Happy Mother's Day

Early one morning a mother goes into her son’s room to wake him up for school. “Come on, honey!” She says. “It’s time to get up for school.” He son replied. “Aw mom. I don’t want to go to school. It’s no fun. The kids hate me and the teachers don’t like me much either. His mother replied “Well that’s no reason to stay home. You need to go to school.” Her son said, “No. I have had enough. Give me two reasons why I should go.” His mom said, “One, I am your mother and I said you had to go, and Two, you are the principle. Now get up and go to school.” Happy mother’s day to all those of you who are mothers. We celebrate and give thanks for you. Happy mother’s day to all those who have mothers, as well.

But today is not just Mother’s day. Today is also the third Sunday of Easter. It is still Easter and so we joyfully proclaim; Alleluia! Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed! Alleluia! One of the great things about Easter is that it is not just a day on the church calendar. But it is an entire season. Seven weeks to be exact. So we get to take our time in unpacking the depth and richness of Easter, and what it means for us to live as the people of the resurrected Jesus.

On Easter Sunday we talked about how Easter is life. Last week we heard from those who went and lived as people touched and transformed by Easter as they went to Mexicali and spent a week in service to others. Today we spend some time talking about Easter as worship. And we see that in an amazing text that is from Luke’s gospel.

Now, while the season of Easter being seven weeks is a good thing, it can be difficult for us to maintain our sense of timing as we have a full week in between stories. Plus we skip around from Gospel to Gospel as well. So that can make it a little challenging. So today’s story takes place on the actual day of Easter. The very day that Jesus rose from the dead is where we are right now.

So there are two disciples. We don’t know a whole lot about them. One of them is named Cleopas. But that is all that we are really told. They are making their way to the village of Emmaus which is about seven miles away. As they were walking they were talking about all that had happen and had taken place. The events of the past few days must have felt like a whirl wind and now they are beginning to process it.

And Jesus comes among them and is walking with them. But they were kept from recognizing him. Isn’t that interesting? They were kept from recognizing him. Now latter they will recognize him, but for right now they don’t. Their experience would not have been the same tough if they had recognized him right away. It is through revelation, through the power of the Spirit that we are able to recognize him. When Peter confesses that Jesus is the messiah he tells him that it is not flesh and blood that has made this known to Peter, but the Father has revealed it to him. We cannot believe in Jesus or come to him, except that the Holy Spirit call, gather and enlighten us. So we see that at this point the risen Lord has not yet been revealed to these disciples.

So Jesus asks them what they are talking about. And they give this beautiful confession. Jesus of Nazareth. He was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God. He was condemned and crucified. We had hoped that he would be the one to redeem Israel. And yet, that was all three days ago, this morning some of the women told us they found the tomb empty and there were angles there saying that he was alive.

Can you almost hear the confusion in their voices as they tell this story? I mean this kind of stuff doesn’t happen all the time. Can you imagine the mixed emotions they must have been feeling? And then Jesus begins to explain to them how this was supposed to happen to the Messiah. It is all written in the scriptures and then he proceeds to interpret the Scriptures to them.

Oh, wouldn’t you love to have been able to listen in on that conversation? Wouldn’t you love to have it written down that we might see exactly what Jesus said, or to know the disciples reaction. You can almost hear him as he points out in Genesis 3 how God promises enmity between the seed of the snake and that of the woman. You will bruise his heel and he will crush your head.

And then we go to Abram and God tells him, I will bless you and you will be a blessing and through you all the nations of the earth will be blessed. And then we go to Moses and the sacrificial system and how all the sacrifices and feasts point to the work that Messiah does in saving his people. Then onto David. David tells God that he wants to build him a house, and God says, I will build you a household. His descendants will sit on the throne forever. Then onto the Psalms and Isaiah and the suffering servant; all Scripture points to Jesus.

What a journey this must have been. What a bible study it must have been. They arrive home and now it is toward the evening and the day is almost over. They invite Jesus to stay. He takes the bread, blesses it, breaks it and gives it to them and at that moment their eyes are open and they recognize Jesus. The words takes, blesses, breaks, are all verbs that call to mind the sacrament of communion. On the night, in which he was betrayed, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and gave it to the disciples…

Then they get it. They begin to understand what had just taken place. Jesus was made known to them both in word as they had explored the scriptures with him on their journey to Emmaus, and also in sacrament as the bread was broken and given to them.

It was in remembering this and reflecting on what they had just seen that the disciples got it. Were not our hearts burning within us as he opened to us the Scriptures? And so what do they do? They go back to Jerusalem. Now this is no small matter. Remember Jerusalem is seven miles away. They spent a good portion of their day walking back home, and yet, this news is too good to not share. So within the very hour they get back up and they go back to Jerusalem. There they find the other disciples. And there they proclaim that the Lord has risen indeed. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia.

Isn’t this a great story? I love it. And what we see here in this journey is what we find in worship. So there is gathering as we come together. We are here in a way that is unlike any other kind of gathering that we participate in. We are not here merely as individuals under the same roof or in the same pew at the same time. But we are here as disciples. We are here as people who follow Jesus. We are here as those who have been forgiven because on the cross Jesus cried out, “it is finished. And there he paid the price for all our sins.” We are here as members of his body, and children of the same heavenly father.

We gather together and we hear the good news. We hear the Scriptures as they are prayed in our prayers, as they are read in our midst, as they are sung in our songs. We listen to them because in them we see Jesus revealed to us. Just as the scriptures were opened to the disciples, so too they are opened to us as the Spirit works through them to give and strengthen our faith.

We receive the gifts that God gives to us in Holy Communion. We receive forgiveness, life and salvation. This bread and wine are not mere symbols. They are not the re-enactment of a historical event. We gather together at God’s table. We are here where he is host. And we are fed, nourished and strengthened by his very body and blood. And again he reveals himself to us.

But as wonderful as this is, and it is certainly wonderful. We do not stay here. Fed and nourished and strengthened, renewed and refreshed we then go out, we go back out into the world to tell others and to share the good news of God’s love in Jesus. We do this in both word and action.

All of this is ours because our savior is our risen savior. He defeated the powers of sin and death and the devil, and so we no longer lived bound to those things. Instead we live a life that is full and abundant. We live life in Jesus where we live and serve together in sincere love for one another out of a pure heart.

This is the miracle of worship. This happens all the time, because this is how God chooses to work. This is not dependent on no mistakes in the worship service. If the screen is off, the sermon is boring, the songs are too hard to sing, the music is too loud, the kids won’t be quite, I can’t hear the pastor, I can hear the pastor.

In spite of all these things, God is here. He works in these powerful ways in our lives. He serves us and reveals himself to us in word and sacrament. Strengthened and nourished we go out to love and serve and live as his people in the world. And we proclaim boldly that Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.