Third Sunday of Easter
Lk 24:13-35
April 23, 2023

A Christian “blogger” invited his followers to complete the sentence: l need the Resurrection because…

There were a number of powerful postings, but one that I found to be especially profound was written in poem form by Kara Root, a Presbyterian minister from Minneapolis, Minnesota.

I need the Resurrection
because my sister is sick
and can’t afford insurance,
because I’ve told a weeping Haitian mom,
“No, I can’t take your son home with me,”
because I’ve been rushed off a Jerusalem street
so a robot could blow up a bag that could’ve blown up us.
because I’ve exploded
in rage
and watched their tiny faces cloud with hurt.
because evil is pervasive
and I participate.
I need the Resurrection
because it promises
that in the end
all wrongs are made right.
Death loses.
Hope triumphs.
And Life and Love
Prevail.

If the dejected couple making their way back to their home village from Jerusalem had posted something…it might have read something like this:

We need the Resurrection because…

Like Peter and Andrew, and James and John,
we left everything behind to follow Jesus.
And now the dream is shattered,
and we have no place to go
except back to where we came from.
We need the Resurrection because
He gave meaning to our lives
and hope when everything in the world
seemed so totally hopeless.

We need the Resurrection because
He brought a fire to our hearts
as we watched Him do miracles and
listened to Him speak about how things should be,
and someday will be…but now that fire has gone cold.

We need the Resurrection because we are ashamed
that we slept when He asked us to keep watch,
fled when He was arrested,
remained quiet when the crowd shouted
Give us Barabbas and crucify Him!
Hid as He was scourged…and
locked ourselves in a dark room as
He hung from The Cross.
We need to hear Him speak those words,
that He spoke over and over and over again,
Go in Peace…your sins are forgiven.

We need the Resurrection because
He gathered us together as a family,
inspiring us to care for one another
and now…

Now it’s just the two of us and we feel so alone.

We need the Resurrection because we know we have to
continue what He began…but without Him,
we don’t feel strong enough.

We need the Resurrection!

The Risen Christ knew that these confused and grief-stricken disciples NEEDED THE RESURRECTION, and so He turned the 7 miles of dusty, rocky road that led from Jerusalem to Emmaus into a special place of revelation. The Lord used their journey home as an opportunity to break open God’s Eternal Word for them. And so, their heavy hearts became enlivened as they began to understand how self-sacrifice and suffering have saving power.

Accepting their invitation to “Stay” …The Lord turned their humble dining table into a Communion Table. Their home became a place of special revelation as they came to appreciate the healing and forgiving power of Eucharist, which is the Food that would sustain them as they continued The Master’s Work.

Finally, because they experienced Resurrection through this amazing encounter with The Christ, they, themselves, became instruments of revelation, leaving their home and returning to the Community to share what they had been given.

So, too, for each of us, who, for whatever reason, NEEDS THE RESURRECTION. The Risen Lord walks next to us…not just for 7 miles…but for the years of our earthly lives. And when we open our hearts to Him through the power of The Eternal Word, we find hope, peace, and meaning to everything that we endure along the way.

If, like the Emmaus couple, we ask Christ to “STAY WITH US!” He takes up a dwelling place in our hearts and in our homes.

And when we join the Community of the Faithful to proclaim The Gospel and Break the Bread and Share the Cup, our hearts do burn within us, because we know that God will keep the promise that, in the end…

All wrongs WILL be made right.
Death WILL lose.
Hope WILL triumph.
And Life and Love WILL prevail.

THE WHOLE WORLD needs the Resurrection…and now it’s our job to give witness to it.