St. Timothy’s, Creve Coeur, Missouri
April 30, 2006
Luke 24:36-48
What kind of a savior are you looking for? As for me, I want someone steady: a rock. Now I think a kind, comfy rock would be nice. One you can lean into and find comfort. One that will put loving arms around you and brush your hair back and tell you that it will be all right. But a rock nonetheless. I want someone strong, dependable and always available. I want someone I can count on whenever I fall apart, or get scared, or overwhelmed. This someone I’m thinking of never falls apart or gets scared or overwhelmed. After all, what good is a vulnerable savior? How can my savior take care of me if that rock is not steady 24/7?
What about you? What kind of a savior are you looking for? Someone who will fight for you or lead you to victory or heal your wounds? Are you looking for a knight in white armor, or a western frontier hero or an inspired political leader? Perhaps it is a miracle worker, or a beacon for global reconciliation or a prophet that makes your savior short-list. Or all of the above? Or someone who will die for you? Now wait a minute--what good is a dead savior? No, give me the one who fights all the demons and wins. Give me the one who is triumphant. I want the one who never falters.
What kind of a savior do you suppose the disciples were looking for? Clearly there were a variety of views among them. Some were looking for a great leader. Some hoped for the return of King David. Some expected a prophet, others a healer. I expect some of their visions are similar to ours: a rock, a warrior, a miracle worker. But even those who believed in their heart of hearts that Jesus was it--the messiah--the one who would save them all--they never got it. Peter, the one who first calls Jesus Messiah when Jesus asks, “Who do you say that I am?” is also the one who rebukes Jesus when our Lord talked about dying. “Get behind me Satan!” Jesus has to say to him. But Peter doesn’t understand. A dead savior? No thank you.
But that’s exactly what they got: a savior, a messiah, who was vulnerable. A savior who was overwhelmed and overcome and broken. A savior who didn’t just die, or offer up his life in some heroic action leading the charge against the enemy or taking the bullet to spare us. This savior, this Jesus was captured and beaten and killed. Dead—desecrated-- and buried. And that was the end of it. Or so they thought. Then comes Easter.
It is still Easter by the way. We celebrate if for 50 days. The great 50 days we call it. And it is still that first Easter day when this story from our gospel takes place. Recall how Luke tells the story. In the early dawn on the first day of the week the women find the empty tomb. They meet two men-in-white who tell them that Jesus has risen. They run and tell the others who do not believe them. Now that same day two of the disciples were going to the village of Emmaus talking about all this. Along the way they meet a stranger who asks them what they are discussing. They reach their destination early evening, invite the stranger to eat with them, and as he breaks the bread he is suddenly revealed to them as Jesus. And then in the next moment, he simply vanishes.
Astonished by what they have seen, they run the seven miles back to Jerusalem (OK maybe they walked fast). They find the others who say, “Have you heard? The Lord has risen indeed!” And they say, “Have we got a story for you…we’ve seen him!” As they are talking, suddenly he is there. Just there. While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and terrified. (Luke 24:36)
Now I have to tell you--if we don’t want a savior who suffers and dies, and they didn’t understand a savior who suffered and died, how do you suppose they felt about a resurrected one? I think startled and terrified don’t quite make it! Honestly, a ghost might have been easier to take than a live, just-got-back-from-being-dead, honest-to-God resurrected messiah. It is sometimes hard to place ourselves in the shoes of those first disciples. We have so many images of Jesus, but all of them carry the stamp of the resurrected one. We know that part of the story already. But those first disciples did not. Those who believed Jesus was the messiah before the crucifixion, thought what they saw was what they got. They expected great things of their teacher, mentor, and friend. But the real encounter with the real resurrected one could not have been what they thought it would be. I am sure some of them spent the rest of their lives trying to get their minds around it.
And this is why we take 50 days for Easter. It is not just because Pentecost comes on the calendar 50 days from now. It is because the resurrection is shocking and startling and terrifying. No matter how many years we have lived this story, we still need time to understand it. It is a great mystery.
Jesus is our savoir. But what kind of a savior do we want? Or perhaps the more important question is, what kind of a savior do we need? Apparently one who is vulnerable. Apparently one who can be beaten down. Apparently one who dies. Because that is what we have in Jesus. And this is why. Because without a dead savior, we do not get a resurrected one. A Jesus who got off the cross and triumphantly put his foes to flight would have been victorious over the Roman officials and the Religious hierarchy of 1st century Palestine. A Jesus who stood up to the authorities of his day and became a new leader who reformed the religious institutions, brought food to the poor, justice to the downtrodden and healing to the sick would have created a better society around the city of Jerusalem. Things would have gone on well for a time. But then what?
But a Jesus who suffered and died and was buried and stayed dead and after three days was resurrected, that Jesus, that messiah, that Christ conquered more. That savior says there is nothing in this world, no evil, no hate, no horrifying death, that God’s love cannot overcome. God’s love conquers hate. God’s love overcomes sin. God’s love ensures that not even death has the last word. A savior like that ensures that there is no dark place that I can be that God has not also been. There is no depth to which I can fall, that God will not be there with me. There is no place of devastation that I can be in that is not redeemable by God. Now that is a savior worth living for.
When Jesus stands there and asks if there is anything to eat in the house, he is showing them that he is no ghost, no joke, no phantom of wishful thinking. He is nothing less than the one who not even death could stop. He is nothing less than the one who comes again to those he loves and offers peace. And even that is not then end of the story; or of our story. “You are witnesses of these things,” Jesus tells those gathered around him that Easter day evening. Repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in the name of the messiah and you are witnesses to these things. In Luke’s account this is the final appearance of Jesus. He has no other message or words of wisdom for his disciples. “You are witnesses of these things.”
And what do you suppose those witnesses were meant to do? Well, we know what they did because we are here. They told the story. They told the story about a vulnerable savior who laid down his life for them, and for us. They told the story of a savior whose love for humankind overcame hate and death. They proclaimed that repentance and forgiveness are available for all of us. They healed the sick, cared for the poor, created communities founded on the Good News of this resurrected Christ.
In our Baptismal Covenant we are asked, “Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?” We also are witnesses to Easter. We also are called to tell the story. We are called to live lives in the assurance, the blessed assurance, that this incredible love is for us. What kind of savior do you want? What kind savior do you need? What kind of savior do you have? What kind of savior will you witness to?
In God’s Holy Name,
Amen
