SERMON PREACHED BY THE REV’D. CYNTHIA JACKSON, ST.MARK’S WIMBLEDON,  3RD SUNDAY OF EASTER, 6TH APRIL, 2008.

 

When I read verse 41, from Acts chapter 2:

 

‘So those who welcomed Peter’s message were baptised,

and that day about three thousand persons were added to     their number’,

 

I couldn’t help thinking of the mass conversions recorded at the time of the great Evangelical revivals of the 18th and 19th century or coming up to date to the 20th century the phenomenon of Billy Graham revivals, still more recently The Toronto Blessings.  But  does the baptism of three thousand people reflect something deeper than just a mass response? I think it does.

 

 

Peter in our passage from the Acts of the Apostles is speaking to the Jews who had been waiting and hoping for the promised Messiah. Some had recognised Jesus as the Messiah but many had not and had not understood his mission and purpose.  Peter is direct and to the point:

 

           ‘Let the entire house of Israel know with certainty

           that God had made him both Lord and Messiah,

this Jesus whom you crucified.’

 

The Jews were not listening to an education learned man but a fisherman from Galilee, who had deserted Jesus in his time of need but had been transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Peter was talking to them in language they would understand.  He is very clear when he says;

          

           ‘Repent, and be baptised 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.’

 

The crowd respond because they have seen Jesus in a new light, they have seen a new way of being the people of God. Their eyes have been opened. They have experienced the power of God working in their lives. So in response to Peter’s exhortation 3,000 individual are baptised.

 

When we turn to our Gospel passage from Luke, and read of the two disciples encounter with Jesus, on the road to Emmaus, their reaction to the resurrection of Jesus is initially rather different.

 

The story has such a natural ring to it.  Tom Wright in his commentary on Luke’s Gospel ‘Luke for Everyone’, suggests that the two disciples might have been Cleopas and his wife. (Other commentators suggest two men.)  The disciples are walking the seven mile walk from Jerusalem  to Emmaus. So quite a walk by today’s standards.  The disciples are down cast they cannot believe the story that the women told of Jesus appearing to them at the tomb, or accept the fact that Jesus is alive. Their hope of the promised Messiah to redeem Israel and set the people free from the yoke of the Roman occupying forces has been dashed.

 

Many of us will know what it is to have a loved one die, someone close to us.  Our cherished dreams and plans for the future are dashed.  We like the disciples can feel as if we are walking through a fog.

 

The disciples do not have the big picture. It is as if they were trying to do a jigsaw, they had all the pieces but they did not have a picture of the completed jigsaw, so they could make no progress.

 

But along comes Jesus to join the pair  of disciples on their seven-mile walk.  No wonder Jesus had plenty of time to unfold the mysteries of so much of the scriptures to them!  Still these disciples do not recognise Jesus. They still do not have the full picture although some of the pieces of the jigsaw are falling into place.

 

We are told that as they approach the village of Emmaus Jesus walked ahead as if he was going on.  The two disciples urge Jesus to stay with them as it was almost evening.  It probably was not safe to travel in the dark, especially if you were on your own.

 

Then we come to the part of the story which is so well known and which has been depicted by so many artists including Caravaggio,  of the meal that Jesus takes at Emmaus.  Caravaggio gives Jesus the appearance of an ordinary man and the disciples look just like ordinary men, one of them having a tear in his jacket.  The picture captures the moment when Jesus takes, blesses, breaks the bread and shares it with the disciples.  This is the moment of recognition, the moment of understanding. The disciples know who Jesus is – they get that flash of comprehension.  Caravaggio shows the disciples’ astonishment but comprehension as they rise from their seats. However once Jesus has made himself known in the breaking of bread he disappears from their sight.

 

The disciples are so enthused, strengthened and invigorated by their recognition of the resurrected Jesus that they hasten back  the seven miles to Jerusalem to let the other disciples know about their experiences.

 

This is were our Gospel story links in with the reading from the Acts of the Apostles.  In both accounts action followed belief.  The Jews did not just keep their new found belief to themselves, they sought to repent and be baptised.  The disciples at the Emmaus meal once they recognised Jesus had to go back to Jerusalem and share the good news with the other disciples.

 

Each one of us has our own Emmaus Road journeys and experiences.  Some of us may have completed the journey and know the life-giving power of Jesus in our lives.  Others may still be on the journey struggling with the difficulties of life, trying to understand the message that Jesus brings and wondering whether it is for them.  Alternatively others may get waylaid on the journey, side-tracked by the cares or the pleasures of this world.

 

Some may have a Damascus Road type experience as in an unexpected moment that receive a flash of understanding and Jesus becomes real for them.

 

But as Christians all of us are involved in the Easter story, all of us are called to repent and to renew our Baptismal vows at Easter,  as we did here at St. Mark’s, whether at the Mass of the dawn or at a later service.  Being a Christian means being on a journey we cannot stand still. Sunday by Sunday we are called upon to repent, to begin again and to go out into the world to share the good news of Jesus Christ.

 

Jesus is present with us, as we celebrate the Euchar, Sunday by Sunday, just as Jesus was really present with the disciples at that Emmaus meal. As we re-enact the taking, blessing, breaking and sharing of the bread, the taking, blessing and sharing of the wine,  Jesus’ body and blood , Jesus, himself is really present to strengthen us for whatever we have to face in the days and weeks ahead.

 

Jesus knows what it is to suffer pain, to suffer indignities, to suffer rejection, to make the ultimate sacrifice of his life.  Who else can we look to for strength for each day.  We are not a defeated people despite all the terrible things that are happening in the world today, wars and terrorism, the rule of unjust regimes, the existence of famine or floods, because we are people of the Resurrection.  Jesus by his death, conquered death and rose to new life.  This gives us hope for the future, hope that the Kingdom of God can be established in this world.

 

It too gives us a responsibility to share the good news of Jesus Christ with the people we meet. It doesn’t necessarily mean standing on a street corner with a bible quoting verses to a crowd. It means showing our family and our friends that we have a relationship with Jesus that strengthens and governs our lives.

 

To use the words of Tom Wright, the reading from the Acts of the Apostles shows us that we can be a, ‘turn back and be rescued people’,   and ‘a repent and be baptised people’.  Nothing is too dark to separate us from the love of God.

 

Amen