Worship for April 16, 2021
Let us worship!
Holy God,
you are with us always,
calling us to you.
Here we are we.
May our hearts be open to you
and may we worship with in Spirit and truth.
A prayer to center you
We close ourselves off too often, God!
We give in to our doubts and fears too easily.
We close ourselves off to the ways you try to engage us.
Open our hearts now.
Center us upon you and your word.
Whisper your spirit into our souls.
Breathe into us you’re your hope.
Amen
Holy Words from Luke 24: 36-48
36 And just as they were telling about it, Jesus himself was suddenly standing there among them, and greeted them. 37 But the whole group was terribly frightened, thinking they were seeing a ghost!
38 “Why are you frightened?” he asked. “Why do you doubt that it is really I? 39 Look at my hands! Look at my feet! You can see that it is I, myself! Touch me and make sure that I am not a ghost! For ghosts don’t have bodies, as you see that I do!” 40 As he spoke, he held out his hands for them to see the marks of the nails,[a] and showed them the wounds in* his feet.
41 Still they stood there undecided, filled with joy and doubt.
Then he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”
42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he ate it as they watched!
44 Then he said, “When I was with you before, don’t you remember my telling you that everything written about me by Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must all come true?” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand at last these many Scriptures! 46 And he said, “Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah must suffer and die and rise again from the dead on the third day; 47 and that this message of salvation should be taken from Jerusalem to all the nations: There is forgiveness of sins for all who turn to me. 48 You have seen these prophecies come true.
Reflection:
When I read scripture, it is so funny to me what stands out. Sometimes it is something that comforts my soul, sometimes it is something that pushes me forward, sometimes it is something that inspires me or even challenges me, and sometimes, like today’s scripture, it is the odd and misplaced thing that makes me giggle. So, when Jesus appears to his disciples and asks for a snack I had to giggle. Here is Jesus, after being crucified and buried, he has appeared to followers a couple times post death, and again he comes to them. They are even in the middle of talking about Jesus appearing to two of them on the road to Emmaus when Jesus appears before them again and still they are surprised and confused.
Jesus really liked to mess with his disciples. He did it while he was alive. He would present his followers with great riddles in the form of parables. He would say things that just plain did not make any sense to any humans and then look at them like they were clueless. He would act in ways that seemed counter to everything they had ever learned in how to relate to the world around them. And here again Jesus, after his own death and resurrection, seems to be messing with them still.
Now, in Jesus’ defense, his follower were just in the midst of talking about how two of them had just seen Jesus on the road to Emmaus. How they had even eaten dinner with him when he shows up this time! So the fact that they were still shocked and amazed when he appeared with them is a little confusing. Jesus tries to calm their fears, assuring them that he is not a ghost and that it was not a trick. He comes to assure them and to strengthen their faith. “Touch and see” he tells them. And then my favorite line that makes me giggle, “Do you have anything to eat?” Jesus is my kind of people! While in their joy, while they were still trying to process what was happening, while they were still wondering and in disbelief at what was happening before their very eyes, Jesus, in my mind saunters into the kitchen, needing a snack.
It is these weird moments in the text, these parts of the story that are truly human moments, the one’s that we can relate to, that make the story real. Hunger is a real human need that we all experience daily and in this story Jesus expresses his physical hunger too. We can relate to that. Touching and seeing prove that Jesus’ body has returned. But it is Jesus’ need for food that shows that the human essence is there as well—humanity with needs and hungers. It is not just that Jesus is there in flesh and bone, with holes still in his hands, that make him real, it is that he has real human needs, the need to be sustained through food. Jesus needs a snack.
