The Emmaus Method

Luke 24:13-35

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But 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 took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

If this story was meant to simply be a historical account, they wouldn’t have left the other disciple unnamed. We would have been told about how Cleopas and Chuck were walking down the road. But this story ISN’T meant to simply be a historical account. This story, with an unnamed disciple placeholder which is meant for you and me, is here to pull us into this story so that we might learn something alongside our friend Cleopas about the “Jesus Way” of living in and caring for one another in the world.

We are meant to imagine that it is each of US... and old Cleopas there... who have experienced a horrible trauma. It is you and I who are grieving the loss of what we had hoped the world would be.  In the original story, the trauma was the crucifixion, but with this story, Jesus is modeling how we can walk with ANYONE who has experienced ANY sort of trauma. You could just pick a trauma at random… say a worldwide pandemic, for instance... and this story is meant to model for us how to care for our neighbors in the midst of that crisis... the loss of friends and family... the loss of how we knew the world worked... the loss of what we had planned and what we had hoped for that has now been ruined.  

The first thing Jesus does is to just walk with them. He is with them right where they are.  He doesn’t stop them in the street. He doesn’t try to turn them around or try to fix what he thinks might be wrong. He just slides up beside them, lets them set the pace, and is present with them. Eventually, Jesus asks a question. “What are you talking about?”

For humans like you, me, and old Cleopas there, our brains are hard wired to wonder about any question we get asked. It may only be for a split second, but we WILL wonder.  We can’t help it.  The tricksy part is that the place in our brains where we MUST wonder about a question, is NOT in the part of our brains in charge or fight or flight. So in the split second that Jesus asked you and old Cleopas there that little question, the part of our brains that are capable of thinking beyond just one thought... running away from Jerusalem in a panic... has been opened up for our potential use.  

Next Jesus asks them another question.  “What things happened in Jerusalem?” And they tell Jesus their story. Even though Jesus knew the story they were telling better than they did, he still let them tell it. Jesus is showing us another part of how to care for one another in a crisis. We need to take the time to listen to each other’s story. Just listen. Listen to understand… not to reply. Ask questions and listen. Listen even if you’ve heard it before.  Listen even if you’ve heard it a hundred times before.

At this point Jesus calls them foolish and slow of heart which is frankly a quadruple black belt, ninja type counseling move right there! But what Jesus did was to throw them off balance as a way to continue to help them get unstuck from the fight or flight part of their brains. For those of us without a counseling quadruple blackbelt, we might want to be less direct, but the model still works.  The model teaches us to keep asking questions.  Get them talking through their experiences of the past.  Ask them to tell you the stories they know best. “What happened when this sort of thing happened to you before?  How did Moses and the prophets deal with their traumas? How did those stories turn out?” “Do you remember when something looked impossible in Jesus’ life? Do you remember storms on a sea, a man with a legion of demons, a guy born blind, lepers, 5000 hungry people, Lazarus who stanketh? How did each of those impossible stories turn out?” In times of trauma, locked in fight or flight mode, the wiring in our heads which connect us to those powerful lessons, experiences, and stories of the past are cut off. What Jesus did was to use questions to move them over and over and over again, out of the fight or flight parts of their brains and into the places in their minds where it would be POSSIBLE for them to see more options for their lives than just running away.

As they get to Emmaus, Jesus models something else about this Way of helping. Jesus doesn’t ASSUME they are ready to try something different than just running away. He asks those questions, helps them move into a place where more can happen, but then... just “walks ahead as if he were going on.” Jesus is modeling for us the reality that the people we care for in a trauma will be ready to do more than run, ONLY when they are ready. There’s no guarantee that will happen in a month, or in a year, or by the time we walk to Emmaus. Jesus is modeling for us the need to allow the other to set the pace.

Finally Jesus shows us how very powerful it is to be present with those who are in pain. How incredibly powerful it is to bless one another with deep compassion. How wonderfully powerful it is to be generous with each other, being fully present with them, and sharing what we have. 

In the end, Jesus didn’t tell those two disciples anything they didn’t already know before Jesus joined them on the road to Emmaus. Jesus simply walked with them for a while, asked them questions, listened deeply as they told the story they needed to tell, and helped them regain access to the powerful truths, stories, and promises that had been cut off from their memories by their trauma in Jerusalem.

