On the Road to Emmaus

My cousin, Mark, is about 15 years younger than I am. With me living in Upstate NY and him living in New Mexico, we hadn’t see each other much and I missed most of his growing up. One Sunday morning, my parents made a surprise visit from their home in New Jersey and entered church with a young man I didn’t recognize who had been visiting them. When I asked who it was, I was embarrassed to find out it was my cousin who happened to be my own godchild. I didn’t recognize him because I never expected to see him in that context.
So also I have often said hello to people at the grocery store, only to be met with blank stares. “It’s Pastor Jim,” I would add. Then they, in shock and embarrassment, would say, “Oh, Pastor, I didn’t recognize you with your clothes on.” By that, they meant that they were used to seeing me in collar and robes in church and not out shopping in flannel shirt and jeans.
I share those stories as an introduction to the text for today, Luke 24: 13-16, 28-35
Now on that same day when Jesus had appeared to Mary Magdalene, two disciples were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
  As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
Today’s scripture story is found only in the Gospel of Luke. It is an often overlooked part of the Easter narrative for that reason. But since my baptism occurred at Emmaus Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, I have always taken a particular interest in this event on the very day of the resurrection of Jesus. Two disciples are walking on their way from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus, about 7 miles west. Together they were trying to make sense of everything that had taken place over the last three days. Jesus, their rabbi, had been arrested, crucified and buried in a tomb. Their hopes that Jesus would be the one to redeem Israel were now destroyed. But just that morning, several women had reported the tomb of Jesus empty and now they were totally amazed and confused, thrilled and scared, wondering what this all meant. They are met on the way by an apparent stranger who listens to their story and then proceeds to unfold all of the scriptural evidence of why it was necessary for the one they knew as Jesus to suffer and die and rise again on the third day.
Disciples of Jesus and they don’t know to whom they are speaking! How could that be? Well, there was just no way they would have ever expected Jesus to be walking and talking with them. He had died a gruesome death! His body was missing!  Why would Jesus be going to Emmaus? In this context, Jesus was the last person they expected to see that day.
It had happened before, earlier that Easter morning, when Mary Magdalene believe she was speaking at the empty tomb with the caretaker of the garden. Jesus was again the last person she expected to see. Do you remember how Mary came to know that it was indeed Jesus? Yes, he called Mary by name. Remember how Jesus had said in John’s Gospel (10: 1-3), “Amen, Amen, I say to you, … whoever enters by the door of the sheepfold is the true shepherd … the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”
How do you recognize Jesus in your travels? How is the presence of Jesus made real in your life? I am reminded of a favorite camp song that we would often use as a creedal statement in our closing worship service.

Chorus: Have you seen Jesus, my Lord? He’s here in plain view. Take a look, open your eyes, He’ll show it to you.
Verse 1: Have you ever stood at the ocean with the white foam at your feet; Felt the endless thundering motion? Then I say, you’ve seen Jesus, my Lord.
Verse 2: Have you ever stood at the sunset with the sky mellowing red; Seen the clouds suspended like feathers? Then I say, you’ve seen Jesus, my Lord.
Verse 3: Have you ever stood at the cross with the man hanging in pain; Seen the look of love in His eyes? Then I say, you’ve seen Jesus, my Lord.
Verse 4: Have you ever stood in the family with the Lord there in your midst; Seen the face of Christ in your partner? Then I say, you’ve seen Jesus, my Lord.
Chorus: Have you seen Jesus, my Lord? He’s here in plain view. Take a look, open your eyes, He’ll show it to you.

