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Musical Prelude and Service.

1 John 3:1-7 & Luke 24:36b-48
So, who took time on Monday to witness the eclipse?
I will admit I wasn’t certain how I would take in this incredibly rare opportunity. Someone on the staff of Regional Council actually came by the church with their family on Monday. They were looing for a place to watch and thought they would start here. I suggested the airport museum and they had a great time.
In any case, I made the decision to walk down to the river front. It was spectacular, but I also know I am not alone in saying one of the most amazing aspects of the eclipse was the communal nature of this event. We were gathered in a group with friends and strangers to witness the moon pass between the earth and the sun. We were part of a large group standing in wonder at the sudden darkness and the drop in temperature and to marvel at the way the cosmos works in intricate and beautiful ways.
And so, we continue this week to reflect on the mystery and the marvel of the resurrection. This morning we read from the Gospel of Luke. Here we learn of a few different revelations of the resurrection.
During the walk to Emmaus, we hear the story of several women – including Mary Magdalen, were told of the resurrection by a group of angels. They have shared that knowledge with the other disciples but been dismissed as idle gossip.
Now we see a couple of peripheral disciples – one of whom is Cleopas, meet an apparent stranger on their journey. They discuss the strange happenings and scripture and then they invite him to join them for a meal. During the blessing of that meal, he is revealed as the resurrected Jesus.
Finally, when these two disciples share their experience with the core 11 disciples, they are again discussed; the 11 who are part of Jesus’s inner circle are unwilling or unable to recognize the resurrection until Jesus appears before them and show them his wounded hands and feet and shares a meal with them also.
We are left with a few things to ponder with these stories. Who are the first to truly recognize the reality of the resurrection? We are told that the first to witness the resurrection are the women and then a few disciples who are not part of that inner circle. Is it perhaps that these are the ones who are most likely to see, or yearn for a transformation of our world? Those who are most likely to be abused by the empire? The ones who are most vulnerable to the systems and power structures that insist on retaining the status quo?
That even as much as those closest to Jesus, those who gathered around him first; fishermen, tax collectors, labourers are far from the corridors of power, they have gained some privilege at least among the community of Jesus followers that has developed.
I am not arguing that those of us who enjoy privilege in this world are not aware that our world is broken. I am not arguing that many of us see the need for significant changes in our society to address the ways our world marginalizes and exploits others.
But some of us, and this is where I need to look in a mirror can walk through life secure in the knowledge that I am not a target of hatred and cruelty. I am not feared as being outsider who threatens the comfortable life or vision of that life of those benefitting from the empire.
Those who are abused.
Those who are ignored.
Those who are told over and over again that they do not fit; that they are a threat to all that is good and proper; they are more open to witnessing the signs of a resurrection; the message of new life; of transformation.
Jesus shows up in sudden and mysterious ways. Or his followers are told of these stories of resurrection. Who is ready to listen and what do they need to hear before they believe what they are told?
And finally, when Jesus shows up, he comes carrying the wounds of his execution. He invites his followers to look upon the wounds in his hands and his feet and his side. The resurrection of Jesus does not take away the signs of cruelty, or of torture that was inflicted on his body. Those wounds stay with him. Let us sit with that image and consider what it tells us.
Our world leaves scars on us. It scars some of us more than others. But all of us are scarred in some fashion. We are shaped by these wounding encounters. And we carry these wounds with us. Even as we heal; even as we find our way forward, they become part of who we are. And we can still recognize the need for renewal; for transformation and for a new life for our world.
But we do not journey that road to a resurrected world alone. This is not a solitary journey. Mary and the other women journeyed to the tomb together. The two disciples journeyed to Emmaus together and invited a stranger to walk with them in conversation and reflection. They gathered together around a table to eat.
And Jesus came to the other disciples as they sat to eat. He joined them in a meal of broiled fish. These encounters: these revelations of the resurrected Christ happen in community.
We gather today to join in a holy meal. In sharing the fruit of the vine and the bread we remember that Jesus walked among us; lived among us, laughed with his friends and showed us a path of justice and of love. We remember that he was seen as a threat to the empires of the world and was killed in an attempt to silence a message that said there was another way and another power beyond that of the empire.
We are reminded in this meal that we are linked through Christ. That God draws us all together. We are called to remember that some of us are closer to the centre of power than others. Some are kept on the outside. But we need to listen and to remember that often those who are ignored by the world have important news to share and we need to open our eyes and ears and our hearts and our minds to watch and listen and receive what they have to teach.
Christ comes to us when we least expect it. And often it is in surprising ways and at shocking times. And often the message comes from those we were not expecting to hear from. But may we be open to listening and receiving and learning. And may we be ready to respond by proclaiming Thanks Be to God. Amen
Rev. Warner Bloomfield

Music provided with permission through licensing with CCLI License number
2701258 and One License # A-731789