Contributed by Bruce G. Epperly Third Sunday of Easter |
See aslo: [2008][2002] |
Psalm 116:1-3, 12-19
Acts 2:14a, 36-41
I Peter 1:17-23
Luke 24:13-35
How do you find wholeness when the life you had planned falls apart, and when your hopes and dreams are shattered by unexpected failure, tragedy, illness, and death?
Virtually all of us can identify with Cleopas and his unnamed companion as they walked back home toward Emmaus. With the death of Jesus, everything they hoped for had collapsed – there would be no reign of God on the horizon nor would there be a place for them at Jesus’ welcome table. With the failure of Jesus’ mission, the powers of evil had once more triumphed - the poor and outcast would remain marginalized, the world would go back to business as usual as if Jesus had never existed, and Cleopas and his companion (some suggest his wife) would return to their jobs and households, trying to pick up the pieces and recover the lost years they had spent as Jesus’ followers.
While once the future seemed bright with miracle and wonder, and anything was possible, now reality had shrunk to the size of their grief. With the cross, hope had died, and though they heard rumors of angels and an empty tomb, such stories seemed fantastic in light of the finality of Jesus’ death. No doubt, they were traumatized and in shock.
In the midst of their despair, a stranger joins them. His words remind them of their beloved teacher and his message of new life. Perhaps, there is still reason to hope in the future, they think, as their hearts warm at his message. And, then as they sit at table, he says a blessing and breaks the bread, and hope returns – the Messiah lives.
And, as we look at our own lives we discover that we are also Cleopas and his companion as we gather to sing hymns and listen for the preacher’s message, for we also face the future and its uncertainty. But, then, without warning, we discover - as we do something as simple as eating supper - that God is alive and the future once more bursts forth in possibility.
Discovering the living Christ is not accidental, though God is constantly calling us to creative transformation. Despite their despair, Cleopas and his companion invite the stranger to dinner. Perhaps, in that moment, they experienced God’s “sighs too deep for words” luring them to go beyond their grief in order to reach out to another. By their invitation, they opened a door to new possibility in the midst of their own personal brokenness. They chose hospitality in the midst of hopelessness, and unexpected hope burst forth
A community of repentance
No more than a few months pass in the kairos time of the New Testament narrative, and the resurrection has become a lived reality among Jesus’ first followers in Jerusalem . Perhaps Cleopas and his companion are among the Jerusalem crowd as Peter preaches the gospel of repentance, resurrection, and transformation. Hope lives and a new community is born. And, like Cleopas and his companion on that first Easter Sunday, this new community of faith dedicates itself to a shared life of prayer, theological reflection, and table fellowship. Like those Emmaus pilgrims, this new community of faith pushed the limits of the possible and discovered that God always makes a way where there is no way. As the narrative from Acts notes, “awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles.” (Acts 2:42 )
Yet, this experience of awe and wonder was also no accident, but the result of a transformed vision of reality and commitment to new life. As the crowd hears Peter’s sermon, they are cut to the heart. They recognize they have missed the mark and have centered their lives on false values. In their despair, they ask, “what should we do?” And Peter’s response is simple, “repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Turn around, choose abundant life, let go of bondage of the past, turn to your brother and sister, and be born again as a child of God. Christ is the way of transformation. Though burden of the past is heavy, simply saying “yes” to God today and then one moment at a time changes everything. Freedom is always conditioned, but – like the “butterfly effect” of chaos theory – the smallest decisions can become the tipping point between life and death, hope and despair.
While we process and progressive Christians struggle with the traditional language of “forgiveness of sins” and “conversion,” we know deep down that we need healing and we cannot experience healing on our own. Opening to forgiveness is simply allowing God to transform us as we make our first attempts to orient our lives toward God. It is the commitment to eliminate everything that blocks God’s creative energy, separates us from those we love, and alienates us from the stranger and the vulnerable. It is letting God’s loving grace flow through us completely and without reservation so that we might be channels of grace to others. “Conversion” is the moment by moment conscious alignment with God’s aim at beauty, justice, and love. It is always a process, and never a discrete event.1
What does repentance truly mean for progressive Christians? As Jim Wallis notes, authentic repentance must be holistic in nature, embracing both the individual and the social brokenness of life. We must turn from our own individualism and nationalism to become God’s partners in mending the world. We must turn from the ways of personal and social death and choose life for ourselves and our communities. Individual repentance is not enough; it must be tied to our desire to amend the world-destroying ways of the institutions of which we a part. Salvation embraces every aspect of our lives from personal to planetary.