Now that song may express many meaningful ways to experience the presence of Jesus: pounding ocean waves, beautiful sunsets, a Christus Victor crucifix, a fellow worshiper; but the Emmaus disciples had something even more powerful and even more definitive and sure. They invite Jesus to dine with them as the sun grew dim. At table, Jesus took the bread, blessed it, and gave it to them. Those sound like the very words we use for the sacrament of Holy Communion. They are words that fit the eucharistic formula. And their eyes were opened and they recognized Jesus! And they said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road, as he opened to us the scriptures!”
We believe that Word and Sacrament are the Means of Grace God gives us to be able to experience the presence of Jesus. Word and Sacrament form the very definition of our worship. Many churches today are finding new and creative ways to be able to share the Word of God: live-streaming worship, zoom meetings, pre-recorded productions on platforms like FaceBook and YouTube. But all too many are stuck in the thought of no longer being able to share communion in the ways of the past. And so they impose a “fast” from the meal of God’s grace at a time when we need to see Jesus more than ever. I am so grateful that we, at Good Samaritan, have pastors and a congregation that believe that the meal of Holy Communion can be shared in new ways as well. The virtual community is still our community. Because, along with the Emmaus disciples, I need, and I hope you need also, Word and Sacrament, the staples of our worship, to open our eyes to the promised presence of Jesus. So that, as we journey down the road of life, we recognize Jesus to be walking beside us all the way, in our fear and confusion, and in our joy and thanksgiving.
I would like to close with a song used in worship last Sunday at Grace Lutheran Church in Naugatuck, CT. This song by Paul Baloche features the singing of Erik Krueger and Deborah Diamante. And Debbie just happens to be my daughter.

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord, Open the eyes of my heart
I want to see You, I want to see You

To see you high and lifted up, Shining in the light of Your glory
Pour out Your power and love As we sing holy, holy, holy

I want to see You

May your hearts burn as you hear God’s Word and may your eyes be opened every time Jesus breaks the bread in new and wonderful ways. Amen.

John 20: 24-29
But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."
A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."
We have now passed the Sunday after Easter. Just like the disciples of Jesus we have had to worship in our own rooms behind locked doors of fear, confusion and self-imposed isolation. Those first disciples feared for their lives, believing that the authorities who crucified Jesus would be now hunting down his followers. We have been fearful for our lives also, if not from the death that can be caused by COVID-19, then by death from poverty due to our nation’s economic shut-down.
But one disciple in particular has an Easter story that can be inspirational and comforting for us in our time. That disciple’s name is Thomas, also known as Didymus, the Twin. You may not have heard of that alternative name for him because all too often we like to refer to him instead as “Doubting Thomas.” Today, I wish to defend him and expunge that negative moniker from our impression of him.
This story, as recorder in the Gospel of John, begins on the evening of that first Easter day. It is possible that ten of Jesus’ disciples were gathered in a closed up room. Their grief over the crucifixion death of Jesus had been replaced by confusing but hopeful joy that Jesus had risen from the dead.  Mary Magdalene had reported the tomb of Jesus as being empty. Peter and John had confirmed the good news, but they were still filled with doubts and fears.
Two of the disciples were absent. Matthew and Luke report the death of Judas as he was filled with remorse and guilt. But we are also told that Thomas was not there, without any excuse given. Was he not aware of the day’s events? Had he been out of town? Was he practicing social distancing from the other disciples? Was he too afraid to even join them? Or did he just plain not believe any of it? We’ll never know. But the ten gathered experienced the presence of the Risen Lord Jesus who blessed them with peace (shalom) and the forgiving gift of the Holy Spirit.
Then, eight days later, again gathered on the evening of the first day of the week, it was the first and last time that there were more gathered for worship on the Sunday after Easter than on Easter Day itself! Because this time, Thomas was with them. He couldn’t believe what the other disciples had told him. He demanded proof for a claim so inconceivable. Proof of death: nail holes and pierced side; and proof of resurrection: to be able to see and to touch Jesus.
Then Jesus is present as before in words of peace and in offered physical proof, saying to Thomas, “Do not be faithless, but be faithful.” Did you hear in that any accusation of doubt? I didn’t!
Jesus makes the distinction between being without faith and being full of faith and trust. That is to say that, doubt is not the opposite of faith. The opposite of doubt is certainty. Faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit, designated in our baptism. It is a gift you might deny, but you can never refuse because it is a gift of God, once given, that can never be taken away. Under the overall umbrella of our faith, we all wrestle with what it is we believe and what it is we question and challenge. And that is a healthy process. How many times have I shared this thought with people who are ashamed of their doubts, who then find relief and comfort in being assured that the mustard seed of faith remains planted and growing in their hearts and soul!
So why the confusion over faith and belief? Most English translations of the Bible use them interchangeably, and in many ways they were. In the Greek, the noun pistis means faith, and the verb pisteo means to have faith. Even up to the time of the Reformation, Martin Luther would speak of believing with your heart. That is faith. But today, the meaning of belief has changed. We don’t believe with our hearts, we believe with our minds. We gather data, evidence, facts and then decide what we do and don’t believe.
Nowhere in the Gospel text are we told that Thomas actually did put his finger in the holes of the nails or place his hand in the wounded side of Jesus. He didn’t have to. He did not require the proof he thought he did. In fact, his faith response is the climax of John’s Gospel. Thomas declares, “My Lord and my God!” That is to say he recognized Jesus to be Yahweh, the Lord our God. Other statements about who Jesus truly is had come close: Rabbi, Messiah, Son of God, but none as complete in truth as Faithful Thomas saying, “My Lord and my God!”
But wait! There’s more. Jesus then questions Thomas, “Have you come to faith because of the blessing of being able to see me? How blissed are those who have not seen and yet have faith!” Jesus is talking about us, you and me, and sharing with us a beatitude, a powerful blessing. What I like to call a blissing. How blissed are we to be able to live each day in the blessing of faith, no matter what it is we have to deal with in our every day lives. The revelation of Faithful Thomas, not Doubting Thomas, resides in every Tom, Dick, and Harry and in every Susan, Karen and Mary.
So we gather as imperfect, even at times doubting, disciples on every first day of the week to be filled with the peace of Jesus, to be inspired and renewed by the Holy Spirit of God’s forgiveness, and to praise the crucified and risen Jesus as Thomas did: “My Lord and my God!”

