Acts 2:14,22-28; 1 Peter 1:17-21; Luke 24:13-35; Psalm 16
April 30, 2020
Larry Campbell
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be pleasing to You, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.
I love the stories of the bible. There are many in the Old Testament from which I continue to learn. The parables Jesus told, the times when Jesus did something amazing, or the conversations he had with his followers, those who loved him and those who sought to end him, are a constant source of wonder and inspiration to me.
Today’s Gospel reading is one of those.
One of the things I have always wondered is, “why did Jesus wait so long to reveal who he was?” It seems almost cruel. Trying to test, or trick these sad travellers doesn’t seem like the Jesus I have come to know from the Gospels. These two people just lost a great teacher; some may have considered him a friend. They had a dream that Jesus would bring the freedom he seemed to promise. They didn’t understand what he meant. And on top of that, they were scurrying out of Jerusalem in fear for their lives. Their association with this man who had been executed for sedition or some such political reason, could easily put the spotlight on them.
They were grieving. The time would come to redirect his friends, but first he let them proceed one heavy step after another.
And into that grieving Jesus spoke peace, comfort... “do you know who this Jesus really was?” he seemed to say. And using the stories we all know from the Torah and the Prophets, he began to tell them who Jesus was. “This whole thing is different than you folks thought it was.” It’s like he was saying, “we’re talking about freedom on a whole new level.”
I wish I could have listened in on that conversation. Later these two disciples remembered how much their hearts “burned” while Jesus was telling them this stuff. He was comforting them in their lament.
I get a rush just thinking about being with him there. What kind of comfort would those words bring us in our time now?; perhaps we are experiencing some loss; financial? Certainly relational; we’re in a time when our own brokenness (loneliness, anxiety, frustration, and fatigue) becomes very obvious and real; this “in-between time”? What comfort would we find in his words?
***
in the monastic tradition there are times set throughout the day to pray together. Compline is a night prayer, prayed every night by monks, and priests and nuns from various orders over hundreds of years. There’s a line out of the Anglican Compline that I think of often. It’s prayed when Eucharist is to be celebrated the next day.
The night prayer ends with something like this:
“As the night watch looks for the morning
so do we look for you, O Christ.
Come to us with the dawning of the day
and make yourself know in the breaking of the bread.”
That’s when Jesus revealed himself to Cleopas and his friend...when he broke bread and shared wine.
For the community, which is made up of members of Christ’s Mystical Body, the Church, not being together is difficult. To laugh together, or celebrate together, to touch and hold each other when we ARE sad, or fearful, or lonely... these are the reasons we need each other. In case you were wondering, this is why we need community. I believe that in the breaking of the bread, in our brokenness, we may recognize that Jesus Christ...the RISEN Jesus Christ, is truly present.
In his broken body, he has shared in our brokenness,
and in his resurrection, we have been raised up.
Let me say that again;
In his broken body, he has shared in our brokenness,
and in his resurrection, we have been raised up.
As we share the Eucharist and feebly attempt to re-enact the last supper of our Lord, let us be attentive. It is pass dawn. Has Jesus come to us? Will he make himself known to us as we share in this simple feast? May it be so.