St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church    
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Sunday May 29, 2011 Easter 6A
Text: John 14: 15-21
Preacher: Christopher McLaren
Theme: The Lord the Giver of Life

When I went away to college I was scared. For the first week of school I hid out in my dorm room, ate my meals off-campus, managed to miss the school activity fair and otherwise was rather unsocial. It was a bad situation. I really didn’t know a soul and I had only one piece of advice from an older friend that, by God’s grace, I eventually acted upon. He had said, “Look up InterVarsity Christian fellowship when you get to campus.” Somehow in my misery I managed to call the campus activities office, get the number of the leader and make contact. A few hours later Clyde Ohta the InterVarsity minister, a kind of college chaplain, knocked on the door of a very lonely and isolated freshman and it was the work of the Holy Spirit.

So when Jesus tells his disciples that he is going to send them another advocate so that they will not be orphaned and alone in this world, I remember the moment that smiling, friendly, welcoming person of Clyde Ohta walked through my door and invited me to go get a coffee at the campus Bistro. I didn’t know it at the time but it was a moment of God’s deep provision in my life, a crossing over to safety. For Clyde became a mentor and friend a confidant, counselor, coach, and evangelist in my life, nurturing my faith, thoughtfully nudging me into maturity, listening deeply and challenging me to grow in so many ways.  And through that discipling relationship I discovered a deep community of other Christian students and found my own interest in ministry.

I believe this is what our passage today is actually talking about. Jesus promises his disciples his own continuing presence in the person of the Holy Spirit, who will be with them without fail if they are open and follow in his ways. This advocate is an incredible and intimate gift. Jesus describes the relationship as abiding within us, linked to our very person.  So, if you’ve ever thought you were alone in the world this passage intends to challenge that understanding in a rather mystical way.

Every week we proclaim our faith in the Holy Spirit in the words of the Nicene Creed:

We believe in the Holy Spirit the Lord the giver of life.
Who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the prophets.

It’s a powerful bit of proclamation but when I look at the 4 lines I’m tempted to say, “It that it?” Is that all we believe about the Holy Spirit? It seems to me that the Spirit might have gotten the gooey end of the stick at the council of Nicea.  Only four lines about the great gift that Jesus promises his followers: The Advocate, The Comforter, The Helper, The Spirit of the living God available to each of us at all times, just four little lines? Perhaps the Holy Spirit needed a better PR agent who would really celebrate his accomplishments and praise his skills? I’m sure the Holy Spirit has a better resume than that.  

I’m not sure if you feel the same way but too often the Holy Spirit seems like the forgotten member of the Trinity: a kind of third wheel that we don’t really pay attention to. As a child I learned that the Greek word for this special helper was Parakletos, from which we get our word Paraclete not to be confused with parakeet. This of course caused me quite a lot of confusion in my childhood, the dove of the spirit and the parakeet, I’m meant they were both birds. We like many Bible translators talked about the Holy Spirit as The Comforter or Helper which is a very attractive job description.  

But I have to confess that Comforter while it is a welcome title also sounds a little mamby pamby, to me.  I’m not sure about you but I’ve been guilty of associating comfort almost entirely with sorrow and helping us to cope with loss and to be sure the Holy Spirit does comfort us in our affliction, but to limit the scope of work to this is a deep misunderstanding.  The Holy Spirit is a gift for all of life. One way to say it is that the Spirit helps us to cope with all of life and to thrive instead of becoming cynical or dispirited or discouraged which are such easy temptations in our world.

The Greek word parakletos is really difficult to translate.  The truth is that the word Comforter that is often used is really not an adequate translation.  Others have translated it as Helper or Advocate. But we need to look more deeply into the meaning of the word to catch a glimpse of what kind of assistance Christ is really promising those who love him.  

Parakletos really means someone who is called in – but it is the reason why the person is called in which gives the word it distinctive associations. The Greeks used this word in a wide variety of ways. Parakletos might be someone called in to give witness in a law court in someone’s favor. One might be an advocate to come in and plead on behalf of one in a serious case; he might be an expert called into give advice in a difficult situation; he might be someone called in to speak and work with a company of soldiers or a team who are depressed, dispirited and perhaps unable to continue, the parakletos was one who could heal and instill bravery within the group again.  

The Greek understanding of the word parakletos had within it not just comfort in times of sorrow but also inspiration, encouragement, the remaking of vision and re-energizing of people for the work or life in front of them. This to me is a much more powerful understanding of the role of the Spirit than a mere comforter in sorrow and gives new meaning to the line of the Creed describing the Spirit as, “The Lord the giver of Life.”

We may not want to admit it, but we often see only what we are prepared to see. I suspect that the reason we do not always recognize the Spirit at work in the world or in our lives is because we have not nurtured the capacity to recognize the Spirit. We’ve allowed the world around us to tell us that God does not care, that God is silent, that God is just watching from a distance. I remember when I took my first architectural history class. I had really hardly noticed the architecture around me. But suddenly I was fitted for noticing it. I had categories for understanding it, talking about it, appreciating it and I began to find the world of buildings so much more interesting and alive. Botanists see a whole different world walking through the open space than we might. It is the same with the Spirit. The friends of Jesus, receive a gift, an awareness, of the Spirit alive and at work in our lives and the world around us.

