Searching for Something: Acts 17:22-33

Gracious God, give us humble, teachable, and obedient hearts, that we may receive what you have revealed, and do what you have commanded. Amen.

I love to Google. Some of you understand what I just said but for the rest of you all it requires some explanation. Google is a search engine on the Internet. You type in a word or phrase and corresponding websites come up. You can search for anything: news, sports, entertainment, music, quotations. If you are like me and you remember a line from a movie but cannot remember the actor or the movie, it comes from and it just drives you crazy, just Google it. It is so popular that the word Google is now a verb describing the act of searching. It is really amazing to me because there are billions and billions of websites out there and Google brings them all up in less than a second it is really impressive. When you search usually, you find something on Google. If you type in “God” 470 millions websites pop up from all over the world in less than a second. Humanity searches for the Divine in many places. Some search for a deeper understanding of God and some search to find God in the first place. We search because we know that there is something out there greater than ourselves, something bigger.

The Ancient Greeks also searched for the Divine and they found divinity in all kinds of things. The created gods and goddesses for everything. They had a god of war, a god of the ocean, and a god of the sun and moon. They had a goddess of beauty, and knowledge and everything in between. They built temples, shrines, and idols to the gods and goddess. In fact, the Parthenon, a replica of which you can visit in Nashville, was a temple to Athena, goddess of knowledge and wisdom. They believed that the gods and goddesses interacted with humans according to their own amusement. They treated humanity with both kindness and cruelty depending on their mood. The Greeks told stories about how the gods blest some and cursed others. So they strove not to offend the gods in any way by leaving any of them out and so the Athenians created a shrine to an unknown god. Just in case there was a god that they did not know they wanted to cover their bases as not to offend this unknown god.

Our lesson from the book of Acts this morning tells the story of Paul’s travels to Athens. Paul wanted to understand the Greek and Athenian culture better and so he walked around the city observing the lives of the people. Paul became distressed at all the idols the people worshiped as false gods. Paul walked to the Areopagus, which meant hill of Aries, god of war, the Latin translation is Mars Hill. This was a place where the leaders of Athens gathered to discuss, debate, and decide the items and issues of the day. Athens is known for its philosophers and its love of logic and so Paul decides to us their own logic against them and to show them the unknown God they were really missing.

Paul begins with flattery. He tells them that they are so religious in every way that they even have a shrine to an unknown god and he says that he will now reveal this unknown God to them. Paul the gives a simple sermon, some might even call it a testimony, outlining the basic Christian concepts of God. God does not dwell in temples, shrines, or on Mount Olympus. God does not need altars or shrines because the earth and the universe is his shrine. God created the universe and everything in it as a demonstration of his love and glory. God created humanity not to toy with, but to love and God created humanity in God’s own image. He also tells them that God will judge humanity, but that God also demonstrated mercy and love in the person of Jesus. This sermon was a beginning. This was a foundation, a stepping stone from which he might build a church.

These people were not unspiritual. In fact they were quite the opposite. They searched and searched for the Divine, but to no avail. There were not unspiritual or even unreligious, but simply unchurched. How many unchurched people to we know? One? Two? Twenty? Are they unspiritual or simply unchurched? I think that people are more spiritual then they care to admit. They are spiritual because they constantly search for the Divine. We all grasp and grope for a piece of the Divine in sometime in our lives. We all search for a piece of God’s truth and some of us find that truth in Christ while others continue the search.

Others search in vain for the truth that we find in God. We all search for something greater than ourselves and we search for it because we are hardwired to worship something greater than ourselves. So we search for it. Some search for it in selfish individualism and narcissism. They believe that no one is better, smarter, or more beautiful than them. They search for the Divine in the accumulation of things and riches. They believe that they become great when they buy that new car, new house, or new clothes. Others search for God in drug and alcohol use and abuse. They try to get high and find God. In all these pursuits a person is really just trying to find something greater than him/herself.

