Do I recognise Jesus in my life? Third Sunday of Easter
Sermon by Emmanuel Suntheni OSB – Third Easter Sunday – Year A
Sermon And Christian Act In The Word
Theme: My Personal Journey to Emmaus! Do I recognise Jesus in my life? Revision of Hopes and Expectations!
Point of Reflection: Who do I walk with in my journey of life? Every human being is on a journey from the day of birth. Do I recognise Jesus Christ in my Christian journey? As Christians, we need to reconstitute our spiritual journey with the Lord. We need to revisit our hopes and expectations.
First Reading: Acts 2:14, 22–33
Psalm: Psalm 16:1–2, 5, 7–11
Second Reading: 1 Peter 1:17–21
Gospel: Luke 24:13–35
Sermon (Reflection): It is the third Sunday after Easter and the scriptural readings continue to focus on the resurrection, and on how it changes people’s hopes and expectations for the future. Both the disciples of Jesus and the Israelites of his day had rather specific views regarding what the future holds. Through his resurrection, Jesus dramatically revised and modified these hopes and expectations, giving his followers a glimpse of what God intended and prepared for them.
The first reading contains a part of the first speech of Peter delivered right after the Pentecost. Peter proclaims Jesus’ resurrection and, quoting Psalm 16, shows that it was already anticipated in the Old Testament. This proves that Jesus’ death and resurrection were not accidental, but that God had intended to endow humanity with eternal life from the very beginning of creation. At the same time, the speech demonstrates how the hopes and expectations of various groups were revised by this pivotal event. First, Peter emphasises that the Jewish leaders together with the Roman authorities conspired to kill Jesus. They acted out of jealousy and fear, aiming to protect their own social position and secure their influence over the people. Their expectations were clear; by executing Jesus they hoped to remove permanently a potential threat and rival to their leadership. Their expectations failed spectacularly. In fact, by killing Jesus they initiated a wholly new movement that would eventually become the Church.
This Christian community, built upon Jesus’ resurrection, was to endure while the institutions that condemned Jesus have long since vanished. As Christians, are we not killing the Church, the societies within which we exist, our workplaces and our families with our mouths and bad actions? Are we not acting in a form of jealousy and fear to intimidate others with our authority or power? The first speech of Peter we encounter in the first reading of today is a call to review the way we interact with others, the way we speak to other people and ask ourselves if our words and actions are those that build them or destroy them. Do we use our authority and power to serve or to destroy? That we should re-evaluate and revisit the way we interact with others in order to build. Please see how you can add this without lengthening the text.
As Christians, we should be the hope of our societies on the risen Christ. We should carry the light of the Paschal Mystery to be the hope of the world, not to destroy it.
Peter was forced to revise his expectations regarding the Messiah and his mission. The defeat of the Roman armies and political leadership was not to be his work. The Messiah would conquer a much greater enemy, thus, death itself. Jesus’ resurrection indeed modified people’s expectations for the future at all levels.
The second reading of today emphasizes the centrality of Jesus’ resurrection and sets the proper focus for hopes and expectations regarding the future. When 1 Peter was written, a vast majority of people believed that their gods were to be pleased, entreated and appeased by offerings of money and performing sacrifices. The aim of these practices was to appease the anger of gods and secure their favour, in order to be blessed with material prosperity and security. The author of the letter shows how different the Christian faith is. Offerings of silver, gold or the blood of animals achieve nothing. Rather, reconciliation with God was accomplished by the self-sacrifice of Christ who shed his blood once and for all (cf. Hebrews 9:25-26), with no need for any further sacrifices and offerings. The only thing expected of Christians is a life that follows Jesus’ teaching. Such a life can be sustained when a Christian maintains a clear focus on his or her future life in God’s presence, “your faith and hope are set on God”.
Therefore, As Christians, we must not be complacent and constantly be reminded, by the Paschal mystery which we celebrate every day, that we must store our treasures in heaven.
This must encourage us to live in reverent “fear” – that all we do earth is preparing us for a world to come. We must rise with Christ – in our words and deeds. We are Easter people.
