The Message

I love both of our scripture passages today because they each give me hope in different ways, and they both evoke “good” feelings, for different reasons.

In our passage from Acts, it sounds so lovely to be able to enjoy the simplicity of living a life devoted to Jesus.

They broke bread and prayed together, they shared everything they had with each other, they sold their property and possessions so there was nothing to be concerned about, they gave their money to those in need, while their group kept growing.
 
Certainly if we think about how this would work practically in today’s world, we would have some big questions.

But it allows us to wonder together what it might be like to live in a community like that. Things and possessions become unimportant, keeping up with the neighbours is not a concern, and caring for one another, praying together, and breaking bread together is all that matters.

It sounds nice in a way – simple, uncomplicated, and joyful.
 
Likewise, our Gospel passage today also gives off “good” feelings.

This passage reminds us of several things, but important for today’s purposes is this idea that the shepherd knows each sheep by name.

Not only does the shepherd know the sheep by name, but the shepherd calls each sheep by name, and leads them out of the pasture.

The sheep know the shepherd’s voice, and they know they are loved and cared for because the shepherd knows them each by name.
 
Being known by name is important, but often we don’t know just how important it is until we notice an experience we have – either positive or negative.

For example, a couple weeks ago, I took my dogs to the boarding facility to stay for a few nights.

As I was in the lobby checking them in, a staff person walked in to start their shift. They hadn’t dropped their things off yet, and they hadn’t looked at the list of dogs arriving that day.

But this person walked in, looked at my dogs and said “Oh, hey, Kanyon and Lacey!”
 
I had never met this staff person before, and my dogs don’t go to this facility very often, so I honestly assumed they didn’t really know my dogs all that well.

I was completely surprised that this person knew who my dogs were. They hadn’t been there in months, and this is a fairly large facility.

But I’ll admit, it felt great to know that the staff knew my dogs, even though they are “infrequent flyers” at this facility.
 
And truthfully, I shouldn’t have been surprised at all. After owning a facility like that one, I know that all my staff knew every dog, no matter how often they were there.

And yet, it still struck me as a very pleasant surprise that the “shepherd” knew my dogs (“the sheep”).
It felt good, actually.

Similarly, I recently talked with a man at the gym who I’d seen there many times before but had never actually met.
 
I introduced myself because we often said hello to each other, but had never spoken beyond that.

He introduced himself as Cliff, which was easy for me to remember because I know another Cliff.

I told him my name, we chatted for a couple minutes, and we moved on with our days.

A few weeks later, I said hello again and confirmed that his name was Cliff, and I was floored that he remembered my name, too. I didn’t expect that at all.
 
Most of the time when you meet someone, you don’t expect that they’ll remember your name in the future.

Often people will say something like “I’m not good with names.” And most of us are OK with that.

But, it feels great when someone does remember our name, doesn’t it?

It’s a pleasant surprise.

So, I offer these examples as a way for us to think about the magnitude of what it means for our shepherd – for Jesus – to know us each by name.
 
And, more importantly, for Jesus to call us each by name.

It sure makes it easier for us to want to follow someone if they know us by name. If we feel called, individually and uniquely, by our Shepherd, it gives us a sense of feeling loved and cared for.

It’s not just knowing that we are loved and cared for, but it’s actually feeling that we are loved and cared for. When we feel loved, it’s much easier to know with certainty that we are loved.
 
So, this brings me around to the Acts passage and this sense of community that this passage describes.

The passage we heard begins by saying “they were like family to each other.”

Families know each other’s names. They call one another by name. Often, families even have “pet” names, or nicknames that they use – names of love and endearment.

This community shared everything they had joyfully and without complaint.
 
They willingly, happily sacrificed the “things” of their world to be together in community, to break bread and pray together, and to care for one another and for those in need.

I have to imagine that a huge part of this community’s ability to do this was the fact that they were individually, uniquely called by name to follow and serve with and for Jesus.

So, I wonder what this might mean for us today. How do we translate this into something meaningful in today’s world?
 
If Jesus returned in our time and place, what would following him look like?

We live in a world in which giving up all of our possessions would be a real challenge to human survival.

We no longer live in a communal society. So what might Jesus encourage if he was here with us today?

What does following Jesus mean in a totally different world than the one in which the Apostles lived?
 
Knowing and feeling that we are called by name and wholly loved and cared for is a great start.

As you leave here today, I would encourage you to take these lessons with you, wonder about them, and ponder these ideas.

