|
April 18, l999
CLAIMING OUR PROMISES
I have enjoyed archaeology all my life. Archaeology
really belongs to Christians because modern archaeology
came about in the l9th Century because of Christian
sponsored expeditions to Mesopotamia to try to locate and
unearth biblical sites. There quickly followed
expeditions to Egypt, Palestine, and Turkey, almost all
funded by Christian universities, and motivated to locate
and unearth hundreds of biblical sites.
Nancy and I lived in Peru one year and visited several
Inca sites including the greatest of all, Machu Picchu.
My attention was thus drawn to the report in the media
this last week of the announcements that archaeologists
looking for new sites high in the Andes had discovered
two burial caves within which were the corpses of three
children. It's presumed they were sacrificed about 500
years ago to the Incan sun god. Because of the high
elevation, above l4,000 feet, and the extreme dryness of
the burial holes, the bodies of the children are better
preserved than any Incan mummies ever found. The face of
one young girl was shown in the newspaper and she could
have passed for a recently deceased Kosovan refugee
child.
I share the fascination that archaeology holds for
many. Especially the opening of the tombs of kings and
nobles are glamorous events. The discovery of the tombs
of Chinese emperors renewed Chinese cultural pride, that
of King Tut and other Pharoahs early in this century
launched Egyptian revival in jewels and furniture, and
the finding of the sarcophagus and beautifully preserved
body of the lovely Priscilla, a teenager of ancient
antiquity, which served like an infusion of Disney
investment to restore glamour and money to papal
Rome…all fascinating stories, but not a single tomb
has ever alterned humanity.
Psalm l46 tells us why:
DO NOT PUT YOUR TRUST IN PRINCES, IN MORTALS, IN WHOM
THERE IS NO HELP.
WHEN THEIR BREATH DEPARTS, THEY RETURN TO THE
EARTH;
ON THAT VERY DAY THEIR PLANS PERISH.
If princes cannot be trusted ultimately even when
alive, how less can the recovery of their cadavers and
grave adornments alter anything fundamentally. Only the
tomb of Jesus of Nazareth. And inside it there was
nothing but his death clothes. And that is because only
the tomb of Jesus directed people to their present and
their future with a promise of life changing
experience.
In our epistle of today the Apostle Peter tells us to
acknowledge that a a promise, an inheritance awaits us,
and our children because of what God has done for us in
Christ. But the promise is not to be claimed by looking
back; it is a very present inheritance to be claimed now.
******
While hundreds of biblical sites have been
authenticated, the village to Emmaus and thus the road
which led there, are not among them. Although Luke tells
us Emmaus was only seven miles outside Jerusalem, no one
has the faintest idea where Emmaus might be unearthed,
although many have tried to locate it. But would it
really make any difference to our understanding of the
Gospel story if we could pinpoint Emmaus on a modern map?
I doubt it because Emmaus is a symbol and not, as is
popularly found, of faith.
Just the opposite: Emmaus was for the friends of Jesus
their escape route.
They had given up on Jesus as a present reality and
were engaged only in wistful looking back. Thstory says
"they had hoped" but on the walk their hope was dead and
they were engaging in regretful speculations about what
might have been.
Emmaus was for them an escapist walk away from
heartbreak and disappointment they could hardly bear.
The noted Protestant writer, Fred Buechner, has
interpreted Emmaus in this rather challenging way:
EMMAUS CAN BE A TRIP TO THE MOVIES JUST FOR THE SAKE
OF SEEING A MOVIE OR TO A COCKTAIL PARTY JUST FOR THE
SAKE OF THE COCKTAILS. EMMAUS MAY BE BUYING A NEW SUIT OR
A NEW CAR OR SMOKING MORE CIGARETTES THAN YOU REALLY
WANT, OR READING A SECOND RATE NOVEL OR EVEN WRITING ONE.
EMMAUS MAY BE GOING TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY. EMMAUS IS
WHATEVER WE DO OR WHEREVER WE GO O MAKE OURSELVES FORGET
THAT THE WORLD HOLDS NOTHING SACRED.
