Divine Revelation, Not Human Expectation

Reception

(Pass out pamphlets)

Collect for Purity

Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Readings/Lessons

Old Testament Lesson

A reading from the Old Testament, the 105th Psalm,

Psalm 105:1–8 “Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice! Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually! Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered, O offspring of Abraham, his servant, children of Jacob, his chosen ones! He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth. He remembers his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,”

The Word of the Lord,

Thanks be to God.

New Testament Lesson

A reading from the New Testament, in the Acts of the Apostles, the 3rd Chapter,

Acts 3:1–10 “Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.”

The Word of the Lord,

Thanks be to God.

Gospel Reading

The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, According to St. Luke,

Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Luke 24:13–35 “That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.”

The Word of the Lord,

Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Exposition/Sermon

In the 14th century, the renowned Muslim theologian Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya wrote a poem on what he considered a refutation of the Christian story of God. In it, he begins, “O Christ-worshippers! We want an answer to our question...” These questions he goes on to ask question to the united humanity and divinity of Christ in order to attack His divinity: “If the Lord was murdered by some people’s act, what kind of god is this?… Were all the worlds left without a God, to manage while His hands were nailed?”

While seemingly profound from a cursory glance, what al-Jawziyya’s remarks truly denote is an inclination towards the human definition of glory. In this view, how could God not reveal himself purely with the gold and splendor of an earthly king? Yet this tends towards viewing God in our own terms, placing Him in our own categories.

And if we restrict God to our own categories, we invite nothing but disappointment. In our personal lives, if we expect God only to be if he offers an imminent life vest as we drown, we tend to find neither God nor ourselves. Only when we realize we’re struggling in 3 inch water, and that God is inviting us out, to hear from Him, do we escape our prejudices. The prejudices of humanity, that can only be overcome by the God-man, who invites us to union with the Godhead.

We’re in the midst of Easter Week, a celebration of Christ’s conquering of death, conquering of sin, and conquering of what it means to be human. Our Gospel and New Testament lessons both describe post-resurrection events, and both firsts of their own kind. The Gospel of Luke describes the first encounter with Christ after his resurrection. And in the Acts of the Apostles we see the first miracle performed by members of the Apostles—the healing of a crippled man.

These two lessons have one major theme in common, one that coincides with al-Jawziyya’s foolishness of pure human reason—human expectation vs. divine revelation. This is not to say that Christ defies all things comprehensible to us, but that it is in Him and through Him that His truth is revealed to us. That is to say, it is the work of evil to draw us away from the truth before us.

Comparing an instance of blindness to clarity, we first turn to Christ’s foretelling of His death and resurrection earlier in Luke’s Gospel, where the response of the Apostles is said to be that “they understood none of these things. [for] this saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.” They had been blinded by the sins of their own reasonings, which tended towards denying the divine. Yet, we also have the self-revelation of Christ given in the story of His transfiguration, where “And [Christ] was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white.” This may fit better with a human definition of glory, not that that definition is per se incorrect, but that it’s missing the big picture.

That in Christ’s transfiguration, essentially meaning to transcend his physical figure, to reveal the glory that was always there but not always visible to the Apostles, and to show how it would remain, diminishing neither Christ’s humanity nor divinity. That it is not He who is wrong, or He who is diminished by His death and resurrection, but He who is and was always glorified, and us who is truly at fault for our continual judgment. What kind of God is this? Where was God in His death? The answer: always glorified and always acting in the power of His self-revelation. Powerful in His self-emptying for us, His sacrifice for us, His love for us—a power not always visible to man.

So let us look at how human expectation can conflict with divine revelation in our Gospel Lesson. From the Gospel of Luke, our reading today occurs, in the text, directly after the discovery of the empty tomb. And, from the Greek, not quite present in this translation, it begins with an emphatic, “And behold!” So what do we behold but the glory of Christ, a Christ glorified in His death and resurrection. Yet, unlike in the Transfiguration, and because of the blindness of man, the two walking do not recognize that it is Christ whom they are speaking to. They follow man, in seeing not as God sees. And Christ allows Himself to remain humble, while these men express their disappointments, expressing their hope that “he was the one to redeem Israel,” losing that hope except for the rumor that “he was alive.”

Yet, listen here, listen to how Christ responds to these men who still do not know Him revealed, its a similar response I’d give to that Muslim poet, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And when he is Christ revealed in His glory, as in the Transfiguration? It is not in the walk on the Emmaus road, even when these men look at Christ. But it is in when “he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him.”

And what is significant about this breaking of bread? It’s that same sacramental act that we discussed last weak in the institution of the Eucharist on Maundy Thursday. That which is centered around the breaking of bread in which is read for us, from St. Paul, “Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.” That is to say, these men, walking on the Emmaus road, found themselves moping regarding a man they had believed to be the Savior. And he was, for they were able to recognize that in the breaking of the bread, that Christ was their Passover, their sacrifice, their salvation. That it was in the recognition of Him as sacrifice that brought the recognition of his glory. Similarly, it is in Him that we come to true knowledge of His glory, as if He was transfigured before us. As when He transcends our human natures to express to us the divine, to remit us of our sin, to remind us of His sacrifice for our sins.

