Scripture: John 17:1-11
Have you ever really taken the time to think about why we have churches? I ask this in honesty because we live in a time and place where we could get spiritual guidance just about anywhere. We can cruise around town listening to nonstop sermons if we wanted to, or we can turn on the TV and watch uplifting programming at any time of the day. We can log onto our computers read or stream the latest spiritual encouragement from our favorite authors or speakers from the comfort of our home. Yet still we have churches. We live in an era where the Gospel can be spread quickly through various electronic devices yet still we have churches. Would it be more economical to simply shut down all these buildings and just give simple encouragement to those around us?
This is a very serious question, and one that we really must consider because the answer to this question could affect the very future of what we know as church. It may very well change what we perceive as being holy. But before you begin to think that I am saying something I am not, I want us to consider what church means. There is a difference between church and ministry even though they are very much connected. What is church?
The short answer is that the church is an assembly. It is a gathering of people for various purposes, more specifically the church is an assembly of people gathered together to promote and encourage one another into a deeper relationship with God. The church is a gathering but the activity of the church is ministry. When a church closes the reason is because they no longer provide ministry. They no longer promote and encourage people into a deeper relationship with God. That is a very sad and serious thing. But it is something to consider. This meetinghouse is not the church, our financial standing is not the effectiveness of the church; these are only tools that the church can use to promote various ministries to encourage people to deepen their relationships with God. But is the gathering of people important?
Today we celebrate the Ascension of Christ. This is a very important event because without this singular event what we know as church never would have happened. Our Friend Michael Jay wrote recently on his blog, “Reading Acts, I realize that Christ’s physical presence was in a real way a block to the followers of Christ. As long as there was a physical Lord who could be a physical King of the Jews, and physically raise up an army to remove the Romans from Judea, they were not going to understand anything about the kingdom that was not of this world.” The ascension of Jesus is important because it forces those that became disciples to either live the reality out or move on to something else. Michael Jay goes as far as saying that the Ascension is the birth of the church not Pentecost.
I agree with Michael. As long as there is a physical form to direct the attention those disciples of Jesus do not have to take up the ministry themselves and the church would not have ministry. So this time between the ascension which was celebrated on Thursday and Pentecost, which is next Sunday is somewhat a time of unknown, a time when we are left in shock and have yet to find our voice. It is a critical time, a time that we either thrive or are still born. It is like the moments just after a baby is born and when you hear the first cry, we are sitting in nervous anticipation until that moment.
In today’s passage, though it is not directly related to the actual ascension of Jesus but is instead part of the prayer that Jesus gave just prior to his crucifixion, we hear Jesus speak words that are preparing us for this time of uncertainty. In this prayer he also give us some indication as to what the role of the church actually is. This is one of the few times in the Gospels we actually hear words that Jesus spoke when he withdrew to those isolated and desolate places to pray. He begins, “Father, the hour has come…” This phrase is intriguing because it is pregnant with meaning. It is filled with the anticipation of the beginning of something totally different then before. He continues, “Glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you…” To glorify is to attribute a high status or rank or to speak the praises of something. What Jesus is implying is that the time has come for the climatic event for him to occur so that something different can emerge.
There is a sense of progression in this passage, as if a mantle or a relay baton is being passed from one to the other. Jesus came to the world for a specific reason for a specific purpose and that is nearly complete. “I glorified you…” Jesus says, “on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.” What exactly is this work that Jesus had come to earth to do?