A new way of thinking about the walk to Emmaus! Emmaus
should speak to us, not of our faith, but of our lost
faith as we see opportunities pass from us. When a hope
has failed, an effort backfired, a job gone dull or lost,
a relationship broken, or faith not measured up to our
expectations, we are fleeing toward Emmaus our escape
place. Emmaus represents spiritual passivity as
underscored in the verse: AND THEN THEIR EYES WERE
OPENED. They did not see Jesus. Jesus had to make them
open their eyes.
So how is it that Peter, who engaged in his own
escapism without even leaving Jerusalem, so confidently
insists THE PROMISE (INHERITANCE) IS FOR YOU, FOR YOUR
CHILDREN, AND FOR ALL WHO ARE FAR AWAY, EVERYONE WHOM THE
LORD OUR GOD CALLS TO HIM.
Know this: we are all Emmaus-oriented. But never mind
because God will open our eyes to Jesus. Just like the
sleep walkers to Emmaus he may also give us a prior case
of spiritual heartburn. Only after they recognized Jesus,
did the men recall the special sensations like inner fire
which they had felt when the stranger was interpreting
the scriptures to them (a form of biblical archaeology).
Have you not felt that burning sensation inside? I think
you have or you wouldn't be here.
God keeps provoking us with those questions which call
us toward the sacred. Why are we on earth? And why are
we both indifferent and yet disturbed about our spiritual
life? Why do the innocent suffer? Why go to church
anyway? What does one's faith have to do with one's job?
Is there life after death? We have many ways to evade
these questions, but they keep coming back and by so
doing they keep us uneasy even while our eyes remain
shut to the sacred and the divine until God moves and
opens our eyes.
Then the promise can be claimed and the inheritance is
ours.
When that happens we see, first, that God is gracious.
God has created us not because God has need of us, but
because God simply takes delight in us and the whole of
creation. God's desire for relationship with us is
finally stronger than the evils we perpetuate or suffer.
The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are the
decisive and ultimate expression of God's love for
us.
Next, our participation in God's cosmic drama of
salvation gives our lives their deepest meaning. Through
worship, we rehearse our place in the drama. As we
encounter Christ through Word and sacrament, we become
aware of our unique, personal identity before God. Our
eyes are opened.
Further, we respond to God's grace. We teach our
children to embody the virtues of joy, faithfulness,
patience and wisdom. We see our vocation as an
opportunity for glory and respond to God in gratitude. We
commit ourselves to the unity of the church, knowing that
our experiences as members of the body of Christ mediate
the Living Christ to us, and our life together in and
with Christ produces lives rich in praise and
thanksgiving.
Like Jesus' friends, when our eyes are opened, our
journey has a purpose, goal and meaning. Our walk takes
on a spring of present joy and future glory. We finally
begin to understand that the only journey which finally
matters is God's story, the sacred story, and we assume
our roles within God's story.
God isn't interested in helping us locate old tombs
for our edification; our eyes and our hearts are to be
filled with passion for knowing God now.
Peter is as clear about what do we need to do to
claim our inheritance as he is about the inheritance
promised by God to us: REPENT, AND BE BAPTIZED EVERYONE
OF YOU IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST, SO THAT YOUR SINS MAY
BE FORGIVEN AND YOU WILL RECEIVE THE GIFT OF THE HOLY
SPIRIT. FOR THE PROMISE (INHERITANCE) IS FOR YOU, FOR
YOUR CHILDREN, AND FOR ALL WHO ARE FAR AWAY, EVERYONE
WHOM THE LORD OUR GOD CALLS TO HIM.
Someone has described our inheritance in Christ this
way: "In Christ we have a love that can never be
fathomed, a life that can never die, a peace that can
never be fully understood, a rest that can never be
disturbed, a joy that can never be diminished, a hope
that can never be disappointed, a glory that can never be
clouded, a light that can never be darkened, and a
spiritual resource that can never be exhausted."
Aren't you as glad you have that inheritance? So,
claim it!
Pastor Gene Preston
Archives: Sermon
Texts
|