12
OCTOBER 2008
LWML SUNDAY
And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And
he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, "Did
not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road,
while he opened to us the Scriptures?" Luke 24:31-32
You might think the text for our celebration this morning is misplaced.
I did. Why the reading from Luke, not from Matthew? And the reading
is clearly an Easter text. Don't they understand at LWML headquarters
that we are nearing the end of the liturgical calendar?
Yes. I am
certain they understand all those things. That someone chose this
text for this LWML Sunday against all logic suggests to me that
they are not looking at this particular scripture with an eye
to the resurrection of Jesus. But surly some of you are already
wondering about that strange phrase in verse 16 which implies
that God purposely kept the disciples from seeing Jesus with recognition.
The unnamed disciples only see a man, now a traveling companion,
perhaps a fellow believer. They do not recognize that it is Jesus.
Never-the-less, a conversation begins; an intense conversation,
a teaching conversation in which our Lord explains everything
in the life of the messiah in terms of scripture (law and the
prophets).
But why does
God shield their eyes? Why does he purposely keep from them the
joy that might be theirs-the sight of Jesus living. The reason
is not hard to discern. Just as God blinded St. Paul, so he dims
the sight of these disciples just long enough for them to understand
with their minds what they have been witnesses to-the resurrection
of (the) One who was dead! If they had seen Jesus right off, they
would have been so giddy with joy, they never would have been
still long enough to have the scriptures logically explained to
them.
But could
there be a secondary reason? Sure. This divinely imposed "blindness"
mighty well illustrate our own spiritual blindness when it comes
to God and spiritual matters. Their handicap mirrors our own human
deficiencies. The Bible teaches that humans are by nature spiritually
blind (Jn. 9:40), dead (Eph. 2:1), and slaves to sin (Jn. 8:34).
We are incapable of coming to God on our own and pleasing him.
We need help. We need rescue. That's what the gospel is all about,
God reaching down from heaven to save us.
And so God
intervenes. The Holy Spirit enters the picture by means of the
Gospel and he gives us new life -spiritual life. Some like to
use the term "born again." Our fallen condition, our
all too human inclination towards evil (Gen 8:21), keeps people
from seeing and believing, hearing and understanding. It is the
work of the Holy Spirit to bring us to that place and time where
we can receive God's gifts of salvation and eternal life. That
is why grace, that unearned love of God is so amazing. It invades
our lives and works change in our hearts.
The composer
of Amazing Grace is John Newton. Perhaps some of you saw the movie?
His contemporaries called Newton the Great Blasphemer, he was
a slaver, transporting slaves from Africa to the colonies. He
had a couple of close calls in which he promised the Almighty
to live a better life. Try as he might to be religious, to be
good, he always reverted to his old ways. During one trans-Atlantic
voyage, a great storm arose. After a while John left the helm
to another and went below deck to rest. No sooner had he entered
his cabin than it was reported to him that the man who replaced
him was washed overboard and lost. John began to see how helpless
life on his own was.
Brought to
his knees because someone had died what should have been his death,
John began to change. He sought refuge in the gospel which he
had encountered from time to time. But now he really needed to
know about the One who supposedly died in his place. John wanted
to know the One who took his place on the cross-Jesus. In the
course of time he married, became a minister and an ardent preacher
against the slave trade. He wrote:
Amazing
grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind but now I see.
God opened
Newton's eyes and set his soul on fire for Jesus. It was that
same gospel message coupled with the breaking of bread which opened
the disciples' eyes. Suddenly they both realize that while the
man was talking to them on the road, they each had the same strange
sensation, a yearning for God and Christ. "Were not our hearts
burning while he talked...?" the said. And then forgetting
about the meal, they run the seven miles back to Jerusalem.
In so many ways and on so many occasions this same story has been
repeated in every corner of the globe. People have suddenly, sometimes
unexpectedly, come face to face with God through the Gospel message.
The Word hits home and a flame is kindled in someone's heart-a
flame for Jesus. That message comes to people through formal and
informal channels. One them is the LWML. For more than 65 years
the Lutheran Women's Missionary League has been encouraging women
in their relationship with Christ Jesus, and encouraging them
to be active participants in work of the gospel. When I think
of the LWML I think of two things; mite boxes and Bible studies.
LWML is big on both; spiritual growth and mission. Just like those
two disciples on the way to Emmaus; the Word of God was explained
to them, they receive it, and off they run to share it, their
own personal mission to Jerusalem. From there it reaches out to
Samaria, and the ends of the earth.
Over the years the LWML has collected millions of dollars in these
tiny cardboard boxes-mite boxes. I used to tell people it was
a good example of how pennies and prayers can add up, but it was
explained to me that some of our ladies actually put paper money
in them. They are that committed. The goal this biennium is just
under two million dollars. That's nationally, it doesn't take
into account the hundreds of local projects in the 35 Synod districts,
or the things the ladies accomplish right in their own congregations
at home.
I'm not telling
you all this so you can admire them or even just be thankful for
their efforts. I want you to imitate them. Talk about Jesus when
you travel. You never know when you might start a flame in someone's
heart and open their eyes to see Jesus.
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church
Hamburg, NJ 07419
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