Many of us have been trained to believe that the work of Jesus was to die, but that is an oversimplification of the work that Jesus came to do. If all Jesus had to do were die then why would he have spent so many years on earth? The work that Jesus came to do was the work of restoration. Jesus said, “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world.” By speaking this statement Jesus is saying that a portion of his work was to inform mankind of the character of God, or to restore the reputation of God that had been distorted over the years. When reading scripture at times we can consider God to be a vengeful wrathful being out to destroy those that oppose him. The righteous then sought to rid the world of all sinfulness so that they could appease this violent deity. Jesus presented a different message. Instead of a God of violence Jesus presents a God of mercy, instead of wrath we see grace. Jesus came to restore the reputation of God, to being the God that would walk with Adam and Eve in the cool evenings in the Garden, the God that even though our first parents turned from Him provided them with clothing. The other portion of Jesus’ work was to bring eternal life. “And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”
Eternal life. That is the main focus of so many in the church. We believe that our mission is to save the lost so that they can live forever with God, and if they reject Him they will spend eternity apart from God. The term eternal is much deeper though; it is an unlimited duration from the beginning of all time and beyond. We often miss the proceeding era of time when we consider eternal and focus mainly on the future. Eternal life is life not only without end but life connected to the very creation of time. It is connection our lives with that that is everlasting, connecting us to all of creation and all of time. Yes, it is connecting us to the environment as well as progress, and knowing that does nothing for us because we do not have any way of fully understanding that connection, it is beyond our finite minds that are bound in the dimension of time that only travels in on direction. But Jesus tells us that eternal life is knowing God.
Knowing God is not just having knowledge of God, it is having intimacy with God. Again this form of knowledge is not just wisdom but relational knowledge of deep intimacy. Intimacy is being fully exposed, totally vulnerable, and unashamed. Our culture does not do very well with intimacy, because we do not like being vulnerable and we like to wield shame like broadsword. Shame or disappointment is a sign of a lack of intimacy; it is a reaction we get when we fail to have empathy. We are ashamed when we bring disappointment to another but when we shame others we are putting ourselves above someone else and using them to meet our selfish desires. Intimacy or being unashamed means that there is total equality and mutual effort in satisfying the needs of others. This is the work of Jesus. Jesus came to earth so that we could have intimacy with God. This brings us to sin, which is anything that would hamper intimacy with God, or something that would alter the equal and mutual effort in bringing satisfaction to the relationship.
For eternal life to be established Jesus must first provide a means to bring balance back to the relationship, and for balance to be restored there must be a dual effort, because being fully exposed, totally vulnerable and unashamed means that truth must be established. That is why Jesus’ full life is so important, not just His death. He came to restore God’s reputation through his teaching and ministry, and also to restore intimacy through his selfless sacrifice. He brought God to mankind and lifts up mankind to God; Jesus is the greatest matchmaker of the universe.
So Jesus is praying just before the moment of his glorification and he says, “I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do.” The word Finish is also very important. Finish in this translation could also mean: make perfect, make genuine, complete or accomplish, succeed fully, or even initiate, make happen or attain. So in many ways Jesus not only finished the work but he initiates it, giving the sense that this work of restoring intimacy with God, was set in motion by Jesus. That through Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and ascension the path, process, or course was set but there is more yet to do. This is why the church is still and will always be important. This is why the gathering of the disciples is necessary. Because we are not just waiting for time to end but we are to be active participant in eternal life. Jesus set the course and then He prays to the Father, “…protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.”
So that they may be one… What is the church? What is the future of the church? We are the ones that are to continue down the path that Jesus has set before us, we are the ones to continue the process and to encourage each other along that course that Jesus initiated. Jesus brought God down to mankind and set the course for us to be lifted up to God. He made it possible for a restoration of intimacy with God, but intimacy is a two way street. We each are unique individuals with different preferences and desires; we all have different ideas and passions. Our culture recognizes that and questions this concept of one way to intimacy with God through Jesus because of this. They question this one way because often we like the ancient religious leaders throughout history have made interpretations about God that may or may not be true. We have tried to systematically understand and confine God so that we can easily control the relationship, only to find out that at times we in the attempt of righteousness, close doors of intimacy with God to others, as we demand conformity instead of intimacy. So that they may be one, does not mean we must all be the same, but that we exist and belong to the whole. We live connected to the eternal now and ever more. The church is involved in this process not to bring in shame, which is the opposite of intimacy, but to encourage deeper intimacy. We are called to walk along side others like Jesus walked with his disciples, accepting people where they are at that moment and then encouraging them to take a step closer to God. One step at a time, so that they like us can belong and find a place with God. This does not always look the same for all people. Some have different preferences in their expression of intimacy than others, some require music while others do not, some prefer the deepness of hymns while others like the passion of praise choruses, some desire art while others need simplicity in the worship space. As a church we should recognize that there are differences in the expressions and preferences of intimacy with God and celebrate those differences, letting our desires known while yielding also to the desires of others. But in all things honoring each other as being loved by God and encouraging each other do deepen that relationship.
