St. Paul’s Church in
Bergen, Jersey City NJ
April 30, 2017
Year A: The Third
Sunday of Easter
Acts 2:14a, 36-41
Psalm 116:1-3, 10-17
1 Peter 1:17-23
Luke 24:13-35
Sometimes the Road to Emmaus is Bergen Avenue
Alleluia!
Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Although
our Easter flowers are beginning to droop and have been removed to the hall,
and although our alleluias don’t have quite as much oomph as they did a couple
of weeks ago, it’s still Easter.
It’s
still Easter for us – and it’s still Easter for the two disciples in today’s
gospel lesson.
Yes,
it’s still Easter, it’s the end of a long first Easter Day, for Cleopas and the
other unnamed disciple – perhaps “Mrs. Cleopas” – who are heading home to
Emmaus, sad and confused about all that they had experienced and heard about in
Jerusalem over these last few momentous days.
The
story of the Risen Christ appearing to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus
reminds us of what our faith is all about:
You
and I are on a journey, and on this journey we meet Jesus in Scripture, and the
breaking of the bread - and we meet Jesus in the stranger.
One
of the key elements of this story is that Cleopas and the other disciple offer
hospitality. And, without knowing it, they offer hospitality to Jesus himself.
Now,
on the road, the two disciples had good reason to be suspicious of strangers.
There was still a lot of fear that what had happened to Jesus – arrest,
torture, death – was going to happen to his followers, too.
Plus,
there was the usual fear of strangers – the fear of the unknown – the fear of
being robbed or hurt or even worse.
Yet,
at some risk to themselves, they open up to this stranger, sharing the hope
they had placed in Jesus, the sadness they felt about his death, and the
confusion they were experiencing after hearing reports of his resurrection.
The
two disciples offer hospitality to the stranger. And, without knowing it, they
offer hospitality to Jesus himself.
And
then, at the end of their journey, they offer even deeper hospitality, inviting
the stranger into their home, offering him food and rest, giving Jesus the
opportunity to reveal himself in the breaking of the bread.
Alleluia!
Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!
The
story of the Risen Christ appearing to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus
reminds us of what our faith is all about:
We
are on a journey, and on this journey we meet Jesus in Scripture, and the
breaking of the bread, and we meet Jesus in the stranger.
We
Christians are meant to offer hospitality, treating the stranger as if he or
she were Jesus himself.
It’s
a lesson that I’ve learned many times, but it’s a lesson I seem to need to
relearn, need to be reminded of hospitality, all the time.
As
some of you know, for a year I was chaplain at the University of Florida.
The
chapel and student center where I worked – and where we lived – was on the main
drag and, as you might suspect, we attracted a good number of homeless people
who came looking for money and food, or even just a bathroom.
But,
there was one homeless man named Jesse who lived on our grounds, sleeping and
spending much of the day drinking on a bench right outside the chapel door.
To
be honest, in the beginning, I was concerned about his wellbeing and, yes, I was
worried about how his presence looked – that it would scare away people from
coming to the chapel.
But,
I had inherited this “problem” and I decided I would just have to tolerate him
living with us.
Although
he literally lived outside our door, I didn’t really get to know Jesse until he
started coming to Morning Prayer. When he first showed up, I cringed. What
would people think? Would his smell drive the others away?
But,
then, during the service it was time for people to add their own prayers. And, I
have to tell you that Jesse prayed like I’ve never heard anyone pray – the most
beautiful prayers from deep in his heart, prayers not for himself but for so
many others, including me.
When
we offered even just a little hospitality to this homeless drunk man, every
person at our services encountered the Risen Christ.
Alleluia!
Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!
I’ve
never forgotten Jesse, but I still need to be reminded of the importance of
hospitality, reminded over and over again.
Like,
for example, this past Wednesday.
For
a couple of unexpected reasons, it was a very busy day.
Late
in the morning I was walking on Bergen Avenue, hurrying back to church, when I
reached the Wonder Bagels corner.
As
often happens, one of the guys who hang out around that intersection, but
someone I didn’t recognize, called out to me,
“Hey,
Pastor!”
I
hope he didn’t see my eye roll.
I
tried to just wave – smile - keep going, but he called out again,
“Hey,
Pastor, wait. Let me ask you something.”
With
probably another eye roll, I thought for sure he was going to ask for money –
money that would be quickly spent at Royal Liquors or on something even worse –
but instead, he looked right in my eyes and said he was really hungry and
nodded toward Wonder Bagels and asked if I would buy him something to eat.
I
took a deep breath, thinking I don’t really have time for this, time for the
long lunchtime line, but said OK, hopefully with at least some enthusiasm.
When
we got to the counter, the young woman working there realized what was going on
and threw in a chocolate chip cookie, winking at me, and mouthing, “No charge.”
When
we got outside, I was still in a hurry, but he stopped me, thanking me over and
over again and then he said that we had met before – that we had talked outside
of the church one day a few weeks ago – and that he would surprise me one day
and come to a service.
I
don’t know if that’ll ever happen, but when he reminded me of our previous
meeting, I felt a little like Cleopas and the other disciple when their eyes
were opened:
Alleluia!
Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!
But,
some of us need even more reminders so, later that same busy afternoon, near
the same spot, I was hurrying past Dunkin’ Donuts when one of the guys, a
different guy, called out to me,
“Hey
Rev!”
I
hope he didn’t see my eye roll.
I
tried to wave – smile - keep going but he called out to me again. I stopped,
thinking he was just going to ask for money – money that would be quickly spent
at Royal Liquors or on something even worse – but instead he asked,
“Would
you pray with me?”
Surprised,
I said sure, and asked if there was something specific he wanted to pray for.
He said, “No, I just wanna pray for everybody.”
He
put his hand on my shoulder, and I prayed, not as good as Jesse, but as best as
I could.
Just
before I finished, he said, “And, we should pray for the president, too.”
Yes.
Yes, we should.
He
told me his name and I told him mine and he hugged me.
He
said, “I love you, Rev” and hugged me again.
As
I walked away, and, yes, I’ll admit it, after checking that my wallet was still
in my back pocket, I realized that I had gotten yet another reminder of what this
is all about:
We
are on a journey, and on this journey we meet Jesus in Scripture, and the
breaking of the bread, and we meet Jesus in the stranger.
We
Christians are meant to offer hospitality, treating the stranger as if he or
she were Jesus himself.
We
are like Cleopas and Mrs. Cleopas on the road to Emmaus – and, sometimes, believe
it or not, the road to Emmaus is Bergen Avenue.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Amen.
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