Sunday, April 26, 2020 – The 7th Sunday of remote worship.
Luke 24: 13-35
I used to do a pub bible study on Monday nights for a number years at Colby College,
it was one of my many unsuccessful initiatives.
The secret of college chaplaincy is that we really have no idea what we’re doing.
because the population is ever changing.
So we try stuff,
and it usually doesn’t work,
and we adjust and try again.
I persisted with pub bible study for longer than I probably should have,
because the 1-2 people who did come were invariably nice to be around.
And because I once – right after Easter –
got to read and study the Emmaus Road story,
with someone who was reading it for the very first time.
I know I say this most weeks,
but this is one of my very favorite stories out there,
and to read it with an adult,
who’s taking faith and scripture seriously,
is a really special thing.
This is one of those stories, I think,
that the more we sit with it,
the more it opens up.
so much richness here,
and so many questions,
not the least of which: Why couldn’t they recognize him at the start?
And where did he go at the end?
Tag: Easter
6 Words.
Easter Sunday. Rooke Chapel. 4/21/19
Luke 24: 1-12
Christ is Risen!
We gather this morning to proclaim and celebrate the resurrection.
And we gather with our eyes open.
There is no Resurrection without death in our tradition
and there is no celebration without mourning in our lives.
Most notably this morning,
with the people of Sri Lanka in the wake of violence there.
We gather unable and unwilling to turn our eyes from such tragedies,
and our hearts break,
as they should.
and yet we are unwilling to allow them to be the last word.
We gather to proclaim life and love,
amidst the reality of violence and death
This is the story of Easter,
and it is alive and well in our midst,
and as needed as ever.
And it is good to be together.
Let us open our ears afresh to the story.
There’s an apocryphal story out there,
About Ernest Hemmingway,
Sitting at a bar with a bunch of his writing buddies.
And he bets them
that he could write an excellent story,
in fewer than 10 words.
foolishly, they take the bet,
And he wrote, on a cocktail napkin:
“For sale, baby shoes, never used.”
And he went home with the 10 dollars.