Scripture Readings: 1 Peter 1:17-23 Luke 24:13-35
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That’s what the two disciples were doing. They had heard the testimony of the women. Peter had gone to check it out, and to his horror, the body of Jesus was gone. Only strips of cloth remained where his body had been. It didn’t matter that there were multiple women sharing the same truth. The disciples still rejected their story as a delusional fantasy of someone overwhelmed by grief.
They did not know who had taken the body or where he was, but they weren’t going to stick around and find out either. It was over. Jesus was dead and the dream of the restoration of Israel was over. That was their reality, and they could not see past it.
I think that is how a lot of us feel these days when presented with all the things that we can’t do. That is our reality, and we can’t see past it. Many of us are grieving the loss of simple human interactions, while some are grieving the loss of loved ones whose lives they cannot even celebrate together. Some are beginning to protest the loss of jobs, income, and productivity, without consideration of the danger it poses to themselves and others.
None of us want this, and all of us are starting to feel a little bit like the “exiles” that Peter speaks of in his pastoral letter to the church. These were not people who had been captured against their will and sold to various regions as their spiritual ancestors had been in Babylon. These were people who had become like strangers to the life that they had known before. These were the followers of Jesus who had accepted a new way of being in the world that sometimes put them at odds with the world.
The hope that Peter offered them through Christ is the same hope that reaches into our spaces of isolation, walks alongside us, and asks us, “What are you guys talking about?” Isn’t it funny that the first thing Jesus said post-resurrection in Luke’s gospel was “What are you talking about?” Then the two disciples whine and complain about the death of Jesus, and the loss of hope. “We had hoped that he would be the one to restore Israel.”
They were without hope, and that’s a bad place to be. I find it interesting that Jesus explained everything that you might think they already knew about the scriptures and how they should not be without hope, yet they were still blinded to his presence. The text doesn’t say why. God had not “hardened their hearts” like God did to the Pharaoh of old. They were simply too overwhelmed with grief to see him.
In a way, it reminds me of the Neil deGrasse Tyson quote about knowing enough to think you are doing things right, but not knowing enough to see that you are actually wrong. The difference here is that it is not simply a piece of information that is missing. It is the
expectation of transformation that is missing. The disciples expect nothing, and so they get nothing, at least not until the stranger begins to part ways.
Maybe they felt some sympathetic kinship for this poor soul who was still waiting for the
resurrection. Whatever the reason, they insisted he stay with them. They extended hospitality to him, and that made all the difference! From there it was Jesus who would extend hospitality to the disciples, and he became known to them in the breaking of the bread!
expectation of transformation that is missing. The disciples expect nothing, and so they get nothing, at least not until the stranger begins to part ways.
Maybe they felt some sympathetic kinship for this poor soul who was still waiting for the
resurrection. Whatever the reason, they insisted he stay with them. They extended hospitality to him, and that made all the difference! From there it was Jesus who would extend hospitality to the disciples, and he became known to them in the breaking of the bread!
I imagine their realization to be like the scene in Finding Nemo when all of Dory’s memories flood back at once and she realizes what it feels like to have a family that she has chosen for herself. How many times had he broken bread and given thanks? How many people had he fed by breaking bread and giving it to them to distribute? Then there were those last words at the Passover, “do this in remembrance of me”!
How could they have forgotten so soon! It doesn’t really matter. Why did Jesus disappear?
HOW did Jesus disappear? None of it really mattered, and now they understood why their
“hearts were burning” as he explained the scriptures to them! Now they knew they had to tell the others! As the story continues, we find that Jesus has also appeared to the others, then he had a meal with all of them.
HOW did Jesus disappear? None of it really mattered, and now they understood why their
“hearts were burning” as he explained the scriptures to them! Now they knew they had to tell the others! As the story continues, we find that Jesus has also appeared to the others, then he had a meal with all of them.
Then he went on his resurrection tour and kicked out the Roman Empire, right? No, of course not. Nor did he teach in the synagogues or heal or cast out demons as he had before. The point is that things did not return to normal. Things never do once a real transformation has taken place. Life always seeks equilibrium, but it does not return to what it was after an event that changes the way we see and interact with the world.
