In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, do not our hearts burn within us as we look forward to the time when we will be resuming public worship and encountering Jesus in Word and Sacrament! Although we can participate in online worship settings, I know from talking with many of you that we are now at a point of longing more than ever to return to the in person fellowship of the body of Christ in worship. The Introit appointed for the 3rd Sunday after Easter describes this inherent goodness and blessing of unity in the body of Christ described in Psalm 133.
Behold how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls of the mountains of Zion! For there the LORD has commanded the blessing, life forevermore. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Behold how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!
Hear now the appointed First reading from Acts chapter 2 which helps us to see how the first community of believers had common conviction about their sins and a common share in the blessings of the promise made through Christ delivered in Baptism:
Acts 2:14a, 36-41
But Peter standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them,
36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Reflect now on the Easter victory message of our risen Lord:
Gradual: Christ has risen from the dead. God the Father has crowned him with glory and honor, He has given him dominion over the works of his hands; he has put all things under his feet.
The appointed Epistle reading is from 1Peter a reading which describes the depth of the Father’s foresight and love for us in the plan for the cross. We are called to love one another from this perfect foundation of love.
1 Peter 1:17-25
17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 24 for
“All flesh is like grass and all
its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25 but
the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was
preached to you.
This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Verse: Alleluia. We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. Alleluia. Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures? Alleluia.
The Holy gospel according to St. Luke the 24th chapter
Luke 24:13-35
13 That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven milesfrom Jerusalem, 14 and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. 16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19 And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. 22 Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, 23 and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” 25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!
This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you O Christ.
Grace mercy and peace to you friend in Christ, from our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. There is an old saying that guests, like fish, begin to stink after three days. This expression reflects how quickly house guests can wear out their welcome. They become less attractive as when they first arrive. It’s nice to have company, but after a while we start to miss the ordinary schedules and space we have without guests. Although I can’t help but wonder if after so much social distancing if we will start to look at guests differently.
The disciples entertained an unusual guest in our gospel reading, one whose presence and attractiveness never wears out. However, to start with the disciples actually find reason to be offended by Jesus. As far as they are concerned he is an ignorant guest who knows nothing of what was so important to them. Why else would he so carelessly ask: “What is this conversation you are having with each other as you walk?”
The disciples respond to this question by standing still, looking sad- they are processing a grief that is not easy to talk about. “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened here in these days?”
The events of Holy Week were so significant in Jerusalem that they could not imagine someone not knowing about them and not being significantly affected. They feel it is a desecration of their deep sorrow that Jesus is himself so calm and content. Sometimes guests have no idea how insensitive they come off in not knowing the basics of where they are at!
The disciples also treat Jesus like an irritating guest. Jesus’ question about what conversation they were having touched a raw nerve… It is like the saying about displaced aggression, a bad day at work means you snap at a loved one you don’t mean to yell at and they in turn yell at the next person they see and maybe even the dog.
The disciples were angry at those who crucified Jesus, but they unknowingly take out their anger on the stranger who has met them on the road. If they couldn’t address their anger at those who killed Jesus, the next best thing is to turn against the guest who doesn’t realize that certain topics are simply off limits.
Although guest and visitors can quickly wear out their welcome, Jesus did not turn out as the type of guest they perceived Him to be. To start with he certainly was not ignorant of the events going on in Jerusalem. He himself knew by his suffering the full extent of what happened on Good Friday. He alone knew firsthand the meaning of the scripture’s statement “God made him to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Nor was Jesus ignorant of the purpose for these things. In fact Jesus led them through a Bible study of the entire scriptures helping them to see that it was necessary for the Christ to die and on the third day rise again. He walked with them, and walked them through the scriptures.
Surely Jesus pointed out all those passages in the Old Testament that described the curse of the law and the atonement for our sin that God provided through sacrifice. And passages of the suffering servant who healed us by his wounds. Jesus helped them to make sense of his crucifixion and what his resurrection meant.
To our ears it sounds self evident that the resurrection of Jesus is incredibly good news, and the guarantee of our resurrection. But we know this from the scripture. The Epistles of St. Paul in particular look back to the Old Testament passages that describe the salvation the coming Messiah would bring.
At this time the disciples did not have the New Testament, the news of the resurrection sounded like a puzzle, it was unsettling to have their grief interrupted by a measured hope that maybe just maybe Jesus is alive after all. They would not have understood by human reason that Jesus’ resurrection meant that he would die no more. They may have seen his resurrection as only a delay until the Roman authorities killed Him again.
As Jesus taught them from each and every book of the Old Testament he opened the scriptures to them so that they saw that his crucifixion was not just one detail in the story, or one hiccup in God’s plan for Israel’s redemption, but instead the cornerstone of our salvation. A seven mile walk with Jesus and the sadness that weighed them down was now replaced with an entirely new perspective on the recent events in Jerusalem.
The disciples shared how they had hoped this Jesus was the one who would redeem Israel. They had in mind that Palm Sunday was the beginning of Jesus unifying the people of Israel to overthrow Roman occupation. Their idea of redemption had to do with temporal conquest. They lament to Jesus that they had hoped, but now their hope was dashed.
But the truth of the matter was that Jesus had already more than fulfilled their hopes. His crucifixion was not a bitter defeat after all, but the foundation of hope eternal.