How do we recognize the Spirit? Our capacity for the Spirit is developed through worship, sharing of faith stories, study of scripture, time in prayer, and our reaching out in love and compassion to those who are in pain or need. What we see and experience is shaped by what we bring to the experience, how we are sighted. And what this Gospel is telling us is that the community around Jesus is infused with the Spirit, gifted with Spirit-sight, Spirit-awareness, Spirit-sensitivity, Spirit-nudging, Spirit-encouraging, Spirit-convicting, Spirit-filledness. All of this is true to the degree that we open ourselves to the Spirit, realizing that to live the Christian life is not to do so under our own steam alone but to be rather gifted, filled, empowered, directed by the very presence of God in our lives.

For us I think that means that the degree to which we are open in prayer and acceptance of God’s movement in our lives it the degree that we like Jesus become Spirit-people.  As one commentator said, “The Holy Spirit gate-crashes no one’s heart.”  The Spirit is always available always ready to be received and this is truly important work for each of us.

The sign of the Spirit at work according to John is very simple, loving obedience. For John the evidence of the Spirit at work in the lives of Jesus’ friends was obedience to God’s ways. Love is shown in being faithful to the ways of forgiveness, compassion, acceptance of others, nurturing the young, caring for the sick and needy, living simply, sharing what you have, giving even when it is difficult, remaining hopeful, speaking truth in love, walking with others through their pain and loss. Love for John is never some cozy sentiment or nice idea it is always an action, a self-giving movement, a way of stretching the soul into a God-like shape.

We all know and experience people who say they love us or their families but they are forever acting in ways that are incredibly hurtful and damaging.  For Jesus the hallmark of love was acting in faithful obedience to the ways of God.  

The Creed also reminds us that the “Holy Spirit has spoken through the prophets” giving us Holy Wisdom throughout the ages. Interestingly the figure of wisdom is feminine in scripture. And what is it that the prophets do so well? They remind us of what it means to be faithful. They call us back to our best selves, our core values, our covenant way of life. They remind us that being in relationship with the living God requires our own best efforts and the word of our own deepest self. The prophets were forever reminding the people of God that they had been strangers in the strange land so don’t treat the undocumented in harsh or unloving ways. They reminded them that it is easy to lose everything and become poor or widowed or unemployed, so don’t forget that God loves mercy and cheers for the compassionate, those who can suffer with others.

The Good News in all of this is that we are not alone in trying to please God or attempting to walk in the ways of Christ. No, we have an advocate, a helper, a coach, a prophet, a Holy kick in the pants to do the right thing, to show our love through obedience because in the end it is not just our kind and moral thoughts that matter, it is our actions our Orthopraxis if you will our right living. For too long we’ve allowed Christianity to be defined in our tradition as Orthodoxy – right belief but John’s teaching on the Spirit this day reminds us that without the obedience of love our faith doesn’t really amount to much, our proclamations of faith don’t impress the world, it is our love in action, our Orthopraxis our right action that really changes things that really demonstrates to the world that the Spirit is alive and well and active within each of us holding us in life and offering new life to the world.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, “The Lord the giver of life” who is not only a comfort in our sorrow but wisdom, vision, energy and the urging of God in our life, moving us forward in a Godward direction, into fullness of life. The real question is “Where is the Spirit at work in your life?” for that is Christ’s promise to each of us. 

Acts 7:55-60, I Peter 2:2-10, John 14:1-14
Fifth Sunday of Easter
May 22, 2011
St. Michael and All Angels


Each gospel account of the resurrection gives an update on the stone that blocks the entrance to the tomb. In Mark, the women wonder who will roll it away. In Matthew, after the earthquake an angel rolls back the stone and sits on it. In Luke and John, the stone is rolled away before the first witnesses arrive. While Easter Sunday was a month ago, we are clearly not finished with stones. We move this morning from rolling a stone away from Jesus’ tomb to becoming living stones built into a spiritual house. The stoning of Stephen eerily resembles Jesus’ crucifixion.  Stones appear throughout scripture. Jacob uses a stone for a pillow on a night that changes his life. When he awakens and realizes he met God in the night, he creates an altar using that stone. Moses carries two stone tablets down a mountain with God’s 10 commandments. Joshua builds a memorial using 12 stones to tell the story of God’s saving action when their children ask, “What do these stones mean?” It seems to me, when stones show up this many times in the lectionary on a Sunday, we need to pay attention. What are the stones telling us today?

In John’s gospel, Jesus is preparing to leave his disciples. You can feel their anxiety. “Where are you going? We don’t know the way. If you will show us the way, we’ll be satisfied.” We all know that just hearing the next step isn’t going to satisfy. But that isn’t the point. Jesus is clearly not going to give them a blueprint or a gps. He isn’t willing to give them all the answers. He promises to be present with them and he tells them that not only will they continue the work he began; they will do even greater works.

