Easter 3A 2008 Luke 24:13-35

Do you recall your first magnifying glass? I spent hours looking at everything I could reach. I now saw textures and striations in colors and patterns and designs in the natural world that I had not seen before. And upon acquiring a microscope of my own, I discovered a whole new universe of strange and wondrous creatures swimming in a single drop of creek water.

When we focus a telescope on the moon and the planets of our solar system and the endless stars beyond, we begin to understand more and more about our place in the Creation. We shift from the microscopic to the vastness of the interstellar cosmos as our understanding of Creation, of God acting in the natural world increases.

A magnifying glass can focus sunlight. The point of focus is bright and intense and can set the cloth or paper or wood on fire. We all have times in our lives like the focus of sunlight through a magnifying glass, times when things come together for us, when people and things and events that at first seem unrelated or that make no sense suddenly come together, are arranged in a way that has meaning and sense, that are focused so that we can see them more clearly, so that we can see and understand the patterns, the relationships, the connectedness and meaning of it all. Suddenly everything comes into focus. And sometimes our hearts are even set on fire.

This focus effect continues throughout our lives as we continue to grow in faith and knowledge of the way the world works and of the work of the Creator in the Creation itself.

We may go about our daily round dealing only with the present and the tasks at hand. But major events in our lives: marriage, children, anniversaries, certain birthdays, success and failure, life and death tend to focus our thinking and ways of being. We are faced with decisions every day. All decisions have consequences and those consequences demand that we refocus and redirect our lives and decisions.

We are not unlike the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Their revered leader had been taken prisoner, tortured, beaten, and killed in the most humiliating form of execution: crucifixion. They kept rehearsing this terrible sequence of events, trying to find out what went wrong. And they weren’t making much progress.

Then a stranger joins them and asks them what they were talking about. They recited Jesus’ mighty deeds, his condemnation, and crucifixion, the hopes they had had about his ability to redeem Israel. They told of the empty tomb and the reported two angels who said that Jesus was alive. But the two disciples just couldn’t believe.

The stranger began to talk to them, to focus their thinking on what these events all meant, how these things were connected to things that had happened before. The two disciples were so moved that they invited the stranger to stay and eat with them.

And then it happened -- a moment of supreme clarity. When the stranger took bread, broke it, blessed it, and gave it to them they knew who he was and they understood. They were at the bright spot of focus. Like a flash of lightning They could now see the relationship of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection, that the need for atonement and forgiveness in the world was so great the Jesus had to endure the Cross.

They were given strength and understanding to bear witness that Jesus was indeed risen and alive. In the sharing of that meal on the evening of the Resurrection, two whose lives had been ripped apart were made whole. Jesus had joined them, explored their fears, disappointment, confusion, hopelessness and pain, and comforted them.

Their hearts burned within them as understanding and a new focus redirected their lives. Their fears were set aside, their confusion was relieved, their hopelessness was abandoned, and their lives were refocused.

In that moment those two disciples realized that their Lord had never left them, that he would always be there. And the Lord who loves us is there for us still as well.

AMEN


Drawn in part from InterNet and subscription sources.