That’s why Peter said that Jesus “was revealed at the end of the ages”. That wasn’t a typo or a misplaced verb tense. By the “end of ages” Peter meant what some call the “fullness of time.” That is to say that Jesus was revealed at the right watershed moment so that everything that followed it would be impacted by what God did through him. More than that, knowing that Jesus was revealed “at the end” which means that he is our end. In Greek, that word is telos, and it means something more like the French, raison d'etre, which is to say that we have been created, redeemed, and made new for the purpose of reverence and mutual love.
While reverence can certainly mean something like respect and appropriate behavior, what I believe scripture intends by it is that we recognize God as active and present and in the mix. Reverence means that we realize that God has been with us all along, that we invite God in even when we are unsure and overwhelmed, and that we recognize God in the moments of God’s hospitality to us!
If we do that – when we do that – the result is always the same, we are drawn to love others more fully and completely! I have to warn you though, loving others more fully and completely can put you at odds with the world. It makes you realize the inequalities and the injustices that we usually don’t see. It makes you question what life should be like once we are able to get back into our normal patterns.
I realize that should is a very powerful word, and I use it with some level of reverence and fear, but also with a great amount of hope. You see, without hope – and without a word like should be governed by the reality of mutual affection – we become like sheep running back into a burning barn. Did you know sheep will do that? I grew up in the country. We had chickens, a few cows, a horse, a couple of dogs and a lot of cats, but I never knew those farm animals would run into a burning barn, but apparently, they will.
Why? For one, they don’t have the capacity to know what fire is. Beyond that, it’s assumed that when they encounter panic they want to go to a safe, well-known space where they are fed and cared for. There’s actually a pamphlet addressing the issue published by Canada’s Farm Animal Councils (it’s amazing what you can find online). In it, we are reminded of the danger of smoke inhalation and told that a person should never endanger their own life for that of livestock.
That’s some pretty good advice, and it reminds me of the value of human life and our
connection to all of God’s creation. It also reminds me of what Peter said about all of this, and particularly our salvation, having been put in play before the foundation of the earth. Friends, that means that your worth and God’s decision to “run into a burning barn for you” was set before the foundation of the earth.
connection to all of God’s creation. It also reminds me of what Peter said about all of this, and particularly our salvation, having been put in play before the foundation of the earth. Friends, that means that your worth and God’s decision to “run into a burning barn for you” was set before the foundation of the earth.
Not only was yours, but so was mine, and so was every other creature that crawls or flies or infects or inspires or hurts or heals or lives and dies. I think that’s why I like the term “mutual affection” more than “mutual love”. We affect one another just by being creatures of the Creator.
While the fact that we are hard-wired for mutual affection may be the core of what makes staying apart so very difficult, it is also the source of our hope! It gives us something to long for and looks for, even as we walk alone. The road we are walking may be lonely, frustrating, and annoying, but it also offers the opportunity to recognize that Jesus walks with us and that we are being prepared for a higher love.
Yes, we may struggle with the problem of knowing just enough to believe that we are right but not enough to know when we are wrong, but that doesn’t mean that we do not have a reason to hope. In fact, sometimes leaving some space open for God to surprise us and prove us wrong is just what we need.
In that space, we recognize that God has been with us all along. In that space, we are set apart from the world by obedience to the truth of God’s amazing love. In that space, we are transformed, to the extent that we need a new normal based on mutual affection. We need a new normal that removes the blinders that keep us from living as God intends.
Friends, I want to assure you that God is with us, even here, even now, and the new normal that we seek is the Kingdom that Christ proclaimed. We are living in it even as we wait for it. As we wait, it’s ok to celebrate or even lament what has been. It’s also important to take time and take a moment to breathe in the sacredness of the experiences of each day. In all things, just remember that God is active and present, and let that knowledge inspire you toward a life that is connected, corrected, and guided by mutual affection in response to God’s grace.
It’s just that simple, and it’s just that hard, and to God be the glory, now and always, Amen!
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