It reminds me of God’s call to Moses to go to Pharaoh and lead the people out of Egypt and a life of slavery. Just a small thing, really. So Moses asks a fair question, “What kind of guarantee can I get if I take this on?” And this is all he gets…”I will be with you.” Seriously??? Is that the best you can do? We know the story. We know that it was enough, but we also know it was hard, extraordinarily hard. Here is Jesus offering that same less than comforting promise. “I’m going to be with God, but I’ll still be with you.” I think the disciples’ anxiety is completely justified…as is ours.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Actually, it’s a pretty big secret. We don’t know how to do church. Oh sure, we have a structure, we have forms for worship, we have policies that we follow. But we are in the same boat as those early disciples. We are asked to be the church in an ever-changing world…or to quote Peter, “you are God’s people in order that you may proclaim God’s mighty acts.” We saw where that got Stephen.

Jesus left the disciples to carry on his work in the world, but he didn’t leave them a manual or rulebook. They had walked with him and now he was asking them to continue healing, teaching, sharing the good news with others. When Peter says that we should be living stones and allow ourselves to be built into a spiritual house, I wonder what kind of openness it requires on our part to do that. In Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase, The Message, it says, “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.” (John 1:14) Can we allow that same Word to move into us?

I told you the big secret because being the church doesn’t mean having all the answers. It doesn’t mean following a plan, though plans aren’t all bad. It has a lot more to do with being a living organism that allows the Spirit to move through us. That doesn’t sound bad until we start to try and live open to the Spirit. Then it is tempting to become like Philip and say, “just show us the way and we’ll be satisfied.”

The power of the resurrection isn’t just that Jesus was raised from the dead. It is that we are given the power to be God’s people in the world. Jesus doesn’t need to be physically standing here for us to do God’s work. From the beginning, we have been given the power to be God’s people and no owner’s manual. You might say that we have a manual now. The Bible provides a powerful account of God’s saving presence over time and the promise that God continues to be with us, but it isn’t a play by play book with every answer we’ll ever need…including the date of the rapture. Instead, it teaches us that what is critical is forming a relationship with God and a community. It is through our relationship that we discover what is next.

We don’t begin a marriage knowing how to be married. We learn that in relationship with one another. We don’t become parents knowing all that we need to know about parenting. We learn as we go. We learn in relationship with our children. The same is true for the church. We learn how to be church in relationship with one another and with God. We learn how to care for our community not by reading the headlines in the paper, but by being in relationship with people outside the walls of our church.

Sixteen months ago we began ReImagine. We didn’t begin with the answers. We knew that it was time for St. Michaels to step back and reflect. This is how we did it. We invited everyone to join us. Everyone is still invited. We meet tomorrow night at 5:30. We gather regularly to get to know one another, to study scripture and to grow as a community. We recognized the central place of Eucharist at St. Michaels and decided to deepen our understanding of that. What does it mean to be fed at this table week after week? What does it mean when we walk out the doors? This year, we have focused on baptism and how it impacts us as individuals and as a community of faith. We began to talk to one another and over 300 conversations happened as a result. We are doing that again this year. I loved Christopher’s question a few weeks ago, “Have you ever been changed by a conversation?”

The disciples were. Moses was. We see over and over in scripture, lives changed by a conversation. Abraham and Sarah were open enough to talk to a stranger and discovered that they were going to have a baby in their old age. Jesus talked to people and they were healed from lifelong afflictions.

Last week, I heard Tom Long speak. He is considered one of the greatest preachers in the country right now. I was so impressed that I got his book called Testimony: Talking Ourselves into Being Christian and read it right away. One story he tells is of Deborah, a bookstore clerk who shows up to open the store one morning and encounters a Hasidic Jew who asked if he could come in. Inside the man told her that he wanted to know about Jesus. Deborah took him to the section on Christianity and started to walk away when the man said, “No, I want to know about Jesus the Messiah. Don’t show me any more books. You tell me what you believe.” Deborah realized that for the first time in her life she was being asked to put her faith into words and here is what she said, “My Episcopal soul shivered. I gulped and told him everything I could think of …as much as I could sputter out in my confusion, in the dark.” (p. 21-22)

Last year when we proposed talking to each other one on one, many “Episcopal souls shivered”. Then we began talking to one another and it is changing the culture of this congregation. We are beginning another season of listening and I want to invite you to participate. Remember how Jesus connected with people? He talked to them.

In my first congregation, a small rural church in Oregon, I led a Lenten series on prayer. The folks of that congregation were largely in their 70’s and 80’s. Most of them had been in that same church their whole lives. One day I asked them about their own experience of prayer. It got very quiet. They looked at the floor and I said, “Have you ever talked about this before?” They said no. I said, “Where are you going to talk about this? At the gas station? The convenience store? The library? We are the church. This is where we talk about God.”

