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Luke 24:32
They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” As we move away from Easter Sunday, I want us to return to an old road in the story. I remember an ordinary road that invites us to experience resurrection in ordinary ways. Again and again. That story is found in Luke 24. Cleopas and his partner have walked the road to Emmaus with Jesus without recognizing Him on the way. It was an ordinary walk on an ordinary day. Jesus is raised from the grave, the tomb is empty and the first thing He does is to come and find His friends as they are walking. Jesus is with them on long walks, in gardens, making fish tacos on the beach. Jesus is with them on the way even as He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He walks the 7 miles revealing Himself slowly to them. He takes His time. Resurrection takes time. If you are a resurrection believer like me, that makes us resurrection people. I don’t want the Easter season to end without walking and looking for resurrection again and afresh. I don’t know about you, but the world continues to burn. I need the resurrection in my soul, in my workplace, in my neighborhood, in my newsfeed. We are all still walking our long Emmaus roads looking for resurrection. Some days resurrection feels kind of dusty and rusty. Resurrection is a long road that can hold our lamentation, our dashed hopes, our grief, our pain, our unanswered prayers, confusion, and disorientation. Jesus stayed in His body so He could stay in yours and understand yours. This is still good news today. Wherever the road finds you today, sisters and brothers, look for the places on the road where you feel your heart burn with resurrection. Look for it in the beauty of chasing sunsets or watching the moonrise. Look for it in the face of a friend that reminds you, “You got this. You can do this. Let me have hope on your behalf.” Look for it in ordinary strangers who smile at you or in random acts of kindness. Stay on the road to resurrection, even if it’s a dusty road. He will be with you until the end. And Jesus will love you until the end. This week, look for ways that you could be attentive to and look for resurrection to happen around you in ordinary ways. God of resurrection, You still walk alongside us on our roads to Emmaus. Open our eyes so that we may see You. Clear our ears from the noise so that we can distinguish Your voice. Let us be attentive to the burn in our hearts that ignites the spark of Your ever-loving presence and steadfast love. Walk with us as we walk with You, and by Your grace, may the road lead us back to You and our true selves. Amen. Luke 4:18-21; Isaiah 42:6-7
“He is risen. He is risen indeed.” I wish you and yours a happy and joyous Easter. The book of Isaiah states that the Servant of God will open blind eyes, free the captives, and release the prisoners. These tasks are part of His bringing God’s salvation and justice to Israel. But that’s not all. Notice that the Lord has given the Servant as “a light to the nations” (42:60). He comes not just for the Jewish people but for all people. Thus, when Jesus went about healing the sick and setting free those in bondage to demons, He fulfilled the mission of the Servant of God. His miracles were not simply acts of godly compassion but also signs pointing to His divine mission as God’s Servant. Ultimately, by dying on the cross, Jesus broke the power of sin, setting us free from the greatest prison of all . . . death itself. As ones who have put our trust in Jesus, the Servant of God, we begin to experience the freedom He gives even in this life. The fullness of our freedom is reserved for the life to come. Nevertheless, we can be set free from that which binds us: from shame, addictions, anger, doubt, despair, racial hatred, grasping greed. Through Jesus, the Servant, we can live in the freedom and joy of God’s salvation. When set free from our “prisons,” we join Jesus, the Servant, in His mission of bringing freedom to people. We share the good news of the Gospel. We stand up against oppression. We do battle in the Lord against all that keeps human beings in chains. We love our enemies. We have unique responsibilities to seek God’s justice in our places of influence. We can join the Lord in His work of setting people free. These days, when we think of people who need to be set free, we remember political hostages, victims of oppression and injustice, people incarcerated for their faith, and others whose bondage is tangible. But many of us are in less obvious chains. We are held captive by materialism, shame, pride, or hatred. God is at work setting us free also. As this happens, we are invited to participate in the freeing work of Jesus. I recently read of a man who had spent many years addicted to hard drugs. By God’s grace and with lots of help, he became sober, free from the addiction that had devastated his life. What does he do now as a free person? He has devoted his life to helping others who are struggling as he once did. This is the sort of thing that happens to us when Jesus sets us free and calls us into the life of God’s kingdom. Gracious Lord Jesus, Servant of God, how I thank You for the freedom You offer. Thank You for giving up Your life so that I might be set free from all that binds me, most of all from sin and death. Help me to live in Your freedom today. Break the chains so that I might serve You with freedom, joy, and power. Let me be an active member of Your freedom brigade so that others might also experience Your liberty, justice, and peace. Amen. 1 Corinthians 1:2
