Year B

Luke 24:36b-48

The Very Rev. Denise Vaughn

The Living Presence That Calls Disciples

Let’s face it: were we present that morning with the disciples, we also would have reacted with fear and trembling. They think they are seeing a ghost. Ghost, or hallucination or maybe a dream-those would be the go-to’s for most of us if we suddenly saw someone we loved appear after we were certain they had died. They had just heard Simon Peter’s account of experiencing the risen Christ when Cleopas and his companion, after having rushed back to Jerusalem; tell of their encounter with the risen Christ on the road to Emmaus. Filled with excitement they tell the disciples how their eyes were opened in the breaking of the bread.

Everyone must have been talking about all of this when suddenly, the risen Jesus is there in their midst speaking to them in that beloved remembered voice and asking why they are afraid and doubting. He then offers his hands and feet for seeing and believing. He asks them for something to eat, to prove he is a real person. They offer him a piece of fish which he eats in their presence and by eating with them, he proves he is alive and they come to know the grace and forgiveness they so desperately need.

Jesus eats with his disciples to encourage them to move beyond where they are and to reassure them that regardless of their doubts, their despair, and their previous weaknesses, because they all pretty much deserted him on Good Friday, his love and presence is still with them. He continues to be Jesus even after his passion, death, and resurrection for them and now for us. The Easter point is; Jesus is with us, companioned with us on our journey of life.  Charles Wesley, whose hymn we heard played Easter morning and one we have sung every year until the pandemic “Jesus Christ is Risen Today, died in 1788. But he continues to be present when we sing his hymn. It’s one of my favorites. Beethoven died in 1827, but every time we sing “Joyful, Joyful,” Beethoven affects us in a very personal way.

Similarly, every time we say and do something that is Christ-like, we are in the presence of the risen Christ. To do the Christ-like things means that on some level we have had our eyes opened to understand that God is with us. Each of the texts today deals with the dilemma of how to understand the God with us and the scriptures. Through Jesus Christ, his cross and the empty tomb on Easter morning, we can not only understand God’s word but can believe everything written about the resurrected Christ. 

When Jesus opened the eyes of his disciples, they finally realized the One standing before them was not some kind of ghost. The One who was dead was now alive. And once that meeting occurs and eyes are opened to the presence of the risen Christ in lives, we, as the people of God, are never the same ever again nor can or should we be the same people ever again. We see this dynamic playing out with the disciples and the early Christians as we read their story in Luke’s Book of Acts. The Holy Spirit of God filled the room where the disciples were, setting them on fire. The outpouring of the Spirit is now abundantly evident in Peter’s words and in the “many signs and wonders” accomplished by the apostles which were attracting attention and drawing large crowds to the temple.

Peter and John demonstrate the power of Jesus’ name by healing a crippled beggar at the temples Beautiful Gate and then we hear Peter’s second sermon in the text for today. The chances are that what the crowd drawn to Solomon’s Porch that day received was not at all what they expected. They came lured by the mystery of the healing and what they got in return was a sermon. Luke makes it pretty clear that the main event is not the healing, as amazing as that was, but the preaching.

The healing was powerful, but its true meaning was hidden until the sermon was preached that in spite of our human ignorance and sinfulness, God again visited his people through God’s Son, the Author of life. The crucified man from Galilee was indeed God’s Messiah, raised from the dead and alive in the healing power of the disciples. Peter says, “And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health.” The Israelites were challenged that day to “turn around” in their thinking about Jesus, as the scriptures continue to challenge all who hear to repentance, so that all, like the prodigal son, might return to a joyful, loving, waiting God.

The reading from 1 John today tells us that as children of God we find our identity in the love of the Father. This love is what defines God and us. But just as the world did not know Christ in his suffering, so also the children of God are not recognized by the world. The world demands extraordinary signs from God and from the people in order to find the Christian message credible. But many times all that we have to offer is love. For this the world often hates us. Yet, John says, our hope is in doing what is right, just as Christ is pure and righteous.

To do the Christ-like thing means that as Easter people we have read, marked, and inwardly digested the word of God. With eyes opened we look for the opportunity to show compassion, community and justice. These values come from the Lord, whose resurrection sustains us and gives us the hope and joy needed to plant the seeds of transformation. Closed minds can be opened through the presence of the risen Christ who works through us where we are. Jesus comes to the disciples where they are, loves them and seeks to give them peace. And as he attempts to set their hearts at rest, he also turns their minds from the past to the future, commissioning them-and now us- to be witnesses to the power of the healing, radically inclusive gospel of Christ.

All with asking for something simple-like a piece of fish-to remind us that he is with us-He is alive and challenging us today to be witnesses to all the nations, because of what we have seen and what we know. The work begins and continues because of the resurrection. We live in a world of war, poverty, disease, neglect, prejudice, fear, isolation, violence and sinfulness. God can seem powerless and absent in the face of ongoing suffering and pain despite our best efforts. Yet, as Howard Thurman reminds us in his book ‘Search for Common Ground,’ “the contradictions of life are not final or ultimate” and that God is the giver of forgiveness and mercy, ever ready to offer shalom: peace, the possibility and promise that order, well-being, hope, compassion, and love might yet prevail.

God’s intention is to bring peace, justice, and mercy to a world that is broken and sinful. Wherever there is inhumanity, exploitation, discrimination, and hopelessness, Jesus shows up offering comfort, assurance and invites us to be witnesses that it is all about a living God working on behalf of wholeness and community. When we are moved by compassion, drawn by what creates genuine community, joyful over the colorful diversity of our world and impassioned by what is equitable, we can say: “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared” to me. We know God through him in the Spirit and now we get to meet and know God even more as we risk all to follow his call modeling the gift of open and understanding minds and hearts.