But we forget. We get so caught up in techniques and practices that we have to be reminded to talk about God. In the church, we focus on the business and miss many opportunities to share our lives with one another. For so many of us, the very idea of sharing our faith is terrifying. Lynna Williams wrote a short story called “Personal Testimony” about a 12 year old minister’s daughter at a Southern Baptist summer camp who earns hundreds of dollars one summer running a “ghost writing service for Jesus”. Charging $5-$20 she composes personal testimonies of conversion and repentance that they are expected to give each night at evening worship. (Testimony, p. 4) It makes me laugh to think about it, but then it makes me very sad to think that talking about God is terrifying… even in church. I think we’ve gotten it wrong.

One of our hang-ups is that if we speak about faith, others will discover our fears, our emptiness, our disappointment, and anything else that is less than perfect…as if we were the only ones who ever had that experience. When I was first ordained, I participated in a monthly retreat with a group of other newly ordained clergy. I remember in a dark room late one night talking with my roommate about my failures in ministry and all that I didn’t know and discovering she too had failed and she too had no idea what she was doing. And somehow that set me free.

God talk is not just talk about God, it is participation in the life of God. Tom Long says that to “speak truthfully about God is also to enter a world in which God is present and trusted. To speak about God is to be in relationship with God, which means speaking about God is more than speaking about God; it is also speaking for, in, with, and to God. Authentic speech about God, therefore, can be said to be a form of prayer.” (Testimony p. 11)

I believe that when people search for a church, they are looking for a place where God is alive. God comes alive in and through us.  That never means that we have it all together. That never means that we know what we are doing. That never means success only. We get the idea that we need to be perfect before we ever open our mouth from the world around us, not from the Bible, which is full of people making mistakes and learning as they go.

Dorothy Day said “If I have ever achieved anything in my life, it is because I have not been embarrassed to talk about God.” Theologian Walter Bruggmann said, “The words with which we praise God shape the world in which we shall live.”

Our community is shaped by our words…not just the words of sermons and clergy. We are shaped by our conversations with one another. This is a small example, but when Christopher sends an email, he often addresses us “beloved of God”. I think he is shaping reality every time he uses those words. Of course, this isn’t the first time we have heard that God loves us. But how are we impacted each time we hear the words “beloved of God”? What would it mean to believe those words and to live as God’s beloved?

I’m guessing today you will want to run out as soon as church is over and pretend this sermon never happened. Brian has jokingly called this congregation “St. Michael and all introverts”. You certainly have the option of ignoring the call to share our lives with one another, but choosing to do so means that we all lose. Over and over again, we are called beyond the places of comfort and ease that we create for ourselves to risk being God’s people in the world. We cannot determine where this will lead, but we can be sure that God is among us reminding us that we are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that we may proclaim the mighty acts of God who called us out of darkness into the marvelous light.”



______________________________________________________________
Long, Thomas G. Testimony: Talking Ourselves into Being Christian. San
    Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2004.

Peterson, Eugene. The Message. Colorado Springs: NavPress Publishing
    Group, 1993.

Throughout my life I have the propensity of finding myself in strangest of  situations.  One of my first jobs out of college was working for an elected official who loved spending his evenings, drinking in bars. As not to be caught drinking while driving, his driver was this young 23 year old.

One morning about 1 a.m, I am waiting for him in a dark, seedy bar and the INS bursts in. There I am sitting in a suit and tie, 30 officers storming in with flashlights, people running out, and pure chaos.   An officer comes up to me, and glaringly asks “what are you doing here?”  What was I to say?  I responded, “sitting here.” He looked at me in amazement and ran off after someone who was not stationary.   

Another time, I was in Chicago and visited the Sears Tour.  I decided I would explore, so I got off on the 60th floor.  Because of my relative youth and accompanying intelligence commensurate to the years, I decided I would take the stairs.  Well after 25 flights, I said enough of this stuff – I am tired.  

So I walked to the door and pulled.  It was locked, I pulled harder.   I then noticed the sign.  “No entry.”  I decided to run down one floor, locked.  I began to panic, running from floor to floor in that stairwell.  All were locked, and I could not get back in, I felt that feeling of being trapped, worse yet of being left alone in that stair well with no way out.  Each door, locked.

Finally about the 20 floor, I began kicking the door, banging on the door, screaming “let me in.” Finally, I heard a small voice saying, I here, I will open the doors.  An small woman in her early 70’s swung open the door, smiled, and said “come on in.”  At that moment, I felt this overwhelming sense of relief and safety.  I hugged her.   

As I read today’s Gospel, I thought of that time trapped in that stairwell with all the doors locked and then my thoughts turned to all those in the world, from the beginning of time until now, who have had the door locked to them.  In the Gospels, the lepers, the poor, the blind and the handicapped.

And those today, locked out because they live on the margins, or those on the margins, those who do not fit into accepted standards, maybe those from other lands.  All God’s children who had the door shut in their faces by the church, society, family, friends, shut out by the gate keepers.

Different people, different denominations, different places, and there they are, like I was in that stairwell; violently pounding on the door, yelling “let me in” hoping that someone will hear their cries, that the light and door of acceptance will open up for them.  