Have conversations with one another about what it means to be called by name, and what it might mean to “give up everything” (perhaps not literally) to follow Jesus.

These conversations are important for those of us who follow and love Jesus and define ourselves as Christian.
 
They are important because we are called by name to continue learning, growing, and wondering together.

We are called to this community – to break bread together, to serve together, to love and care for one another, and to be in conversation, joyfully and hopefully.

So, I invite you to think about these questions together as we “break bread” together during fellowship time today.
 
It is reminiscent of Isaiah 43:1:

The Lord says, “I have called you by name. You are mine.”

I don’t know about you all, but to me, that feels like good, good news. That feels like the Love we all crave and deserve.

Amen.

Let us pray:
​
God in heaven, we come before you today wondering how we can take to heart what Jesus and his Apostles called us to do in light of today’s societal expectations. We pray that you would guide us closer to you, and help us to hear you as you call us each by name. We are grateful, O God, for this beloved community that we are a part of, and we ask that you continue to support this community and watch over us, helping us to remain faithful to you and loving to one another. In your holy and gracious name, we pray. Amen.

The Message

Today’s Gospel passage is one of the most famous post-resurrection passages in the Bible.

At first glance, what we witness in this passage is two of Jesus’s disciples walking along the road to Emmaus when a stranger approaches.

We as the readers know that this stranger is Jesus, but the two disciples do not recognize him.

It isn’t until Jesus breaks bread in their home later that they finally see him for who he is.
 
I want to explore this passage a little deeper today.

For those of you who have been coming to church for a long time, you have probably heard sermons on this passage many times before.

Most sermons on this passage focus on either the idea of doubt or hospitality for the stranger. Certainly either of these themes are important and valid themes!

But today, I want to focus on grief and longing. These things don’t have to go together necessarily, but in this passage, they do seem to fit together.
 
But first, let’s use our imaginations to determine some of the details that have been left out of this story.

The scripture tells us that the two disciples were talking and thinking about what happened.

I wonder what their conversation might have looked like?

Maybe Cleopas says to the other disciple, “did you see all the people who were there, yelling for him to be crucified?”
 
“Yeah, it was awful. It was like they forgot about all the miracles he did for them and all the times he fed them when they were hungry.”

Cleopas then says, “right, did they forget about all of that? It just doesn’t make sense. And now, this man who taught people the scriptures, shared his wisdom, performed miracles, and broke bread with people is gone.”

“Doesn’t scripture say he will rise from the dead, though, if he was truly the Messiah?”
 
Cleopas: “Yeah, but is that even really possible? I know the women found his tomb empty, but isn’t it more likely that someone robbed the tomb?”

“I suppose that’s more likely. I guess I’m not really sure. But either way, it was a loss of a great man who didn’t deserve to die like that.”

Cleopas: “Agreed. Do you remember when he healed the bleeding woman and the blind man? That was incredible! Those people received a tremendous gift from him.”
 
“Yeah, or the day when he’d been teaching us all day, and people were starting to get hungry and we tried to send the people home so he could eat? I can’t believe he asked us how much food we had, and we said a couple of fish and some measly loaves of bread. And then he told us to feed everyone with just that!”

Cleopas: “Oh my gosh, yes – over 5000 people got fed that day. I still can’t wrap my head around that! If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I couldn’t believe it. I barely believe it after having seen it!”
 
“No kidding! Jesus was truly a gift to us all. Honestly, I miss him. I wish he was still here, breaking bread with us. I wasn’t ready for him to go so soon. I mean, I know he told us that’s how it would have to happen. But, couldn’t he have saved himself?”

Cleopas: “I wondered that too. But I guess he couldn’t. It kind of makes you wonder, doesn’t it? Was he really the Messiah? I mean, I think so. Either way, I miss him, too. I wonder if he truly will return?”
 
“I hope so.”

Cleopas: “Me, too. Oh look, someone’s coming…”

At this point in the story, Cleopas and the other disciple meet Jesus, but they don’t recognize him.

There has been a lot written on why they don’t recognize him – much of it focused on their own doubt.

Pope Gregory I (the 64th Bishop of Rome from 590-604), also known as Saint Gregory the Great, said:
 
“They did not, in fact, have faith in him, yet they were talking about him. The Lord, therefore, appeared to them but did not show them a face they could recognize. In this way, the Lord enacted outwardly, before their physical eyes, what was going on in them inwardly, before the eyes of their hearts. For inwardly they simultaneously loved him and doubted him; therefore the Lord was outwardly present to them, and at the same time did not reveal his identity. Since they were speaking about him, he showed them his presence, but since they doubted him, he hid from them the appearance by which they could have recognized him.”
 