There are others who want God on their terms. They believe in God but they do not want to have anything to do with the church or what they call organized religion. These people say “I am spiritual, but not religious.” “I find God in nature and so I don’t need to go to church.” What they are really saying is “I want all the good things that come with worshipping God without any of the discipline or life changing.” I want the benefits without the sacrifice. Some call this “Sheliaism” which is named for young nurse who said that “I believe in God, but I am not a religious fanatic. I don’t know the last time I went to church.” She picked and chose what she wanted from spirituality and left the rest in the pile. You might think of this as Piccadilly Christianity. Most of you have been to a Piccadilly Cafeteria or something similar. This is one of those place where you can go in line and pick the meat and veggies you want and nothing you don’t want. I mean who wants to eat brussels sprouts when you there is Mac and cheese or potato casserole. No one will choose the steamed broccoli over the mashed potatoes or macaroni and cheese. Some believe that religion and faith is like that as well. You pick and choose the good and leave the discipline and life changing back at the buffet. This is also called wishy-washy faith or a lukewarm faith. Part of being a Christian is accepting the difficult with the easy. It is easy to accept God’s love; it is hard to live as God wants us to live. It is about becoming more Christlike everyday and because Christ is our goal the bar is set very high. However, there is good news. God’s grace is set high as well.

Then there is a flip side to that same coin. There are those so search for God so deeply and intently and they focus so much on the discipline that they end up missing God completely. In fact, their disciplined and orthodox lifestyle becomes an idol they worship over and above God. I hear preachers stand at the pulpit and say in all seriousness that they know God’s will fully and what’s more only they got it right. So come to my church to here my sermons and lessons, buy my book, because I know God like the back of my hand. I have a hotline to the Almighty. This is a dangerous faith. This is a breeding ground for fanaticism and extremist faith. If you hear a preacher say they have all the answers…RUN! No one knows God fully and even pastors and theologians who study God for a lifetime only know a little.

Then again there are intellectuals, teachers, professors, researchers, theologians who can quote chapter and verse, they can tell you any theory from any theologian of the last 2,000 years. They can just pop it out at you and they seem so smart, but they have no real faith. Will Willemon, who is Bishop of the North Alabama conference, tells a story of a college girl who complained to him about her professors. She said that they know everything about God except for God. Some say that God is only found in personal experience, in revelation, and revival. Others say that God is only found through careful study of Scripture and the history behind it. God is in the details of theology and in the mind. Each of these ideas are idols.

So where do we find God? As Paul tells the Athenians, God is not far from any of us. If you quiet yourself and stop searching within yourself and in the world you will find God. God is in our hearts and our minds. God is in the eyes of the homeless man we pass by, and in the eyes of the child playing and laughing. God is also in the joy we feel when we gather as a community to worship and fellowship with one another, and in pain and sorrow we feel when death and tragedy grasps us.

God is everywhere and for all times and it is because of this we will never fully understand God in this lifetime. God is infinite and our minds are finite. However, God is also close to us, closer than we really know and I do believe that perhaps each of us has a small piece of the truth and that we must listen to one another and learn from each other.

Let us pray…

Grant, O Lord,

that what has been said with our lips we may believe in our hearts,

and that what we believe in our hearts we may practice in our lives;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

In God We Trust: Sermon Psalm 31:1-5; 15-16

Dear God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and feet and work through them; take our lips and speak through them, take our hearts and set them on fire for you. Amen

Most of us have taken out a dollar bill or a coin and given it a closer look. If you have not, give it a try the next time you have a free minute. You will likely find the image of a former president or founding father; you will see the value of the piece, the words United States of America, E Pluribus Unum, and the phrase “In God We Trust”. All of us are familiar with that last phrase; we see it not only on our money, but also on government buildings and certain government papers. When did “In God We Trust” become our national motto? 1776? 1856? No, it was actually 1956 when Congress adopted the phrase as our national motto. The phrase’s history on our coinage goes back further than that first appearing on a coin in 1864 and then off and on under 1954 when it was permanently placed on all money. That is your history lesson for today. I will not charge extra for that.

This phrase is on our money, it is one some of our most important buildings, but have you ever stopped to think what this phrase really means? What does it mean to place our trust in God? We do not have trouble doing that when times are rough, when tragedy strikes we are always ready to place our trust in God to see us through the hard times. We come together in prayer vigils, we come to church, and we sing songs to help us place our focus and trust in God. There is nothing wrong with this. God is our rock and our fortress in times of turmoil and suffering. As our hearts wax and wane, God remains steadfast and faithful. When we hurt, it is good to turn to the Father who loves us.

Where do we turn the rest of the time? What happens when things are good? Everyday we get up, make some coffee, read the newspaper, eat breakfast, and go about our day. In those moments, do we still place our whole trust in God, or do we have a tendency to place God on the backburner? “It’s ok Lord, I’ve got everything under control here, and I’ll let you know if I need you.” The truth is that trust does not cut on or off and the same God that we cling to when times are bad is the same God that is with us when times are good. We have to trust God all the time or none of the time. God is not our 911 service or clean up crew when things in our lives get messy. God is God for all times and in all situations. Maybe the bad times would not seem so bad or take us completely off guard if we place our trust fully in God all the time. So we come back to the original question, what does it mean to trust God?

