Sunday, April 23, 2023

Third Sunday of Easter
Acts 2:14a, 36-41
Psalm 116:1-14
1 Peter 1:17-25
Luke 24:13-35

When he had sat down at the table with them, he took the bread and gave thanks. Breaking it, he gave it to them.

I love to read historical novels, especially those that are set in England. The era of Henry VIII has been used by many authors because his life was filled with everything a good story needs: lust, betrayal, love, and murder. Though the books I read are fiction, the authors are historians and use real documents to come to their conclusions about the time and people. Many of their characters are real. Sometimes even the conversations are accurate. We can’t know what is in anyone’s heart, especially someone who lived centuries ago, but the authors create situations that reveal the ambitions of the people and their willingness to do anything necessary to get what they want.

That’s where we see the intrigue and conflict in the life of Henry and his six wives: Henry was easily manipulated by those in his court, quickly turned from one opinion to another. They used his favor to get ahead but had to work even harder to keep their place in his court. Kings like Henry VIII demand much of his people, turning on those who do not satisfy his every whim. Because of this, he was easily manipulated. However, it took very little to make him turn his back on those who had been loyal.

The story of the Boleyn family is a classic tale of people of humble beginnings working their way to the top. The family patriarch was a tradesman who became a successful merchant. He found favor in the court of the king, earning titles and wealth at the king’s hand. His daughters, Mary first and then Anne, were caught up in the lives of the nobles of Europe. Mary was said to have been mistress to two kings, including Henry when she was serving his wife Catherine. Her sister Anne was also a lady for Queen Catherine.

A lady is little more than a servant: not really a servant but called to serve. The ladies and courtiers to the king were expected to be available at any moment to do whatever the king and queen desired. If the queen wanted her hair brushed, one of the ladies would do it. They did not do the dirty or heavy work, after all they were gentry. However, they were servants at the monarchs’ beck and call. Anne served, but as she served the queen, she caught the eye of the king. Then she manipulated herself into his heart and destroyed the royal relationship. She gained her crown by convincing the king that he was the only authority: above parliament, the church, and even God. That was her undoing. He used that authority to have her beheaded when she no longer pleased him.

Everyone acted as if they loved the king, willingly and willfully doing his bidding. However, it was exhausting for the ladies and courtiers to constantly keep up the act. They did not love the king, they loved what the king could give to them. They loved the wealth and the power they had because of his favor. They did not love the king because they knew that if he was unhappy, he would ignore their pleas and perhaps even destroy them. A compassionate king is beloved. A king that listens to the complaints of his subjects will also hear their hearts filled praise.

The psalmist sings, “Because he has turned his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.” The Lord God is gracious and merciful. He hears the cries of His people, and He answers their prayers. Our psalm was used as part of the liturgy for the religious festivals throughout the Jewish year. It is a hymn of thanksgiving and praise for God’s deliverance from death.

The Jews had three festivals that were tied directly to agriculture and the harvest. These celebrations also had historical remembrances attached, so they were celebrations in thanksgiving to God for His daily care for His people as well as His goodness to their people throughout the ages. Passover occurs first and is a remembrance of the Exodus. On the third day of Passover, a sheaf of the first barley is given at the Temple as a wave offering. The priest literally waved the sheaf toward God so that He might accept it and bless it. No one was allowed to eat any of the barley wheat before the wave offering. This was also called the Feast of First Fruits.

The third feast was called Sukkot or the Feast of Tabernacles/Booths. This festival lasted for a week in the fall, and it celebrated the harvest. During this festival the people remembered the journey from Egypt to Canaan and to thank God for the productivity of Canaan. The religious life of God’s people went from Passover to Sukkot, just as the agricultural calendar went from planting to harvest. The people identified God’s deliverance and His provision by celebrating the harvest of their daily bread and the remembrance of their past.

Between those two festivals, fifty days after Passover, the people celebrated the Feast of Weeks, also known as Shavu’ot or Pentecost. This was a festival of joyful thanksgiving to God for blessing the harvest by giving offerings from the first fruits of their work. Pentecost was also a time to remember the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai. Just as the people stopped briefly between their exodus out of Egypt and their journey to Canaan at the foot of the mountain, so too did the people stop briefly during the year to thank God for the blessings He had already given and to hear once again the words given to them on the mountain. The giving of the Law occurred fifty days after the Passover in Egypt, so it occurred fifty days later in the yearly remembrance of God’s mercy. The reading of the Law was an important part of this festival.

