Dear Friends in Christ,
We’re coming to the 4th Sunday of Easter. It represents our having passed through the midpoint of Eastertide with its 50 days and seven Sundays.
Up to this point, a common theme of our previous 3 Sunday Scriptures has been recognition of the Risen Christ. Last Sunday, Luke reported to us that, when 2 followers were walking on the Emmaus Road, “Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.”
Their experience echoed that of Mary on Easter when she mistook the Risen Christ for a gardener in the graveyard. And, it echoed that of Thomas who – when he heard others’ reports of having seen the Risen Christ – said he wouldn’t believe them unless he saw and touched Jesus’ wounds himself.
Now, as living characters in the continuing story of Jesus’ Resurrection, the questions we’re left with are: “What are our experiences of the risen Christ?”, and “Do we recognize Jesus in them?”
Lest, we say we’ve never had any experiences of the risen Christ or sightings of Jesus, I remind you of Jesus’ implicitly teaching his followers in a parable of “sheep and goats” (not really about animals or individual people, but of societies and nations) that we see him in the needy people of our world. But then, especially then, the question is: do we recognize Jesus – and respond graciously and generously – or not? Do you? And what about us – as Christ’s church?
Blessings of Being “in the Middle” of Eastertide,
Pastor Ed