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Acts 2:14a, 36-41, I Peter 1:17-23, Luke 24:13-35
St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, West Valley City, UT
The Rev'd W. Lee Shaw
Alleluia Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed, alleluia!
What do we know for sure? I get a monthly magazine, Biblical Archeological Review that is a journal of new research and archeology in Israel and other Biblical areas. In the last issue was an article about Emmaus and that there are 3-4 towns that claim the right to be the Emmaus of Luke’s Gospel. We do not know the actual location of many places in the life of Jesus, from Emmaus to his real tomb. So much is lost in the mists of time and myth.
But faith is not just about knowing facts. It is about seeing truth.
As I have said before, in scripture we do not necessarily have the facts,
but we have the truth. In our readings today we have the truth of Jesus
being revealed in word and deed. From our story in Acts we hear the
people asking Peter, What should we do?
And Peter replies, repent
and be baptized. Turn your life around. This is the truth of Peter’s
understanding of the resurrection. Accept God and turn your life around.
In our epistle from First Peter, the we hear truth of living in community:
You have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that
you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart.
We have a commitment to one another in Christ.
And then the Gospel from Luke, this wonderful story of two men walking and talking and then breaking bread with Jesus. What an incredible story this is. They do not recognize him when he joins them. When he asks about their conversation they unload on him their grief and anger and frustration about what has happened. But he does not let them end there. No, he challenges them to remember: remember the stories, remember the promises.…Remember.
They are moved and they do not want to end the conversation. How many of us have been in a similar position, the conversation has taken a turn we do not want to ignore or leave, so we ask to continue. In true Middle Eastern custom they entreat him to stay and have a meal with them; the hospitality of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…an open door and an open table for all.
It is here, here in the meal, in the common sharing of common food and drink that they see Jesus again for the first time. He takes the bread, says the blessing, breaks it and gives it to them and they have the sense they have known before. They remember. They know who this is. And then he is gone.
They return to Jerusalem and their story to the disciples has one of the
best known lines in scripture: He had been made known to them in the
breaking of the bread.
We will soon come to this table, this altar. I will take the bread
you have offered, I will give the words of blessing. I will break it.
I will give it to you. This is no small action on a Sunday morning.
As one priest in the Via Media videos said when asked about
presiding at the Holy Eucharist: I am surprised I survive.
Yes. I am surprised I survive the breaking of the bread in his name for you his people. It is no small measure, no small action. Every time I do it, it literally takes my breath away. The Body of Christ: taken, blessed, broken, given for you and for me. Do you know what that means? God is with us. God is with us in his body and his blood given for us. Not in a magical, medieval way, but in a very real spiritual, mystical way of his love and life given for you and for me made present in the sacrament of his love for us: his body and his blood given for you and for me. We are called to remember him. He is present with us here. Remember him until he comes again. Remember the future.
We are bound together in the Eucharist, the sacrament of his body and blood given for us: communion and community. We take this in remembrance of him until he comes again, in faith and in hope. This is what he commanded us to do. This is what we do. This is how we live as Christians: in the reality of Christ given for us, Christ made known to us in the breaking of the bread.
We are bound together in the Eucharist. We are bound together in the breaking of the bread and the sharing of the cup. We are bound together in the promises made by Jesus to us that we will live in him and he in us. We are bound together in communion, in community.
Today we will commission three people to continue that ministry of binding us together. We will commission three Lay Eucharistic Visitors, authorized to bring communion from this altar to your homes. We move from this table to your table in a fellowship of faith. They will be commissioned, given authority, to bring this communion to you in the name of this community and of him who calls us to remember.
This will not and does not diminish my visits to your homes and pastoral care for you. This builds up the community of care and feeding of all our members. This is an augmentation of clergy visitation, not a replacement. This ministry brings the life of the community into the homes of those unable to be with us; brings it with prayers and hopes and Bread and Wine.
Jesus was known to them in the breaking of the bread. He is known to us in the breaking of the bread and the sharing of communion and community one with another. He is present with us, here, now. This is how we remember him and remember who we are.
Holy gifts for a holy people. Be what you see, receive what you are. The gifts of God for the People of God.