The word Pentecost means “fifty days.” Jesus was crucified during the celebration of Passover, taken to the cross as the perfect Lamb of God. It is no surprise then that the Holy Spirit would come upon the disciples fifty days later while the city was filled with people attending the Feast of Pentecost. On the first Pentecost, the people of Israel were given God’s law. During the Pentecost that we see recorded in the book of Acts, the people were given the Holy Spirit, along with God’s power and authority. God’s Word was written on their hearts instead of tablets of stone.

It could not have been easy for Peter to speak his first sermon before the crowds that were in Jerusalem for the festival. They were there to hear the reading of God’s Law; Peter gave them something better. It was bold and courageous. He was offering them a new promise, a different promise. As they heard his words, the people were “pricked in their heart” or “cut to the heart” and they wondered what they should do with this new story. Peter told them to repent - not only of the sins they had committed, but also of the way they were doing worship and living their lives of faith. He told them to be baptized so that they would be forgiven and receive the Holy Spirit. He said many other things, testifying to convince them of the truth of what he was saying. His boldness brought the word of God, Jesus, to thousands of people in one day.

There is a story about a father that wanted to give his child something to do. He took a map of the U.S. out of the newspaper and tore it into pieces to see if his child could put the map back together. A few minutes later the child returned with it all taped back together. The father was amazed. “How did you do that so fast?” The child turned the page over. One the back was a picture of Jesus. “I just put Jesus together and everything fit into place.”

Ask any youth minister and they will tell you that Jesus is always the answer. It doesn’t matter what question you ask, the kids will always say “Jesus.” And they are right. Jesus is the answer. The problem is that sometimes we don’t know how to put all the pieces together.

That’s what was happening to the disciples in those moments following the crucifixion and the resurrection. The encounter in today’s Gospel lesson took place on the first Easter Day. Some of the disciples stayed in Jerusalem, hiding. Others left; last week we heard that Thomas was missing in action. In today’s story, two disciples were walking home to Emmaus. These disciples had been with Jesus and learned from Him for some time, possibly most of His three years of ministry. They did not understand how everything fit together. The crucifixion of Jesus did not fit their expectation. The witness of the women that Jesus had risen confused them. They could not make the puzzle fit together because there was something wrong with some of the pieces.

In the closing scenes of the movie “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” Indiana is faced with a difficult decision. His father has just been shot and the only way to save his life was the Holy Grail which they had been searching for many years. After surviving a gauntlet by following the clues, Indiana has made his way into a cave where an ancient knight was protecting the grail. On the shelf were a hundred cups, some were extremely ornate and others quite simple. The bad guy followed Indiana into the cave and went directly to the cups. He demanded to know which one, but the knight responded, “You have to choose.” A wrong choice meant certain death.

He turned to a woman who had also followed Indiana and gave her the responsibility. She chose a large gold vessel covered with precious jewels. It was a cup fit for a king. The man agreed and took the cup to pool of cool clean water. He drank and immediately began to age. He not only died but his entire body decomposed and disintegrated before our eyes. The knight said, “He chose poorly.” Indiana looked over the shelf of cups and chose a most humble vessel. “This is the cup of a carpenter’s son.” Indeed, it was the cup that gave life. He took it to his father and the wound was healed by the water poured from the cup.

Every generation since Christ has searched for the Holy Grail. There are legends from all over the world about the cup of Christ. There are stories from around England that Joseph of Arimathea buried it on the island. I once saw a class cup from first century Israel and wondered if it could be the cup, after all, the owner of the Upper Room could very well have had glass vessels for the guests. Modern authors are fascinated by the possibility of the existence of that one simple cup that Jesus used at the Last Supper, as if it offered something special to anyone who possessed it. Yet, we need not look so far to discover the Holy Grail. We don’t need to go on dangerous adventures to hidden rooms with ancient knights like Indiana Jones to know the life-giving liquid of Christ’s cup.

