Blogging toward Sunday

By Craig Kocher
Luke 24:13-35
April 6, 2008, Easter 2

Practice Resurrection*

I remember a student who came to Duke Chapel the first Sunday of his freshman year. He had recently completed the Walk to Emmaus spiritual renewal program and, in his words, was “on fire for Christ.” Luke 24 has that effect on people. It is among the most treasured chapters in the Gospels and may be the most recognized story of Jesus’ post-Easter appearances.

The well-known Emmaus story could be an opportunity to do some teaching, to direct the momentum of Easter toward the practices of resurrection in our daily lives. Here are three Christian practices revealed on the road to Emmaus.

Practicing resurrection: Christian hospitality

Stunningly, the two disciples in the story walk with Jesus for seven miles from Jerusalem to Emmaus, the better part of a day, all the while unaware of the Lord at their side. Even after Jesus narrates the whole of God’s story of salvation to them, they remain oblivious. The disciples in the story are transformed by the resurrection only because they extend the hospitality of Christ, because they have learned from being with Jesus before his death to welcome the stranger, to offer food to the hungry, and give shelter to the traveler.

A sermon could be preached on the surprising ways we encounter the risen Christ when we create welcoming space, share food, or simply offer the generosity Jesus expects from his followers—these are the places we discover Easter joy.

Practicing resurrection: Care in the body of Christ

The Easter season, full of tulips and alleluias, can be hard on the hurting. Nothing is more painful than sadness and grief when everyone else is seemingly all sweetness and light. Emmaus is a no-name sort of place, the kind of one-stoplight town that has no political significance and doesn’t appear on official state maps. Emmaus could be interpreted as the place where the broken-hearted go to get away.

Jesus comes to two disciples who are grieving the loss of a loved one (Jesus himself). First, Jesus walks alongside them. He doesn’t open his mouth, doesn’t try to explain, doesn’t try to take away the pain or make a joke to lighten the mood. He quietly stays with them. Second, not presuming to know the source of their sadness, he asks good questions. What are you discussing? What are the things that have happened? Only then does he speak, and after speaking he stays and eats, and in the sharing of his presence the hope of resurrection takes hold.

A sermon could be preached on specific ways to care for sisters and brothers in the midst of pain and in the hope of Easter.

Practicing resurrection: Receiving the Eucharist

This is an ideal Sunday to preach a sermon on the centrality of Holy Communion to the life of faith and to celebrate the sacrament in response to the word. The disciples recognize the risen Lord in the sharing of bread.

One possible interpretation is to reflect on the four actions of the meal; Jesus taking, blessing, breaking, and giving, as the whole story of God’s saving work in Jesus. In Christ, God takes us as his friends. In Christ, God blesses us with the first fruits of creation and the gift of his very life. God is then broken on the cross for our salvation, and we are broken with him in his death, so that through Christ’s resurrection we may be given away for the work of his kingdom.

I love this prayer after communion, commonly used in Anglican liturgies, which connects Easter, the sacrament, and the practice of resurrection in our world:

Father of all, we give you thanks and praise that when we were still far off you met us in your Son and brought us home. Dying and living, he declared your love, gave us grace, and opened the gate of glory. May we who share Christ’s body live his risen life; we who drink his cup bring life to others; we whom the Spirit lights give light to the world. Keep us firm in the hope that you have set before us so we and all your children shall be free, and the whole world live to praise your name. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

May the Spirit give life to your work this Sunday.

*The title of this reflection is taken from the last line of Wendell Berry’s famous poem.

Craig Kocher is associate dean of the chapel and director of religious life at Duke University.

Comments

[Clay Knick]

Very nice reflection. I'm
going to use that prayer!

[CarlvE]

I find the meal at table in Emmaus tranforming each and every table into sacrament and the four eucharistic actions being the hands of God upon each life and upon each congregation within the body of Christ-the church.

Also, Emmaus, I learned from the Sojourner's site, does has history and place, particularly within the liberation movements of Israel.

[Carolyn H.]

Dear Brother Kocher;

I hope you don't mind but I plan to use the title of this essay as the title of my sermon this coming. The idea of practicing resurrection is very intriguing. It won't let me go. Thank you for posting your thoughts. I think they were inspired.

Carolyn H.

[Dr. Dan]

The reflection is fine, but in some profound sense it misses the real power of the poem wich is a "Manifesto" of joyful resistance to the whole social enterprise of "America" as currently understood. The Mad farmer gives us these closing words:
Be Like the Fox who makes more tracks than necessary,
Some in the Wrong Direction,
Practice resurrection. Frankly we take ourselves too seriously and that is both an important aspect of the poem and of the Holy Fool of Galilee. Sadly, Nations and Churches take themselves to be of ultimate importance...

[Nancy Fitz]

Thanks for the link to the Mad Farmer poem. I haven't read it in years and remember when I had it posted on my office wall in the woods when I was in outdoor ministry. !

[Amy Frykholm]

I have this image of you tacking the poem to a tree.

[Craig Kocher]

Hi Dr. Dan:
Thanks for your thoughts. Agreed, Berry's poem has incredible power. In this case, the scripture was the focus of the reflection and the last line of the poem a helpful connection. To fuse the two more explicitly, one might preach a sermon on the social dimensions of the Eucharist, or how the Eucharist orders our lives in profoundly counter-cultural ways, or how eating together in thanksgiving despite the brokeness of the world can makes us fools for Christ, fools that Berry's "Manifesto" might laugh along side.

[RevMichael]

Thank you for this reflection and possible sermon ideas. I have been a fan of Wendell Berry for over 20 years. In fact, I used that last line of the MFLF poem as a sermon title and focus many years ago. It is always reassuring to me when someone who is well-known and smarter than me finds the same ideas or people interesting and useful. Thanks again.

[doubting thomas]

Resurrection by Kurt Marti
translation by Tom Myhre

you ask, how does resurrection of the dead happen?
i don’t know
you ask, when is the resurrection of the dead?
i don’t know
you ask, is there a resurrection of the dead?
i don’t know
you ask, is there no resurrection of the dead?
i don’t know
i know only what you are not asking about:
the resurrection of the living
i know only what God calls us to:
resurrection today, now.

Auferstehung

ihr fragt, wie ist
die auferstehung der toten?
ich weiss es nicht ihr fragt,
wann ist die auferstehung der toten?
ich weiss es nicht
ihr fragt, gibt’s
eine auferstehung der toten?
ich weiss es nicht
ihr fragt, gibt’s
keine auferstehung der toten?
ich weiss es nicht
ich weiss nur, wonach
ihr nicht fragt:
die auferstehung derer die leben
ich weiss nur, wozu Er uns ruft:
zur auferstehung heute und jetzt.

[tim atwater]

another aspect is the way walking and talking with Jesus, offering and receiving hospitality, and breaking bread... all flows into next week's acts reading...(We'll read it this week and again next)... where the community is known (as Jesus is known)... in prayers (talking w Jesus) fellowship, apostolic study, and breaking of bread...

the non-recognition thing (presence of God... and seeing my kin as who they are) is something i do...(a lot)... i suspect most of us do sometimes...
(our bible study is Genesis, where this huge theme is laid out w great mix of humor irony tragedy etc...)Jake-Isaac, Jake-Leah, bros w clothes of Jos, Tamar and Judah, Jos and bros... Jewish readers would i expect have been reminded of this theme here in Emmaus walk...?

thanks for good disc starters here.

blessings,