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St. James Episcopal Church's Weekly Epistle
April 30, 2014
Approaching the Third Sunday of Easter
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Alleluia - Christ is Risen
And he said to them, "What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?" They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?" He asked them, "What things?" They replied, "The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. ( Luke 24: 17-21)
 | | Road to Emmaus - Gisele Bauche |
Cleopas and the unnamed traveling companion are like many faithful Christians. They desire for God to act in one way and become disappointed when God's results don't turn out as they expected. In Sunday's Gospel we find them headed home full of grief and doubt. Truly, everything they had believed about Jesus of Nazareth had died. They were yearning to believe in Easter Sunday morning appearances even as Jesus walked, talked, and broke bread with them. There wasn't any evidence to believe in such stories. Was there? The fact is that Jesus didn't redeem Israel in the manner that most 1st Century Jews believed that the Messiah would restore justice, equity, and peace in their land. And yet, were not these two travelers' hearts burning as they listened to Jesus' eternal words about life and death. Were their souls not aflame with excitement when they communed with their Savior at a table with bread and wine? The life they had expected to unfold had been completely obliterated. The home they sought to return to following tragedy and loss would never be the same again either. Jesus' resurrection from the dead turned their entire world upside down. His blessing and thanksgiving for God's Grace stirred them to run through the darkness of night and doubt to share their amazement of God's Grace with their friends. God's unpredictable and almost unforeseeable presence gave them courageous conviction to share their Road to Emmaus story with us.  |
Read more of Frederick Buechner's work here. |
Presbyterian theologian and writer Frederick Buechner has this to say about all of our Road to Emmaus encounters: I believe that although the two disciples did not recognize Jesus on the road to Emmaus, Jesus recognized them, that he saw them as if they were the only two people in the world. ... And I believe that because he sees us, not even in the darkness of death are we lost to him or lost to each other. ... And I believe that through something that happens to us, or something we see, or somebody we know - who can ever guess how or when or where? - he offers us, the way he did at Emmaus, the bread of life, offers us a new hope, a new vision of light that not even the dark world can overcome.
(Buechner, 1996).
Our travels together with them and Jesus continue today. It is often impossible to comprehend God's movement in our lives, especially during times of crisis or moments of tremendous fear. Our role in such times as well as in good and/or ordinary ones is to continue showing up, as authentically as we can. Teeny, tiny seeds of faith provide the protein we need to continue believing in The One who encounters us in ways well beyond our imagination yet certainly within our grasps for hope.
Blessings Along The Way, Jim+
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This Week and Soon to Happen @ St. James
 | | Our Springtime Music Series Continues on May 3rd with the Cincinnati Collaborative Ringing Project. Bring yourself and your friends! |
Sunday - @ 9:00 AM Adult Christian Education - Vestry Room
Eucharist and Worship @ 10:00 AM - Church
=============== A group of excited parishioners is teaming up to craft, publish and share a monthly newsletter. Make sure to talk with Jean MacGregor or Barb Taber and get involved in this new parish-wide communications project.  | | Just a little over a month to our Findlay Market/St. James farmstand opens up! |
There's going to be alot going on around here worthy of talking about and sharing this summer. Make sure to check out Alex's spectacular banners on our newly designed webpage. Make sure to check out the diocese's newly designed dsoConnections website. Check out all of the news and interesting articles there, including Julie Murray's fantastic article about St. James' farmstand.
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Midnight
I doubt that Chris Martin and the other members of Coldplay were thinking about Jesus' pilgrimage with his friends on the Road to Emmaus when they wrote Midnight for their upcoming album Ghost Stories. Nonetheless, the haunting song provides a melancholy but hopeful musical backdrop for life. Enjoy the video and search for where the lights are on. In the darkness before the dawn
In the darkness before the dawn
Leave a light, a light on
Leave a light, a light on
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St. James Episcopal Church is called to be a center of worship and common life where Christ's love is visible and experienced in order to seek and serve Jesus in others.There won't be a weekly epistle next week as Jim will be traveling with Howie to Arizona to celebrate Jim's nephew, Geoff, and his fiance, Melanie's wedding in Scottsdale.
Jim and Howie will also be preaching and presiding at St Augustine's Episcopal Church in Tempe, AZ. This is the parish where their and St. James' friend, Gil Stafford, serves as Vicar and priest. |
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