There is a tendency in the church to assume that calling is mainly or exclusively for religious leaders: ordained pastors, official missionaries, and the like. Yet, when the Apostle Paul talks about calling in 1 Corinthians, he says that all believers in Jesus are “called to be His holy people (or saints),” or, some have suggested, “called to be God’s special people.” There is another way our sense of calling may be deficient. We often assume that calling is something for an individual. God called people singularly to serve Him in unique ways. We refer to “her calling” or “my calling” but never “their calling” or “our calling.” We find something different and more expansive in 1 Corinthians. Yes, Paul was called as an individual to be an apostle of Christ (1:1). But the members of the church in Corinth were also “called to be saints” (1:2). This calling had a distinctly communal dimension. It’s possible to read in Greek here to imply that each Christian in Corinth had a unique calling to individual sainthood. That reading is unlikely, especially given the problem of divisive individualism in the Corinthian congregation. Moreover, the curious phrase that comes after “called to be His holy people” underscores the corporate sense of calling. Not only are the Corinthian Christians “called to be His holy people,” but they also share this calling together with “all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ – their Lord and ours” (1:2). The fact that God calls all Christians is something that binds us together in the church. Even as He chose Israel to be a “holy people” for Him, we who follow Jesus are called to be holy together, not just individually. We receive our calling BOTH IN and AS A community. Why is this so important? Because if we think of our calling in purely individualistic terms, we’ll miss much of what God has for us. We’ll miss the joy and challenge of striving together with other saints to be the holy people of God. Moreover, we’ll be apt to imagine that we’ll hear our personal calling when alone, rather than in community with other believers. Though God can surely call us when we are by ourselves, His calling is often heard and confirmed in a Christian community. For example, Paul had a dramatic individual calling on the road to Damascus, as the risen Jesus spoke to him in a blinding light (Acts 9). But Paul’s calling was supported and confirmed by other believers who bore witness to the power of his preaching. And, though he doesn’t say so explicitly, Paul definitely considered himself to be among the believers called to be saints. Though he had a distinctive apostolic calling, he shared in the calling extended to all believers. So, as you think about your specific calling, it’s acceptable to seek clarity about the unique way (or ways) God is calling you. But remember that you also share in a calling extended to all of God’s people in community. Moreover, you may very well hear God’s particular calling to you, not when you’re on your own on the road to Damascus, but when you are gathered with other believers. Lord Jesus, thank You for calling us into relationship with You and for calling us together to be a holy people for You. Help us remember the “together” dimension of our calling. Help us to act together in response to Your call so that we might honor You not just in our individual lives, but also in our life together as Your church. Amen. April is a special month as we prepare to commemorate Good Friday and Easter Sunday. These events are at the very heart of our Christian faith, reminding us of the great price Jesus paid for our redemption and the profound significance of His salvation in our lives.Jesus Christ willingly walked the path to the cross, enduring whipping, humiliation, and even the agony of separation from the Father—all for our sins. The Bible declares, “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) The cross was not an accident; it was God’s predetermined plan for our redemption. He, who was sinless, became sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Do we truly understand the price He paid? Have we taken time to reflect on where we would be without His sacrifice? Perhaps we would still be trapped in sin, searching for meaning in life, or separated from God with no hope. But praise be to God! Jesus has paid the ultimate price, opening the door of grace for us to be reconciled with Him. Jesus not only died for us— He rose from the dead! His resurrection is not just a historical event; it is the defining moment that changed the destiny of humankind. The risen Christ has triumphed over death, sin, and darkness, proclaiming to us: “In Him, we have new life!” Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 15:17-19 that if Christ had not been raised, our faith would be meaningless. But His resurrection is real, proving that our faith is true, God’s promises are trustworthy, and we have a hope that lasts forever! No matter what our past may look like, in Christ, we are made new (2 Corinthians 5:17). Since we have been saved by grace, how should we respond? How can we live lives that are worthy of the name “Christian”?
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