“Dinner Table Extension”

Luke 24:13-35

While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.  --Luke 24:15-16

When 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...  Luke 24:30-31

This famous scripture called the Road to Emmaus is full of wonder and mystery.  Jesus, the Risen Christ, walks along the road with two of his followers and they don't recognize him.  Later, after they invite him in to their table, and he breaks bread with them, they suddenly realize who he is.

What a scripture this is!  How often do we not recognize the face of Christ among us.  How often do we allow the Christ in our midst to walk on by without a greeting, a word of comfort, a touch?  Fortunately for these followers, they did invite Jesus in for dinner.  And it is in the sharing of a meal together that they finally see who he is.

In this time of threatening church schism and unrest in our society in general, what might it be like to start recognizing that Christ is with us on the road? You know he's there. So you'd better expect to see him.  In an unexpected form.  Waiting for us to invite him in.

Perhaps it's time to extend the dinner table in our own church, in our lives, in our neighborhood, in our society.  Perhaps it's time we started sitting down together with strangers more often and breaking bread until we become friends.  Perhaps it's time to really see instead of pretending to see.

Please pray for our UMC, the Judicial Council, our bishop, our jurisdiction,  and our conference during this week when the validity of Bishop Karen's election is brought before the Judicial Council.   Who are we not recognizing as the face of Christ in the midst of division?

Revolution: With Women in the Sequel

 Rev 22:1-2 ; Matthew 28:1-10

What do we really focus on in the empty tomb and resurrection story every year? Is it the fact that Jesus defied all odds and rose again? Is it the terror turned to amazement and joy that the disciples feel when they realize he is resurrected? Is it the fact that he appears first to the women and allows them to be the messenger of this amazing news?  It is a complex tale of disciples trying to wade through grief and mourning and determine next steps once their leader has been crucified.  And when they witness resurrection in the midst of the sorrow, it changes everything about how they feel empowered to move forward.

Let's focus on these RE phrases this Easter: 

REsurrection

REcognition

REvelation

REvolution

It's important to remember what the REsurrection of Jesus points to in the distance. It points to a time when the systems that have oppressed the message will no longer be able to do so. It points to a day when the peaceable kingdom is actually achieved.  That is what the true REvelation of Christ is. The knowledge that the story ends in peace. It is important to note that the Bible itself does not end in heaven. It ends here.  With the angel of God saying (in Revelation 21) "the home of God is among the mortals" and that "all things will be made new."  Here. In this place.  

And for God to be at home among us, God must be seen in all of us.  The women see the Risen Christ standing before them in the garden and run to tell the others that they, too, can see him if they but look. In her book Grounded, Diana Butler Bass speaks of the word cosmopolitanism. She writes,

 "Cosmopolitanism is an inner awareness that our individual lives and national identities are playing out on a vast global stage. This implies recognition and a shift of perspective--of seeing and experiencing the web in which we live. Recognition, in turn, gives birth to empathy and the profound realization that we really, truly are in this together."  

When we have that REcognition that God is in our neighbor, when we see ourselves in each other, we grow in communion together. No matter what backgrounds we come from.  And we should be very clear of how this message is first spread in this Resurrection story. Christ comes to those with no voice, no power, no authority FIRST.  The women first receive the news. And Christ insists that THEY are the ones to GO and tell others what they saw. That begins a whole new REvolution.

What Christ points to in the REsurrection REvelation to the women is that God will be revealed in the days to come through all people. In diverse ways. By unexpected means. Even in stark contrast to what anyone might have heard or believed before. That seems to be, after all, one of the key themes of the biblical narrative.  As Bass puts it,

 "God's diversity in who is called to share God's message. She writes,"Even the book of Revelation describes a vision of diversity, of people from every tongue, tribe, and nation who gather in the New Jerusalem. In the holy city, we maintain our uniqueness while God dwells in our midst. Unity is experienced in love and friendship, not doctrine or dogma. There is no coercion of faith. "

I'm pretty sure this is what Jesus was promising when he goes to his death on the cross.  God will not let love die. Instead, Love wins.  It always has. That is the real REvolution that takes place on that morning long ago when some women see a REsurrection that changes everything.

Anyone who has a spiritual awakening or encounter, a sense of awe or wonder, leaves that experience wanting to share more goodness in the world.  That encounter with awe, or GOD, always leaves us breathless but eager to tell others what we experienced and looking for ways to draw others in.  It's like when we see God as all around us, instead of up above us or otherwise apart from us, we understand our common purpose together. 

Thoughts? Email me at peverhart@niwotumc.org or comment by clicking the comments tab below.

"Commons"

Matthew 21:1-11
Philippians 2:5-11

In the triumphant march into Jerusalem, we see the story of Jesus entering the city... neighbors waving palm branches out in the streets and people everywhere seemingly joined in unison celebration. But not really. Right? Because if that were actually the case then the loud Hosannas would have kept on ringing rather than the ever so quick call from the street crowd to "Crucify" him just a short time later.  What was lacking there, beyond a lack of desire to hear Jesus' revolutionary message, was a lack of concern for the commons... what is good for all, collectively.

You see we think we know who we are collectively as a society, but we don't often really act that way. We don't understand that there is a 'commons' that can hold us together. We don't rally around what is good for all of our society, and choose to act in ways that only benefit part of our society.

In Grounded, Diana Butler Bass explains the difference in a neighborhood and a commons. A neighborhood, she says is "whom we live with, those next door, whether 'next door' is literal or virtual geography. . . At their best, neighborhoods are open tribes that practice hospitality and the Golden Rule."  She then says "The commons is not that. The commons, sometimes referred to in the singular as the common, is what we live for, the public world tribes make together--that serves the good for all."

Neighborhoods are made of people and the ways they interact with each other. The commons is the sense of morality and purpose, the sense of doing good for all people. Neighborhoods, then, can choose to have a sense of the commons, or they can choose to be inward focused instead. Same with people. And churches. Especially churches.

In the walk to the cross, Jesus feels ever so gradually alone. Shunned. Disregarded by first acquaintances, then neighbors, then loved ones.  He quotes portions of  Psalm 22 when he's hanging on the cross, "My God, my God why have you forsaken me."  But is it God who is forsaking in this scripture, or is it the commons?

from Psalm 22:
All who see me mock at me;
    they make mouths at me, they shake their heads;
Do not be far from me, (O God)
    for trouble is near
    and there is no one to help.

The commons is gone. There is no sense of doing good for all. People have scattered and run trying to save themselves.  What do we do when we lose our sense of common humanity and being on the journey together?

Perhaps we should really consider the moral and salvation-inducing effects of believing in the commons. Of knowing that if one suffers, we all suffer. Of believing in the good of the whole, not in the winner takes all.  How do we do that?