people are dropping whatever they are doing to make masks for people that they don’t even know. I see God in the way you are stepping up to support our local businesses who are having to reimage how they live and work. I see God in the way so many are giving each other grace and forgiveness in this difficult time.
You know where you learned that grace from? Jesus gave us the example of how to be gracious to one another. How to look for the best in each other. How to love and support our neighbor. Jesus gave us the example.
As we continue to learn more each day, you can probably feel the journey getting longer and longer. And it is certainly a difficult journey we’re on, but this isn’t a lonely journey. God is with us. God is with you. And together we will get through this. Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia! Amen.
© 2020 Anthony Christoffels. All Rights Reserved.
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