Hope

Today's sermon was based on the gospel, Luke 24:13-35, the Road to Emmaus. It was also one of those difficult weeks for a preacher, a week when there has been a significant news event (Osama Bin Laden being killed) that really should be addressed from the pulpit and also Mother's Day.  So how do you connect these three events?  Well I connected them by using the sentence in verse 31 "We had hoped Jesus was the one who would redeem Israel" 


What do you hope for?


Enjoy!

Are you the only one in the whole world that does not know the things that have taken place these last few days?  Osama Bin Laden has been killed.  Storms have ravaged the south.  Prince William and Kate Middleton were married last week.  Oh and today we are celebrating mother’s who have given us life, love and so much more. 

It has been an eventful news week, to say the least.  And with each of these stories there has also been an idea of hope.  Hope that Bin Laden’s death will lead to the end of terrorism or at least quicker lines at airport security.  Hope that families and friends of the people who died in the terror attacks on September 11, 2001 and the many soldiers and innocent people who have died as a result of war Iraq and Afghanistan since then will now feel a sense of closure.  Hope that towns in the south, especially ones that were devastated like Tuscaloosa, will be able to rebuild.  Hope that William and Kate’s marriage will not end in divorce like William’s parents.

And those hopes also reach into our personal lived.  Hope that our own marriage will be full of love and happiness.  Hope that we will not face such tragedy and loose all of our earthly possessions or worse, a loved one, as the result of natural disaster or terrorism.  And as we celebrate Mother’s Day today, mothers hope that their children will never have to experience pain.  That their children will grow up to be healthy, active and well adjusted members of society.  Children hope that they will be able to provide and care for their aging mothers.  And other children hope that their mother’s will just leave them alone so that they can make their own decisions. 

In today’s gospel after the two disciples chastised Jesus for not knowing about his own death, they then start to explain to him what the news networks of Jerusalem were buzzing about 24 hours a day for the last three days.  And then they said one sentence that probably summarizes not just what they were feeling but also what all of Jesus’ followers were feeling in the days after his death:  We had hope that Jesus was the one to redeem Israel. 

We had hoped.  How often have we said that?  We had hoped. 

We had hoped our marriage would work out.  We had hoped that our loved one would have survived his battle with cancer.  We had hoped that terrorism would end.  We had hoped that the storm would not be as bad as forecasters were predicting.  We had hoped that once the condos were built next door, church membership would increase.

Unfortunately our hopes are not always fulfilled.  Sometimes our hopes are dashed.  Sometimes we are left in the ruins of our hopes.  Sometimes we are left like those two disciples, walking away from the epicenter of our hopes, returning to our home, to a point of comfort. 

And yet it was Jesus who meets these disciples on the road.  It was Jesus who they told this profound statement: We had hoped.  It was Jesus who was revealed to them in the breaking of the bread.  It was Jesus who made their hearts burn.  It was Jesus who they went to proclaim to other disciples. It is in Jesus that their hopes had been fulfilled.

Jesus is there for us, to listen to our hopes, our dreams, our desires for the future.  And while those hopes are not always fulfilled, Jesus is still with us, meeting us on the road where we are at.  It is Jesus who we can confess to our deepest longings.  It is Jesus who is revealed to us in the breaking of the bread.  It is Jesus who makes our hearts burn.  It is Jesus who we are sent to proclaim to others in this world.  And it is in Jesus that our hopes are fulfilled.  All our hopes will not be fulfilled, but Jesus is always with us, uplifting us in joy and supporting us in sorrows.  Jesus is always with us, walking on the road of life with us, together on this journey, in the midst of hectic weeks and calm retreats, constantly being revealed to us so that we may continue to hope.