Romans 8:22-27
We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
I’d like to tell you a story about Mina. Participants in the Thursday morning Bible study group may recognize it, but I don’t think you’ll mind hearing it again in the context of the state of God’s creation today.
As a young pastor over 40 years ago, one of my first congregational shut-ins was an elderly woman named Mina. Mina lived in what was then called an adult home, the home of a caretaker of those who no longer could live on their own. Mina’s husband had died long ago and her children had all moved far away from home. And Mina had mobility issues. One would be tempted to feel sorry for all the blessings of her life that were slowly being taken away from her. But I quickly learned in my monthly communion visits with her that she still possessed a sharp and quick mind.
Mina turned out to be my congregational historian. She was an expert on the century farms in the county and had a long history with St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. If I needed background information on church families or individuals, Mina was my go to person.
After a few years, even her ability to live semi-independently was taken away from her and she was moved to a nursing home in Ogdensburg, NY, some 45 minutes away. I would still visit her regularly and she would carry on interesting conversations with me and you would never know she felt any worse for having lost so much.
Then one day I received a message that Mina had suffered a stroke and had been taken to the Ogdensburg hospital. In my limited experience, both with illness and as a pastor, I had no idea what it meant for her to have had a stroke. But I hopped into the car and drove the 45 minutes up to the hospital.
Mina was in a private room. I remember it being dark in the room and her bed was almost in the exact center of the room. I walked up to her bed, took Mina’s hand, and said, “Hello, Mina, it’s Pastor Jim.”
She gave me no reply. Now I was wearing a clerical collar. I thought it was pretty obvious what I was and who I was. So I repeated a bit louder, “Hello, Mina, it’s Pastor Jim.” Nothing. I wondered if she was just scared. Her eyes had a frightened look to them. So I tried again, “Mina, you are in the hospital. Can you tell me what happened?” Still no response; not even movement in her lips.
I wondered why she didn’t want to talk with me. Was she angry at me? Was she angry at God? Now please understand, this was my first experience ever with a stroke patient. I was clueless.
My initial thought was to feel sorry for her. To actually pity her. Now it seemed everything had been taken away from her: her speech and her love of conversation, her mind and her keen insights. But even that concern was overcome by a feeling of frustration. After all, I had driven 45 minutes to see her and she wouldn’t even talk to me! How could I offer any kind of pastoral care?
In total resignation, I said, “OK Mina, I’m going to say a prayer and I will end with The Lord’s Prayer and you are welcome to join me. So I offered a prayer with words that sounded meaningless and trite to me. I just wanted this to be over. But when I started, “Our Father, who art in heaven,” Mina joined in, speaking in full voice even up to the “forever and ever, Amen.”
I was flabbergasted! Now I understand more fully how a stroke works. My mother-in-law lived with us for ten years when she had a stroke. I know that she could not think to speak, but there were certain phrases, prayers and songs, so embedded in her memory that she was able to recite them without hesitation.
As was true for all my visits with Mina, I think I got more out of them than she did. Certainly in this last visit, her grasping onto the words of the Lord’s Prayer made a profound impact on my life and ministry.
So much had been taken away from her, but not everything. Still deep in the heart and soul of Mina were the comforting words of her faith. She may not have known what to say or have been able to say it, but the Spirit of God was ready to intercede on her behalf.
Lord, Speak to Us, That We May Speak

