St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Owings Mills MD
April 23, 2023
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
“Love One Another Deeply From the Heart”
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!
For us, today is the Third Sunday of Easter.
So by now, it’s likely that our Easter joy has faded just a bit – maybe it takes a little more effort to belt out our Alleluias.
By now, our Easter flowers have been removed from the windowsills.
And by now, I bet that even the least popular candy has been disposed of, one way or another, and our Easter baskets have been put away until next year.
And, on this particular Third Sunday of Easter, with all the troubles and sorrows of our lives and the world, we may be having trouble finding the joy that we experienced so beautifully just two weeks ago.
Well, while it’s the Third Sunday of Easter for us, for the disciples we meet in today’s gospel lesson, it is still the first Easter Day.
For Cleopas and the other unnamed disciple – some people think that they are husband and wife, and I like that, and I’m going with it – for Mr. and Mrs. Cleopas, it is still the first Easter Day…but they are not exactly joyful.
No doubt, just like the other disciples, Mr. and Mrs. Cleopas have been traumatized by everything that happened in Jerusalem – how the excited “hosannas” of the palm parade quickly and sickeningly curdled into frenzied demands to “Crucify him!”
Mr. and Mrs. Cleopas were no doubt traumatized to see the one they had hoped would redeem Israel end up on a cross, executed by the State as if he were a common criminal.
And now, after enduring all of that heartbreak, there’s some unsettling talk of an empty tomb, and angels, and the nearly impossible to believe possibility that Jesus had risen from the dead.
Well, Mr. and Mrs. Cleopas didn’t stick around Jerusalem to find out what was really going on – maybe they needed to get back to their village, back to family and work in Emmaus.
Or, maybe their hearts just couldn’t take any more.
Maybe, exhausted, disappointed, and mixed up, they decided it was time to go home.
Well, you just heard the story, so you know how during that long seven-mile walk back to Emmaus, they encountered a stranger – someone who they thought must be really out of it not to have heard about everything that had happened in Jerusalem these past few days.
After listening to them recount the sad tale, the mysterious stranger kind of let them have it, which should have been their first clue – “how slow of heart you are” – and, right there on the road, the stranger began to crack open the Scriptures.
And, somehow, the hearts of Mr. and Mrs. Cleopas – their slow and tired and hardened hearts – their hearts started to burn with hope and joy.
When they finally reached Emmaus, Mr. and Mrs. Cleopas invited the stranger into their home and when he blessed and broke the bread – well, it’s like the Last Supper but even better, because in that moment before he vanishes from their sight, Mr. and Mrs. Cleopas, they see and they know:
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Although the two disciples have just walked seven miles from Jerusalem to Emmaus, their burning hearts won’t let them stay put.
They walk those same seven miles back to Jerusalem to share the best news ever – and discover that some other disciples have seen Jesus, too.
Many hearts were on fire - and have continued to burn ever since.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!
The story of the Risen Jesus appearing to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus is so moving, beautiful, and important.
In this story we encounter so many elements of the Christian life:
We are on a road, together, and if we keep open our eyes, ears, and, most of all, our hearts, we meet the Risen Jesus in the stranger, in scripture, and in the breaking of the bread.
We are meant to offer hospitality, treating our guests as if they are Jesus himself.
And, we are called – propelled, even – to share the Good News, and sometimes that means changing our plans, doubling back the way we came, even when we’re worn out from the journey.
There is so much to say about the Emmaus story, but as I’ve been reflecting on this encounter with the Risen Jesus – and really as I’ve been reflecting on Easter itself – I keep returning to our hearts.
Last week we heard the famous story of Doubting Thomas – an apostle whose heart was locked tight – refusing to believe the Good News unless he could see and touch it for himself.
Jesus offered peace to Thomas – and unlocked the doubter’s heart.
And on the road to Emmaus, Mr. and Mrs. Cleopas, they’re having heart trouble, too – and who could blame them after all that they had endured?
But Jesus unlocked their hearts too, by sharing and teaching God’s Word and by breaking bread.
And their hearts were set on fire.
I’ve been thinking about our hearts – my own heart – because it’s clear that so many hearts across our land have grown hard and cold.
We are suffering from spiritual heart disease.
Poisoned by a toxic and relentless media diet, so many people are frightened and full of hate and anger.
And many of them are also armed to the teeth.
And so, with all of that spiritual heart disease out there, sometimes when a stranger comes to the wrong door or turns into the wrong driveway…
Well, all I can say is, we are certainly a long way from Emmaus, where the two disciples welcomed a stranger to their table.
I don’t know how to fix all of this but here is what I do know: we are meant to be different.
As the author of the First Letter of Peter wrote to long-ago Christians, “Love one another deeply from the heart.”
We are called, commanded actually, to love one another deeply from the heart – to love the people we’ve known forever – to love the person we’ve never met who’s sitting near us right now – to love the people we like and to love the people we’re not too crazy about – to love the people who seem to disagree with us about everything – to love the people we don’t approve of or who don’t approve of us - to love the people we’re told we should fear and hate.
This is only possible with God’s help and the support of one another.
But, even with that, it’s still not easy, I know.
And, yes, as usual, I’m preaching to myself at least as much as I’m preaching to you.
But, love really is the only way out of our mess.
Because, with God’s help, when we turn off the cable news and log off the internet – when we strive to love one another deeply from the heart – God unclogs our spiritual arteries, freeing us of the poisons that have gotten in there.
When we strive to love one another deeply, Jesus unlocks our hearts and sets them on fire with hope and joy – a fire that we cannot contain but must share with others, out there in our sad and frightened world…
Just like Mr. and Mrs. Cleopas, who rushed from Emmaus all the way back to Jerusalem to share the good news – the best news ever:
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Amen.
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