Today’s Gospel story is one of my favorites, perhaps because we see how truly human the disciples really were. We often think of them as special and extraordinary, but they were just like you and me. We wonder how they did not recognize Jesus, but then we realize that we are sometimes so overwhelmed by our circumstances that we do not see the obvious. Jesus was probably in a form that made him appear different and their eyes were kept from recognizing Him. However, they were also distracted by their thoughts and emotions. What had happened? What were they going to do? Who was this Jesus, really?

We don’t always recognize the presence of God in our ordinary circumstances. Jesus said that we would see Him in the faces of those we serve, but how often do we really do so? Do we see Jesus in that neighbor who needs a helping hand or the hungry man at the food bank? Do we see Jesus in the politician that needs our prayers or the teacher that is overwhelmed by her work? Do we recognize Jesus in the person behind the wheel of the car that just cut us off or the friend that has forgotten to answer an email?

The two disciples were walking to Emmaus on the evening after the Resurrection. One of them was named Cleopas. The other is unnamed, but it is thought to be his wife, Mary. They were discussing the events surrounding Jesus’ death when a stranger joined them. They did not recognize that it was Jesus. In all the stories of Jesus’ appearances, He had full control. When He asked what they were discussing, the disciples were shocked to hear that He did not know what had happened. “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who doesn’t know the things which have happened there in these days?”

It must have seemed impossible that someone could have been in Jerusalem and not heard about Jesus. They told Him the story as they knew and understood it, how Jesus was crucified and how some of the others had seen Him alive. Their story was laced with sadness and confusion. They had heard He was raised but were uncertain. “Foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Didn’t the Christ have to suffer these things and to enter into his glory?” Jesus answered their confusion by opening the scriptures for them, sharing Old Testament passages, and explaining how they related to His the life, death, and resurrection. He started putting the pieces together for them. They began to see and understand more clearly, although Jesus was not yet fully revealed to them.

We might wonder why Jesus did not just say, “Hey friends, here I am!” Yet can you imagine the impact His appearance would have had on these disciples? They still did not fully understand how everything fit into the plan of God. Jesus needed to put all the pieces into the puzzle in the right way, but it would have been very difficult to do so if they knew that it was Jesus walking beside them. They listened intently, growing in knowledge about the story as Jesus revealed the words of Moses and the Prophets foretelling of Jesus’ life, ministry, and suffering. He also showed them how He was to be raised.

When they arrived at their destination, Jesus tried to keep going but the disciples invited him inside. It was late and they were probably very curious about this man they met on the road. He had so much knowledge of things they should have known but didn’t. They wanted to learn more. I am sure they found comfort in His words. They sat down to eat, and when Jesus took the bread, blessed it, and broke it for them, they saw Jesus. They were amazed, not just that Jesus was alive, but that they didn’t recognize Him. “Weren’t our hearts burning within us, while he spoke to us along the way, and while he opened the Scriptures to us?” Jesus was revealed to the disciples in the sharing of the word and of the bread.

Jesus not only taught the disciples about the Kingdom of God as found in the Law and the Prophets, but He renewed the covenant that He established at the Last Supper. As we hear the scriptures read and preached, we learn about the Jesus who came to do all this for us. It is in the breaking of bread that we join in the fellowship of His people, receiving His body and blood together with every Christian in all time and space. We are made new every time we receive this gift: forgiven, transformed, and purified by His grace so that we can go forth another day to trust God and live in love. We can find the Holy Grail around the Table each Sunday when we gather to receive the body and blood of Jesus.

Jesus established the pattern of worship for our lives of faith. He is revealed in word and bread. We experience Christ in body and in spirit. Our faith is founded on both reason and mystery. What does it all mean? Where are we going? What do we do with this faith we have been given? It was not until the bread was broken that the disciples could see Him clearly. Then they knew it was Jesus and they were amazed. Then they were able to go out and share the Good News with others. Jesus put the pieces together so that everything else would fit into place.

