Rev. Dr. Rebecca L. Kiser
4/26/20 Facebook Live Easter 3A
Small Steps -----Luke 24:13-35; 36-49
This has
been a very difficult week for me, and I imagine for many of you as well. The urgency of the initial weeks to get
something going for us online, keeping us together, then redoing all the plans
for Holy Week and Easter - this focused me and took a lot of energy for all of
us to move to the more virtual world of learning what were for many of us, the
new skills of Facebook and Zoom. We’ve
worked hard together to switch our church fellowship to this other way of
being; we’ve all pitched in and learned together, and been really good sports
about it all.
This week
I’ve been exhausted, tired of having to be at home and alone so much; wondering
how we will handle the Transition we were working on as an Interim time - or if
that’s too much while this other national crisis and transition is
ongoing. I’ve heard all the rhetoric
about reopening businesses so the economic impact of this will be less; and
then the other voice warning of consequences in more deaths if we do. I’ve wondered what our congregation should
do, if our governor does start to reopen things - which I don’t think he’ll do
anytime soon, actually. We are fortunate
to have a governor who is stepping up to the plate as a real leader in the
midst of so many other voices. Pray for
him.
I’ve
wondered and feared how long this will go on and what the long-term
consequences will be. It’s really
impossible to know - I am overwhelmed by information, and long to know the
answers - at least to know what to do in the short term, what might be the smartest
things to do now to prepare ourselves.
Those of us alive now have never faced something like this.
I am proud
of you all here, that your ability to empathise with the struggles going on in
other places, and stay home. This virus
hasn’t touched us hard in our county so far,
and our local hospitals are not in the same crisis as those in major
cities. We’ve had deaths, yet not of the
proportion of, say, NYC. Yet we have
been able to realize the connection of the country, and the world - so that we
are willing to do our part. Just because
we are currently okay doesn’t blind us to the suffering of so many.
Into this
current crisis comes the words of the gospel of Luke, two stories really,
linked together because they are about the risen Christ. I often quote from the first part of this
text when we celebrate communion, about how Christ is recognized in the
breaking of the bread, which is now a required part of observing this
sacrament. The second part has the risen
Christ again with the group of disciples and followers, where he again says
“Peace be with you,” and again refers to the coming of the Spirit. I will read for us now.
13Now
on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven
miles from Jerusalem, 14and talking with each other about all these
things that had happened. 15While they were talking and discussing, Jesus
himself came near and went with them, 16but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
17And he said to them, “What are you discussing
with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. 18Then
one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger
in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these
days?” 19He asked them, “What things?” They replied,
“The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word
before God and all the people, 20and how our chief priests and leaders handed
him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. 21But
we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this,
it is now the third day since these things took place. 22Moreover,
some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning,
23and when they did not find his body there,
they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who
said that he was alive. 24Some of those who were with us went to the
tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.”
25Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you
are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! 26Was
it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter
into his glory?” 27Then beginning with Moses and all the
prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the
scriptures. 28As they came near the village to which they
were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. 29But
they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening
and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30When
he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it
to them. 31Then their eyes were opened, and they
recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. 32They
said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking
to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” 33That
same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and
their companions gathered together. 34They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed,
and he has appeared to Simon!” 35Then they told what had happened on the road,
and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
36While they were talking about this, Jesus
himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 37They
were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. 38He
said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39Look
at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost
does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40And
when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41While
in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have
you anything here to eat?” 42They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43and
he took it and ate in their presence. 44Then he said to them, “These are my words that
I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in
the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” 45Then
he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46and
he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise
from the dead on the third day, 47and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is
to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48You
are witnesses of these things. 49And see, I am sending upon you what my Father
promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from
on high.”
A
commentator on this passage this week reminded me of a phrase I learned just
last year - Solvitur Ambulando. It comes
from St. Augustine, who would walk and wrestle with his pondering of Scripture,
and talk with God while walking. The
phrase means, “It is solved by walking.”