Jesus finished the work the Father had for him. He was with the father before the world existed and has returned. He came to restore the reputation and intimacy between God and mankind. He brings God to us and set up and initiated the means for mankind to restore their relationship with God. This is through the Church, which was birthed the day that Jesus ascended into heaven. The church will always be needed, there will always be a need for the interpersonal connection between unique personalities because through that interaction we develop the intimacy of eternal life, which includes all creatures for all times. How those gathering happen and how they look is a totally different story because it changes with cultures and times. Some gatherings will rise and some will close according to the willingness they have in participating in this ongoing ministry that Jesus began. The ministry of Loving God, Embracing the Holy Spirit, and Living the Love of Christ with others, through worship, prayer and service.
As we move into this time of open worship or centering prayer together let us meditate on this prayer of Jesus. Let us reflect on the work that He finished and initiated, let us consider the totality of eternal life, and let us be one as Jesus and the Father are one.
Scripture: John 10:1-10
Today we honor and celebrate the women in our lives that have greatly impacted us. We call this day in America, Mother’s Day, but that term although is very important does not always cover all the women in our lives. There are some whose mothers have not been their greatest influence and instead were influenced by their grandmother or aunt. And some have not bore children but have been very influential in the lives of many young ones in their communities. Women are very important to the development of both boys and girls. They teach differently than men, they play differently than males; women have a different perspective that is vital to the development of a child. I say this in a holistic sense, not just the physical development, but also the emotional, and spiritual development of every individual. That is why we honor women. That is why in the Friends church we have always counted women as equal in all areas of life. I would have to say the people I have learned the most from in key areas of my development have been women. Edith Williams was my pastor when I fell in love with the Friends Church; she is the one that taught me the history and basic beliefs of Friend when I was just beginning to understand what it meant to be a follower and Friend of Jesus. Lois Smock was my Sunday School teach when I was in college, I was her only student and we spent hours in study of scripture and she helped me through the roughest time spiritually that I had faced, and also helped me find clearness when I first felt the urges to ministry. I remember one Sunday Lois told me that she really felt I was going to enter into the ministry and possibly be a missionary. I had not laughed harder than I did that day and I think she had a very good laugh as well, but a few months later I was sitting in an airport waiting to board a plane heading across the ocean to Ukraine.
Now those women were not my mothers, my mother has always been encouraging in ways that are difficult to put into words. My mom would teach us but always seemed to allow us to make the decisions on our own, and then let us face the consequences of those decisions what ever they may have been. She would always encourage me to try harder, work harder, never to settle for something second rate, but in the same process she taught me to be responsible. My mom, and my grandmother are some of the funniest people I know, many of the most memorable teachings that they have given were their responses to poor decisions I have made. Some might not find the words spoken as encouraging but those that would judge do not know my mom or grandma, because our family has always had a very dry sense of humor and the most profound thing both my mother and grandmother have said was, “Well that was pretty stupid wasn’t it.” And then they would enter into assisting me in figuring out how to redeem the situation.
Although we honor mothers this day, today is more than that; it is the day to celebrate the women who have helped shape us into who we are. Those people became closest to us know how to talk to us in ways that will reach right into the very depths of our hearts and then pull out the greatest good. They have the ability to look past the quirks and see the spark that brings us to life. These people are the ones that we look up to, they are the ones we wish to please, the ones we honor and seek to make proud. Yes often it is our mothers, but there are others.
