That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. Luke 24:33
Dear Friends in Christ,
This Sunday’s Gospel reading is one of my favorites. OK, I have lots of favorites, but this one is pretty special. Two of Jesus’ disciples are in despair after Jesus’ crucifixion, and they flee Jerusalem. But the risen Jesus meets them on the road. They don’t recognize him, but he opens the scriptures to them to understand what is going on, and they recognize him in the breaking of the bread at dinner. Then these formerly frightened and discouraged disciples turn around and head back into the danger of Jerusalem to gather with their brothers and sisters in Christ again.
Jesus reveals himself most often in community. When brothers and sisters in Christ pray together, share life together, read scripture together, and share sacraments together, God reveals himself and his actions in our lives. Isolated from each other, we miss so much. Together, but insulated by superficial pleasantries and the impulse to hide beneath supposed “busy-ness,” we also hide from God. But together and open to each other in deep and honest ways—open to the Holy Spirit present and active in our relationships—then we see the power of God revealing himself to us far beyond sentimentality.
Do you invest in those kinds of relationships? How? They don’t form overnight. How might you go about developing Christian relationships of depth and meaning and purpose?
Come worship and seek God with your brothers and sisters in Christ in this place. And from the riches of God’s grace, share that grace with a hungry world.
…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. Luke 24:34-35
Yours in Christ,
-Tom