The Gospel reading of today contains the well-known story of the journey to Emmaus. One of the first striking statements in Jesus’ conversation with the disciples is, “but we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel”. This single line shows how all the disciples must have felt at the time. All the hopes they had placed in Jesus when they were with him, all the great expectations they had developed as they saw him perform miracles, and teach were shattered by his cruel death. Like most of their compatriots, they expected him to be the Messiah who would bring liberation from subjugation to the Romans, and such hopes had fallen apart. In our Christian life, are our hopes not fallen? Do we see the future? Never lose hope in Christ but we must revisit our hopes and expectations
Understanding the gospel of today, in their conversation, we can note that Jesus showed them their mistake. We all make mistakes as Christians, do we recognize our mistakes?
How often do we recognise Jesus in our everyday lives? When good things happen to us every day, including small things, do we recognise it’s the hand of God?
Often, we are not aware when we encounter Jesus – we are not aware when we experience Jesus – like the two disciples on their way to Emmaus. Despite that Jesus recounted everything for them, they were not aware of him, until the breaking of bread.
We can also note from the gospel, that false expectations brought disillusionment and despair upon the disciples after Jesus’ death. The letter of Peter shows that the early Christians had to be liberated from the common idea that they can gain God’s favour by making money offerings and sacrifices to secure their well-being on earth. These false hopes and expectations were revised by correct reading and interpretation of the Scripture. This shows that in the Scripture believers discover God’s guidelines that should shape their hopes and expectations. From the Scripture flows the assurance of the supreme hope and expectation of all God’s faithful, well expressed by the Psalmist with the words, “you show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy”.
Christian Act in Word of God “I recognise Jesus Christ in my spiritual life and I revisit my hope and expectations”
To think differently is not easy! To understand the gist of today’s readings in our Christian act, let us apply these three principles to three areas of daily life that we are all familiar with: marriage, prejudice and Church community.
When a couple gets married, they have hopes and expectations about married life. For many couples, marriage is seen as a gateway to endless days of joy and living “happily ever after”. However, sooner or later they discover new information about their spouse which they were not previously aware of, for example particular habits or weaknesses or strengths. This revelation of the truth about the other requires, if the marriage is to last, a revision of hopes and expectations to align them with reality. How the couple manages this change will determine whether their marriage will last or not.
What is true for marriage, also applies to all other relationships. False expectations destroy friendships, break up working groups and damage parent-children relationships. They can be deadly in all situations.
Another example is prejudice. Many of us hold uncritically negative or positive beliefs about persons who are different from us, such as those belonging to a different ethnic or racial group or religion. When confronted with information that is contrary to our beliefs we are faced with a decision of whether to change our ideas or not. For example, if one believes that members of a particular ethnic group are inferior and then happens to meet someone belonging to that group who does not fit the stereotype, this becomes an opportunity to either revise beliefs about the group or continue with one’s prejudice.
Churches of any kind also suffer under the burden of misguided hopes and expectations of their members. Some expect these communities to be perfect, others expect material benefits from belonging to them, yet others expect hero-like, all-knowing and impeccable priests or pastors who would speak with God’s voice.
Still, others expect spiritual befits of unrealistic kind. These include blessing in the form of material benefits, spiritual ecstasy or unceasing happiness.
All those hopes are soon shattered and often lead to “church hopping” when people regularly move from one church to another searching for the one which would provide what they hope for.
Illusions often disrupt our relationships, blind us to the truth, obscure the picture of God and make lives generally unhappy. It is in careful attention to the Scripture and our faith that we may find healing for our delusions. This was the method which Jesus used to transform the shattered world of the disciples on the road to Emmaus. The Scripture allows us to see and hope for what God intends for us. Our faith teaches us that all communities and relationships are created by imperfect people whom we ought to respect and accept, and to love with Jesus-like sacrificial love. Guided by these principles, we will be happier and more balanced, as our illusions and delusion will no longer hold a grip on us. Let us walk with Christ in our daily Christian life!
Action: I will open my heart and mind to walk with Jesus Christ every day of my life.
Prayer: Almighty God our hearts are burning and restless until they rest in you. As you journeyed with disciples to Emmaus, journey with us all in our Christian life and help us to recognise you all time. Help us Lord to revise our hopes and expectations so that we can be genuine Christians and be Easter people always, we ask this through your risen Son Jesus Christ; Amen.
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