Feast on the Word

Sermon from April 26, 2020
Luke 24: 13-35
Good Shepherd, Kingwood, Texas

Alleluia. Christ is risen.
The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia.

{Click here for video; sermon is at 14:18}

As a child and as a teenager, I grew up in the Episcopal Church.
And in the Episcopal parish of my youth, our church decided to divide up into small home groups during the season of Lent.
These small groups met each week in people’s homes.
These small home groups had a format of Bible study, of eating together, and then of taking prayer requests and praying in a group.
And one of the home Bible study groups was just for teenagers only.

Now as a 15-year old, even though I had been an Episcopalian all my life, I was not used to reading from the Bible in someone else’s home.
And I was certainly not used to reading from the Bible, out loud – and then having to share about it!

Yet in those weekly home Bible study groups during that Lent, I grew closer to God.
And I grew closer to the other youth in my church.
We read and shared the Bible together.
We ate together.
We listened to each other’s prayer requests as we prayed for each another.

It was about that time that I began to look at the Bible more closely.
And one day, I just happened to open my Bible up to the verse of Acts 2:42.
In that verse of the Bible, this was what I read about the early days of the Christian faith:
“They devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”

My eyes were opened!
For in my home Bible study group with my fellow teenagers, we were together in: teaching, and fellowship, and breaking bread, and prayer.
And that verse from Acts exactly described what I was experiencing in my own youth group!

The living Word reveals the risen Jesus.
As a 15-year old, I began to know what it means – to feast on his Word.

Today, in this Sunday’s reading from the Gospel of Luke, we hear a story about the risen Jesus.
In this story, it is later on that first Easter Day.
And on that Easter Day, two followers of Jesus are walking from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus.
The risen Jesus joins them on the road to Emmaus, but the two followers don’t know that it is really Jesus.

Along the road, the unrevealed Jesus teaches the travelers, as he interprets scripture.
Once they reach their destination of Emmaus, in the evening, in the breaking of bread, the followers now see that it really is the risen Jesus.
And the two travelers then proclaim:
“Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?”

My friends, the living Word reveals the risen Jesus.
The risen Jesus is revealed to us, when we open up the scriptures and our hearts burn within us.
The risen Jesus is revealed to us, when we feast on his Word.

Ever since middle of March, we have been loving on each other, by not showing up to worship together in a physical church building.
Ever since the middle of March, we have not received the bread and wine of the Eucharist together.
Yet, as Christian people, we are a people of both Word and Sacrament.

During this time, we are not able to feast on the bread.
Yet during this time, Jesus is still revealed to us, when we lean more into the Word portion of our worship.
The risen Jesus is still revealed to us, when we open up and consume the scriptures.
The risen Jesus is still revealed to us, when we feast on the Word.

My sisters and brothers:
During this time of physical distancing, you might be getting tired of looking at TV and computer screens.
Therefore, I invite you to feast on scripture.
You can feast on the Word through daily devotional materials, such as Forward Day by Day.
You can feast on the Word through Morning and Evening Prayer in our Book of Common Prayer.

And you can feast on the Word – by just actually opening up a good old Bible.
Feast on the Word – by reading through the whole Gospel of Mark, which can be completed in one sitting, or about the same amount of time as an episode on Netflix.
Feast on the Word – by reading one of St. Paul’s Letters, written to the socially distanced churches he served.
Feast on the Word – by reading some of the Psalms in the Old Testament, with language of lament and longing, as well as comfort and thanksgiving.

When you feast on the Word, the risen Jesus will be revealed to you, just as he was to me in my youth home Bible study group.
When you feast on the Word, the risen Jesus will walk with you, just as he walked with the travelers on the road to Emmaus.
When you feast on the Word, your heart will burn within you, as Jesus opens up the scriptures to you.

My friends:
Jesus is alive!
Jesus heals you and resurrects you and loves you forever.

The risen Jesus is revealed to you,
When you feast on the Word.

AMEN.