May all of us, as we walk with and care for others in our time of pandemic trauma, follow the “Jesus Way” of caring for each another. May we be creative in being present with each other. May we share with each other the power of deep compassion. May we be generous with our neighbors with our presence, our questions, and our listening... so that we might help one another regain access to the stories, promises and truths which give us all hope.... stories, promises and truths that are even now, burning within us all. Amen.

Stand Up Messiah

The Holy Gospel According to St. John, the 20th Chapter

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, "Don't do it!" He said, "Nobody loves me." I said, "God loves you. Do you believe in God?”

He said, "Yes." I said, "Are you a Christian?" He said, "Yes." I said, "Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?" He said, "Protestant." I said, "Me, too! What flavor?" He said, "Lutheran." I said, "Me, too! ELCA or Missouri Synod?" He said, "ELCA." 

I said, "Me, too! LCA or ALC?” He said, "LCA." I said, "Me, too! Augustana Lutheran Church in America or American Lutheran Church in America?" He said, “American Lutheran Church in America.” I said, "Die, heretic!" And I pushed him over.

The original of that joke was written by Emo Philips about Baptists, but whether you start with Lutherans or Baptists, starting today with a joke is the liturgically proper thing to do.  Today is Bright Sunday or Holy Hilarity Sunday or if you want it in Latin, Risus Paschalis.  It started in the 15th century when priests would insert humorous stories into their sermons on this second Sunday of Easter.  Of course, since it was fun, the practice was eventually banned by Pope Clement X, otherwise known as the Party Pooper Pope.  

Jokes are, of course, stories with unexpected endings and Jesus being raised from the dead is probably the MOST unexpected ending to a story EVER told!  But unfortunately, like all jokes, not everybody gets a joke right away and not everyone got the resurrection right away either. The disciples, locked away in fear in that upper room, obviously didn’t get it at all.  

Let’s see if you do better than the disciples with this one?  What did the Buddhist say to the hot dog vendor? ... Make me one with everything.

Sadly, with the disciples, Jesus was forced to break one of the cardinal rules of comedy by appearing to them and showing them the wounds in his hands, feet and side.  In doing that he was breaking the rule that you should never explain a joke, but that’s what he had to do for his disciples to get it, and thankfully after that, they finally, REALLY got it.

I’m actually really glad Jesus broke that comedy rule, because it is so important that everyone gets THIS joke that it’s worth breaking the rules to explain it. So, following Jesus’ lead we’ll start explaining this joke with the punch line.  Are you ready? Here it is!  CHRIST IS RISEN!  That’s the punch line! Christ is really and truly raised from the dead!  He didn’t just wake up from a really deep sleep and he wasn’t just “mostly dead” either.  He had pulled the pin, he was pushing up daisies, he had bought the farm, he was swimming with the fish, he had kicked the bucket, he was six feet under, he had bit the dust, shuffled off the mortal coil, croaked, cashed in his chips, and had given up the ghost!  Jesus was dead... BUT... NOW… here’s the punchline… Christ is Risen!

It's an amazing punch line! But a punchline without a setup just isn’t a joke.  For the setup we need to go all the way back to when Jesus was tested in the desert. The devil offered to give Jesus power over everything…but there was a catch.  Jesus had to bow down and worship the devil.  Jesus didn’t take the bait and after that, the devil decides that he would “GET” Jesus the old fashioned way…the devil will have him die!  Plot, plot, plot…scheme, scheme, scheme and we arrive at Good Friday and Jesus dying on the cross.  People surround Jesus laughing at him.  The devil is right there too laughing and taunting Jesus, “You should have taken my offer" says the devil, “if you had, these Bell Hops from the Roman Arms Motel wouldn’t have had to ‘put you up for the night’!”

You see, the devil, the Empire, darkness, evil and death itself all thought they had won!  BUT WAIT!  Just when death, darkness and the devil thought that they had pulled the ultimate fast one on God… THOUGHT they had killed God’s Son forever, it turns out that the joke was actually on THEM!  CHRIST IS RISEN! And with that punch line God took the horns off the devil, turned the world up side down, defeated death, and shined the zillion watt light of Christ into even the deepest darknesses of all the world!

With that one punch line... CHRIST IS RISEN!... God not only gave Jesus new life, but gave new life to you and to me and to ALL OF CREATION as well!  This new life is one that is meant to begin here in this life and go on for all eternity!  It’s a life full of meaning, purpose, dignity and love.  That's what makes this the biggest and best joke of all time.  Death, darkness and the devil ended up snatching total defeat, right out of the jaws of victory!