First, it means that we have to let go of control. There is a bumper sticker I have seen, I have also seen it on church signs, “Let God be your steering wheel, not your spare tire.” Well they got the saying at least half right, God should not be just for emergency relief. However, we should not be steering God, instead God should be steering us. Have any of you seen the show Seinfeld? If you have then you are familiar with the kooky character of Kramer. One episode Kramer got a job for the FDNY driving a ladder truck. In bigger cities like NYC they have bigger fire trucks that require two drivers one in the front and one in the back. Naturally this requires some serious communication and coordination. Well Kramer decided that he knew a faster route to a fire than the guy in the front and so Kramer starts steering the back of the fire truck in a different direction than the guy in the front and hilarity ensues. Or it might be like the parent teaching the teenager how to drive and they both have their hands on the steering wheel tugging in different directions. If you are going to trust God and let God guide your life, you can’t steer one half of you in another direction. Often God and we are going in two different directions, we go one way and God goes in the right way. We’ve got to be on the same page with God and better yet we have to let go of the steering wheel all together.

David writes in Psalm 31, “Into your hands I commit my spirit.” We are familiar with that verse because we have heard it before. We recognize those words as some of the last words spoken by Jesus on the cross. Those words were also spoken by Stephen before he was stoned to death. In the context of Jesus and Stephen these words are a final statement of trust before death. Jesus and Stephen are telling the world that they commit their very lives to God even to death. They are also trusting God to care for their spirits after death, they trust that God is more powerful than death and that death will not have the final victory. I am willing to bet that both Jesus and Stephen committed their lives to God long before that moment of death.

We say something like this every Sunday, maybe even everyday, “thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.” We are committing not to our own way, but to God’s way. The way of life is not God support my way and what I am doing, but it is God show me your way and what you would have me do for you with my life. I commit my life, my work, my soul, my spirit to you and your work God. That is a hard thing to do for us. We are taught from a young age to be self-reliant not God-reliant. We should do things our own way and hope that it is also God’s way. I am pretty sure that I have told this story before and if I have bear with me. I was at the gym one morning and I was pumped. The exercising seemed to be going really well. I was pumping on the treadmill. I was pumping on the exercise machines and then I came to the bench press. I was so pumped and ready to go that I put and extra 30 pounds…on each side. I got down, ready to go. One…no problem. Two…ok this is a little heavy. Three…uh oh. There was no four. I had this weight bearing down on my chest and all I could say was HELP! Luckily for me this rather large man came and effortlessly placed the bar back on the rack and told me that if I needed a spotter all I had to do was ask. How many times has the weight of life bore down on our chests all because we haven’t trusted God to be our spotter? God will be there for us, but we have to place our trust in God.

When we let go of the wheel and begin to trust God to direct us, we have to understand and listen to where God is directing us. But how do we know what God’s will is? One way we know is through prayer. We pray each day for guidance in our lives and it everything we do. You never know where God might be directing you today. I know that I mention prayer a lot in my sermons, but I do it because I know that it is vital to our spiritual lives. We also study Scripture. We have to look from cover to cover and see the themes that God is communicating over and over. These themes are love. We see God’s love from Genesis to Revelation. We see the theme of justice. God’s laws require justice for the poor, God’s prophets scolded the people for their neglect of the poor and helpless, and Jesus spent his entire ministry preaching the good news to the poor. There is a theme of mercy. God’s mercy is demonstrated throughout the Old Testament and most acutely on the cross of Calvary. The path that God has laid out for each of us is a path of love, justice, and mercy for all people. If we walk this path then we begin to let God guide us.

When we follow down God’s path, when we humble ourselves to that end, when we begin to love and do justice then we receive good things. You see God is so good that when we trust him, he gives us so many good things. These things are joy, happiness, peace, and strength, not our strength, but God’s strength. When we trust God then we begin to have a closer walk with God and a closer relationship with God.

God is our rock and our fortress, our strength and our redeemer, God is everywhere and for all time. We will have no better friend and no better protector. God is faithful to the end. I want to close with a prayer written by John Wesley called the Wesleyan Covenant Prayer. This is what I am talking about today, a complete trust in God. As I pray this prayer, close your eyes, listen to the words, repeat them in your mind and think about what they mean.

