+ Easter 3 – April 26th, 2020 +
Series A: Acts 2:14, 36-41; 1 Peter 1:17-25; Luke 24:13-35
Beautiful Savior Lutheran
Milton, WA
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
When the apostle Peter wrote his letter to we call 1 Peter, he addressed it to Christians who were scattered across the Mediterranean.
To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
Peter’s words are a reminder that though God’s people were scattered, they were at home and together in Jesus.
When Jesus appears to his disciples after his resurrection he finds them scattered around Jerusalem. Some were in Galilee locked behind doors. Some were on the road to Emmaus, as we heard in today’s Gospel reading. After these two disciples talk with Jesus along the road they returned to the 11 disciples in Jerusalem and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.
Jesus’ words to his disciples remind them that although they were scattered, they were at home and together in Him. Jesus is known in the Scriptures and the Breaking of the Bread.
Scattered, yet at home in Jesus.
That’s where we find ourselves today as well on this third Sunday of Easter. We find ourselves for a short while scattered. And though we know this is temporary, still we find ourselves scattered in our thoughts and minds – forgetting what day it is, struggling with motivation to do anything, wrestling with the effects of isolation. Scattered emotionally, and if we’re honest, probably in our spiritual life as well. Like those two disciples on the road to Emmaus, 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.
And yet, this is precisely why God called St. Peter to write his letters, to give encouragement, hope, and comfort to exiled, scattered Christians.
This is why Jesus appeared to his disciples behind locked doors, in their homes, over dinner and breakfast, to fill them with his peace, joy, and consolation.
Today, as we find ourselves in this pandemic exile, scattered from one another – at least physically – for the time being, Jesus declares his words of life and hope and promise to us, just as he did to his disciples so long ago.
Today, our Lord brings us a gentle admonishment, just as he did to the disciples on the Emmaus road.
“O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
Yes, we have had, and probably will have many moments of fear, doubt, and worry. And yet, if our Lord who contended with death itself on the cross and overcame the grave, appeared to his disciples, and spoke his promises, he will also be with you where he promises to be: in the Scriptures and the breaking of the bread. Jesus’ faithfulness to you far outweighs even our greatest moments of foolishness.
Today, we pray a similar prayer to those disciples on the Emmaus road. “Stay with us, Lord, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” And he does. Though we were scattered and exiled in our sin and death, Peter declares, 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.
Today as we wrestle with so many unknowns in the world – when will the pandemic subside? When will people return to work? When can we return to church? – though much is unknown in this life, the apostle Peter proclaims that Jesus was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 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.
Today, as we see the frailty of human life and the havoc caused around the world by a deadly virus, we rejoice that in Jesus’ death and resurrection, you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;
Today, as we witness so many things shifting and changing and failing, we rest in the sure and certain words of our Lord, The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.”
And though we are exiled for a time, we are rescued, ransomed, and restored in Jesus death and resurrection. And even though we’re scattered we are, today and always, at home in Jesus, in the Scriptures and the breaking of the bread.
A blessed Easter season to each of you…
In the Name of + Jesus.
The peace of God which surpasses all understanding…
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