Monday, April 7, 2008 at 12:12am
On the road to Emmaus
Column: Woman at the Well
On the road to Emmaus two disciples encountered a stranger. It was Sunday, the day that Jesus' body went missing from the tomb; the day the woman reported angelic visions and Simon Peter claimed to have seen the risen Christ.
Two disciples meet a stranger on the way. He is wise. He helps them to realize that God's love and intentions have been unfolding in even the most devastating realities of their lives.
They listen. Their hearts and minds are open. And when they invite the stranger to share their meal — a simple meal reminiscent of that final meal they had shared with Jesus just a few days earlier in that upper room, before he was betrayed, abandoned, crucified — they recognize the risen Christ in the breaking of the bread.
In the early years of the church, communion was shared at every gathering of the community. It was part of a common meal. Old and young, rich and poor, slave and free, male and female, gathered at a common table — not just to share a symbolic meal but a real one. For the poorest, this might be their only meal of the day. For the rich, this was a time to declare their willingness to put all that they had in the service of the Christ. When they "took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it" to one another, "their eyes were opened and they recognized" the Christ in one another (Luke 24:30-31).
Paul declared that we are now the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 6:15). When the Spirit of the Living God was poured out on all flesh, we became the hands and hearts, eyes and ears and voice of the Christ in our world.
This is not just a call to justice work, although that is certainly a part of it. And it is not just a call to compassion for others, but who can see the Christ in their neighbor and not be moved to respond with caring? It is ultimately a call to an entirely new way of seeing and responding to reality.
If the Christ spirit lives in our neighbor and in ourselves, if the Creator now indwells all of creation, then everything is sacred. There is no secular realm, no other thing than holiness, no place that is not holy ground.
Jesus said in Luke's Gospel, "The Kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 10:9). When we begin to see life through the eyes of the resurrected Christ, we realize that not only is the Kingdom (or "Kin-dom," as we prefer to say, because we truly are all one family, all children of the Most High) within me, but it is within you and within all of life.
We may notice this truth in the majestic view from a mountaintop or in the crashing waves at the beach, or in a quiet moment of solitude; but God is in the complexity of your computer, the intricacies of every living thing, and the deep simplicity of a rock. God is in rush-hour traffic and loud rock music and rap, sometimes crying out in anguish or despair, calling us to action, to serve our hungry neighbor.
Christ is hungry this day. Christ needs clothes. Christ is celebrating with us. Christ is calling us to serve. Christ is with us in the breaking of the bread. May our hearts be open. May they see.
— — —
Rev. Kristi Denham is pastor of the Congregational Church of Belmont, California (United Church of Christ). Her email address is {email RevKristi@aol.com}RevKristi@aol.com{/email}. © Copyright 2008 by Kristi Denham.
Two disciples meet a stranger on the way. He is wise. He helps them to realize that God's love and intentions have been unfolding in even the most devastating realities of their lives.
They listen. Their hearts and minds are open. And when they invite the stranger to share their meal — a simple meal reminiscent of that final meal they had shared with Jesus just a few days earlier in that upper room, before he was betrayed, abandoned, crucified — they recognize the risen Christ in the breaking of the bread.
In the early years of the church, communion was shared at every gathering of the community. It was part of a common meal. Old and young, rich and poor, slave and free, male and female, gathered at a common table — not just to share a symbolic meal but a real one. For the poorest, this might be their only meal of the day. For the rich, this was a time to declare their willingness to put all that they had in the service of the Christ. When they "took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it" to one another, "their eyes were opened and they recognized" the Christ in one another (Luke 24:30-31).
Paul declared that we are now the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 6:15). When the Spirit of the Living God was poured out on all flesh, we became the hands and hearts, eyes and ears and voice of the Christ in our world.
This is not just a call to justice work, although that is certainly a part of it. And it is not just a call to compassion for others, but who can see the Christ in their neighbor and not be moved to respond with caring? It is ultimately a call to an entirely new way of seeing and responding to reality.
If the Christ spirit lives in our neighbor and in ourselves, if the Creator now indwells all of creation, then everything is sacred. There is no secular realm, no other thing than holiness, no place that is not holy ground.
Jesus said in Luke's Gospel, "The Kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 10:9). When we begin to see life through the eyes of the resurrected Christ, we realize that not only is the Kingdom (or "Kin-dom," as we prefer to say, because we truly are all one family, all children of the Most High) within me, but it is within you and within all of life.
We may notice this truth in the majestic view from a mountaintop or in the crashing waves at the beach, or in a quiet moment of solitude; but God is in the complexity of your computer, the intricacies of every living thing, and the deep simplicity of a rock. God is in rush-hour traffic and loud rock music and rap, sometimes crying out in anguish or despair, calling us to action, to serve our hungry neighbor.
Christ is hungry this day. Christ needs clothes. Christ is celebrating with us. Christ is calling us to serve. Christ is with us in the breaking of the bread. May our hearts be open. May they see.
— — —
Rev. Kristi Denham is pastor of the Congregational Church of Belmont, California (United Church of Christ). Her email address is {email RevKristi@aol.com}RevKristi@aol.com{/email}. © Copyright 2008 by Kristi Denham.