All Saints Lutheran Church
Pastor Raita Neely
May 4, 2003; Easter 3B
Acts 3: 12-19; Luke 24:36b-48 "Waiting Time"

The Easter story is one we want to hear again and again. It is such incredible good news. Easter is like the experience of the grandfather who took his young granddaughter to see her first sunrise. As they stood on the hilltop looking at the huge red globe come popping up over the horizon, the little girl clapped her hands and exclaimed, "Wow, God, do that again!" So it is with the resurrection story, we can't get enough of it. It is more wonderful every time we hear it.

The Gospel of Mark, from which we heard our story on Easter Sunday, leaves us with an empty tomb and silent, fearful women. So last Sunday we went to the Gospel of John to hear more about the risen Jesus. We heard the story of Thomas. This Sunday we go to the Gospel of Luke.

Our Gospel reading for this morning follows the story of the two disciples who walked with the risen Christ to Emmaus and then rushed back to the remaining disciples in Jerusalem to share their incredible experience of walking with Jesus, talking with him, and finally recognizing who he was in the moment that he broke bread with them. Suddenly, as the two are recounting their story, Jesus stands among the gathered disciples and greets them, "Peace be with you." What follows for the disciples is an emotional journey from fear and terror, from doubt and distrust - to joy.

Luke puts it this way, "...in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering." So Jesus coaxes them into further belief and joy. It is as though Jesus says to them, "It is I. I know you don't understand it; I know you can't believe it. But just take a guess at what God has done." And the disciples give in to the hope building in them. Yes, it is Jesus. They recognize the nail pierced hands that take a bit of fish - They are hands which had broken bread with them many times, hands they had seen heal men, women and children, hands which had blessed children, hands which had washed the feet of the disciples.

So often, before the resurrection, Jesus' disciples did not understand him, so once more, Jesus tells the story of God's plan to restore all of creation, from the covenant with Abraham to the exodus from Egypt, from Ezekiel's valley of dry bones to Isaiah's suffering servant. He had told them all this before, of course, but this time, in the presence of their risen Lord, the doors to their minds are unlocked. They come to realize that the rejection, the suffering, the crucifixion - they weren't a detour from God's plan after all, but the final steps of God's long journey down into the plight of broken humanity. Now, the disciples are witnesses to the first steps on the other side. They are on the other side of the empty tomb. They are not witnesses to a dead man, or a ghost, but to God's victory over death!

What are they to do with the best news in town? Jesus says to them, "You are witnesses of these things." But there is work to be done before they witness to the world. It is work that will prepare them for what lies ahead. It is time to be used for self appraisal and looking at options. A time for prayer. A waiting time, but also a productive time as they await the promised power from on high. It is essential time. A time to come together before going out. A spiritual equipping and relational bonding time. A time to be equipped with the truth. It was a time to widen their vision, to deepen their faith, to grow in their trust of God and in their willingness to take risks.

The witness of the disciples had to be more than well remembered quotes from Jesus. They had to have the power of the Holy Spirit as energy, presence and enlightener. God's Spirit would be upon them to lead them in obedience.
Jesus knew that his disciples, even with all their enthusiasm and good intentions, were only ordinary human beings. It was essential that as God called them to God's work and sent them out to the nations that they be sustained and guided by more than their own power. The Holy Spirit provided the power that this ordinary, scraggly band of men needed to witness to Christ across all of Asia Minor. The Holy Spirit - God active in the community of disciples in every age.

The work of the Holy Spirit continues with the gathering of us Christ's disciples today. It is the Holy Spirit that continues to make it possible for any gathering of disciples, no mater how diverse their interests, how weak their strengths or how strong their weaknesses, to become the body of Christ on earth. Yes, the faith of the first disciples witnesses to our faith. You and I stand in the continuity of their faith. Disciples of every time and every age live by faith, and it's never a finished faith. Along with the disciples of all other ages we are always on a continuum between "I believe, Lord, and help my unbelief!" We all experience times in our lives when we fear that we might be wrong in our belief.

We look at the early church with fascination. Could we in today's church recover some of the spiritual power that we see in that minute emerging church begun by the disciples? Could it be that the Holy Spirit can still change cowards into heroes, sinners into transformed people, and expel by a flood of something over and above normal human experience our fear, greed, envy, and pride? Where does God want us to do work in the world. Where does God want to empower us for mission?

As you and I use all the resources God has given us, we are given a new range of possibilities. As we rest deeply in God's word, as we know Christ in the sacraments, as God's power works through prayer, and as Christ is present with us as we gather by two or three or more, we have the promise that God's Spirit will work in us and through us.

To be a Christian witness is not simply to repeat what you have heard. It is to give your whole life as evidence of the truth. Belief in the resurrected Lord can't be argued or explained into someone. Even Jesus didn't try that. He knew that the truth had to be seen, had to be touched had to be experienced in his own flesh and in the living, and if necessary dying, witness of his disciples.

We are witnesses when we can invite someone to look into our homes, our families, our friendships, our work, our checkbook, our daytimer-and find Jesus there. We are witnesses when we allow ourselves to be touched by folks who are lost and afraid. We are witnesses when we bring the name of Jesus to all of life's situations and know his power to change lives. We are witnesses when we serve others who could not live fully without us. We are witnesses when we give ourselves in ways we never thought possible in order to speak for those who have no voice in our world, or those who do not know how to use their voice. We are witnesses when we live in a way that defies any explanation other than the presence of the risen Christ within us.

This morning, you and I know the joy of Jesus touching us. Jesus touches us as we listen and meditate on his word. Jesus touches us as we touch each other in prayer and in giving the peace of the Lord. Jesus touches us as he welcomes us to his meal. A bit of bread, a sip of wine, know that you are loved, know that Jesus is with you today.

When the world looks around for the living Christ, when they want to know what Easter means, the world will look to you, Christ's child. It will not look at your pretty face, or your sincere eyes, but at your hands and feet, at your heart-where have you been, what have you done, whom have you loved? We are witnesses of God's great love for us. There is no one else who will tell the story. And yet we Lutherans have a bit of a problem with witness - at the Synod Assembly yesterday, two of the speakers said that statistics show that we Lutherans invite someone to worship about once every 30 years. I want to know, are your thirty years up? Is it time for you to invite someone into the body of Christ? You and I are the only body that Christ has in our world. And yet witness is not easy. It means giving of yourself more than you ever thought you could give. But once we know the risen Lord, we can not be silent we need to share the good news of his love. Amen.