1 Lord, speak to us, that we may speak
in living echoes of your tone;
as you have sought, so let us seek
your straying children, lost and lone.

2 Oh, lead us, Lord, that we may lead
the wand'ring and the wav'ring feet;
oh, feed us, Lord, that we may feed
your hung'ring ones with manna sweet.

3 Oh, teach us, Lord, that we may teach
the precious truths which you impart;
and wing our words, that they may reach
the hidden depths of many a heart.

4 Oh, fill us with your fullness, Lord,
until our very hearts o'erflow
in kindling thought and glowing word,
your love to tell, your praise to show.
Many of us today are experiencing grief and sadness and loss, the loss of personal freedom to go where you want and do what you want to do, the loss of time with family and friends due to stay-at-home orders, the loss of jobs and the income necessary for making ends meet, the loss of joy as worry and anxiety take over, the loss of certainty that everything will be all right, the loss of confidence in those who run our nation’s state’s and community’s response, the loss of a church family with whom to pass a sign of peace, the loss of health if afflicted with the coronavirus and more sadly the loss of bedside visitors, and finally those who have actually lost their life and the families who have lost loved ones.
Give thanks to God that you have not lost your faith, in fact, that you cannot lose your faith because it has been so deeply embedded in you. At that moment when you think it is all gone, that you have nothing left anymore, nothing left to say, nothing left to do, not even anything left to pray, that the Spirit of God intercedes for you in sighs that reach down to the depths of your soul. Have you had prayers like that? I know I have.
Maybe my story about Mina may help, or it may just seem meaningless and trite to you. Either way, join me in a prayer that speaks to all our needs and all our hopes, especially at a time such as this, the prayer Jesus taught us, not out of frustration and resignation, but out of the faith down in the depths of our soul- Our Father…….

John 3:16

Grace, Mercy and Peace be unto you from God our Creator and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.  Amen

       I found this sign in the Youth Room and it instantly reminded me of Rollen Stewart, the Rainbow Man. Do you remember him? He was the guy in the rainbow-colored wig who would show up at major sporting events in the 70s an 80s, holding up a sign that read “John 3:16.” He assumed that everybody would understand content of his sign. In fact, many people do have that verse memorized. If you are one of those, I invite you to recite it with me: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but shall have everlasting life.” Maybe that is your favorite Bible verse, as it is for so many. Mine happens to be the next verse 17: “For God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved by Him.”

       It reminded me also of a Bible study I once conducted during Lent that each week we would look at chapter 3, verse 16 passages from various biblical books. That became the basis of our Thursday morning Lenten devotions here at Good Samaritan. And I particularly wanted to save John 3:16 for this day, the final Thursday in the season of Lent, the day we refer to in the church year calendar as Maundy (M-A-U-N-D-Y) Thursday.

       Have you ever heard that before, Maundy Thursday? Or wondered where in the world that title came from? I remember, as a child, thinking it was Monday Thursday, but that didn’t make any sense. Pastor Don shared this information yesterday. The word “Maundy” is a derivation of the Latin word ‘mandatum’ which means commandment. From that we get our words such as ‘mandate’ and mandatory.’ But what does that have to do with this Thursday in Holy Week?