I am no longer my own, but thine.

Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.

Put me to doing, put me to suffering.

Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee,

exalted for thee or brought low for thee.

Let me be full, let me be empty.

Let me have all things, let me have nothing.

I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.

And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

thou art mine, and I am thine.

So be it.

And the covenant which I have made on earth,

let it be ratified in heaven.

Amen.

Don't Go to Church, Be the Church: Sermon Acts 2:42-47

Lord, open our hearts and minds by the power of your Holy Spirit, that as the Scriptures are read and your Word is proclaimed, we may hear with joy what you say to us today. Amen.

There are hundreds of clubs and organizations that you could join in this country. There are the Elks Lodge, Masons, DAR, Lions Club, Civitan, Shriners; there are fan clubs for a particular sports team or a particular entertainer. There are clubs for hobbies such as quilting, model building, playing bridge, and dominos. If you have an interested I am willing to bet that there is a club that you can join and if there’s not you can start one. Some of these clubs have membership restrictions. You have to be invited in and initiated into membership. Some are there for anyone who wants to join up.

Is the Church a club? According to MW a club is an association of persons for some common object usually jointly supported and meeting periodically. It certainly sounds like we qualify. We have a common object or purpose. We are jointly supported and we meet periodically. Is the Church a social club with a spiritual purpose or base? Or are we something more than that? I believe the answer to that question in is our hearts. What do WE think the Church is? What do we say? “I’m going to church”, “What church do you attend?” It sounds like a club membership when we talk about it this way. How many times do we say “We are the Church”, “I am the Church.” This makes a big difference.

What does it mean to BE the Church? How does the Church differ from a social club? Let’s take a look at our reading from Acts to see a description of how the first believes in Christ became the Church and see what examples they leave us to live by today. The Book of Acts is a kind of history book for the beginnings of the early Church. It is how these few scattered believers became the Church, the Body of Christ. First, it says that they devoted themselves to the teachings of the apostles which is the Gospel. They devoted themselves to the teachings of Jesus. What does it mean to be devoted? It means that first they learned the teachings of Christ. Now at this time they there was no New Testament and so they had to gather together as a community to listen to someone tell the stories of Jesus. At this time, so early in the life of the Church, they could hear from the disciples themselves what they had experienced first hand. So they learned, literally by heart, what Jesus had taught to them. Is this devotion? The second thing that these people did is that they not only learned from what Jesus was teaching but they lived it in their daily lives. They put the Word into practice.

They lived together as a cohesive community. They supported one another. Look at verses 44 and 45 “All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.” They had no personal property they sold all that they had and made sure that all had enough. When one member had need the others would sacrifice so that no one went without. This is almost unheard of in our day and time. The kind of selflessness is almost too much to believe in today’s society. Their devotion was not limited to memorizing stories and thinking theologically, but they put what they learned into practice in their lives. Remember Jesus, he did not teach what he did not practice. Jesus gave without expectation of reward or recognition. Jesus taught not to worry about possessions even to the point that we should not worry about what we will wear and Jesus lived in that way was well spending most of his ministry without shelter. That is the sign of the Church being the Church when we devote ourselves to the teachings of Christ so that we not only know them but we live them. Then we are the Church.

Do you remember our vision statement from 2006? We will be a Christian home for all those who seek a relationship with God. That is our vision of what we should be. What is a Church home? Everyone knows your name. This sounds a lot like the theme song to Cheers!, but it is also what we must do as the Church. It is easy when there are so few of us, but there are many people out there whose names we don’t know. A Church home is where everyone knows your story. This includes our hopes, dreams, and fears. We must know one another not as fellow church members but as family members. A church home is a place where you are accepted, forgiven, and loved. Members of a family accept, love, and forgive one another no matter what mistakes might be made and harm done. God’s grace is abundant and all people can receive God’s forgiveness. A Church home is where you have a place at the table and a share of what is being served at the table. A table is not only where food is served but it is where hospitality is offered, it is where friendships are made and kept, and it is where decisions for the community are made. If we are to be the Church then all people should be welcome to our table. Finally, a Church home is a place where you can receive God’s grace, love, and hope. We cannot horde and keep God’s love and grace to ourselves. We cannot prevent those who seek God’s love and grace from receiving it and in that receive gain hope for the future.