Speaking of the resurrection, do you know why didn't Jesus replace the stone from the tomb when he rose from the dead? ... Because he was born in a barn!

Once you get THE joke it changes EVERYTHING!  There will still be people that say you have to work your way into heaven, but now that you know the joke, you can laugh at that ridiculous notion! There will still be people out there who think there’s an ongoing battle raging between good and evil and that evil still has a chance to win! But now that you know the joke, you can laugh at that ridiculous notion too and sing them the hymn...  the strife is over, the battle is won!  So, do you get it now? Do you get how funny it is to think that death, darkness and the devil have any power in this world anymore? Christ is Risen! And they got nothin’!

Now there’s one last thing. Because once you get a good joke, you can’t just keep it to yourself. You’ve got to pass it on! So go now and tell this joke to the world... LIVE this joke out in the world and don’t forget the punchline… Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!! Amen.

Wait. Just one more. So it’s after the resurrection and Jesus is in the mood to party! He gets his disciples together and they all head out to the club!

They hit the dance floor, but something’s terribly wrong - Jesus just can’t seem to get his groove on. He tries and tries, but finally yells out. . .

Help! I’ve risen and I can’t get down!

Easter Happens!

Matthew 28:1-10

After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

Look! It happened! It’s Easter! Easter happened! For those two Marys way back then, Easter happened! Even after the horrors of the suffering, the death, the grief, the crushing, world-as-they-knew-it-ending, how can anybody call it “Good” Friday… even after all of that… Easter happened!

Even after the darkness of Holy Saturday… that horrible, unnerving, unnatural, oppressive, quiet.  The quiet of an endless and total darkness. A darkness with absolutely no foreseeable end in sight… an endless darkness that fostered horrible anxiety… worries about tomorrow… worries about the months... and even the years to come. A disorienting, exhausting, trying-to-make-your-way-around and crashing into even the simplest of things, kind of darkness. Even after all of that… Easter happened!

Even after a sleepless night and an awful dawn. Even after exerting all the effort in the world just to swing their legs over the side of the bed and simply stand up. Even after a hopeless, duty-driven, auto pilot on, the-men-sure-as-heck-aren’t-going-to-go-so-we-better-go, walk to the tomb. Even after all of that… the angel said, “Do not be afraid” and Easter happened! 

Easter happened.  But not just that first Easter. Easter has been happening for over 2000 years! Kings and empires have come and gone and Easter happens. Countries rise and fall and Easter happens. Wars, famines, holocausts, hurricanes, earthquakes, genocides, and tsunamis happen around the world and Easter continues to happen. Even the calendars themselves got changed and still Easter happened. Through the greatest of human achievements, Easter happens. Through the greatest human failings and horrors, Easter happens. Even through the global spread of a pandemic, the likes of which no one has seen in over a hundred years… Easter happens!

THAT is today’s lesson. Easter ALWAYS happens! But not just that first Easter with two Marys going to the tomb and not just the annual Easter Sunday already set on the liturgical calendar for more years than any of us will even see. Easter ALWAYS happens whenever Good Friday times happen in our personal lives, in our family lives, in our work lives, in our national or global lives… whenever we experience life’s horrors… the suffering, the death, the grief, the crushing, world-as-we-know-it-ending times in our lives… whenever that happens… the truth is... that even after all of that... Easter, ALWAYS happens!

Whenever we languish in those dark Holy Saturday times in our lives… whenever it happens that we find ourselves in the horrible, unnerving, unnatural, oppressive, quiet of an endless and total darkness...  A darkness with absolutely no foreseeable end in sight… an endless darkness that fosters horrible anxiety… worries about tomorrow… worries about the months and even the years to come. A disorienting, exhausting, trying-to-make-your-way-around in utter darkness and crashing into even the simplest of things, kind of darkness. Even in those dark times… the truth is still... Easter ALWAYS happens!

The horror we face these days is not crucifixion. The darkness we endure in our time is not just three days long. The effort we make to swing our legs off the side of the bed and get up each morning is not to go to visit Jesus’ tomb, BUT into this and EVERY other kind of Good Friday experience… into this and every other seemingly endless length of Holy Saturday darkness that we endure… EASTER ALWAYS HAPPENS!

