Total Experience

April 6, 2008     Easter 3 A

Acts 2:14a, 36-41             Psalm 116:12-19

1 Peter 1:17-23         St. Luke 24:13-35

What was once a common sight, is growing less and less so. That is, unless you live inLancaster County. I am referring to the presence of horse-drawn vehicles on the road. We have virtually seen the end of the generation that had, as their daily means of conveyance, the horse-drawn carriage. But why, you may ask, am I raising such an issue on this third Sunday in Easter?

I think there is a direct link between horse-drawn vehicles and our Gospel lesson for today. Before you think that connection is merely the remains of the horse on the highway after it is passed, let me explain.

In addition to the various connective devices necessary for linking the horse to the carriage, and those steering devices, there is also one very important device that is necessary, although it does not contribute directly to the harnessing of the horse's power to pull the carriage. The very important device, that also accomplishes our link to this morning's Gospel, is called "blinders".

Unless you are familiar with what blinders are, you might suppose that they are something that renders a horse blind. In fact, blinders serve to focus the attention of the horse on the road ahead by limiting the horse's field of vision. Blinders limit what the horse can see, by obstructing its vision to the right and left. How in the world does this relate to today's lessons, you might wonder?

We have here the continuing Easter story as told by St. Luke. It's a lovely Easter story that the Gospel of Luke gives us. Here we have two people who seem to think everything is over. They have just experienced a great loss. "We had hoped," they say, "he was the one to set Israel free."

These two disciples are wearing blinders. Not only have they left the community as they walk home, they don't place much credence in the testimony of the women who heard angels declaring Jesus alive. Other witnesses saw the empty tomb, but not Jesus. Perhaps that is why they are walking away.

They have not personally seen the risen Lord. They have only heard the testimony of others. If Jesus had stood before them, they would have believed. But faith blinders have gotten in the way.

Observe what is going on here. We have two people who seem to be in a situation of unbelief, hitting the road, leaving their community, deep in confusion.

Two things happen. One, they are joined by Jesus on the road. He actually walks with them in their loss of hope and in their bewilderment. Two, he asks them to tell their story, and he stays to have dinner with them.

Even when he chides them for their weak faith and goes through the scriptural promises of the messiah, they are not in a state of full belief. They have yet to recognize him. Jesus is standing before them, but they do not believe.

Only with the breaking of the bread are their eyes opened; and at that moment of recognition, he vanishes from sight. It is in the breaking of bread, a phrase that the early Church used to describe the Lord's Supper, was Jesus made known to them.

This is the most beautiful of all the appearance stories, and it seems almost blasphemy for the critical scholar to lay hands upon it. Nevertheless, modern New Testament study shows that this story grew up through the years from an original nucleus and became the repository for theological ideas at various stages of development. Finally, Luke, with consummate literary skill, made it into a vivid narrative.

In its present form, the story reflects the pattern of early Christian worship. The self-manifestation of the risen One takes place through two events: the exposition of the Scriptures and the breaking of the bread. These two events take place in every liturgy; word and sacrament are integral parts of a single coming of Christ to his own.

Over 70 years ago, Karl Barth wrote in his Gifford Lectures the following words:

What we know today as the church service in Roman Catholicism and in Protestantism is a torso. The Roman Catholic Church has a sacramental service without preaching. But I wish to speak at the moment not for or against her, but about our own Protestant Church. We have a service with a sermon but without sacraments. Both types of service are impossible.

Barth would have to revise his words about Roman Catholicism today, since preaching has been restored in the Sunday service, but I wonder parenthetically whether Protestants have paid sufficient heed to his words!

If we look carefully at this text, as it reflects for us the life of the early Church, we begin to get a clearer picture of the importance of this Easter appearance to our understanding of worship as the total experience of Jesus Christ.

These two disciples had the best preacher in the world, explaining the Bible to them. Yet, they still did not believe that Jesus was raised from the dead or recognize him as he stood before their very eyes. It was only in combination with sharing in his broken body that their doubt was overcome by recognition and faith.

Karl Barth's observation is quite accurate. The history of the Church since the Reformation has been one of division: a division of Catholic (both Roman and Eastern) vs. Protestant, and Word vs. Sacrament. The total experience of Christ as the risen Lord of life comes only in Word and Sacrament. Zion's has recognized this truth and has moved to bring the two necessary parts of worship together.

John Calvin, the famous Reformer of the French, and Swiss Church said that the regular Sunday worship service should be Word and Sacrament. In other words, he believed that Communion should be observed every Sunday. He was attempting to overcome the blinders of his own day that caused the people of Geneva to say, "The Catholics do it that way, so we don't." We have moved from the 16^th century to the 21^st century and we still bear the blinders.

I think we have to be open to God's leading. We should not be like the two disciples and lament because things had not gone the way we wanted. Perhaps things are going the way God wants them.

While the recent history of the Church has been that of division, the most recent focus of attention has been on unity. Most of the Church has begun to realize, and lament, the state of the divided Church. One of the prayers I offer on a Sunday morning mentions "the great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions." I do not know what will happen in the coming years. I do believe that with God leading, we will come to a deeper understanding of the Church as THE body of Christ and the implications of that belief for not only our worship but also in our common lives.

The spirit of the age seems to be seeking the most that there is, the total experience. Should we as Christians not desire the same in our relationship with each other and our God?