       We may be familiar with the events of that holy Thursday as recorded in the Gospel of John. After last Sunday’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem for the celebration of the festival of Passover on what we now call ‘Palm Sunday,’ on this evening, Jesus gathered with his disciples for a meal. But first Jesus took the time to wash the feet of his disciples. Today we are spending a lot of time washing our hands to cancel the spread of the coronavirus. But, at the time of Jesus, the dirtiest parts of their bodies were their feet, soiled from the dust and mud of their travels in only sandals. The household servants would wash the feet of entering visitors. But it is Jesus who takes the role of the one doing the washing in fulfillment of the prophet Isaiah’s anticipation of the Suffering Servant.

       Then Jesus shares his Last Supper with the disciples in words and actions strangely similar to the Passover Seder, but equally strangely different. It is during this meal that Jesus announces that one of them would be handing him over to the Jewish authorities that very night.

       Leaving the Upper Room, Jesus teaches his disciples as they make their way to the Garden known by the Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives. There Jesus’ prediction would come true in the kiss of Judas. But before all that unfolds, Jesus shares this teaching from 13:31-35 – “When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, 'Where I am going, you cannot come.' I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

       A new commandment (mandatum) to love one another. A mere few hours before his death, the new commandment, the 11^th commandment if you will, is revealed: love one another. It must have sounded similar to the greatest commandment of the Hebrew faith, the great Shema from Deuteronomy 6 – “Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart.” In fact, when Jesus is asked what is the greatest commandment, he responds with these words, and then adds “and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” That is what was new about this commandment in the eyes of Jesus; not only to love God, but to love one another as well.

       It emphasized what Jesus had been doing all night long: washing the feet of the disciples, sharing bread even with the one who would turn him in, praying in earnest with blood, sweat and tears for the disciples, for us and for the world. It was the love he demonstrated throughout his ministry and the love that would lead to his death upon a cross. This is the answer Jesus lives and gives to all the world’s problems and disappointments, to the reality of war and the spread of disease, to betrayal and to doubt – love God and love one another. But if such agape love is a divine characteristic, then how can we be expected to even come close to following suit? (SIGN) John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but shall have everlasting life.” The gift of love, agape love, is ours to savor and ours to share.

       Please listen to and sing along with this popular hymn with words by Charles Wesley.

Love Divine, All Loves Excelling

1     Love divine, all loves excelling, Joy of heav'n, to earth come down!

   Fix in us thy humble dwelling, all thy faithful mercies crown.

   Jesus, thou art all compassion, pure, unbounded love thou art;

   visit us with thy salvation, enter ev'ry trembling heart.

2  Come, Almighty, to deliver; let us all thy life receive;

   suddenly return, and never, nevermore thy temples leave.

   Thee we would be always blessing, serve thee as thy hosts above,

   pray, and praise thee without ceasing, glory in thy perfect love.

3  Finish then thy new creation, pure and spotless let us be;

   let us see thy great salvation perfectly restored in thee!

   Changed from glory into glory, till in heav'n we take our place,

   till we cast our crowns before thee, lost in wonder, love, and praise!

       That song makes me think of two other songs I remember. Back in 1965 Jackie DeShannon sang, “What the world needs now is love, sweet love. That’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.” How true and even more applicable is that wish, hope, desire and prayer today. Love can drive out all fear, worry, confusion, and conquer sin and death with new life and eternal joy.

Teaching such love to children was a joy of my years of Vacation Bible School. One song the children loved to sing was based on the first epistle of John, chapter 4: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love. God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. (Sounds a lot like John 3:16!) In this is love, not that we loved God but that God loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and God’s love is perfected in us.”

The apostle continues in verse 19, with words to a song which I will now teach you. “We love, because God first loved us.”

That’s all we need to know. That’s all we need right now. That’s everything we are empowered to do. That’s everything God, in the person of the beloved Son, Jesus, has done for us. Have a blessed Maundy Thursday.

AMEN.

GOOD NEWS AT NOON FROM GOOD SAMARITAN – April 2, 2020

        Well, good afternoon, on this Thursday edition, we’ll continue with our Bible study series of chapter 3, verse 16 passages. Today’s is from II Thessalonians 3:16 – “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways. The Lord be with all of you.”