In other words, Pope Gregory believes their doubt clouded their vision.

But I also wonder if their grief and longing clouded their vision.

I have lost some very important people in my life. When those losses happened, of course I was grief-stricken. And the deep longing in my heart, at least initially, was that I wanted the person back.

We miss the people we lose. Often, we wonder if we told them we loved them enough, or if they knew how much they meant to us.
 
If only we could have one more day, we’d make sure they knew!

And there is often regret – regret that maybe we didn’t handle things the way we would have if we’d known we were going to lose the person.

So I wonder if these disicples were in a similar place with their grief?

They witnessed what had to be an incredibly traumatic event, watching Jesus – someone they loved – being tortured to death on a cross.
 
Then, they watched him buried in the tomb, only to learn the next day that the tomb was empty.

And at this point, they didn’t know Jesus has been resurrected. So their grief was compounded by this new development.

Not only that, but their grief was accompanied by a deep longing which they were hesitant to believe possible.

Jesus had told them he would return from death. But, that seemed impossible at the same time.
 
So they long for his return, but their longing is accompanied by grief and also some natural disbelief in something that seems impossible.

So when they encounter Jesus on the road, their longing overshadows their ability to truly know that Jesus was standing before them.

Yes, there is some disbelief in the impossible, but they also long so deeply for his return that they are unable to see that he is right in front of them.

I have been struggling with this recently, too, but for a different reason.
 
I have been longing so deeply for warmer weather that I have completely overlooked the beauty of the recent snowfalls.

No matter how much I want the snow to be gone, I cannot deny that spring snowfall can be beautiful, and that I can completely miss the beauty because of my longing for no more snow.

Similarly, when I go to hike in Banff, I could be longing so much to see a Moose that I miss all of the other amazing wildlife that is right in front of me.
 
I think this is what is happening for these disciples. Their longing for Jesus to return – for his promise to be true – is so strong that they cannot see anything else clearly.

They may even have a vision in their head of what his return would look like, so they cannot see him when he is right in front of them.

Jesus even attempts to explain the scriptures to them, and they still cannot see him for who he is. It isn’t until he does something they recognize that they can finally see and know who he is.
 
When Jesus breaks bread with them, they can finally recognize him.

Their deep longing and thirst for the truth is finally quenched when Jesus does something that fits within their expectations of the Risen Christ.

So, they finally see Jesus for who he.

And, so do we.

This story begs the question for us: what are we longing for that might be clouding our ability to see what is right in front of us?
 
Are there times when our longing for something is so strong that we become blind to everything else around us and we forget to live in the moment and notice the other amazing things about our life?

As you go about your day and your week ahead, may you ponder these questions.

May you wonder if there is something you long so deeply for that it is clouding your ability to see the many other wonderful gifts God has provided in your life.
 
And, if you do notice something that is creating a barrier for you, may you become aware of it and begin to work on unclouding your vision so you can see what is in front of you, ready and waiting to show you just how amazing your life is.

May you be fully aware of God’s presence in your life, seeing God in all that is around you with fresh, clear eyes. Amen.
 
Let us pray:
​
God of mercy, forgive us when we allow our longing to cloud our vision so that we cannot fully see all of the gifts you have provided in our lives. Sometimes it is easier for us to focus on the things we so desperately want than it is for us to see the things we actually have. Open our eyes, O God, so that we can see your grace, your mercy, and your love in our lives. Amen.

Young at Heart Message

Many of you have heard me ring my singing bowl before – we have even used it during church occasionally.

For those of you who have heard it, you have heard me hit the side of the bowl – usually three times.

But, would you believe me if I told you that I can actually make the bowl sing?

If I don’t show you that I can make it sing after I just told you I can, would you be as likely to believe me?
 
This is one of those things that most people would need to see to believe, especially because it’s not something I have ever done before.

I could tell you, but considering you haven’t experienced it before, you may or not believe me.

And even if you did believe me, you still might want proof that I can do it before you go telling everyone that your pastor can make a bowl sing.

So, do you want me to prove it?
*****
 
The Message

As humans, we are naturally inclined to be skeptical when people tell us something that seems unlikely, too good to be true, or impossible. Sometimes we are skeptical of things that are totally plausible and we need to see it to believe it.