Many people have found that taking a break from pouring over a book or a
project seems to refresh the mind, open us to thoughts popping up from our
unconscious - or we might say, letting us become aware of what the spirit is
whispering. I do that myself - looking
at the world, the trees and sky, the animal life around, feeling the breeze,
letting go of the tension. Often I can
then come back to what I’m working on with a different spirit. It is solved by walking.
The two followers of Jesus have left
Jerusalem where all the drama of crucifixion has taken place, and are returning
to their own village called Emmaus.
They’ve evidently heard the story of the women who found the tomb empty
and heard an angel say Jesus is alive.
They don’t seem to know what to make of that. Or of any of what has gone on. They are just walking home, their hopes in
Jesus dashed. One step in front of the
other, returning to their village to see what comes next. When a fellow traveler falls in step with
them, they talk about what’s on their hearts. And they find that their fellow
walker has a lot to say, helping them to see the truths of their scriptures
that obviously they hadn’t seen before. He changed their frame of reference,
reframed the events of the past days in terms of Scripture and God, which is a
lot how the Spirit does for us when we pray, too. As good hospitable people, they invite him
to stay for a meal together before he goes on.
Then, in a special moment as he breaks the bread and blesses it,
something they’ve seen Jesus do before, actually an everyday kind of motion,
they suddenly recognize Jesus. Just a
regular action at a meal, but it’s enough - Mission accomplished, Jesus disappears. When we have communion, I like to say “may
Christ be known for us, too, as we break this bread and pour this cup.” These
two tired disciples realize they need to be back together with the others -
they get up and walk BACK to Jerusalem so they can tell the others, and find
other revelations are happening as well.
A friend posted a poem that spoke
deeply to me, a truth I’ve learned at other times of grief and loss and
confusion, and really needed to hear again this week. Let me read it for us -
"My grandma once told me:
In hard times, you move forward in small steps.
Do what you have to do, but little by little.
Don't think about the future or what can happen tomorrow.
Wash the dishes.
Remove the dust.
Write a letter.
Make some soup.
"Do you see?
You are moving forward step by step.
Take a step and stop.
Get some rest.
Praise yourself.
Take another step.
Then another one.
You won't notice, but your steps will grow more and more.
And the time will come when you will be able to think of
the future without crying."
Beautiful
simple words, and a simple thought for surviving awful events. Step by step.
Small steps, when we can’t imagine the future, doing the daily things. Take one step. Then take another. We will be moving forward, we will get
there. Simple trust. Simple small
steps.
Now I
like to know how things are going to end...sometimes I’ve jumped to the end of
a novel instead of reading it straight through, because the tension of not
knowing gets to me. (Are you like that?) Our country is in this tension - there are
cries for the economy to be restarted despite the human consequences - and in a
way they have a point, because economic consequences will be a human
consequence, too - - there are cries to stay shut down longer until there are
adequate tests available, which makes a lot of sense to me. There are the cries of people tired of being
in their homes, lives stalled. Then
there are cries of the healthcare people in the overwhelmed hospitals. What is the best thing to do? What will history say was the best thing we
did or should have done?
The wisdom of
moving forward in small steps is the wisdom of a people who have survived other
hard times. It is a trust in God, and in
Life, to unfold. Not panic, not
desperation- - but small steps - steps of hope. Love one another. Call one another. Shop for those who can’t. Take what measures for safety that we can. Buy take out from the local restaurants if we
can. Start the car periodically. Plant
gardens. Do lesson plans. Prepare sermons week by week. Participate in a book study if you have
time. Love your children. Love your spouse. Check on your neighbors and friends. Go to work if you're not laid off. If you have the income, give to the food
bank, the church, and other charities for those not as fortunate. If you don’t need your stimulus payment, look
for a way to make it work for good.
Cultivate your prayer life. Walk
and exercise. Get up and get dressed,
face the day; look for small steps.
That’s how we get through when we can't imagine the future.
I think we may be like those two folks walking from
Jerusalem and then back - as we are walking, Jesus will walk with us and
reframe things for us, help us see the bigger picture. And hopefully, like those 2, we will see
Jesus in our midst even in that small, everyday action of breaking bread. Because God is with us always. It’s OUR
eyes that need to be opened.
AMEN.
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