Christ Is Risen! So… Now What?
Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight (Luke 24:31).
The two disciples walking to Emmaus on the evening of that first Easter day were not expecting anything special. They were nursing their grief, talking through their confusion, sharing the road with a stranger who seemed totally out of the loop when it came to current events, even if he did know his scripture awfully well.
They were expecting nothing special when they invited this stranger in for a meal at the end of the day. It was just a good and decent thing to do, and they did it. And then comes that amazing and beautiful moment: Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Suddenly they knew something very special was happening; they knew they were in Christ’s presence, and just as suddenly, it was over: “he vanished from their sight.”
Reading this passage with a group of folks this past week, we all seemed to agree: yes! That’s how it is! We don’t get to hold on to the profound spiritual highs, the times of deep recognition, the times when Christ’s presence is as vivid as a friend across the dinner table. When those moments of grace come, they are usually fleeting, over as quickly as they come. And yet, somehow, they’re enough.
The gospels give us a picture of life after Easter as being very ordinary: it’s the life of gathering with others, of inviting strangers in for a meal, of caring for family, of working in our various vocations. It’s ordinary life, and yet it’s shot through with the extraordinary promise that the risen Christ is there–walking beside us, meeting us in friends and strangers, moving us to tell a new story of life and grace and hope.
There are lots of opportunities to journey together as the people of St. Christopher’s and watch for Christ’s presence in this world:
- Join in a class digging deeper into questions of worship;
- Join in the CROP Walk to help end hunger locally and globally;
- Pitch in and work on the community garden, set to be planted very soon.
It’s a blessing to be on the road together, watching for the risen Christ among us. Keep your eyes open!
Image: He, Qi. Supper at Emmaus, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=46124 [retrieved April 9, 2013]. Original source: http://www.heqiarts.com/.