I know that Thomas has gotten a bit of a bad reputation. He’s the 1st-century equivalent of a meme.

When someone doubts the truth of something, they might even be referred to as a “Doubting Thomas.”
 
And yet, the truth is, most of us would want some kind of proof too.

For example, imagine we were all doing something here at church, and a group of you said “Pastor Jamie, we are going to go for a quick walk. Would you like to come?”

I say “no thank you, I have a few things to finish up here.”

The group leaves, and a few minutes later, someone comes running back in and says, “Jamie, you’ll never believe what we saw…”
 
“A MOOSE! Standing just along the side of the building!”

Do I believe this at face value, or do I need to see it for myself?

Of course I need to see it for myself. How do I know this group isn’t just perpetuating the Canadian practical joke that moose actually exist in the wild?

Of course, this is a silly example. But, when the disciples tell Thomas that Jesus returned from the dead, appeared among them, and showed them his hand and side wounds, it makes sense that he would be skeptical.
 
And, it makes sense that when Jesus appears again while Thomas is there, that Thomas would want to see his wounds too considering the others had received that proof.

Jesus allows Thomas to receive “proof” too, although he does then ask him if he believes only because he has seen Jesus.

In other words, would he have believed if he had not had the opportunity to receive proof?

Thomas is in a bit of a conundrum, honestly, and I don’t think we would necessarily respond differently.
 
All the other disciples got to see Jesus’s wounds. Thomas was not there at that time.

Despite the fact that they told him, it is an incredibly unlikely, seemingly impossible reality.

So it makes sense that Thomas would also want the same proof.

I appreciate that Jesus doesn’t reprimand him for his “unbelief” or “disbelief,” but instead allows him to receive the same proof that the others received.

His reminder that others will need to believe without proof is still valid.
 
And actually, we see this truth in the 1 Peter passage we heard today.

Peter was one of Jesus’s 12 disciples – also known at the Apostle Peter.

Peter is speaking to a group of people who have never seen Jesus. He says:

“You have never seen Jesus, and you don't see him now. But still you love him and have faith in him, and no words can tell how glad and happy you are to be saved. This is why you have faith.”
 
If, when the church group saw the moose outside and came in to tell me, by the time I went outside it was gone, I would have no choice but to believe their story.

I could remain skeptical, but why would someone go through the trouble of running inside to tell me there’s a moose outside?

Similarly, people could have remained skeptical about Jesus, his story, and especially his resurrection. But, it would be a pretty big and well-orchestrated lie for all of the Apostles to tell if it was not true.
 
And, the story likely never would have persisted as long as it has if it was a grand scheme the Apostles made up.
So, Peter is reminding us that even though we have not personally seen Jesus “in the flesh,” our faith in him, his ministry, and his story makes sense.

And, we know that we do see Jesus! Perhaps not in the flesh, but we see Jesus in our lives all the time.

We talk to Jesus through prayer, and Jesus responds, although sometimes not in the way we expect or in the time we expect.
 
We look around us and we see Jesus in the people we love, in small acts of kindness, in the beauty of the natural world, and in so many other parts of our lives.

When we are metaphorically out in the boat, just off-shore and unable to make it home, Jesus is right there in the boat with us.

He is also on the shore, ready to welcome us home and encouraging us to just keep rowing.

He is in all things, in all people, in all circumstances – ready and waiting for us.
 
He is ready to show us his wounds if that’s what we need to know he is there.

Sometimes, I think Jesus is waiting for us to be ready. Are we ready to have total faith in him? Are we willing to accept his resurrection without “proof?” Are we ready to allow Jesus to change us?

As you leave here today, you are being invited to overcome doubt. You are being invited to believe. You are being invited to witness all the ways in which Jesus shows up in your life.

May you know, without a doubt, that Jesus is with you.
 
May you feel unconditionally loved, and may you experience that love on a daily basis.

May you come to Jesus with open hearts and open minds, ready and willing to accept the truth of his life, ministry, and resurrection and ready to allow that truth to change you.

To open you, to comfort you, to support you, and to offer you the kind of love that only Jesus can.

May you know this truth with your whole being. Amen.
 
Let us pray:
​
Gracious God, thank you for sending your Son Jesus to earth so that we have living proof of your love. Thank you for allowing him to teach us with such grace and love. We are endlessly grateful for the love you show us, and we pray that you would continue to demonstrate your love over and over again from generation to generation to generation. Amen.