Similarly, Christ is known to us in our communion under the breaking of bread and wine. In our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving we offer Him, as discussed last week. That we are called, as out Old Testament Lesson calls us, to “remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered, O offspring of Abraham.” That now, the church as the seed of Abraham, being grafted in through Christ, can remember these works, these miracles. That we can remember, as He calls us to “do this in remembrance of me.” A remembrance that’s more than just memory, but a turning of our lives towards experience with Him. That our hopes turn to Him, who is alive, truly He is risen indeed!

And He has not forgotten us, at Pentecost He gave the church the power of the Holy Spirit, in which our Lesson from Acts recalls the first miracle of the Apostles in the succeeding chapter—the healing of a crippled man in front of the temple. But look at the man’s response after St. Peter calls to him: “‘Look at us,’” “And he fixed his attention on [Peter and John], expecting to receive something from them.”

Erasmus, a 16th century Christian, has great comment on this verse that while the crippled man “had asked for a donation; he expected a donation. He did not dare to beg that his legs be made whole, since he had no hope that they could do this...” We see this word “hope” again. The two men on the Emmaus road hoped that the man from Nazareth (that is Christ Jesus) would redeem Israel, but lost it, this man laying in front of the temple hoped for healing, but lost it. Yet, through those Christ had broken bread with, through a transfer of limited earthly, authority, the Apostles could now stand in place of Christ to heal the hopeless, as Christ had. Yet, notice, they did so not only in Christ’s name, but even admonish those after that attribute the healing to them. All their praise goes to God, as does all the praise of the now-healed man. Seeking the Lord and His strength, seeking the Lord continuously, Peter and John call the crippled man into a life in Christ and through Christ. And as the Spirit enters the man, his entire life is made anew. It’s a literal but also spiritual representation of our lives as believers. There is no guarantee this man might not hurt his legs again in the future, but now they have the capacity to heal. Same for us, there is no guarantee we’ll never sin again after baptism, rather the opposite, yet we are now given the spiritual food and medicine for our sins to be atoned through Christ’s sacrifice.

That when we feel down, hopeless, as if Christ has disappointed us, we can turn to the breaking of bread, to the Christian community, and ultimately, to the Lord our God, who remembers his covenant forever, and can have our eyes opened to that which has been in front of us the whole time.

I end tonight with another story, from a Christian figure alive around the time of that medieval Muslim poet. St. Francis of Assisi offers two questions, to be said in prayer, that are fundamental to Christian’s and our outlook: “Who are you, my God, and who am I?” As we’ve gone through today’s lessons we’ve analyzed our human expectation and compared it to divine revelation. St. Peter will come to write that Christ Jesus “was known before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in the last times for your sake.” We are only known in relation to God, and through Christ, God the Son, our mediator and intercessor with God the Father. Let us start with knowing God through His revelation, exemplified in Christ, and not on our own ideas of God. He’s always been there, yet we could not always see Him. Are we really to question His sacrifice for us? As if that would disqualify God from being God? Who are we to say? The properties of God-ness were not betrayed when Christ came to the earth, His death by a people only reminiscent of all the sin we give to Him.

Let us do as the people in the temple did, who were “filled with the wonder and amazement at what had happened.” Let us be amazed, filled with awe and wonder, at Christ’s death and resurrection. For now, as the church celebrates, Christ is risen, He is risen indeed! Now, that gift of the Spirit is given to the church, first in the realization of Christ in the bread, then to the healing of the crippled man through the Apostles, and now to us today as we relate to Christ in our humanity and hope to aspire to His divinity.

Finally, listen to the words of Peter to the crippled man, “‘I have no silver and gold, but what I do have [which is Christ alone] I give to you.” Now hear Peter echo this in his letter to the church, “For you know that it was not perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot… Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that your have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.” We are called to so much more, through Christ and His suffering, and that begins in our love for one another. Not to be envious, jealous, violent, but to act as Christ did—turning the other cheek, loving your enemy. That perfect man for us to model. But so much more. Our sacrifice, our lamb, our passover, given for us, unworthily deserved but still given for us by His grace. Let us not abuse that grace, let us have our eyes opened to Christ, the fullness of his works. Let us do the bare minimum and at least attempt to imitate Christ in our lives, and see it transformed by the minute. And if we fall, we have a greater Savior that can redeem and forgive. So, brothers and sisters, those who feel fallen and worthless, know that this Sunday we celebrated the ultimate sacrifice, one that takes away all sin, and know you are called into it. You are called into the body of Christ and communion of saints. Let us recognize Him now and unite with Him into our lives. Let us shout aloud, as the men on Emmaus did after encountering and regaining their hope that, “The Lord has risen indeed.”

O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in the fullness of his redeeming work; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Benediction

Let us end tonight in a benediction, from the words of St. Paul,

Ephesians 6:23 “Peace be to the brothers [and sisters], and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Go in peace to love in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.