Pack up your troubles in God's old Kit bag
The sermon ”Pack up your troubles in God’s old Kit bag.”
What would you pay for a magical trunk where you could pack into it all the things that bother you and makes life not so pleasant. It would hold the sorrows, the disappointments and troubles that beset us and make life one big party. Would it be worth anything!!! 1969( ancient days ago to some of us) the Beatles recorded a song titled “Let it be”
When I find myself in times of trouble, mother Mary comes to me,
speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me,
speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
McCartney said he wrote "Let It Be", after a dream he had had about his mother during the tense period surrounding the Get Back/Let It Be sessions. McCartney explained that his mother—who died of cancer when McCartney was fourteen—was the inspiration for the "Mother Mary" lyric. McCartney later said, "It was great to visit with her again. I felt very blessed to have that dream. So that got me writing 'Let It Be'." He also said—in a later interview about the dream—that his mother had told him, "It will be alright, just let it be. Jesus says to us. It’s goanna be ok. Cast your cares upon me and “Let it Be”
Life is full of ups and downs, joys and sadness, hopes realized and dreams shattered. We may work hard for our employers hoping to get that promised promotion only to see it offered to someone else and we get so upset and disillusioned we want to quit right there on the spot maybe with some choice words to the boss. Perhaps our partner has just dropped the bombshell that they want out of the relationship, and you watch them walk out the door, there is the feeling of abandonment, resentment and even puzzlement and blame( thinking that maybe you could have done something different) to save the relationship. Sometimes the best laid plans of a joyful retirement can be shattered by illness or death of a partner. There lots of heartaches BUT Our lives are made up of many joys, also. A new baby ( One of God’s little miracles) born into a family. (our grandson.) Watching them grow and talk and do all those firsts. As a faith community we experience the excitement of new life emerging from what not so long ago appeared to be dying and lifeless. It brings joy and hope and increases faith that God is blessing us and caring for us, His special Children.
Here is the crux, the heart of the matter, sine qua non - if we dwell in the disappointments, the failures, the sorrows, we risk standing still, not growing in what God wants us to become, our lives become stagnant and lifeless a dismal, hopeless disillusioned people. God’s blessings of laughter, joys and supportive friends and those things that excite us and charge us up is all around us as our eyes are open to see THEM and HIM in them. The struggle is to not get so caught up in the disappointments and what saddens us that we miss out on life itself. (jn 10:10 “I have come that you might have life to the fullest”) The message in today’s Gospel is that Christ comes along side of us (just as he came to the two men on the Emmaus road) to help us through times of testing and show us the way to put the smile on our faces and the jig in our steps by being in relationship with us.
I titled this sermon, ”Pack up your troubles in God’s old Kit bag.” Smile , smile, smile. When Jesus met up with the 2 men on the Emmaus road the text says that “they stood still, looking sad. (Down Cast)” Heart broken!
The illustration: The home of Paul Laurence Dunbar, noted 19th century African- American poet, is open to the public in Dayton, Ohio. When Dunbar died, his mother left his room exactly as it was on the day of his death. At the desk of this brilliant man was his final poem, handwritten on a pad. After his mother died, her friends discovered that Paul Laurence Dunbar's last poem had been lost forever. Because his mother had made his room into a shrine and not moved anything, the sun had bleached the ink in which the poem was written until it was invisible. The poem was gone. If we stay in mourning, we lose so much of life.
The Story: It was later in the day on the 1st easter and 2 of Jesus disciples were walking to the village of Emmaus. They were talking about the all the things that had happened over the past 3 days and Jesus comes up and walks with them. They don’t realize it is him. He asks what are you discussing? They stop, and became sad and lowered their heads as Cleopas tells Jesus about what happened in Jerusalem to Jesus. That they all hoped Jesus was the one who would free them of the Romans because He was a mighty prophet, like no one they had ever seen before in Israel, but the religious leaders killed Jesus.
They also told Him that this morning the women came to the tomb and Jesus was not there, and that they talked to Angels who told them that Jesus rose from the dead. Jesus began to explain the scriptures to them of how it was written that He would die and rise again from the dead, to live forever.
When they got to the village they asked Jesus to stay with them because it was almost night. He did , and as they ate together, during the blessing, they recognized Jesus. They were so happy and excited that they journeyed back to Jerusalem that very hour and reported to the disciples that they saw the risen Jesus. ( the roads may not have been very safe after dark. 2 hour walk. There was nothing they would not risk to share this good news)
There are a few things we learn about ourselves, about life with God and how God works in relationship with us in encounter with Jesus with the Cleopas and his buddy on the way to Emmaus.
1/ The disciples were despairing, they couldn’t feel much lower in spirit than they were at that moment in time. It is probably why they were going to Emmaus. Giving up on Jesus, their dream of the great prophet and teacher and healer were shattered. [Some today want to just give up on life. When things appear too tough, or too painful depression sets in and life seems so senseless, useless so worthless. (so much sucide) Today we would be given some pills to help perk us up ] So here they were going back to their own village to old lives. It’s not like the didn’t have some evidence that God was working in spectacular ways because of the reports of the women in the morning was that Jesus was alive, that all was not lost. Even when life seems to be bleak, hopeless there is light and life with God.
2/ It is most often in the darkest hours of our lives that Jesus draws nearest to us, even though we may not see or feel His presence. The poem “foot steps In the sand” illustrates this aspect of our humanity and God’s abiding presence very well. Did you ever wonder why these two disciples and Mary from the Resurrection account in John’s Gospel didn’t recognize Jesus. Their Grief and overwhelming disappointment of Jesus death was blinding them to God’s power and the knowledge of What God promised in His Word through the prophets of old. They heard the scriptures BUT they didn’t believe them. The tears clouded their vision. (crying makes everything look like your seeing through frosted glass). What we know of God is that we can “Cast your cares upon Him because He cares for us”. 1 Peter 5:7 We may be abandoned by others but not God!
3/ It is in our relationship with Jesus and fellowship with him and His people that we really SEE Him and come to trust him. Our eyes become wide open and we see the Blessings and possibilities that go beyond the normal human reason and thinking, that even goes beyond the hurt and pain we experience. It is at This point: I believe that we really begin to see the miracles of God. Cloepas and his buddy walked with Jesus most of the afternoon but didn’t recognize Him. Only after they had begged this companion not go any further (as Jesus had indicated he was going to do ) but to stay with them and shared a meal together( intimacy) did they recognized it was Jesus himself. And they were so excited, and so overjoyed that they couldn’t wait to go back to their friends in Jerusalem and tell the others. This is the kind of excitement you see in new converts to Christ, Those whose eyes are open to the Awesome, wonderful and gracious God of the universe. So what implication does this have for us about the kind of excitement we are to have in our Lord? It will come with the invitation by us for Jesus to come along side of us. When we “abide in Him and He in us”
Conclusion: We can’t separate ourselves from the world we live in and when troubles arise and we are down cast with sorrow or disappointments or what ever it may be that tries to rob us of the Joy and peace in life. we are assured of a Savior who is willing to walk with us and carry our burdens, to pack them up into his kit bag and carry them for us until they don’t matter any more. Just as Jesus did for the 2 men on the road to Emmmaus.