The imagery of today’s Gospel is beautiful, for all those small, cold lambs shivering outside of the door, we hear the voice of Jesus calling out "Hurry, Come in, your safe – I have been looking for you.” Jesus calling us to his side, so that no one is shut out.   

And as we see in today’s Gospel, he not only accepts, Jesus protects, from all those who condemn, his love protects from all who tell us what is acceptable, whether we are acceptable, protecting us from those who say we cannot join the rest of the flock.

On that Easter Morning, when that door on the tomb was opened, Jesus opened the door of acceptance, opened the door of love, and opened the door to his father in the Kingdom of God.  To each and every one of you.  No longer on the outside, hoping to be let in.

That open door lets us in to God’s love, peace and joy. It keeps out the turbulence of the world. The door is open for those who hurt, and for those who seek.  For those who doubt, for those who believe.  Open for everyone, without conditions, without requirements, only to listen for the sound of his voice.  

And when we understand that door of love and acceptance has been opened for us, we can leave the past behind.  We can leave behind our regrets, our mistakes, our sorrows, and our pain.  We can let go of our dark cold places and we find love, we have finally found our home.

Today is a special day for the youth from the Church.  For those of you that are young (and wiser in years) For each one of you, I want you to know that as you move through life; many people will attempt to shut you out, close doors.  Some may try to do that in a Church structure, never allow it to happen.  

Bang and kick on those doors.  In your personal life, always remember that there is one certainty, one constant, one truth and that is Jesus.  Throughout these next few years, when you feel that no one is listening, when life is difficult, when no one understands, when all the doors seem closed.  Speak to him through a silent prayer, and he will respond.  You will see how life opens up.
 
And it does end there. The easy part of Christianity is sitting here listening to the Gospel.  The hard part is actually living it.    We don’t follow Christ because he makes us feel good, or because he looks good or that the bread taste good. We are not called to be simple admirers of Christ, we are called to follow him, to become like him.  
And that requires actions.  Just as Jesus opened the door is opened for us, we must open that door for others. When you open the door for others in the name of Christ, crazy things happen.  You may find your voice, you may find your strength, and you may find your calling.  To get up and open that door. Because there are so many doors are closed to the people in the world.

AIDS still exists and it has not gone away, women are still being abused and desecrated all across the world, children are forced to work in sweatshops, people are struggling to find a better life, sacrificing their lives in order to survive.  Hunger is still prevalent; billions of people are without hope.  Will your hand be the one that opens the door?

God is not only in here, God is out there and there are a lot of people and places that have closed doors to God’s people. The great thing about the door is that it is not only an entrance it is an exit.  You open the Kingdom for others. Look around, see who is hungry, who is without clothes, who is neglected.

Imagine if the money we spent on bottled water during one year was sent to a place where it would pay to dig waterholes for children that only want clean drinking water. Imagine, 6,500 Africans are still dying every day of a preventable, treatable disease, for lack of drugs we can buy at any drug store.  

It was when I finally realized that I had to do my part and open the door to others that if finally understood the pain of those immigrants as they ran in panic that night during the INS raid, or the realization that the reason that my former boss drowned his evenings in vodka was an attempt to alleviate the recurring nightmares of Vietnam.  I had to open the door to others, before I finally understood.   

Today is a mixture of sadness and joy.  I will watch as my son moves from Rite 13 to J2A at St. Michael.  And it is also the last time I will preach as an assisting Priest at my home.  In 3 weeks, I will move through a door that has opened for me.

Brian, Mother Sandra Bess, Fr. Ken Clark, Christopher, Jan, Judith, Sandra, my surrogate dad Charles Pederson, Sam Hall, friends like Diana Haynes, Thom Andrewz, Stacie Moses and many others too numerous to mention opened the door for me, Suzanne and Jude.   I am grieving the loss of this community; however, I rejoice that this community will form my son – spiritually.  

St. Michael will always hold a special place in my heart because of the doors this Church has opened for all those who have been locked out.  You were the door of acceptance, the door of love, the door of Christ.  As I journey,  I know that each one of you will step forward and open the doors for the minority, the poor, the neglected, and the handicapped, those on the margins.

If I know the heart of this community, I know that you will not only open the door, you will rip it off the hinges.  If I know this community, once the door is open you will stand there welcoming everyone in, If I know this community, your voice will ring out like Jesus, calling “come in, your safe.  

With that door open, with that voice, the entire world will see the face of acceptance, the face of love; they will see the face of Christ through the heart of St. Michael.  Christ is calling your name, step forward walk through his door, and then open for others.   God bless you and I will miss you. 

St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church  
Albuquerque, NM 87107
Sunday May 8, 2011 Easter 3A
Text: Luke 24: 13-35  Road to Emmaus.
Theme: Jesus Incognito

It is Easter evening and two friends of Jesus are leaving the city.  They are walking the 7 miles from Jerusalem to Emmaus, and talking among themselves about the tragedy they have just endured. Their beloved leader is gone, killed by Roman soldiers at the request of the mob and temple elites. What will they do now? Their community is in shambles? They are full of questions, of uncertainty, and sadness.