If you are a mother or a grandmother, or more than likely if you are a husband, or heck if you are just human, you probably thoroughly know the need to feed someone when they get hungry. In our house there is fine line between hungry and well hangry, the state in which hunger has turned one of us evil! It is a fine line you do not want to cross! If you went to my car right now you would see snacks packed away in every little nook and cranny least someone get caught in a moment of need with no snack to remedy the problem. I don’t want them to turn on me! We have what we call car fish (a bag of extra cheese gold fish) and car treats, the ever portable Rice Krispy treat, hidden throughout the car. Each girl having their own stash—there is no sharing when one of them has turned. These have become our go to. Over thirteen years of parenting, I have learned to keep snacks on me! So I love that when Jesus appears to his followers he asks for a snack. The truest and most basic human need. Jesus proves to those who are doubting his resurrection that he has indeed been raised by expressing the most relatable of needs; hunger.
They watch him eat. In shock and awe, the give Jesus some broiled fished and watch him eat. This story part of the story reminds us that faith can be hard! Throughout Jesus’ 3 years of ministry he often alluded to the fact that that he would die and be raised from the dead. He had tried to prepare his followers for this very moment yet when it comes they still doubt. Following his crucifixion, he appear before them, raised from the dead several times, and yet his followers still have a hard time believing what they are actually seeing. It comforts me.
I was leading a discussion for a Sunday school class last Sunday morning and the topic was “Where is God”. We went around the Zoom room and discussed where we see God. I have had this conversation several times with groups before. It is always interesting to hear the answers. I have received such a wide array of answers. What I have learned over time is that people experience God and Jesus in very different ways. Some people can hear God speak to them, others have a since of deep knowing that they know is God leading them, others see God through nature. Other see Jesus in their neighbor and still yet there are those who continue to seek God and find frustration when the physical interaction does not occur.
God can come to us through all means and manners. We can see God through the still small voice or we can hear God speak in loud words. We can see God through our time driving in the car and in the phone call from a friend. We can see God in the face of a stranger or the loving embrace of a family member. We can see God in the beauty of the sunrise or in the emptiness of the night. God comes to us in all kinds of ways. I am amazed at how different everyone’s’ stories are, how differently God interacts with God’s people. I love hear how God meets us where we are.
I also find comfort in the fact that the disciples had been given hints for three years about what was about to happen, that they had seen Christ in bodily form, that they eaten at table with him post resurrection on several occasions and they still question, they still found themselves wondering, they still found themselves unsure. And in even in their dense nature, even in their doubting, even in their unknowing, Jesus keeps reaching out, keeps seeking relationship with them, keeps helping them along their journey.
If Jesus can understand their doubts and fears when they had seen things first hand, Jesus can understand my moments of doubt and fear 2000 years removed. If Jesus did not abandon the disciples in their unbelief, he will not abandon me in my moments of my unbelief. So when I struggle and question, when I deny my own identity as a believer, when I fall short, Jesus will not abandon me, no Jesus will continue to work for God’s glory through me, and that gives me hope and peace.
What do you think...
Where do you see God?
Does God ever reach out to you? If so, how?
What makes you doubt God’s presence?
What gives you comfort in God’s presence?
Action Challenge.
This week go out and look for God.
Take a walk. Where do you see God? In the flowers? In the sunset? In the songs of the birds?
At work, where do you see God? In the face of a co-worker? In the voice on the other end of a phone call?
At home, where do you see God? In the ‘I love you’ of a family member? In the faces in the pictures on your wall? In the act of cooking or cleaning or folding laundry?
Look for God around this week and take a picture and post it to the scattered seeds FB or insta page or just jot it down as a reminder.
God is with us, now and always!
Prayer of Sending
Holy God,
you sent us your son and your Spirit that we would not be alone. Open are hearts to you and help us to see and believe. You move through the wind and world, you move through word and through deed, you move towards us each and every day. Help us to see. Help us feel. Help us to know. We can be slow, stick with us and don’t give up. Amen.
Going out.
Breathe in God’s mercy.
Breathe out God’s mercy for other.
May the love shown on the cross, the power of the resurrection, and the presence of the Living Lord, be with you always.
And the blessing of the Eternal God, Creator and Sustainer, Risen Lord and Savior, Give of holiness and love, be upon you now and evermore.
Let all God’s people say: AMEN