        This is the conclusion of St. Paul’s second letter to the church at Thessalonika. He believed it was crucial to end his correspondence with a word of peace. I find it interesting that he also began this letter with a word of peace. “Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Bookends of peace were important for the Church then and just as important for the Church now.

        Grace and peace are words carried over, not only from the Greek of Paul’s writing, but also from the Hebrew of Paul’s background. They are two Hebrew words that I would make sure my Bible study students of years past knew well. Hesed is the Hebrew word often translated as “steadfast love,” what the NT writers meant by grace. And many of us are familiar with the Hebrew word for peace – shalom. But the peace expressed in shalom is not a shallow understanding. It represents wholeness of the soul and spirit. It is not just the absence of war; it is the presence of the powerful divine spirit that results in an attitude of peace. It is the Good Shepherd of the 23^rd Psalm leading us beside still waters and restoring our soul.

        My favorite singing group of all time is the Four Tops. They recorded a song entitled “Still Waters Run Deep.” Being a major introvert myself, it was a song with which I readily identified. I’ve heard it suggested that all this social or physical distancing that we are practicing in light of the coronavirus outbreak is a whole lot easier on introverts than it is on extroverts. Maybe so. We’re used to finding strength in ourselves. But maybe also we could all use a little soul-stilling and hectic-ceasing in our lives to appreciate an attitude of the presence of God’s peace for our strength. In the Four Tops song, they sang an anagram for PEACE.

P is for the privilege of loving, and of being loved

E is for the ease it gives the soul and the mind

A is for the answers in the search to find yourself

C is for the calm you feel when you like what you find

E is for everlasting

May this love never cease – PEACE

Back in college, I wrote this as a love note to my future bride, much like Paul did in his love letter to the Thessalonians.

        So also for 39 years of active ministry and even today, I would consider each sermon I delivered to be a love note to the gathered community that I would begin and end with a word of peace.

        I always wrote my sermons out by hand, using arrows and lines and cross outs and special abbreviations. For a short while, the parish secretary volunteered to type out my sermons so I could have a clean hard copy and a digitally saved version. She believed she could read my handwriting and decipher my abbreviations, but before she saved it she would give me a chance to edit. The very first time, I looked at her precisely typed document which began with the words, “Good morning, people.”

“What’s this?” I asked her. She responded, “Isn’t that what your GMP stand for?” Oh my, no. You see, I would begin every sermon with “Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ: the greeting Paul would use in his correspondence with Timothy. And I would conclude every sermon with POG, (she just had a ?) the words from Philippians 4:7 – ‘Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord unto life everlasting.”

Soon we will be celebrating the Easter resurrection of our Lord in much the same way as the  disciples did, that is, behind the closed and locked doors of our virus isolation, trembling in fear and upset in confusion, thinking that our whole world has been turned upside down, heads spinning with what ifs? and what nexts? But closed doors of confinement could not keep the risen Jesus from being with them and appearing to them and speaking to them a word of Peace.

“Peace be with you.” A sharing of deep shalom, a reassurance of hope, a blessing of faith, a calming of the soul, and a gift of divine love. Are you missing the sharing of the peace as one of the intimate components of our corporate worship? I know I am. No matter what is going on in our lives, Jesus is able to break through and bless each one of us with a greeting of “peace be with you” from beginning to end, to bookend our lives in shalom.

Turn your attention to the video screen where I would like to end by sharing a song with you. What I like about this version is that, even in an otherwise empty church building, a husband and wife are able to sing a beautiful song of peace to the entire congregation.

When Peace like a River

It Is Well with My Soul

1  When peace like a river attendeth my way,

    when sorrows like sea billows roll,

    whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,

    it is well, it is well with my soul.

Refrain

    It is well (it is well) with my soul, (with my soul,)

    it is well, it is well with my soul.

2  He lives--oh, the bliss of this glorious thought;

    my sin, not in part, but the whole,

    is nailed to his cross and I bear it no more.

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!  Refrain

3  Lord, hasten the day when our faith shall be sight,

    the clouds be rolled back as a scroll,

    the trumpet shall sound and the Lord shall descend;

    even so it is well with my soul.  Refrain

The peace of the Lord be with you always. I can feel you responding “and also with you. Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord unto life everlasting.” AMEN.