I want us to consider the way your mother spoke to you. If your relationship with your mother was not the greatest I want you to consider another very influential woman in you life that helped you become the man or woman you are today. I want you to consider what words they would us to direct and encourage you down the path that has brought you here today. Consider the ways they spoke, reacted, and taught you. You can still hear their voice clearly while you think back. Those influential people are the ones that Jesus often uses to teach us profound things about the nature of God.
When Jesus spoke of God, He often used relational terminology, saying things like Father to direct our attention to the intimacy and honor in the family structure. In the culture of that day the father was the most important figure in the family, it was the father that provided for the family, the father was often the teacher, as well as the spiritual leader of the family, and the father would provide encouragement to the children through personal blessings. In the rare case of a divorce in ancient times, the children did not go with the mother but they stayed with the father. To be without a father was the greatest sign of poverty and were the ones that the religious were often called to support. But cultures have changed as time has progressed, as the culture has moved away from an agrarian society and become more urban in setting the father has spent less time at home so the importance of the mother has risen greatly in the lives of children, especially that of boys. This cultural shift can limit our understanding of what Jesus says when he makes use of the term Father in scripture. In today’s culture it may be more accurate to the spirit of the words of scripture to replace that term with mother, because they are often the most influential and relational figure in a child’s life.
Jesus would also use agricultural references to illustrate the relational aspect of God. When he looked and lamented over Jerusalem He said, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.” (Matthew 23:37 NIV) These illustrations in that time and place carried greater weight than they do today because as we have moved away from the agricultural culture into an urban culture we do not quite understand the relational aspect of animals, and how they respond to their surroundings. Some today, if they were honest, would not know what Jesus was talking about without doing some research, because they have not had the privilege to observe chickens and chicks interact.
Probably the most memorable agricultural illustration Jesus used was that of the relationship of sheep to the shepherd, which we read about today. This is a very important illustration because like Father, a sheep without a shepherd is a sheep that will not survive. Sheep were one of the first domesticated animals in human history, they have spent so much time under the constant care of humans that there is very little survival instinct left in them. Sheep need a shepherd like an infant need’s its mother. It is the shepherd that leads the sheep to the feeding grounds, it is the shepherd that leads the sheep to the source of water, the shepherd is the one that calls a sheep away from danger and protects them from the threats of the predator. Sheep do very little on their own, in fact a sheep will put its head down, begin eating, and will follow their mouth from one blade of grass to the next until it is totally lost. It is the lost sheep that is then stolen, or devoured.
Jesus uses this illustration because humans like sheep need the social network of others around us. We need the voices calling us and directing us as we walk through life. But again we do not always understand what Jesus is saying because He is speaking in terms of a culture that we do not live. Even the contemporary sheepherders of today do not raise sheep in the same way as they did in the first century. Today we employ the use of fences and dogs, in the first century they did not have the technology to produce various types of wire, so the sheep needed constant supervision. At night they shepherds would gather the sheep together into holding pens, which were usually roofless enclosures that would have a narrow opening and walls all around. The shepherd would lead the sheep into the pen or fold, and would use his rod and staff to inspect the fleece and skin for potential problems, as the sheep would walk by. When they were all safely in the fold, the shepherd would tend to the various injuries and when the sun went down he would sleep in the opening keeping the sheep in and potential threats out. During certain times of the year the shepherds would lead the sheep to more rigorous folds, that had higher walls and more security because as the fleeces became fuller, the threat of thieves trying to obtain the wool while the shepherd slept increased. The sheep were so accustomed to this routine of entering the fold every night and exiting every morning, they would often not move until the shepherd called for them. Since sheep would not move to follow a stranger’s voice and since the shepherd was in the gate, the only way to steal a sheep was to hop over the wall and then lift the sheep out.