The early Church actually began in homes. They would meet in people’s homes and have church service. We see in Acts “they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people.” There were no church buildings in that day and time except for the Temple and for local synagogues that for the most part the early Christians were not welcomed in. So the idea of Church being a home is not that far fetched. The early Methodist movement including its beginnings in America began in the homes of the people. Once they had gathered enough people then they would build a church building.

A house is just a physical space. There is a foundation, a frame, walls, windows, doors, fixtures, plumbing; all of these things make a house. A home requires something different. There has to be people gathered together for a unified purpose and reason. There has to be love, acceptance, forgiveness, and all those things we listed earlier. Without those things there can be no home. There are people who live in multi-million dollar houses, mansions, but the do not have a home. There are people who live in one room apartments and yet have a glorious home. The same is true for the Church. Without love, acceptance, forgiveness there is no church only a building.

The question before us this morning, the question that each of us must ask in our hearts is “are we a Christian home?” Can we look at the depictions of the early church in Acts and see ourselves in there. Being a small church means being a family. Most of you have known one another for a lifetime and some of you ARE family by blood or by marriage. We have a home here for each other, but if someone you’ve never seen before walked through those doors would this church be a Christian home for them? If not then we have work to do. We must work together to become a Christian home not only for ourselves but for everyone in our community who wants that kind of home. If we are, then why aren’t we telling the people in our community that they have a home with us?

There is a hymn in the new hymnal that makes the statement, “I am the Church, you are the Church, we are the Church together. The Church is not a building, they church is not a steeple, the Church is not a meeting place, the Church is a people.” We are the Church together. I am always impressed that after a tragedy, whether it is a storm, earthquake, or fire that destroys a church building, the people still stand and worship together. That is the perfect example of what I am talking about this morning. We do not go to church, we do not come from church, we ARE the church. It does not matter if we are in this physical building or not, we are still the church and because we are the church it also means that we are a home for all those who need refuge. We are a beacon of light in the midst of darkness. We are more than a social club. We are the Body of Christ in the universe.

Let us pray…

Grant, O Lord,

that what has been said with our lips we may believe in our hearts,

and that what we believe in our hearts we may practice in our lives;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Walk to Emmaus: Sermon Luke 24:13-35

Gracious God, give us humble, teachable, and obedient hearts, that we may receive what you have revealed, and do what you have commanded. Amen.

Has this ever happened to you? You are in a grocery store, the mall, maybe you are at the courthouse, or the drug store and someone comes up to you all smiles and beaming eyes. They say “Hey You! How have you been? It’s been such a long time. You look great.” You look deep in their eyes and you think for a second and the truth begins to sink in….you have not idea who this person is. Or maybe you have been in the same place and see someone you thought you need and so you run up to them telling them how good it is to see them and they give you a puzzled look and it turns out they weren’t the person you thought they were. These two scenarios are embarrassing to say the least. Unfortunately they happen to me more times than I care to admit. I have met so many new people in my work as a pastor and at Vanderbilt and some times the face look familiar but the name escapes me. We have all had a case of unrecognized identity or maybe mistaken identity.

This is the case for our story today. In our story from Luke two men are walking from Jerusalem to the nearby village of Emmaus. Now we are still talking about Resurrection Sunday, this is still the same day we have looked at the last two weeks. These two men are not part of the 11 remaining disciples that followed Jesus had picked, but these two were followers of Jesus and were perhaps fleeing the possible danger that lied in Jerusalem. As they were walking, another person began to walk with them to Emmaus it was about a seven mile journey. This person was Jesus but the two men were prevented from recognizing him. We don’t know why they were prevented from recognizing Jesus. Perhaps Jesus wanted to gain some inside information. Perhaps Jesus wanted to see if these two followers would understand the events that had transpired over the last three days. Would they believe what was told to them? Would they believe that Jesus had been raised? Perhaps Jesus wanted to find out what his followers were saying about him. We don’t know the reason specifically because Luke does not tell us. We do know that it was the work of the Holy Spirit because Luke says that “their eyes were kept from recognizing him.”

Do we recognize Jesus each time we see him? If Jesus were to come into this sanctuary or meet us at the store and say hi would we recognize him? Do we always recognize the times when God is trying to tell us something? If you are anything like me the answer is no. So the questions before us this morning are what prevents us from seeing Jesus clearly and what can we do so see Jesus more clearly working in our lives and walking with us in our journeys?

