Today’s Lectionary Readings: Psalm 149; Isaiah 30:18-26; Luke 24:12-27; 1 Corinthians 15:12-28; Psalm 111
One of my favorite post-Resurrection stories is the one that comes to us today from the Gospel of Luke. I love it because it makes a very simple, straightforward point. It’s a point, in fact, that I made during the children’s sermon last Sunday. The point is this: throughout Jesus’ life, he seldom showed up at the times – or in the places – people expected him. For instance, folks expected “good people” to avoid tax collectors like the plague. So where did Jesus spend some of his time? With tax collectors. And others were convinced that “good people” never mixed with those infidels known as Samaritans. So who did Jesus spend time with at the well one day? A Samaritan (a Samaritan WOMAN even – gasp!). Same thing happened in the moments following Jesus’ crucifixion. Folks expected him to be predictable and remain in the tomb. And guess what? He showed up in places like the road to Emmaus! If there’s one thing we can take away from the first post-Easter stories it’s this – expect the living presence of Christ to appear at the times and places in our lives that we least expect it. This lesson is a huge challenge for us modern folks because we live such compartmentalized lives. We have our families in a box over here; we have our jobs and/or careers in another box over here; we have our faith communities in a box over here; and we have our civic and political commitments in a box over here. Each of those boxes becomes a sort of tomb that often becomes a subconscious attempt to keep our faith out of certain aspects of our lives. And then along comes Jesus once again and destroys our beloved boxes. Today, I invite you to open your eyes – and your spirits – to see if you too might have your own encounter with the living spirit of Christ. Oh that encounter may not take place on a roadside – it might occur around the water cooler at work, or in the halls at school between classes, or at home while you are working together on a project instead. Who knows! What I do know is that those encounters will occur at some point if your eyes and spirit are open to them. My hope for us today is that God’s spirit will open us to these unexpected encounters. Til next time…
One of my favorite post-Resurrection stories is the one that comes to us today from the Gospel of Luke. I love it because it makes a very simple, straightforward point. It’s a point, in fact, that I made during the children’s sermon last Sunday. The point is this: throughout Jesus’ life, he seldom showed up at the times – or in the places – people expected him. For instance, folks expected “good people” to avoid tax collectors like the plague. So where did Jesus spend some of his time? With tax collectors. And others were convinced that “good people” never mixed with those infidels known as Samaritans. So who did Jesus spend time with at the well one day? A Samaritan (a Samaritan WOMAN even – gasp!). Same thing happened in the moments following Jesus’ crucifixion. Folks expected him to be predictable and remain in the tomb. And guess what? He showed up in places like the road to Emmaus! If there’s one thing we can take away from the first post-Easter stories it’s this – expect the living presence of Christ to appear at the times and places in our lives that we least expect it. This lesson is a huge challenge for us modern folks because we live such compartmentalized lives. We have our families in a box over here; we have our jobs and/or careers in another box over here; we have our faith communities in a box over here; and we have our civic and political commitments in a box over here. Each of those boxes becomes a sort of tomb that often becomes a subconscious attempt to keep our faith out of certain aspects of our lives. And then along comes Jesus once again and destroys our beloved boxes. Today, I invite you to open your eyes – and your spirits – to see if you too might have your own encounter with the living spirit of Christ. Oh that encounter may not take place on a roadside – it might occur around the water cooler at work, or in the halls at school between classes, or at home while you are working together on a project instead. Who knows! What I do know is that those encounters will occur at some point if your eyes and spirit are open to them. My hope for us today is that God’s spirit will open us to these unexpected encounters. Til next time…
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