"Resurrection Living" Luke 24:13-27 4-3-05

Tonight is the first Sunday in the season of Easter. I hardly thought this evening we would be looking at a world covered with snow, rather than experiencing the warmth of these past days, the first sounds of birds awakening to spring, and being able to see the first glimmers of buds on the trees.

Tonight's scripture reading is one of the accounts of Jesus appearing to the disciples after his resurrection. Imagine for a moment what it is like for those disciples. They have lost the one they loved so much. The one who had been the focus of their lives for three years and now he is gone. They've heard some rumors that the women who went to the tomb could not find the body of Jesus. For all intent and purpose however, Jesus is dead and they have to go back to living. Little did they know that as they walked on that road to Emmaus that things would be different than they expected. As they walk together a stranger joins them on their journey. In the end they find out this stranger is the resurrected Christ and that going home to their old way of living was not going to happen. They were about to begin the journey of living into the resurrection. As they reconstruct their lives, as they make new homes with one another, and as they remember their journeys with Jesus and plan for the journeys ahead, they learn what resurrection means. They learn that broken bodies and spirits can be made whole, that dry bones can dance, that new life can bloom in the wilderness of despair, that love can spring up in the most unlikely places. They learn that they who were intimate with Jesus-in-the-flesh now can become birth-ers of Christ's new body, as they learn to be the community, the body of Christ in the world.  I want to share a modern version on the Road to Emmaus that happens in a grocery store, entitled T-bones steaks and yellow roses .......

I walked into the grocery store not particularly interested in buying groceries. I wasn't hungry. The pain of losing my husband of seven years was still too raw. And this grocery store held so many sweet memories.

He often came with me and almost every time he'd pretend to go off and look for something special. I knew what he was up to. I'd always spot him walking down the aisle with the three yellow roses in his hands. He knew I loved yellow roses.

With a heart filled with grief, I only wanted to buy my few items and leave, but even grocery shopping was different since he had passed on. Shopping for one took time, a little more thought than it had for two. Standing by the meat, I searched for the perfect small steak and remembered how he had loved his steak.

Suddenly a woman came beside me. She was blonde, slim and lovely in a soft green pantsuit. I watched as she picked up a large pack of T-bones, dropped them in her basket, hesitated, and then put them back. She turned to go and once again reached for the pack of steaks. She saw me watching her and she smiled. "My husband loves T-bones, but honestly, at these prices, I don't know." I swallowed the emotion down my throat and met her pale blue eyes. "My husband passed away eight days ago," I told her. Glancing at the package in her hands, I fought to control the tremble in my voice. "Buy him the steaks. And cherish every moment you have together."

She shook her head and I saw the emotion in her eyes as she placed the package in her basket and wheeled away.

I turned and pushed my cart across the length of the store to the dairy products. There I stood, trying to decide which size milk I should buy. Quart, I finally decided and moved on to the ice cream. If nothing else, I could always fix myself an ice cream cone. I placed the ice cream in my cart and looked down the aisle toward the front.

I saw first the green suit, then recognized the pretty lady coming towards me. In her arms she carried a package. On her face was the brightest smile I had ever seen. I would swear a soft halo encircled her blonde hair as she kept walking toward me, her eyes holding mine. As she came closer, I saw what she held and tears began misting in my eyes. "These are for you," she said and placed three beautiful long stemmed yellow roses in my arms. "When you go through the line, they will know these are paid for." She leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on my cheek, then smiled again.

I wanted to tell her what she'd done, what the roses meant, but still unable to speak, I watched as she walked away as tears clouded my vision.

I looked down at the beautiful roses nestled in the green tissue wrapping and found it almost unreal. How did she know?

Suddenly the answer seemed so clear. I wasn't alone. Oh, you haven't forgotten me, have you? I whispered, with tears in my eyes. He was still with me, and she was his angel.

Every day be thankful for what you have and who you are.

The disciples must have felt a lot like this woman who had lost her husband. They had to go back to their old way of living, but it just didn't fit any more. Things had to be different, and what they needed to know was that Christ was with them in all the daily things of life. Christ would come to them as they walked along the road recalling the events of the last few days. Just so Christ comes on our journey as we open our eyes to the beauty of creation around us. God comes in the smile of a young child and in the frail touch of our aunt in a nursing home. Christ meets us at the crossroads of an important decision as we open the right door to a new way of living. We won't be disappointed for God may come in the form of a stranger and leave just as quickly. And God will speak in the words of our most trusted friend. Christ will be with us as we commune at the Lord's Table and Christ will be at other tables when we break bread with the people in our lives.

Our job is to be alert to God's coming and to the new ways that God will appear in our lives. Martin Buber tells this story: "Where is the dwelling of God? "This was the question with which the Rabbi surprised a number of learned men who happened to be visiting him. They laughed at him; "What a thing to ask! Is not the whole world full of God's glory?" Then the Rabbi answered his own question: "God dwells wherever people let God in."

Begin this Easter season of new life by letting God in. God wants to give us the best life has to offer. When we let God in our souls are free to live life to the fullest. Nurture those things that bring joy to your soul. Take the time to do some spring housekeeping. Take a look at your relationships, are they fulfilling? Do you have people you can count on in times of need or just to be able to pick up the phone and say hello? Are you a friend to others, can you see Christ in the stranger you meet on the road? When you go to work are you doing something that really satisfies you or is it just the place you put in your 40 hours a week and go home? Is your relationship to God all that you want it to be? Or do you feel like you want to make some changes? What do you do with the time that has been entrusted to you every day? Are you so busy you don't have time to stop and smell the flowers? Or do you have so much time on your hands that you are bored with life? God wants us to do more than exist, God wants to give us the gift of new life.

We have the opportunity, we have the possibility to grow into new life this Easter season as we experience Christ's resurrection in our lives. May you be blessed with newness of life, in all its beautiful array of colors and fragrances.