Last summer, a pastor was routinely reading applications for church camp. Before a camper was admitted, the pastor had to sign her or his registration form. As he casually read the various applications, he noted to his surprise that all the campers listed their health insurance underwriters but one – a boy whose parents were among the “working poor.” The pastor wondered what would happen if he were to write in the blank space the name of his church, promising that his congregation would take the burden of this child’s health care if there were a health emergency.
Wouldn’t it be amazing if our churches became communities of repentance and healing? What would happen if we chose not to conform to the world, but allowed God to transform our thoughts and actions? What would we need to do for every church member to have adequate health care and financial support from her or his congregation or denomination? Or, if every member was assured of adequate housing and food by her or his congregation, not as an act of pity but a recognition of our community and interdependence within the body of Christ. What would happen if we made a conscious decision to practice peacemaking – and not make war – on anyone? Without a doubt, “awe [would come] on everyone, because of many signs and wonders being done by [God’s people].” Our communities would know that God is still speaking – because we would hear God’s voice in ourselves and in the rejoicing of the vulnerable! And, then out of the wonder of divine abundance in our congregations, we would turn our attention toward healing the world and insuring that every child and parent had enough to eat and drink, adequate health care, and a healthy environment.
Repentance opens the door to hope and healing. Repentance affirms that we can change our lives, that the future is open, and that we can be part of healing families and communities. In the moment of repentance, new energies emerge that change our lives forever, and may even bring health to broken bodies.
A Prayer for Healing and Wholeness.
All loving and creative God, whose love bursts forth in the birth of galaxies and in the birth of every child, we thank you that in all things you aim at healing and abundant life.
We thank you for our Savior Jesus, who welcomed outcasts, who healed the sick, who broke down the barriers of race, gender, age, and class, and who gave new life to those whose spirits had died. We thank you that Jesus’ healing touch lives on as we touch one another in love and service. We thank you that whenever we reach out to others in love, healing energy is released and miracles burst forth for ourselves, our loved ones, and our communities.
God of resurrection and transformation, forgive us when we turn away from your healing power and succumb to the powers of alienation and fear. Forgive us when we neglect the vulnerable and dying. Challenge our hopelessness to change ourselves and our world by your vision of possibility and transformation. Help us to expect great things of ourselves and of your presence in our lives.
Loving God, give us the power and the faith to trust you in all things. Enable us, O resurrection God, to share your resurrection in all life’s hopeless places. Let our lives shine with your healing light and loving life. In the name of Christ the Healer. Amen.
1. Many process and progressive Christians are equally uncomfortable with I Peter’s invocation of “ransom” by Jesus’ “precious blood.” Traditional atonement theories are too violent and unilateral to be helpful to us. Further, they seem to promote the idea of salvation through suffering, not just Jesus’ suffering, but our own. While I am not sure we can, or should, recover these images of blood atonement and ransom through the cross, we may simply see these images as a way of describing God’s presence in our pain and God’s willingness to share in our pain so that we might be transformed. In the spirit of the Christ and the Bodhisattva, when one willingly takes on the pain of others – out of strength and centeredness – transformation and healing occur. But, this should never be confused with any form of self-mutilation or the acceptance of psychological, spiritual, sexual, or physical abuse. Jesus came that we might have abundant life. We must oppose anything that stands in the way of God’s abundance, even if it comes from scripture or orthodoxy.
Bruce Epperly is Director of the Alliance for the Renewal of Ministry, Continuing Education, and associate professor of practical theology at Lancaster Theological Seminary. He is the author of God's Touch: Faith, Wholeness, and the Healing Miracles of Jesus, Mending the World: Spiritual Hope for Ourselves and our Planet (with Louis D. Solomon) and the forthcoming The Call of the Spirit (with John B. Cobb, Jr., and Paul Nancarrow).
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