Day in and day out for centuries shepherds have done this same thing. Year after year the sheep follow the voice of the one that leads them. When they hear a voice they do not know they run away, but the voice of the shepherd calmed them. The people understood the idea and concept of the shepherd in the first century, this is nothing new to scripture because David often would refer to God as his shepherd. What they did not understand was the context that Jesus was speaking in. Jesus was saying these things to the religious leaders of his day. He spoke these words after he gave sight to a man who was born blind. And when the leaders began investigating how this thing happened, it became clear that Jesus was attracting more of a following than the most prominent religious leaders of the day. Because of this the man that Jesus healed was driven out of the synagogue out of the community and Jesus then told them that they where the ones blind. So he uses this illustration saying that these leaders and teacher were not shepherds but thieves. They were not looking after the sheep but taking them away from the fold of God.
This is pretty steep and serious charge. Through their teachings if a person did not follow them exactly they could be totally removed from the community. In that culture to be removed from the community was to be removed from God totally, there were not other options, if you were not part of the synagogue you were equal to a gentile, and not welcome in the temple. If you were not welcome in the temple you then could not be forgiven of your sins and were damned to Hell. That is what the blind man was facing when he chose to follow Jesus. But Jesus turned their teachings around on them and said no you are the ones that are the thieves you are the ones that are keeping the sheep out of the fold of God. “I am the Gate,” Jesus says. Jesus is the one that stands guard, watches over, protects, and nurtures the sheep. Not the leaders, not the teachers, and not the priests. Jesus goes on to say, “Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
This brings us to some very touchy situations. The religious leaders Jesus is speaking to were the ones that were keeping the faith pure. They were the righteous ones. They were the ones that had all the answers and held the keys to interpreting the laws. Yet Jesus accepted the one that they rejected. Jesus says whoever enters by me will be saved. They put conditions on acceptance into the community yet Jesus opens the gate and calls out to the sheep.
I want us to again reflect on those women in our lives that have help shape us. I mentioned that they would often reach deep into our hearts and pull out what is good, that they would look beyond our quirkiness and see the spark within that could be fed until we become fully alive. They, like Jesus, look at us in love. They may not like what we do but they continue to provide encouragement every step we take. Often our mothers are like our shepherd, they lead and guide us for a while but eventually they release us, and we must listen for the voice of God on our own. But what voices are we listening too?
We sitting here today easily become like the religious leaders that Jesus called sheep thieves. We are the keepers of the faith, but are we listening to the voice of the Shepherd or are we letting other voices enter in. I spoke of two women that were very important to my own faith; they each were active ministers during two fundamental periods of my life. One taught me about Friends, and she spoke about how Friends would seek and listen for the voice of God to direct them to speak and act in their lives. That act of listening for the voice of God is at the very heart of our faith. But how do we do this? How do we remove the distractions from all around us and just listen to the direct guidance of our shepherd. We enter into the rhythm of life that Jesus taught a life of worship, prayer, and service. But some times we cannot remove all the distractions and at times we may feel confused and that is where we need the encouragement of friends to help us find clearness. Gently listening and urging us, encouraging and questioning us until we feel we have the answer from God.
There is another lesson to learn from the shepherd. When I was working on the farm we raised livestock but cattle are not the same as sheep. Cattle are driven where sheep are lead. Cattle are pushed and prodded along, and sheep are called. There is a difference; one is forced the other is encouraged, one is controlled the other is guided. Parents, and others that mean the most to us guide us and encourage us to become complete. Jesus does not force us to become His followers, he does not demand us to adhere to rules but he calls us to a life of completion.
As we enter into this time of open worship and communion as Friends. I encourage each of us to remember our mothers. Remember how they encouraged us and guided us. If there is pain, ask the Spirit to help you forgive and to see them through His eyes. I also encourage us to consider the Shepherd. Are we listening to His voice or are we listening to the voices of our culture? Are we hearing his calls or are we like the Pharisees trying to control our own lives and the lives of those around us? Let us also consider how we can become a people loving God, embracing the Holy Spirit, living the love of Christ with others.
