Freedom to Open

Luke 24:44-53, CEB

44 Jesus said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the Law from Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. 46 He said to them, “This is what is written: the Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and a change of heart and life for the forgiveness of sins must be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 Look, I’m sending to you what my Father promised, but you are to stay in the city until you have been furnished with heavenly power.”

50 He led them out as far as Bethany, where he lifted his hands and blessed them. 51 As he blessed them, he left them and was taken up to heaven. 52 They worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem overwhelmed with joy. 53 And they were continuously in the temple praising God.

Intro

This morning, we continue our worship series, The Cup of Freedom. Throughout the Easter Season, we will continue exploring how the resurrection of our Lord calls us to respond by moving into a culture of freedom as the cross liberates us. We will explore how we are freed to step into Christ’s resurrection and live as resurrection people. We will dive deeper into how we accept the freedom and power God gives us to live as Easter people. On Easter Sunday, we began as we explored our freedom to move forward, to encounter God where we are and share God’s love with all we encounter, for God’s story continues to unfold all around us. Next, we explored our Freedom to Follow as we named both our differing ways of getting there and our freedom to let go of our failures and shortcomings as we follow after Jesus. Then, we explored our freedom to rise again and found that we must lay aside our preferences, understandings, plans, and judgment. We must lay aside how we have always done things and, at times, even our Biblical interpretation, as we trust God to raise us to new life in Jesus Christ. Last week, we explored our freedom to heal as we acknowledged the need for an honest process of healing, where we reclaim God’s vision for our lives and live into who God has called us to be. This week, we continue with our freedom to open.

This morning, we find ourselves in a familiar place. As Christians who follow the lectionary, we find ourselves returning to Luke’s Gospel for Ascension of the Lord Sunday. In fact, this text from Luke is the Gospel lesson for all three years of the Revised Common Lectionary on Ascension of the Lord Sunday. We have heard this text over and over again for many years. We know that this is the Sunday that Christ ascends into heaven after his appearances to the disciples. It is the Sunday in which Christ instructs the disciples to wait as God will send the Holy Spirit to lead and guide them. As we approach this text yet again, our exploration of the Freedom found in Christ’s resurrection compels us to approach the text with fresh eyes. 

Throughout his appearances over the forty days, Jesus has continued to teach, to lead, to open the eyes and hearts of his followers to the realities of the resurrection. Whether by the seashore cooking breakfast, walking along the Emmaus road, or breaking bread at table fellowship, Jesus has taught the disciples and his followers the truth about resurrection realities and prepared them for the ongoing work of ministry in the world. If we are honest, Jesus' whole ministry has been about opening hearts and minds.

It has been about opening hearts and minds to the least, the last, and the lost in our society. It has been about opening hearts and minds to the places where worship can occur, not just in the temple in Jerusalem, but even outside the four walls of the temple as he gathered, dined, and ate among the community. It has been about opening hearts and minds to who Jesus is sent for, even us, the Gentiles. It has been about opening hearts and minds to the realities of God’s love. So, it is no coincidence that this work continues in our gospel lesson this morning. 

As he did with the followers who accompanied him on the road to Emmaus, Jesus presents the scriptures to them in such a compelling way that their eyes are opened. He begins by bringing them back to the place where the passion narratives begin. He led them to  Bethany, the place where Jesus began his triumphant entry into the City of Jerusalem. Jerusalem, after all, is the “center" around most of Jesus' Ministry. He echoes his challenge from his hometown synagogue that he will upend the social orders of Rome. Luke’s gospel spends much of its time recounting Jesus’ preparation for the final week of his life in Jerusalem, and now he sends his disciples and commands them to return to Jerusalem. While Jesus’ mission “ends” in Jerusalem, the mission of the disciples and their call to carry out Christ's mission begins in Jerusalem and extends to the ends of the earth. 

By bringing them back to the place where holy week “began,” he calls them to continue the work of disrupting the status quo. Jesus continues to open the scriptures to them as he raises his hands offering blessings, recalling the prophetic work of Moses, and he ascends into heaven, recalling to the disciples’ minds the ascension of Elijah. Using these two images from the prophet of old…Jesus insinuates that just as Moses transferred his leadership to Joshua, and Elijah transferred his leadership to Elisha, so Jesus is transferring leadership to the disciples. Now they shall be his hands and feet in the world. Our hearing of scripture, our understanding, or our minds being opened, is not found in well-rounded arguments, but in having experienced the power of God. Jesus engages all of the disciples' faculties to open their minds to the calling of God on their lives.