In the midst of their journey a stranger joins them on the road. Unbeknownst to them it is Jesus incognito.  The stranger engages the disciples in conversation showing interest in what they are talking about as they walk. The text tells us that at the strangers’ invitation to share their story, “They stood still, looking sad.” I love this moment. The moment the two disciples get in touch with their pain and decide to pour out their story to the welcome and attentive stranger. “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” The stranger bids them share their story with “What things?” Ah, the power of a good question and a listening ear.

The story of Jesus of Nazareth pours out of the disciples as they journey toward Emmaus. It is full of pain and longing and remembrance, “But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.” The travelers tell the stranger their most important story and of their devastating loss. They expose their shattered dream of a Messiah who would bring about the world as it should be instead of how it is, kicking out the Empire and restoring peace and justice in the Holy City. They speak of Jesus’ mighty deeds of power, his amazing teaching and of how the establishment eliminated their competition. And tenderly they speak of the mystery surrounding his death, that some among them are claiming that somehow Jesus is alive.

At this point the stranger begins to share his story, the story of how their sacred scriptures spoke of the coming “anointed one.” He brings into remembrance the wisdom of their own sacred texts and the strange connections between the life of Jesus and the tradition of the prophets. He uses their own shared story to stir their hearts, to challenge their fears, to awaken their minds and quicken their souls. For this is of course what the scriptures are meant to do, to tease our hearts and minds into activity, to stir our awareness of God’s action, to enliven our imagination to the possibility of God at work in the world in and through us.

As they approach the village of Emmaus, their destination for the night, the friends invite the stranger to stay with them. Their conversation on the road has been lively and stirring and they want to continue it over a meal. “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” “And besides there is a great falafel bar and brewpub in Emmaus.” This warm offer of hospitality toward the stranger makes possible what happens next.

At table the stranger takes bread, blesses it, brakes it, and gives it to the travelers. And at that moment the disciples recognize Jesus at table with them only to have him vanish from before their eyes.  It is an obvious Eucharistic moment. Their friend and now “The Risen One” is revealed to them in the breaking of bread. They have feasted on the stories of the scriptures and broken bread at the table, nurtured by word and sacrament the disciples discover the presence of Christ hidden in their midst.

Their hearts burning within them were telling them the truth. Their friend and teacher is alive just as the women had told them. But Jesus will not stay put and neither do they. Immediately they returned to Jerusalem, traveling at night despite the danger of the road for the news within them was too good not to share.  So a slow and hopeless walk away from Jerusalem toward Emmaus becomes hopeful and hasty return to Jerusalem.

So what are we to make of this mysterious story of the incognito Jesus, his Houdini disappearing act at dinner and the half marathon of the disciples?

I want to suggest something rather unusual as the point of this story. It is in welcoming the stranger in our midst that we discover the face of Christ in front of us. The whole story of Emmaus hinges on the traveling disciples showing hospitality to a stranger. First by including him in their conversation and journey on the road and then by inviting him to share a meal with them.  

This passage teaches us something profound about the nature of Christian community. It is in welcoming the stranger, the newcomer, or the person we do not yet know that we are most open to discovering the hidden presence of Christ in our midst. For we can still catch a glimpse of Jesus in the faces of strangers, foreigners, the gardener, the person warming pew beside us.
The movement of this passage intends to show us a powerful way to deepen our life in community through welcoming one another by simple but radical acts of hospitality.

What is the radical act of hospitality I’m talking about? The whole story of Emmaus begins by engaging in a meaningful conversation. The incognito Jesus joins the disciples on the road and shows interest in them. He’s curious about what they are talking about. He asks questions of them and honors them with the gift of listening to their story. But it is not a one-way conversation because conversations, true conversations never are. A conversation involves a give and take of listening and vulnerability of sharing and showing curiosity. A real conversation is open to the possibility that something that happens within the talking and listening can really change you.

Have you ever been changed by a conversation? Has someone ever asked you a question or observed something about your story that changed how you understood the world, influenced a major decision or helped you to understand yourself better? I will never forget the day a stranger sat down at my lunch table talked and listened to me and ultimately said, “Have you ever considered being an Episcopal priest?”

The conversation that Jesus had with the disciples was a powerful one. One that had their “hearts burning within them.” It involved pouring out their own personal pain but also listening to the way that this stranger understood the scriptures and the ways of God. We are not told what the dinner conversation was like but I’m quite confident that it was just as engaging as the talk on the road to Emmaus.

I want to suggest that that degree to which St. Michael’s becomes a place of hospitality toward strangers and toward one another is the degree to which we will experience the depth of community that results in recognizing Christ right in front of our eyes.

The truth of the matter is that Christ plays in ten thousand places. He is hidden in every child of God waiting for us to discover the playful power of his presence.  The challenge is to engage in conversations with one another that really have the potential for discovering where God is at work in one another, what is important to us, what we are passionate about, what injustices in this world make us angry and ready to act, what searching questions are truly important to us, what stories from our life have really shaped us and made us who we are.

