Sermon Cloud

The gospel that we have just listened to (Lk 24:13-35) tells the story of two of Jesus’ disciples who want to put as much distance between themselves and Jerusalem as possible.  If I were in their shoes, I might be tempted to do the same.  It was still that first day of Easter, and perhaps they had not heard the news reported by the women.  Having lived the turmoil of Good Friday, they were probably still coming to grips with the painful reality that Jesus was dead, and they just wanted out.

All human beings face this temptation; we even might say that it’s natural to want to ignore pain in our lives, and to carry on as though all things are great.   Some people are experts at hiding painful realities, and convincing the outside world, and themselves, that all is well, but still waters often run deep, as the saying goes.

As much as we might want to hide from painful circumstances, the truth of the matter is that eventually we must face the demons in order to overcome them.  Jesus knew perhaps that some of his disciples would not be able to handle the stress: that they would run away from the pain, but notice that he didn’t let them get away with it either.  He himself met them on the road (Lk 24:15), in the midst of their flight, and challenged them to begin the process of acknowledging their pain, facing it and dealing with the questions, doubts and pain that resulted (Lk 24:17-24).

We too can be like these two disciples at times, putting on brave faces for the sake of the outside world, while inside we are scared and unwilling to face the pain of doubt and questions about death, about significant losses, about choices in our lives that have not panned out …  Like the disciples, the risen Christ never leaves us alone, even in and especially in the face of doubt.  Instead, he invites us to face our fears, to name them, to start talking about them in our conversations with him.

It was only at the end of the day, having travelled with the stranger and recounted their own story of pain and doubt, that the two disciples discovered who their companion really was.  Like them, we can sometimes only recognize Christ when we see him revealed in the breaking of bread (Lk 24:30-31), the sharing of a meal, the compassion of friends, the comfort of those we love.

Peter himself spoke of his conviction that having accepted the invitation to face his own fears, he was better able to understand and accept the reality that Jesus had risen from the dead.  Through Christ, those who believe in him ‘come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory’ (1 Pet 1:21).

Ultimately, Peter and the other disciples came to believe fully in the truth of the resurrection.  The Acts of the Apostles tell us many of the heroic deeds they did in proclaiming this truth to friends and strangers alike.  The first reading we heard today even tells of Peter’s adventures in proclaiming this truth (Acts 2:22-28) to those who had sentenced Jesus to death in the first place.  What courage that must have taken!  What faith he must have had!  What a journey of healing he must have lived, and it all began because he and his friends were courageous enough to face their fears, and grow in faith.