Easter isn’t just a single event that happened 2000 years ago. It’s also not just an annual event that comes on the first Sunday after the first full moon of the Vernal Equinox. No! Easter always happens because life, death, and resurrection is the pattern which God has baked into every molecule of creation.  Life, death, and resurrection is the way the world was made to work! God has done that because we humans have free will and we all act out of our brokenness, and God knows Good Friday times will happen.  There will always be horrors and unbearable grief. Holy Saturday times will happen too for the same reasons and they will be dark and seemingly endless… but…BUT... God has made it so that Easter always happens in the end!  The end of every story that begins in grief, always ends in JOY.  The end of every story that begins in darkness, always ends in LIGHT! The end of every story that begins in death, always, somehow, ends in NEW LIFE! Easter is the end to EVERY SINGLE STORY we live out in our broken world, including the story of this global pandemic.

You and I KNOW that regardless of the horror, grief, darkness, exhaustion and worry that we now endure... we know know that this story too will end, somehow, sometime... in LIFE.  And with the gift of that understanding, we have been given what we need to remind one another of that truth and to hold onto that truth in hope through ANY darkness.  With that gift of Easter understanding, you and I are called to be like that angel sitting on that rolled back stone.  You and I are called to be the ones to remind the people around us, that even in the midst of this pandemic horror... even through the unknown length of this pandemic darkness... we are the ones who are being called this Easter to tell the world, “Do not be afraid…  Easter always happens!” Amen.

Beyond a Flipped Script

Matthew 21:1-11

When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.” This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, “Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.” 

On that very first Palm Sunday, people gathered beside the road, not just with garments and branches, but also with all of the expectations they had been taught and learned over the years about who and what the Messiah would be.  They laid their garments, their branches and their expectations at Jesus’ feet.  They believed the Messiah should be a mighty general, raise an army, ride a giant white war horse into Jerusalem, throw out the unfaithful, turn the tables on the oppressors, become the new King, and make Israel great again!  Just like it was when David was king. 

Now, it wasn’t JESUS who gave them those expectations.  In fact Jesus regularly said that was exactly NOT what he was about!  But the people had trouble seeing how the Messiah could be anything else. They weren’t looking for a Messiah to change the way the whole world worked.  What they wanted is that instead of being on the bottom of the heap, taking the orders, doing the suffering, and paying the taxes, THEY wanted to be so on the top of the heap, GIVING the orders, INFLICTING the suffering and COLLECTING the taxes for a change!  

But that’s just NOT what Jesus was about then and it’s not what Jesus is about NOW either…  regardless of what today’s loud and angry religious leaders seem to think.  Jesus wasn’t then, and isn’t now, about just swapping THEIR oppressive regime for OUR oppressive regime.  Jesus is about putting in place a whole new way for EVERYONE in the world to live!  What Jesus was really about was creating a world which  embraced Radical Hospitality for all of creation.  An “us” vs. “them” system just doesn’t do that, no matter if we are the “us” or we are the “them.”  

Jesus also intended the world to be a place of extreme generosity.  The people lining those streets just wanted to swap the names and nationalities of those who were oppressed with those who did the oppressing. But Jesus wasn’t about just shuffling who played which role… He was about getting rid of oppression for everyone… period!  He was about creating a world where everyone was cared for equally and everyone shared a part in delivering that caring equally.     

The last thing, and maybe the biggest thing, that first Palm Sunday crowd wanted… was REVENGE!  The people of Israel had been hurt and oppressed for so long that they really wanted “THEM” to taste what oppression really felt like!  They wanted the Romans to feel what it was like to live on the bottom, be cheated by unfair taxes and to live on the receiving end of an abusive police force!  Fair and Even wasn’t what they wanted… they wanted payback!  But Jesus was never about revenge and payback.  Jesus was then and is now, always about Grace, Forgiveness and Justice.  That disconnect from what the people expected and what Jesus was REALLY all about, is what led the people from shouting “Hosannah to the Son of David” on Palm Sunday, to shouting “crucify him!” just a few days later.  

For us today as we wave our palms, we are called to work toward JESUS’ vision of the world… a world of radical hospitality and generosity rejecting the idea of making Jesus into a Messiah of revenge and “us” verses “them.”  Now, just like back then, there are people who line the streets in our day and say THAT sort of vision of hospitality and generosity is impossible!  But here’s the lesson of Palm Sunday…  Jesus’ vision for our world isn’t just possible… it’s as inevitable as Easter morning!  Amen.