The Road to Emmaus is meant to be more than a delightful story for us as a faith community. It is summons into a way of life, a call to become a community of deep hospitality, a community that dares to talk to one another about things that matter, not just about the weather or how good the coffee is or how many soccer games you sat through this weekend. The Mystery of Emmaus challenges us to dare to engage one another in real and thoughtful ways because the truth is we are mostly strangers to one another. Do you really know who you worship with? Do you know their pains and struggles? Do you know the stories that shaped them into the person in front of you?

The Mystery of Emmaus is that in engaging the stranger in our midst, the person we do not yet know we may discover the presence of Christ in our own lives. For Christ is incognito more than we know and delights in being discovered.

So this day I want to challenge you to dare to talk to one another, to take the risk to be curious about the person you worship beside or in front of and find some time to get to know one another. Last summer our ReImagine group created what we called a Season of Listening in which we trained, encouraged, and challenged ourselves to talk to one another by having intentional 30-minute conversations with people we did not know. Over a three-month period we had over 300 conversations and it was a very powerful experience.

For some it was a life-changing experience to intentionally talk to others in ways that tried not to be shallow and on the surface but honored people by listening, asking questions, and being lovingly curious about each other’s lives. Suddenly the community of St. Michael’s became alive to them in a new way and they began to discover their own story and to discern where God was at work in their own life as well.

As summer approaches the ReImagine team is planning another Season of Listening for there are still many people we do not know, there are still many opportunities to discover the Risen One incognito in our midst and there is still a deepening of community that we desire. So someone may be calling you to ask to have a conversation. Take risk and agree to meet them. We will have a sign-up table on Sundays if you are interested in getting to know others by simply having a conversation.

I believe that this work of radical hospitality, of having intentional conversations with one another and those new to our parish or new to you is the work of our whole community. For in taking the risk to a greater intimacy with one another we build-up a thick network of relationships that create the kind of community we all long for. In welcoming the stranger, which could be anyone we don’t yet know, we create a place of deep hospitality that is capable of transforming our community through sensing the presence of Christ in one another.

So, I invite you as a whole community to embrace the mystery of Emmaus and to risk a dangerous intimacy in daring to talk to one anther at a depth. It is I believe one the most radical things a community can do and at the same time so very simple.  It is not just a beautiful idea  but an intentional spiritual practice of engaging one another in meaningful conversation, showing interest in people for in doing so we may just recognize Jesus for a moment as the veil is lifted from our eyes.

So as we celebrate the Mystery of Christ in the Risen Season, and as we break bread around this table, my prayer hope is that St. Michael’s, our beloved community, may become more and more a place of deep hospitality through the radical act of listening to one another until our hearts are burning with us and we recognize Christ in our midst anew. May we too discover Christ incognito on our the Emmaus road and may it send us rushing back to our family and friends with good news on our lips and hope renewed in our hearts.

“Not business as usual”

Recently, I laughed at a cartoon that someone sent me.  In the center of the cartoon, was open tomb – stone rolled to the side.  There was just a glimpse of someone’s robe at the edge of the cartoon, obviously someone departing the tomb.  Then on the other side of the rock structure were two centurions, leaning sleepily up against the sides and unable to see the open space or the missing stone, now rolled back.  The caption read:  “What do you mean YOU didn’t say “Good Morning?”

You can fill in the rest of the morning conversation – sort of a “who’s on first?”  Waking up that morning those guards, yawning and stretching, relieved that no one had come to steal the body during the night, were probably caught up in the assumption of “Back to Business as Usual.”  By the end of the day they were certainly aware that their day was anything but- business as usual!”  

Questions are a part of our daily news culture.  This week on the cover of Newsweek, the question in large black letters appeared?  Can Kate and Will Save Britain?  Why is ok to question everything else and yet somehow to question our faith, or to have doubts places us in the camp with “doubting Thomas.”  Maybe we need to rethink this label and instead join with Thomas in searching the real experience of what our faith teaches us!

I personally feel that we’ve given Thomas a bad rap –labeling him” Doubting Thomas”.  After all, Thomas’ comment was made in a setting where most likely all the other disciples had much the same questions the week before.

We don’t use labels for the “beloved disciple, who didn’t believe until he saw the grave clothes in the empty tomb, calling him the “Disbelieving Disciple.”  Nor do we call Peter the “Denying Disciple,” because he denied Jesus three times.  We don’t refer to Paul as “Persecuting Paul, or “Self-Righteous Saul”.

It’s true that Thomas doubted the story of the other disciples, but let’s look more closely at our gospel lesson.
    
As our first scene opens, the disciples are sitting behind a locked door, frozen in place, terrified of what might happen to them.  Mary Magdalene had just told them that she’d seen the Lord.  Thomas, for whatever reason, is not present in this first scene.  I would suspect that the rest of the disciples who were present were all full of doubts at various levels.  What was going to happen to them now?  How safe were they under the present atmosphere of the Roman government/ the Jewish authorities?  Who was going to lead them?  We know they had concerns, doubts, fears!!!

