Emmanuel Again!
Louis Pasteur, the scientist we know as the pioneer of immunology, lived at a time when thousands of people died each year of rabies. On July 6, 1885, after working for four years on a vaccine, Pasteur was preparing to test that vaccine on himself. On that day, a woman came to Pasteur’s home. Distraught, she poured out her story. Her beloved son, a nine-year-old boy named Joseph Meister had been bitten by a rabid dog. She begged Pasteur to try his precious vaccine on the boy, convinced that he would die without it. Pasteur injected Joseph every day for ten days and the boy lived.
A decade later, when Louis Pasteur wrote down his wishes for his funeral and burial, he specified that he wished to have only three words etched on his crypt. Those three words were “Joseph Meister lived.” In the life of that one boy was the validation of all of Pasteur’s scientific work… all he wished the world to remember. Joseph Meister lived. There was nothing else that needed to be said. Pasteur’s life’s work was embodied in those three words. For the boy’s mother, it was more than that. Her child… her beloved son… who had been under a sentence of certain death, was still with her. Each day of his life, she rejoiced in the wonder that she could still have a relationship with this person who meant so much to her. The words “Joseph Meister lived” were more than a stamp of approval on one man’s life’s work. “Joseph Meister lived” to her meant love… and joy… wonder… and hope fulfilled.
I say to you, Hallelujah! Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed!) Is there any more that needs to be said? Isn’t the validation of Christ’s life embodied in those three words: Christ is risen? Because he lives, we can still enjoy a relationship him… with this person who means so much to us. Because he lives, we have proof of his divinity… of God’s power. Because he lives, we also will live. Because he lives, we are free of the bondage of sin and the constraints of this life… this narrow existence. Because he lives, we know that God is real. Because he lives, we experience true freedom… a freedom that has nothing to do with laws… or locks. Because he lives, we have love… and joy… and wonder… and hope fulfilled. All of this, simply because Christ lives. Is it any wonder that we say… with amazement… with hope… with joy: Hallelujah! Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed!)
I entitled my sermon today “Emmanuel Again!” and many of you may have done a double-take. Isn’t “Emmanuel” a Christmas word? Why have I resurrected it at Easter time? To understand why, we need to reflect for a moment on the meaning of “Emmanuel.” Emmanuel was the name that was given to Jesus when he was born… a name that told the world of the reality of the Incarnation… “God-with-us.” Jesus’ birth meant that God was with us… among us as the tangible reality of an intangible truth! From that word, Emmanuel, flows the whole meaning of Christmas… God is with us. And now, if Christ is risen from the dead, isn’t God with us once again? Can we not feel the joy that we felt at Christ’s birth bursting in on us once again? God is with us. Once again, God is with us!
When I think of the two disciples walking to Emmaus on that first Easter, it is easy to see how that short journey could become a long and miserable trek on that particular day. The two disciples headed away from Jerusalem where the authorities were looking for any followers of Jesus… disciples who had lost the one person who had been the center of their lives for several years. Death was so final… and he was dead. All their hopes… their dreams had vanished with his death. There were no words of comfort… for their Comforter was gone. When this total stranger burst in on their gloomy conversation and began to show them how Jesus was the fulfillment of every scripture about the coming Messiah, it at least distracted them from their grief. His explanation of the scriptures was so enthralling that they invited him to stay with them in Emmaus. Then, at the table, he took the bread… he blessed it… and he broke it and shared it with them. And… at that moment… their eyes were opened… and they recognized him. Imagine… if you can… their amazement… their wonder… and the incredible joy of discovering “Emmanuel again!” He vanished from their sight, but it was enough. They had seen him… been with him… talked to him… and broken bread with him. They couldn’t wait to get back to Jerusalem to tell the others… only to learn that they had seen him, too!
Emmanuel again! And again! And again! And again! The gospel of Matthew tells us that the eleven disciples saw him on the mountain in Galilee after his resurrection. Mark tells us that he appeared to the eleven at the table. Luke says that he appeared to the eleven while they were eating together and that he ate with them. John says that Jesus appeared to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias where he performed a miracle for Simon Peter. According to Paul, he also appeared to more than five hundred others after his resurrection… enough to convince even the most skeptical that this resurrection was real. God was, again, with his people… with us. Emmanuel again. Or, perhaps, I should say, “Emmanuel still.” God was still with the disciples… God is still with us…even today.
For those of you that came to the Good Friday Tenebrae Service and saw our sanctuary draped in black, perhaps the most disturbing thing was the absence of the cross. This large, lighted cross was gone. I know that at least two people commented on it and said how much they hated seeing our sanctuary without the cross. Imagine, for a moment, our world without Christ. That was the stunning reality of Good Friday… the possibility of a world without a Savior! No wonder the disciples’ feet were dragging as they walked toward Emmaus. How can we, who have know a risen Christ all our lives, even imagine a world without a Savior? What an empty feeling that must be… and what a glorious thing it is for us to realize… once again… that God is with us. Emmanuel again… Emmanuel still… Emmanuel always! Hallelujah! Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed!) Experience the reality of what the Apostle Paul wrote: Jesus Christ, the same yesterday… today… and forever! God is with us… and will remain with us forever. In the resurrection of Jesus, that truth becomes reality… the truth of Emmanuel again! Amen.
Luke 22:14-62