Scripture: Luke 24:13-35
One of the worst feelings I have ever felt is not knowing where the path I am on is going to lead. When we are children we seem to have dreams that reach to the stars and year-by-year the dreams seem to become less broad and more confined. Each year the dreams begin to look more reasonable and less fantastic. Occasionally something happens that gives us a chance to dream again, but often we get stuck in a rut of responsibility. I know many of you have felt this at some point in your life, at times the dreams are taken away because of the infamous glass ceiling, other times we just simply stop dreaming because it is easier to settle.
I want us to remember our dreams for a moment. The dreams that caused us to reach out in our lives, the dreams that caused us to fall in love and to have children, I want us to remember the dreams that each of us have had but have possibly pushed to the back of our minds because they were not practical. I also want us to remember just what caused us to leave those dreams behind in the first place.
I know it seems to be a weird exercise. It may possibly cause us to become a bit uncomfortable. I want us to consider this because dreams are important, often those dreams we once had were movements of the Sprit of God directing us to walk farther down the road. It becomes uncomfortable for us to consider these unrealized dreams because it causes us to consider for a moment that we may have been grieving the Spirit of God.
This is just the sort of feeling that I imagine these two disciples of Jesus were having. They were people with dreams and ideas about their future. But all of a sudden the dreams they had evaporated before their eyes. They saw in the man, Jesus, the freedom of Israel. They had become His disciples and were with the others in the upper room mourning the loss of their friend. They had seen Jesus hung on the tree, they had witnessed Him being buried and they had seen the stone rolled before the entrance to seal off the living from the dead. They had heard the testimony of the Mary who excitedly claimed that Jesus was not in the tomb. They had listened the breathless statement from John and Peter as they confirmed that the tomb was empty.
The tomb was empty. For them at that moment that fact that we hold so dear to our hearts was the symbol of lost dreams. So they began to walk home. There was nothing left for them. There was no body to mourn, nothing. They pursued a dream and everything they thought they were pursuing suddenly fell out from under their feet. So they walked.
The translators say that Emmaus is about seven miles from Jerusalem but the problem is that the actual location is not known for sure. Some of the ancient manuscripts actually allude to the possibility that the town could be as close as seven but as far as thirty miles away. I do not mention this to dispute the accuracy of the translation but show us that this was a long walk that would take the majority of a day. A walk long enough to think and to begin processing things, a trip that would allow them to talk through some of the events and try to make some sense out of it. They walked and talked to each other. They walked and considered what they would do now that they had spent the past few years pursuing something that seemingly ended up empty.
While they were walking, talking, and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but they were kept from recognizing him. He asked them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?”
These disciples seemingly lost it all, and they were blessed with a gift of not recognizing Jesus right away. Yes I say they were blessed with a gift of not recognizing Jesus. I say this for a reason; by not being able to recognize Jesus right away they were able to speak freely as broken humans like most of us. They were able to shed off all the masks of who or what they were supposed to be and were able to be real. They were able to speak about the events, not having any answers and not having to make any defense for what they beloved, and could just speak openly and freely about what they hoped for and what they had lost. And Jesus walked with them and listened as they told Him the story of the mighty prophet in word and deed that they had followed and how now they are confused because the tomb was empty.
They were blessed with a gift. There as they walked along that road they were able to speak clearly their dreams and how their dreams became foggy and clouded. They were able to express the pain they felt as the chief priest handed their friend over to the authorities to have him executed, they could honestly express how they failed their messiah as they stood not knowing what to do next, and then tell Jesus why they were walking back to Emmaus. They were kept from recognizing Jesus so that they could freely express their hearts, so that they could confess how they too have grieved the Spirit and have lost a portion of their faith. They spoke openly and freely because as far as they could tell Jesus was just another traveler that did not know what was going on and it did not really matter.
Jesus listened and walked with them. Jesus could have revealed Himself immediately but instead He listened. That is a gift. You see Jesus walks with us on our journeys even though we may not recognize that He is there. Even when we cannot see past the clouds that hem us in, He is walking with us. He does not expect us to have every answer to every theological nuance, he just wants to listen and walk with us.
