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It makes me think about all the school years I spent in the band. When I was in college, I was in a marching band that, including all the instruments and the flags and rifle corp, had about 300 people on the field at a time. I always had to trust, as we moved around, making intricate designs - spelling out, "Go, Team" or whatever - that my going twenty yards this way, ten yards that way, and four steps backward really mattered. I never did get to stand up high in the stadium and see the big picture. But the reactions of those who were watching always confirmed that we must have been doing some pretty cool stuff as we moved around together.
As Christians, it's easy for us to forget that we are also moving together to accomplish some pretty cool stuff. The good news is that, when we get too caught up in our small part - when we get too inwardly focused - we have Jesus alive among us to remind us that we are all part ofa much bigger picture!
That's what's going on in our Gospel reading today. In the reading we heard from the Gospel of Luke, it's Easter evening. Two disciples met the Resurrected Jesus out on the road as they traveled toward the town of Emmaus. They didn't recognize him at first. They were so caught up in their own emotions and confusion over his crucifixion that they couldn't see what had happened. This stranger they've met up with comes to dinner with them and there, after explaining the prophecies of Scripture to them, he breaks the bread for their meal together and, in that moment, they recognize Jesus!
Now they have come back to the other disciples to tell them what they've experienced. And as they're telling the story, again Jesus appears among them all, saying, "Peace be with you."
You might think they would have all been instantly ecstatic to see Jesus, but actually, as usual, they didn't get it! They were frightened. Even after all he had taught them...all he had shown them...after all his previous explanations about God's plan and his part in it...their immediate reaction was fear and confusion. I guess that's one bit of encouragement for us today: as dense as we can be about the things of God, we're no dumber than the first disciples were!
Anyway, the Scripture tells us that Jesus proceeded to explain it all again. He helped them understand all that the prophets had said about the coming Messiah and how his death and resurrection were confirmation of all this. He showed them his wounds and let them touch him to be assured that he was no figment of their disturbed imaginations...he was real. And not only that, but what they thought had been an ending was actually now a great beginning. They were to be the first witnesses to a wonderful message that was to be spread throughout the world, beginning right there where they were and spreading even now to us today. And finally...they recognized Jesus and understood the big picture.
That's still our opportunity today. To recognize that Jesus is alive among us here and to understand that we are a continuing part of God's big picture for the world. But like those disciples, it's so easy for us to forget what Jesus has told us and shown us so many times before. We get so caught up in little, temporary, meaningless "bologna shavings"...that we forget about the bigger picture of which we are a part. I don't know about you, but I just thank God for those redeeming moments when I am able to recognize Jesus and remember what really matters...and what doesn't.
I guess, in my position, I get some special privileges in that regard. Just this week, I had the humbling honor to be present with a family as their husband and father made that final transition into eternal life. Standing there in the awesome silence and amazing peace of that moment with them, all of the disconnected and meaningless worries I had been carrying disappeared, and I was able to recognize the living presence of Christ. There is nothing like death to refocus your perspective on life. Suddenly, my obsessions with "things to do" and petty problems and pointless anxieties were put back into the little box marked, "Whatever!" where they rightfUlly belong...and I was able to glimpse the amazing light of the everlasting life and conquering love that is the true reality. All that other "stuff' is illusion and distraction from what really matters in the big picture of God's plan.
There were three ways that those first disciples were able to recognize Jesus and understand the bigger picture. First, remember, two ofthem had recognized him in "the breaking ofthe bread." We can still do that today. Every time we gather to share Communion together,, we "break the bread" - and in that moment, we are united with believers across the span of two millenia who have recognized Jesus in that sacred act. Communion is our reminder that we are part of something much bigger than ourselves. We are united in faith with the saints ofold and with the people around us right now. In that simple act...we receive sustenance that comes to us directly from the hands of Christ. We recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread.
Secondly, like those gathered in that room on that day long ago, we can also recognize Jesus when our minds are opened to the message ofthe Scriptures. In our day, we have ALL gotten so obsessed with the minutia of the Bible that we have lost sight of the overriding message. Some of us spend whatever time we devote to Scripture looking for verses we can throw back at those who have thrown other verses at us: the religious version oftwo kids engaged in a dirt-clod battle!
Others of us either ignore the Bible altogether or we search desperately for those isolated verses and sections that will make us feel better about ourselves - surely somewhere in there it must say, "The Lord is my shepherd...so whatever I do is O.K." It reminds me of the legend about W.C. Fields, who - after a lifetime of ignoring the Bible and God in general - was, on his deathbed, searching the Scriptures, he said, "Looking for loopholes!"
We miss the bigger picture. Contained in the whole of our Scriptures is the great story of God's personal involvement with humanity...of God's desire to be in relationship with each of us and of God's provision for that relationship through the loving, redemptive reality of Jesus Christ! That's what the Bible is all about! Jesus alive among us is the fUlfillment ofall that Scripture explains to us! All of God's plans and promises are made complete in Christ!
Beyond the breaking of the bread and their understanding of Scripture, those first disciples were able to recognize Jesus among them by seeing and touching his wounds. We might say they saw the evidence of his sacrificial love and they knew that their Lord was indeed alive.
Now this one might be a little harder for us today. We don't have Jesus with us in the flesh. Instead, the "body of Christ" is made flesh and blood by us...the people of God. Here is where we have to look to see the evidence of that sacrificial love. And believe me...that love does exist among us.
I think of the story of a man named William Borden who, many years ago, went to Yale University as an undergraduate and afterward became a missionary candidate planning to work in China. When he made his decision to invest his life in this service, many of his friends thought he was a fool. He had come from a good family. He had wealth and influence. "Why are you going to throw away your life in some foreign country," they asked, "when you can have such an enjoyable and worthwhile life here?" But William Borden of Yale had heard the call of God. While in Egypt, on the way to China and even before he had much ofa chance to do anything, he became sick. Soon it was evident to everyone, including himself, that he would die. At this point Borden could have said to himself, "What a waste. My friends were right. I should have stayed in New Haven." But Borden saw a much bigger perspective. As he lay on his deathbed in Egypt, he scribbled a farewell note to his friends that was, in some sense, his epitaph. The note said, "No reserve, no retreat, and no regrets."
I often see that same kind of attitude exemplified in this church. Again, my position gives me some privilege. I see many people here every week who sacrifice their lives in so many ways. Many here work long hours at stressful secular jobs only to then come and invest many more hours of their time and energy in the ministries of this church...because they understand the bigger picture. There are so many here who faithfully give their money...generously and gladly...knowing that they could have a newer car or a longer vacation but they give anyway because just "meeting the budget" and getting by is not their goal for us. They give because they want us to accomplish more for God than we ourselves have even yet dreamed. There are people here who put aside their own agendas and sacrifice their little personal preferences and let go ofthe small slights and consistently turn their attention to the greater good and the bigger picture of our place in God's plan for the world. The evidence of Christ's sacrificial love is all around us in this place; believe me...Jesus is here.
Today as we walk together to raise money for the AIDS services organizations in St. Louis, we are going to be the walking, talking, breathing evidence to the greater community that Christ is alive and at work for a greater purpose in the world. We have received the grace of recognizing Jesus among us here. Now, like those first disciples, we have a greater challenge before us: we are to take this good news out to the world. And so a final question remains for us today: when we go out into the world...and people see us and hear us and interpret what they experience through us: will they be able to recognize Jesus? Amen.
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