There are ministries all over the country that support transitional houses for women when they leave prison. At these houses, women are supported in their efforts to return to society transformed and ready to live a better life. They receive new clothes, cosmetic and hygiene products, and home comforts. Unfortunately, when many women leave prison, they return to their homes where they are subjected to the same people and circumstances that caused them to commit the crime that put them in prison. They return to abuse, drug use, and gang mentality. These houses are designed to create a new family atmosphere for the women so that they can see that they can live a different life.

These programs offer job training and help find work opportunities for the women. They provide clothes to give the women confidence and a professional appearance for job interviews and work. They protect the women from their old lives, providing access to only those things that will help them become successful in the world. If there are children involved, they will help with Child Services to ensure their safety and well-being. These ministries help women grab hold of a new life, a better life.

Peter wrote, “...knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your fathers...” Jesus Christ died, and His blood was shed to give God’s people new life. God intends for us all to look at our past and consider how He has brought us out of it into something new. What have we been ransomed from? What is it about our life that God wants to transform?

We inherit from our past so many things: health, tradition, culture, finances, property, business, personality, habits, politics, biases, debts, feuds, religion, and interests. Some of these things can be good and are worth continuing into another generation. However, some of the things we inherit from our past have no value and can actually be harmful. Like the women in those transitional houses, there are things that we have to set aside to become the people we are meant to be. Jesus made it possible, redeeming us from the failures of our past. The sacrificial system had little value because it was not lasting. Jesus was the perfect Lamb of God who finished for all time the need for atoning sacrifice. In His grace, we are called to trust in God, love one another, and live according to the word of God.

The two disciples saw Jesus clearly when He broke the bread with them. I would not like to admit how many times I saw the truth as I was on my knees receiving communion. Too often as I take the bread and wine I realize my own failures during the week, seeing His face in those that I failed to serve. I remember the opportunities I had to share the Good News but was so caught up in my own cares and concerns. But just like those disciples, I also see God’s grace in the breaking of the bread. I remember his forgiveness and receive the strength to go on into another week of trying to live as His witness in this world.

God does not always come to us in dramatic and forceful ways. Sometimes He comes to us slowly at first, carefully laying out His story so that when He is fully revealed we will recognize him. Though some Christians have extraordinary experiences of Jesus, like Paul on the road to Damascus, most of us learn about Jesus through Sunday school teachers and our parents. Slowly, but surely, we hear the stories laid out before us until one day we finally see Him and understand. Even then we wonder how we could not have seen, just like those disciples. “Weren’t our hearts burning within us?” we ask. But in the stories of God’s grace, we see that we are just like those who were there at the beginning, learning, and growing in grace each day.

Our experience in life is nothing like it must have been in the court of King Henry VIII, where everyone was an enemy because they stood in the way of one’s ambition. However, we do face enemies throughout our lives - the bully on the playground, the co-worker willing to do whatever is necessary to get ahead, the jealous boyfriend. Even our siblings can be like enemies: always working against us to get their own way. However, the greatest enemy we face is death and Christ has conquered that enemy for us. This is enough for us to sing His praise and proclaim our love.

We are reminded of that grace every time we receive the cup that bears the very blood of Christ which was shed for us on the cross. Christ did this for you. Each time we gather around the table, we call out to the Lord for salvation. We find life in His answer as we remember the cross of Christ. His love is revealed in that breaking of bread. There we see Jesus revealed for us. The Psalmist sings, “I will take the cup of salvation, and call on Yahweh’s name. I will pay my vows to Yahweh, yes, in the presence of all his people.” We find the Holy Grail at the table where Jesus Christ is given for us in the bread and wine. We are made new every time we receive that gift, forgiven, transformed, and purified by His Word so that we can go forth another day to trust in God and live in love.

God hears us when we cry out to Him, and He is right there to answer our prayers and do everything that He has promised. The answer is always Jesus. He puts the pieces into place and makes everything come together.

Jesus commanded us to “Do this in remembrance of me,” because in the Word and Sacraments He reveals Himself again and again. We are amazed, and this Good News demands a response, so like those two disciples from Emmaus, we are to go out and tell others about our risen Lord Jesus so that they will believe and be saved. It might be scary, but like Peter and the disciples at Pentecost, we have the Holy Spirit to guide us, to give us courage, to fill our mouths with the words that others will hear. He will put the pieces together for them, too.