Because Jesus Is Here
Luke 24:36b-48
by Jim Westmoreland
A long time ago, there was a stretch of coast where many ships tended to wreck. And over the years, many lives were lost. So some concerned citizens built a lighthouse and started a lifesaving station. The benefits were immediate. The light they shined help guide many ships through treacherous waters. And the rescue crews and lifesaving station saved many lives
Once the victims were brought back to the lighthouse, they'd find a fire going, blankets, towels, and plenty of hot food and drink. The station and its crew were totally prepared to meet the immediate needs of a ship in distress.
Well, over the years this little station made hundreds of rescues, and soon the rescue team noticed that their lighthouse/rescue station was looking a little worse for the wear. They raised money and contributed a significant portion of their own resources to repair, repaint, and refurbish their amazing little rescue station. The place looked awesome - a real showcase! Well, when the next emergency came their way, they did what they'd always done - radioed the team, raced out to the wreck site, rescued the endangered passengers, and brought them back to warmth and safety of the station. But this time, the team felt differently. They couldn't help but notice the way the victims' soggy shoes and muddy clothes dripped all over the new floor. The team cringed as these wet, dirty sailors sat on their new upholstery and wiped mud and salty seaweed on their new blankets.
A few days after this first, post-remodeling rescue, the team and their board met to discuss their options for protecting and preserving their newly refurbished facility. They decided that they'd limit their operation to two rescues a month and use the time in between rescues to clean the station house. This seemed prudent and worked for a while.
But over time, the rescue squad grew tired of spending so much time cleaning. So eventually, they met again as a board. One member spoke passionately about the drastically increasing electric bill, which he blamed on their high-powered beacon searchlight, which was always on 24/7. He strongly recommended they stopped using it. Another man spoke up, agreeing with the first, and adding that he'd rather not see their beautiful, re-finished facility get "trashed" every time another "bunch of sloppy, careless sailors got dragged in."
Soon a motion was made that the facility no longer function as a rescue station. The motion passed but the board agreed to keep meeting in their terrific facility once a week to tell stories, share memories, and enjoy each other's company. But they kept a picture of a rescue boat in the entryway. Once a year or so, they'd have a special gathering, a kind of community-wide cocktail party to remember and celebrate their best and most dramatic rescues from the past. All the guests at these annual functions raved about how beautiful and immaculate the station was. Nobody commented on the dramatic increase in drownings in the very waters this rescue station had formerly served.(1)
Jesus, from the beginning of His ministry, described it as a "rescue ministry" that was "for" others. Following His temptation experience He went to His hometown synagogue for the Sabbath and stood up to read from Isaiah 61:2, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord." For three years the disciples had been with Jesus participating in His ministry preaching that the Kingdom of God is a hand and what that looked like in terms of healing, release and forgiveness. Following Jesus' death they were uncertain what to do.
On this third Sunday of the Easter Season, our Gospel Lesson is from the 24th chapter of Luke. This chapter begins with the discovery that Jesus' tomb was empty. Peter heard the report from the women and went home to think about it. What happened in the 50 days between Jesus' resurrection resurrection and His ascension Luke compresses into two stories. The first story precedes our text for today, and it is commonly referred to as the Road to Emmaus. Jesus meets two disciples who were going to Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. Jesus joins them as they walk and they do not recognize Him until they get to Emmaus, sit down to eat and Jesus took bread, blessed it and broke it to give to them.
Today's text takes place back in Jerusalem. The two disciples to whom Jesus had revealed Himself in Emmaus meet with the eleven and those who were with them, and they are telling them what happened in Emmaus, when Jesus appeared among them as they were talking.
Jesus wanted to empower His disciples to continue His ministry. Through His appearances He was instructing and commissioning them to go to others with the Good News. Jesus told the disciples, "repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem."(2) Resurrection faith is based upon much more than an empty tomb. It is based on the experience of the presence of Christ.
William Willimon writes, "The thing that gives rise to faith, that which makes us Christians, is not that we have done a careful study of the Bible and decided what is really possible to believe. It is not that we have all closed our eyes and tried really hard to believe the unbelievable. The thing that gives rise to faith is that the risen Christ has come to us, has intruded on us, has revealed Himself to us, has shared the table with us, has opened the scriptures to us, and we believe!"(3)
Faith in the risen Christ is not an achievement. It is a gift. A group of scholars meet as a part of The Jesus Seminar. They have concluded that only 20% of the words attributed to Jesus in the New Testament are really the words of Jesus. It's not the words of Jesus that we need to get right; it is His living presence that we need to experience! It is through His living presence that we experience Him in our lives. We have our own faith stories to share because we have a daily walk with God.
A pastor shares about discussing the need for more evangelism in the congregation, the need to attract new members to the church. He asked, "Why do you come to this church?" One woman said, "I keep coming back and have for twenty years, because, of all the places in my life, it is this place that I experience most vividly the presence of Christ. I have hardly ever come here without feeling, at some point in the service, or in conversations before or after, that Jesus is here. That's why I want to be here."
Because Jesus is here we have identity. Because He is here, we have faith. Because He is here, we have confidence and purpose. And because Jesus is here, we have a mission, not to stay here, be comfortable and have weekly get-togethers (like the too sophisticated ex-rescuers at the Lighthouse social club, but our mission is to go out from this place and proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. Because Jesus is here, our lives will be changed, and we will go and tell the good things that Christ has done for us! Amen.
Century Christian Church, April 30, 2006 - Sermon by Jim Westmoreland
www.centurychristian.org
1. Source Unknown, parable on the purpose of the church.
2. Luke 24:47 (NRSV).
3. William H. Willimon, Pulpit Resource, Vol. 34, No. 2, April-June, 2006, p.26.