The Message
 
I want to begin my sermon today by sharing a story with you, but it’s a story that my sister would probably be angry with me for sharing, so let’s just keep it between us… ok?

My family was on vacation, heading back home to Wisconsin from Yellowstone National Park. We’d been in the car for a long road trip, and we were getting weary (and probably just a little bit sick of each other).
​
We stopped for breakfast at a Perkins (kind of like Denny’s for those of you who aren’t familiar).
 
The host seated us at this strange little booth in a secluded little area of the restaurant, and there was no one else around.
 
We ordered our food and had just gotten our drinks.
 
My sister – ever the “fidgeter” – was playing with one of those little plastic creamers. It had a miniscule hole in the bottom of the plastic part, and she was squeezing the cream out onto the table and writing something with the cream.
 
My dad and I both took a swig of our drinks, and at that exact moment, the top of the creamer packet popped open and the cream that was left in the packet splatted right into my sister’s face. It was a slow motion cartoon! My dad and I both spit our drinks out and went into fits of laughter, while my sister sat there stunned.
 
My mom was horrified and embarrassed.
 
The server stopped to take our food orders, not having seen any of what just happened.
 
All she saw was a table full of creamer, hot chocolate, and soda, and half of us unable to breath from laughing so hard.
 
My mom apologized profusely and the server said, “don’t worry, it happens all the time.” As she walked away, I managed to say “I bet this exact thing doesn’t happen all the time” in between fits of laughter.
 
We went on to have an uneventful rest of the trip.
 
But, the point in sharing this story is to say that mealtimes tend to be one of the favorite settings for us to create and share memories and stories.
 
Many of you will probably be heading off to various family meals after church to celebrate Easter.
 
When we gather at tables and relive shared family memories, we create links between past and future. We pass these stories on from generation to generation.
 
Likewise, part of the Christian identity was formed around the table – particularly in the breaking and sharing of bread.
 
The last meal that Jesus shared with his disciples was a Passover meal – a ritual meal of celebration and remembrance.
 
The purpose of this meal was to remember God’s mighty act of leading Israel out of slavery and into freedom.
 
However, by the time Matthew’s Gospel was written, Passover was becoming what it is for Jews today: an in-home celebration retelling the story of God’s deliverance even in the face of disasters and defeat.
 
And we of course hear many different stories in which Jesus shares meals with his followers and disciples.
 
Always, at the centre of the shared meal, are four gestures:
 
Jesus takes bread. He blesses it (or gives thanks). He breaks it, and he gives it to them.
 
Much like we still practice during Holy Communion today.
 
Whenever we eat bread, we are to remember that we do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from God.
 
And when we eat bread and share a cup in remembrance of Jesus, we are to take in the mystery of God’s amazing grace and self-giving love.
 
We get to experience this grace today. And, we get to remember that there is so much for us to be grateful for as we receive this grace.
 
Even in a world that sometimes feels like it is crumbling around us, we have much to be grateful for.
 
And, on today of all days, we get to experience this meal in community. Not only do we get to receive God’s grace, but we are also reminded of Jesus’s sacrifice for us, and his resurrection.
 
The concept of the resurrection is not always easy for us to wrap our heads around.
 
We could have an entire sermon series (or an entire academic lecture series, honestly), on the resurrection. But today, let me try to put it as simply as possible:
 
Resurrection is something we can see and know in this world.
 
It is a family that stays up all night after a death, keeping memories alive as they share stories and laugh over old jokes.
 
It is the power behind social movements and activism and protest, where people name and claim that injustice and oppression and death will not have the final word but that life exists just on the other side.
 
It is the grace of a loved one returning from the brink of death by the miracle and love of God.
 
And resurrection is the power of remembering that we are deeply loved, and Jesus proved that love to us over and over again.
 
It is the power of knowing that we serve a purpose here in this world, that our time is limited, and we get this time here to live into the gifts God has given us out of tremendous love for us, exactly how we are in this moment.
 
So, as we come to the table today to receive Christ’s grace, we come just as we are, and Christ meets us there.
 
May we seek to live as resurrection people in this world that knows so much death.
 
May we be resurrection people of hope, of compassion, of justice and,
 
Above all,
 
May we be resurrection people of love. Amen.
 
Let us pray:
 
Living God, who came to this world and entered human pain, come and be in every painful place in our lives, be in every painful place in our world.
 
Living God, who in the secret darkness rose from the grave, come and be in the secret, dark places in our lives, be in every secret, dark place in our world.