Praise the Lord for a beautiful new day in His Kingdom. Spring is here, with a touch of Easter glory all around us. We praise the Lord for the manifold witness to His great faithfulness, mercy, and love.
Praise the Lord for this Holy Easter season. We live in the afterglow of an awesome Easter event. We celebrate Jesus who came, who saw and who conquered death, defeating the powers of darkness and sin. I am reflecting on the weekend that changed the events of the history of mankind. It changed and defined for ever the course and the destiny of those who are changed by the Easter event, the Risen Savior. What a weekend it had been for the followers of Jesus. It seemed as if the bottom fell out of their lives. All of their hopes and dreams had seemed to vanish on Friday when Jesus had died on the cross. They were in a state of shock and fear. Everything had happened so fast. Early on Sunday morning , the women went to the tomb that held the body of Jesus. They had rushed back to the disciples with the news that they had seen angels who had told them that Jesus was risen. But the disciples at first just dismissed it as hysteria (as nonsense). Peter and John ran to the tomb and discovered that it was indeed empty. Jesus’ band of followers were leaderless and falling apart, with at least two of them already on their way home. The very afternoon of the report of the empty tomb, two of the disciples were discouraged and frustrated. Some of the saddest words in English language begin with letter" D". Despair, dread, defeat, disease, devastation etc. The two disciples going to Emmaus on Easter Evening, were utterly defeated and were throwing in the towel and going home.
On the way they met a stranger. It was actually the risen Jesus, but they did not recognize Him. Part of the thrill of this story is that we as the readers know what the characters do not. The encounter between Jesus and the two disciples on the road to Emmaus is one of the most vivid of the resurrection appearances. The account is found only in Luke 24.
As the two travelers approached the end of their journey, the stranger appeared to be going on. Traveling at night was both difficult and dangerous, so they insisted that he stay with them saying in verse twenty-nine, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent." And He went in to stay with them.”
Verse thirty tells us that as they sat down to eat, Jesus played the part of the host, for the host would break the bread at the beginning of the meal for it says, “… He took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.” Perhaps it was in doing this that their eyes were opened. For verse thirty-one reveals, “Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. (32) And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"
Mark Buchanan wrote of his own experience in his book entitled “Your God Is Too Safe.” He wrote that when he was saved, “I hit the ground running. Immediately, I volunteered for everything, anything, that I felt vaguely interested in and marginally qualified for. I led the youth group; I helped with the music, I taught Sunday school; I wrote the church newsletter; I became a camp counselor; I served as a mentor to several young men.
But something, somewhere, went awry. The zeal fizzled. The fire in my bones became only an a ache in my joints. My running became plodding. My lightness became heaviness. My joyfulness became jadedness. I joined the ranks of the murmurers and faultfinders – those that did not like the music or the sermon or the color of the azalea’s behind the church – and I found their number legion.” [Mark Buchanan. Your God Is Too Safe. (Multnomah, 2001) p. 9-10]
The truth is that God wants to set our hearts on fire. He wants to give us a burning passion for life. We all long for the eternal but are too easily contented with the temporary. We all want to be a part of something worthwhile but spend too time wasted. Let’s turn back to where we left off. In 2 Timothy 1:6 Paul tells Timothy, “Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you..” this verse can be summed up in three words, Again,… Alive,… Fire. Perhaps this is what we need.
The Lord gave these disciples a passion and a purpose where all there had been was pain. The result in the life of the two disciples was, that although by this point it is already late they cannot wait till the morning. They must tell someone what has happened. They had to share their experience and no one in Emmaus would understand. One of the best signs of recovery from depression is a desire to be back among other believers. They had to go back to where the other disciples were gathered. Verse thirty-three tells us that they decide that they must return at once to Jerusalem. “So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem…” So the long discourage walk to Emmaus now became a joyous run to Jerusalem with renewed strength and encouragement. It reminds us of the story of the two lepers in 2 Kings 7:9 “Then they said to one another, "We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we remain silent. …. Now therefore, come, let us go and tell…"
On the way they met a stranger. It was actually the risen Jesus, but they did not recognize Him. Part of the thrill of this story is that we as the readers know what the characters do not. The encounter between Jesus and the two disciples on the road to Emmaus is one of the most vivid of the resurrection appearances. The account is found only in Luke 24.
As the two travelers approached the end of their journey, the stranger appeared to be going on. Traveling at night was both difficult and dangerous, so they insisted that he stay with them saying in verse twenty-nine, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent." And He went in to stay with them.”
Verse thirty tells us that as they sat down to eat, Jesus played the part of the host, for the host would break the bread at the beginning of the meal for it says, “… He took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.” Perhaps it was in doing this that their eyes were opened. For verse thirty-one reveals, “Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. (32) And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"
Mark Buchanan wrote of his own experience in his book entitled “Your God Is Too Safe.” He wrote that when he was saved, “I hit the ground running. Immediately, I volunteered for everything, anything, that I felt vaguely interested in and marginally qualified for. I led the youth group; I helped with the music, I taught Sunday school; I wrote the church newsletter; I became a camp counselor; I served as a mentor to several young men.
But something, somewhere, went awry. The zeal fizzled. The fire in my bones became only an a ache in my joints. My running became plodding. My lightness became heaviness. My joyfulness became jadedness. I joined the ranks of the murmurers and faultfinders – those that did not like the music or the sermon or the color of the azalea’s behind the church – and I found their number legion.” [Mark Buchanan. Your God Is Too Safe. (Multnomah, 2001) p. 9-10]
The truth is that God wants to set our hearts on fire. He wants to give us a burning passion for life. We all long for the eternal but are too easily contented with the temporary. We all want to be a part of something worthwhile but spend too time wasted. Let’s turn back to where we left off. In 2 Timothy 1:6 Paul tells Timothy, “Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you..” this verse can be summed up in three words, Again,… Alive,… Fire. Perhaps this is what we need.
The Lord gave these disciples a passion and a purpose where all there had been was pain. The result in the life of the two disciples was, that although by this point it is already late they cannot wait till the morning. They must tell someone what has happened. They had to share their experience and no one in Emmaus would understand. One of the best signs of recovery from depression is a desire to be back among other believers. They had to go back to where the other disciples were gathered. Verse thirty-three tells us that they decide that they must return at once to Jerusalem. “So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem…” So the long discourage walk to Emmaus now became a joyous run to Jerusalem with renewed strength and encouragement. It reminds us of the story of the two lepers in 2 Kings 7:9 “Then they said to one another, "We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we remain silent. …. Now therefore, come, let us go and tell…"
May the risen Savior, pervade our hearts and permeate our thoughts with the power and promise of resurrection!
In Christ,
Brown
Friday March 23, 2012
Television Outreach
Time Warner Cable Channel 4
Time 7:00 PM
Saturday Evening Worship Service:
Location: First United Methodist Church
53 McKinley Avenue
Endicott, NY
Sponsored by: Union Center United Methodist Church
Time: 6:00 PM gathering for Coffee Fellowship
6:30 PM Worship Service
Date: Saturday, April 14, 2012
Speaker: Rev. Brown Naik,
Special Music by Laureen Naik
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