It sounds like they sat in a locked room full of fear and questions until they saw the risen Christ with their own eyes.  Who’s to fault them for their concerns.  

This is the context of Thomas’ doubt.  Thomas had seen Jesus die, and now he hears that Jesus has stood among the disciples!  Who of us would have readily believed that?  Thomas, the courageous, who was ready to accompany Jesus to the tomb of Lazarus, knowing he was ready to die with Jesus if they were stoned to death.

So where was Thomas when the disciples first met together and were visited by “the Risen Christ?”  Maybe Thomas had needed a week away to grieve – who knows?  The important fact in our story, however, is that the risen Christ responded a week later to Thomas’ doubt just as he had to the earlier doubt of the disciples.  I think that what is so remarkable about Thomas is where Thomas ends up – after he has expressed his doubt.  Thomas reminds us to dig deeper into our faith – to ask the questions and express the doubt and then to be open to the answers.

Thomas experiences the presence of the risen Christ and he responds by saying “MY LORD AND MY GOD!”  Thomas addresses Jesus in the same language in which Israel addressed Yahweh.

This was Thomas’ announcement and one that is perfect for our expectations this first Sunday after the Easter resurrection.

This is the way that we should always come to worship -  with that expectation that we will experience God’s presence, the wonder of meeting the Risen Lord in our midst..

On this Sunday, Easter services are over, the excitement of Holy Week is now a week in the past and the big day’ of celebration begins to fade.  We at St. Michael’s are now getting back to the business of being the Church!
    BUT
Let’s not go back to “church as usual” but rather look forward to the expectation that from this day on we will seek to experience the risen Lord in our times of worship together as well as the week ahead while we go about our lives as usual.

This particular Sunday has often been called “low Sunday.”  Why?  Is it because we’re not ready for “business as usual?”  Seems to me that this is the message Thomas brings us today.  When Thomas recognizes the Risen Lord and says “My Lord and My God,” it is ANYTHING BUT CHURCH AS USUAL!!!!!!!

Doubts and questions are not forbidden in the Christian faith?  At least in the church in which I find my home.  Digging deeper – asking questions – searching for the One who is more real than any of our doubts or even our theology.

Jesus turned to Thomas and said:  “Have you believed because you have seen me?  
Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”  I think Jesus is talking to us here today!  Jesus gave the disciples something that morning that enabled them to truly KNOW God and to continue the work that Jesus began:   and it’s the same gift that we are given in order to KNOW the risen Christ.

Jesus said to the disciples “peace be with you.  As the Father has sent me, so I send you,” and then he breathed on them and said “Receive the Holy Spirit.”  Not until Pentecost do we hear about being filled with the Holy Spirit.  Remember those words that we so often hear the deacon say at the time of dismissal on Sunday morning?  “Go forth into the world, rejoicing in the power of the Spirit”!!!!!!!

If you think you’ve reached a place in your life where your faith is merely “church as usual”, where you don’t come in the door with the expectation to encounter the presence of the Risen Christ - the presence of the Holy Spirit –then it’s time to be like Thomas and ask TO KNOW THAT CHRIST IS RISEN INDEED -- PRESENT WITH US NOW!

Many years ago I stood in the “Garden Tomb” in Jerusalem.  I was the last one inside and the last one to leave and by some miracle of timing I stood alone for some minutes in the space that may have been the temporary resting place of our Lord.

It had been a rather dry time in my life spiritually and as I stood there, I voiced this question out loud---“Lord if you really are alive and present, I want to know – I really want to know you!”

After several more minutes, I left the tomb and about two weeks later back at home, I was dusting one of the shelves in our library.  As I reached up higher than usual, a book literally fell off the shelf at my feet.  As I reached down to pick it up, I was struck by the title - Nine 0’clock in the Morning.  The author, who eventually became a good friend, was Father Dennis Bennett, an Episcopal priest from the Seattle Washington area.

I admit I was intrigued by the description regarding the men who at Pentecost were accused of being drunk at 9:00 in the morning because of their immense joy.  They were not drunk with wine but with joy from the Holy Spirit  - they were “wrapped in the Spirit of God.”

 I carried the book out of the library and for the next few hours read with a hunger and even some incredulity that God’s joy could still invade our lives with such power and presence!  I knew that God was answering my prayer and that I had but to ask God to open my heart and to fill me anew with His Spirit—releasing in me any barriers that would keep me from knowing and witnessing to the Risen Christ as my Lord and My God.

My spiritual journey did change then.  There are still valleys and, times for questions, times of doubt, but ALWAYS there is the assurance that we simply have to direct our questions to the one who was present to answer Thomas’ doubt.  

No -- this isn’t a time for getting back to business as usual – this is still Easter and we need to rise up with Thomas and say “My Lord and My God!  You are Risen Indeed!!!!! Breathe on me your Spirit this day!!!!!

AMEN