In Jesus’ post-resurrection work, Jesus constantly engages all of the disciples’ senses and faculties in the work of opening their minds. From meeting the disciples in the locked room and showing his hands and sides, to the charcoal fire meant to recall Peter’s denial of Jesus; cooking breakfast, breaking bread, and engaging in conversation. Regardless of the type of learner, regardless of what was needed, Jesus works to fully engage the disciples. In doing so, he awakens their passion within them. 

Recall the disciples' response after breaking bread with Jesus after their walk to Emmaus, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32, NRSVue). In each of the post-resurrection encounters, the different disciples had different responses. This is so because each disciple has different gifts and graces and, in the opening their minds, in fully understanding the scripture, each disciple is freed to be open to fully use their gifts and graces for the work of ministry in the world. 

Why does Jesus spend so much time doing this? I’d like to think that when you are passionate, even when the going gets tough, you can’t see yourself doing anything else. In moments of missional frustration, in moments of uncertainty, we often find ourselves asking the question, “Why are we doing this?” The truth is, we do it because God has called us to do the work. We do this because our passion for God’s work in the world compels us and drives us to serve.

The challenge, then, is to ask ourselves, “How is the work of the church, the body of Christ, engaging your passion?” If you attend church only on Sundays, are you truly and fully engaging with the power of the Holy Spirit? Are you really free to fully be yourself and fully open to the work of Christ in the world? And if you are not fully open to the work of Christ, how can the church come alongside you to help you fully engage and awaken the passion of God within you? How can we free you to be open to the work God is calling you to do alongside the church in the world? How can we bring your passions and desires alongside the work that God has called us to do that we might make use of all the gifts and graces God has given this congregation? As we said last week, it takes every one of us to do the work that God has called us to do. But we must be passionate about that which God has laid before us. Each of us must be engage deeply in order to do the work of Christ in the world.

One commentary notes “Not only did Jesus explain Scripture to them, he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures (24:45). He gave them the gift of discerning minds so they could more readily understand the meaning of Scripture when they read it. It is a wonderful gift when God quickens the mind and enlightens the intellect so that understanding and application accompany the reading of His Word.”

Part of our passion arises when we listen to and heed the working of the Holy Spirit. It awakens when we spend time studying God’s word together, when we take part in the disciples of the church, when we gather, eat, study, and pray together. It awakens as we allow God to use those around us to build us up into the people that God is calling us to be. How often do we allow God to open our minds so that we can understand the scriptures, our call, our mission, and live out the ministry of Christ?

Last week during a missions meeting we took time to examine two questions before we moved into the business of the committee: Which part of our vision—affirming, giving, serving—feels most alive in our current mission and outreach efforts? Which needs deeper expression? In what ways can our committee cultivate generosity—not just financially, but in time, presence, and empathy?

This opened the door for deeper conversations where every person had something to add, each person’s passion came to the forefront, each one wanted to find ways to wrap our congregation into that passion and then move that passion out into the world as we strive to meet the world’s needs out of love for God. 

The Wesleyan Commentary said this: “Salvation is found as a person responds to the gift of grace from God. Salvation involves repentance on the part of the persons who are seeking it, the forgiveness of sins on the part of God who is offering it. It is called synergism—God and humankind responding together to make salvation a reality.”

You see, having our eyes opened to God's work awakens our passion. God’s salvific work is made known as God works in and through us to proclaim God’s love to the world. God’s love is made known as we respond to the work that God is doing in our lives. God has expectations for the church. God expects the church to be a place of worship,  a place of fellowship, a place of evangelism, and a place of service. God expects the people of God to witness to the work that God is doing in the world…and we can’t do this if we aren’t actively looking and discerning. Going through the motions of church is not living out the transforming power of God and does not allow us to be open to the ongoing work of God through Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. 

We will talk more about this next week on Pentecost Sunday, but this is, in part, what the whole sermon series boils down to. For if we want to be freed to move forward, to follow, to rise again, to Love, and to heal, we must be open. We must have our minds open to the scripture, to find the places where our passions line up with God’s passions, that we might all engage in the work of ministry. It could be as simple as calling a friend at church and checking on them. It could be starting a small group or sharing an idea for a new ministry. If we aren’t open to the movement of the Spirit in our hearts and lives, and if we don’t respond passionately to God's call on our lives, then we risk being stagnant and stuck. True freedom to open allows God to speak to us, to call us out of our ways, to love others, to heal, to follow, to move forward, to rise again…to share and invite others in so that they too may be opened and freed for mission and ministry. 

May we open ourselves up to God’s continued call on our lives. May we allow our minds to be opened so that the scriptures may speak to us anew as we live out our calls passionately so that we may be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. Thanks be to God.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of Holy Spirit. Amen.