The Third Sunday of Easter (Year A), April 6, 2008
BCP: Acts 2:14a, 36-47 (or Isaiah 43:1-12); Psalm 116 or 116:10-17; 1 Pet. 1:17-23 or Acts 2:14a, 36-47; Luke 24:13-35
RCL: Acts 2:14a, 36-41; Psalm 116:1-3, 10-17; 1 Pet. 1:17-23; Luke 24:13-35
Every major American city has its share of Christian street preachers, urging unintending hearers to accept the risen Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. In smaller communities, door-to-door evangelists abound, offering literature as well as personal testimony about what Jesus has done in their lives.
Annoying though these folks might sometimes be, one has to admire their commitment to spreading the gospel. They’re far more able evangelists than we are, after all. Or are they?
Faith in the risen Savior, at least as far as the gospels are concerned, usually doesn’t result from hearsay evidence or from second-hand testimonials. Instead, it almost always springs from personal encounters with the risen Christ himself.
Today’s gospel recounts events on the Sunday of the resurrection. As two disciples are making their way toward the village of Emmaus, a stranger appears and accompanies them. The stranger asks what they are discussing, and they tell him of the death of Jesus, their friend. Moreover, they explain, some women “were at [his] tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive” (Luke 24:22-23), but they obviously discounted this.
Then the stranger began to teach them. “[B]eginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures” (24:27). A short time later, “[w]hen he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him” (24:30).
The same thing happens to us as catholic Christians, Sunday by Sunday. As we meet together, we read the scriptures and have them explained to us in God’s own name. And a few minutes later, as we break bread together, following his own commandment, we know that the risen Christ is indeed in our midst. As was the case with the two disciples, the risen Savior is “made known to [us]” in the preaching of the word and “in the breaking of the bread” (24:35).
We as Episcopalians encounter the risen Christ both personally and intimately in every Sunday Eucharist. It would seem, from today’s gospel at least, that the most powerful form of Christian evangelism might be inviting our friends and neighbors to join us.
Look It Up
Why didn’t the two disciples recognize Jesus on the road to Emmaus?
Think About It
How is our own faith strengthened through regular participation in the Eucharist?
Next Sunday
The Fourth Sunday of Easter (Year A), April 13, 2008
BCP: Acts 6:1-9; 7:2a,51-60 or Neh. 9:6-15; Psalm 23; 1 Pet. 2:19-25 or Acts 6:1-9; 7:2a,51-60; John 10:1-10
RCL: Acts 2:42-47; Psalm 23; 1 Pet. 2:19-25; John 10:1-10