They held Jesus at fault for not being more sensitive about their dashed hopes, and here he was before them the fulfiller of our salvation.
Although the disciples were irritated at first by the words of the stranger they encountered, the questions Jesus asked laid a foundation for their understanding the true meaning of God’s Word, His questions as they walked along the road began the course of events for their hearts to burn within them while he opened to them the scriptures.
Likewise Jesus is not unwilling to touch on sore spots in our lives with the Law so that he can heal us with the Word of the gospel. Through His Word we are reminded of the painful truth of how often we fail to love others as ourselves. In the midst of this epidemic we have certainly come together as a community. Yet many needs of others weighs on us to the point where we do not love others as ourselves- as we are driven into the mindset of every man for himself that staying safe from the virus in my own life becomes the chief concern.
I can see how my sin is more pronounced through trying situations and situations where we are afraid of an unknown future. Through His Word we see the ways in which we fail to trust in our Savior when we are afraid. Yet through His Word we also see how Jesus meets us along the way, to make up the difference for our failures. Our hearts burn within us because we see exactly how much God loves us.
Jesus is our abiding guest, even when we are troubled, who comes to us in His Word and whose word remains with us. The words of the evening prayer service in our hymnal use this passage to emphasize how Jesus is our guest in worship who comes to us to bless us with His love: “Stay with us Lord for it is evening, and the day is almost over.”
Jesus gladly accepts our invitation, He gladly abides with us in His word. He gives us His body and blood to drink in the Lord’s Supper- he makes himself known to us in this breaking of the bread. And the result is that we feel a change!
Our mood is changed from sorrow to joy. Our perspectives are changed from disappointment at how life turned out, to awe and wonder- our hearts burning within us as we recognize the true purpose of our life as disciples.
Before recognizing Jesus, the disciples shared, “we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.” They had their own imperfect human expectations of how the future should go. And they saw themselves humbled.
Likewise we sometimes find ourselves looking back at an expectation that was not fulfilled. We hoped that things would turn out one particular way- and it didn’t happen.
Our human designs for the future seldom work the way we think they should. Our designs for the future appear to us as the best thing- but time after time we see how God’s design is what truly brings the joy and fulfillment of Christ into our lives.
We are humbled to realize that we put so much hope into our own designs- when God never promised to bless our own designs, but His designs. We realize that the sorrow we feel when plans don’t work out is a sorrow of our own making. God has not let us down, we simply have trusted in our own deliverance and reaped accordingly.
In God’s Word we are continually challenged to put our hope in God’s deliverance, not our own strivings. God’s Word invites us to walk with Jesus, read His Word- and then reformat and reprioritize life. As we do this we find fulfillment and certain promises, not disappointments. What a beautiful journey it is, as we walk with our Savior. Amen.
To close this morning’s message we pray the “Prayer of the Church”
Our hearts have burned in us, O Lord, as Your Word has been read and preached. Keep our faith from growing cold and grant us grace, that we may not waver in faith or succumb to temptation. Give to us and to our children receptive hearts, that we may hear and, hearing, believe and, believing, be steadfast in this faith and hope all our days. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
You have cleansed us, O Lord, with water and the Word in Baptism, and You have marked us as Your own people. Give to us grace, that we may live out this faith in holy lives, lifting up Your name in word and works for as long as we live. Guide us, that with souls purified by obedience to the truth, we may love one another earnestly from a pure heart. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Bless Your Church, O Lord, that she may welcome the stranger in Christ’s name and manifest the unity of the faith in the bonds of love. Gather together those who are separated, and preserve their faith by Your Word until all precautions and shelter measures have passed. Bless Matthew, presiding in our Synod; Daniel, our district president; Doug our circuit visitor; and Nick, our pastor. Bless those training for church-work vocations. Bless each of us as we live out our baptismal vocation of worship, witness, prayer and service. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Guard our nation, O Lord, that we may enjoy peace and security in the face of threat and danger. Bless Donald, our president; the Congress of the United States; Eric, our governor; and all state and local officials, that they may fulfill their offices faithfully. Bless all emergency and medical workers and the members of the armed forces who protect us, and teach the nations the ways of peace. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Deliver us from all our afflictions, and grant us strength to bear all our burdens, O Lord. Hear us in particular for those on the front lines of service during this time of pandemic and those whom we name in our hearts. According to Your gracious will, heal the sick, relieve those who suffer, comfort the grieving and give peace to the dying. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Stay with us, O Lord, and be our strength in weakness and our hope in time of despair. Your gracious will once kept the saints in faith even unto death. Keep us, we pray, with them in Your faith and fear, that we may be found faithful when Christ comes again in His glory to bring to fulfillment all things, once and forevermore. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Through the breaking of the bread, O Lord, feed us upon the flesh of Christ and grant us to drink His blood in faith. Preserve the faith of all of us who wish to receive this Sacrament in the presence of the congregation but cannot, and grant them their desire soon. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
Accept, O Lord, this sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving we bring for all Your goodness and generosity. And with our song of praise, accept our tithes and offerings we give at the time we are able, that Your Church may have the resources to proclaim Your Gospel and care for the poor and those in need. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.
These and whatever other things we need, O Lord, we pray You to grant us in the name of and for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose death has made full atonement for our sin and whose resurrection has granted to us the promise of our own joyful resurrection to eternal life; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, we pray. Amen.