Word to the Wise
Sunday, March 23, 2008 - Easter Sunday - The Resurrection of the Lord
[Acts 10:34A, 37-43; Colossians 3:1-4 or 1 Corinthians 5:6B-8; John 20:1-9 or Luke 24:13-35]"Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?" So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the eleven and those with them who were saying, "The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!" Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of bread.
The disciples on the road to Emmaus knew what it meant to be disappointed. The one in whom they had placed their hope had been summarily executed and buried, and then his body disappeared and some of their group had reported a vision of angels which claimed he is alive! We can hardly blame them for their disappointment and confusion. They did not know what to think and the best thing seemed to be to go home and see what happens next. But the "next" was right there. They encounter him without recognizing him. It is only after telling their story of him and then sharing a meal with him that they realize what has happened and they go back to proclaim that good news. By then Jesus had appeared to Simon, but the two disciples can say that Jesus had appeared to them TOO and that they had good news to proclaim as well! Do we, in our time, think that we have good news to tell about the resurrection of Jesus? Or do we imagine ourselves going into a room of our friends or even strangers and yelling, "Hey! Good News! Jesus Christ is risen!"? How would we imagine the response? Would it be, "That's nice!" or "So what!" or "Do you really believe that stuff?" Would the thought of such responses keep us from sharing that good news? Do we need a unanimous and guaranteed "ALLELUIA!" before we open our own mouths? How did we learn about it in the first place? Some were able to visit the empty tomb. Others encountered the Lord in Jerusalem or in the Upper Room. Still others encountered him "on the road." If the resurrection of the Lord is to be good news, it can't be "yesterday's news." It has to be today's news. Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again! But has this happened in our own life? Is it any more than going into the same room and proclaiming that the armistice ending the First World War has been signed? If the resurrection is only history, Christianity is in trouble! If the resurrection means, as it did to the disciples on the road, that our hopes are not empty and that the powers of this world are not the final judge of that hope, then we have great news to share! Jesus is alive and walks with us on our journey! We tell the story from the scriptures along with our own story of encounter and together with others share in recognizing him in the breaking of the bread. Instead of "Happy Easter," I wish we in our American culture could say joyfully to one another at least today, "Christ is risen!" and hear the response, "He is truly risen!" To that greeting and response, as well as to the good news itself, I say: ALLELUIA! Do I hear an AMEN?
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