Selfishness can prevent us from seeing Jesus clearly. We have talked about this before. We live in an individualistic society. We have been taught by society almost for birth to look about for us and ours before we look out for anyone else. What is the old saying “Charity begins at home”? The Bible says that doesn’t it? No, it doesn’t. That is a saying that has been floating around for almost two millennia it was first coined by the Roman dramatist Terence sometime in the Second century AD. That is what we have been taught we have to get ourselves straight before we should move outward and look at anyone else. We have to look out for number one. This is what we have been taught; the only problem is that it is complete opposite to the teachings and the actions of Jesus.

The Church has moved into this realm of thinking. Many preachers preach sermons and write books that seem more like self-help seminars than gospel proclamations, but my do they sell. These people who preach a gospel of prosperity have their time on the New York Times bestseller list and they sell out arenas around the world. Why? How? They want us to ask the questions, “What can I get from God today? What can God do for me? God, what have you for me lately?” These are easy questions to ask. That is why they sell books and seats in arenas. These are not the questions of the Gospel. The gospel teaches to ask not what God can do for you but what can you do for God and God’s kingdom? Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. We have all fallen into the trap of selfishness. We have all looked to ourselves first before looking to others. When we continually do this, when it becomes habit, when it becomes a way of life then we fail to see Jesus in our lives and in our journeys.

Along with selfishness, injustice also prevents us from seeing Jesus clearly. There is so much injustice in the world today. There are governments, including our own, and corporations that oppress people all around the world and in our own community. We see it on the news and we feel it in our own lives. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer and those stuck in the middle feel the squeeze. Gas prices are a record high and so are oil company profits. Health care costs are going up in astronomical rates and there are a growing number of people who don’t have health care coverage. The price of life is rising and we are having a harder and harder time to catch up with it. These are not just issues of politics, they are issues of justice and that makes them issues for the Church.

We do a lot for the poor in our community in this Church. We send money to the Help Center and we send health kits to those who need them. We give money, food, clothes, and these are all good things. Unfortunately this is not enough; it is only a Band-Aid covering a deeper wound. We must work to change the systems, social and governmental, that perpetuates poverty and force people to seek the help we provide. This means joining together to seek solutions to deeper problems. We must look together and work toward a common good. When we fail to do this, when we fail to do justice then we fail to see Jesus.

We live in a 24/7 society. You can get anything you want anytime. You can get information and entertainment at the touch of a button in your own homes. Technology was supposed to make our lives easier and it seems that we are only getting busier and busier. How many times do you feel that you have too many irons in the fire? You feel too busy, too stressed, and stretched too thin. What happens when our lives are filled with activity and our schedules are packed tight? We have a tendency to put God on the back burner. We say things like, “I want to have a better prayer life, but I am too busy.” “I want to volunteer for that mission work or to join that committee, but I have more than I can say grace over.” We all have been there and some of us are there right now. We must remember that the Master and Creator of the universe deserves a little of our time. After all he did create the day that we have packed tightly with activities. When our busyness becomes the thing we worship then we fail to see Jesus.

The two men on their way to Emmaus did not see Jesus until he broke bread with them. Perhaps they remembered the story of the last supper they had heard over the weekend. Jesus was seen plainly by them. How do we see Jesus more clearly? First, we pray. There is nothing more important and yet more neglected that prayer. It is the one thing we most need and the first thing we drop when things get busy. We have to talk to God, but more importantly than that we have to have patience enough to listen to the reply.

Bible study is another way we can work to see Jesus more clearly. We must spend time looking for Jesus and his teachings within God’s word. What is the Risen Christ saying to you today? What meanings are behind his words and actions? We will not be able to recognize Jesus until we know what to look for. We must also spend time with fellow Christians. We have to create and maintain community. We cannot face this world on our own and hope to survive we rely on God’s strength, but we also need to rely on each other as a family.

When we love we see Jesus. When we love our neighbor and when we love God with all that we have then we begin to see Jesus in our lives. It does not happen overnight, sometimes it takes a lifetime, but the goal is to work a little each day and to each and every day become more like Christ.

Remember when the men were walking to Emmaus they did not recognize Jesus; he was just some dude walking with them on the road. I want to leave you this morning with this thought, How many times have we missed Jesus in our own lives? Maybe he was that homeless man we ignored in the street. Maybe he was in the face of that little girl who has been beaten and neglected. Maybe he was a widow reaching out for help. Maybe he was the single parent who had to swallow their pride and ask for food for their children. We don’t know when we have missed an encounter with Christ. Let us work not to miss him again.

Let us pray…

Grant, O Lord,

That what has been said with our lips we may believe in our hearts,

And that what we believe in our hearts we may practice in our lives;

Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.