They did not know Jesus at that moment, yet there He was. This speaks volumes. As we as a culture enter into a new era of history, an era that many call post modern or post Christian, this speaks directly to our condition. We in this Meeting and others throughout the church have had dreams and ideas of what the church should be and do yet all around us we see the world seemingly slip away out from under our feet. We are those disciples walking to Emmaus unable to see that Jesus is walking with us and about to reveal something amazing soon. Jesus is walking with us listening to our pleas and prayers waiting for us to calm ourselves so we can listen.
There is a second view that we can take. We are entering into a new era and maybe we are walking because the church we thought we were getting into has turned out to be something totally different than we hoped. We are walking away from faith because we just do not see any hope in it any more. Maybe we have turned our back on God even because we placed all of our hope in Him, and He seemingly let our hearts get hurt. So we are walking venting our frustrations out to the air, screaming our pain to the darkness of the night yet even there Jesus is walking right there by us letting us speak and waiting till we calm ourselves so he can reveal something amazing soon.
This new age of history is frightening because we really do not know what will come of it. Where will the church be? And where will we as believers be? Will we fade away into obscurity? Or is there something else around the bend? We are the disciples walking to Emmaus. But we are also bearers of the Light of Christ. For those that do not have faith we bear the Light for them to see, but to be able to speak to them we first have to walk along the road with them, meet them where they are at and just keep walking as long as it takes. Not arguing or defending a position but listening, hearing them pour out their souls so that after a while they are able to calm down and let God reveal something to them.
Jesus walked with them and let them talk. They spoke of the rise and fall of their prophet and their dreams, and then there is an opening for Him to speak. He opened the scriptures up to them, beginning with Moses and all the prophets; He interpreted to them the things spoken about Him in scriptures. He explained to them in a way they could understand. Starting from the beginning and building from there. He did not just jump in and begin to debate, but listened first. This tells us a great deal about Loving God, Embracing the Holy Sprit, and Living the Love of Christ with others. It speaks about prayer, worship and ministry. Before we are able to pray and hear clearly from Christ we first have to remove the distractions. Jesus let the disciples vent before he spoke. We too need to be real getting our concerns out of our minds and off of our chests so we can then relax and listen to the Word of the Lord. This also speaks to us about ministry, to be able to encourage others in their faith we need to allow them to speak first, listen to them and only after we listen can we begin to speak.
As they neared the village the two disciples invited Jesus to stay with them. They invited Him to their homes allowing the conversation to continue. They had walked a great distance with this man they had had a very deep conversation and yet their eyes were still closed, but when Jesus broke the bread and blessed it they knew that something amazing happened before their eyes. They had seen the risen Lord, the dream they once had had died but now it was resurrected into something new.
I began today speaking of broken dreams, or dreams that various aspects of life caused to become unobtainable. These men lost their dreams but the power of the resurrected Jesus caused those dreams to take on a new form. Something changed on that walk down the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus. It was on that journey that they began to realize that their dreams were not God’s dreams, that in their zealous faith they had skewed the truth of the Gospel to make it fit into their own personal ideologies, but God revealed to them the truth along that path.
Our wisdom can only take us so far, eventually we have to let go of our dreams so that God can convert them into something greater. The dream they had was a restored Israel, but God converted that dream to be even greater, not only Israel but also the entire world and universe. This is where I want us to examine our dreams and our ideologies. I want us to be honest with ourselves and be willing to admit that we in our dreaming and in our unachieved dreams have allowed ourselves to take control of things and have not allowed God to work through us. I want us to examine these things, speak them out to God and get them off of our chests but after that let us listen to the still small voice of the Lord our ever-present teacher and guide. Let us let Jesus Himself open up before us the amazing possibilities that He has been preparing us for. And let us in this time of Open Worship journey down that path with Jesus.