First Reading: Acts 2:14a, 36-41
14aPeter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them:
36“Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” 37Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” 40And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 41So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
Psalm 116:1-14
1I love the Lord, because he has heard the voice of my supplication, because he has inclined his ear to me whenever I called upon him. 2The cords of death entangled me; the grip of the grave took hold of me; I came to grief and sorrow. 3Then I called upon the name of the Lord: “O Lord, I pray you, save my life.” 4Gracious is the Lord and righteous; our God is full of compassion. 5The Lord watches over the innocent; I was brought very low, and he helped me. 6Turn again to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has treated you well. 7For you have rescued my life from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from stumbling. 8I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living. 9I believed, even when I said, “I have been brought very low.” In my distress I said, “No one can be trusted.” 10How shall I repay the Lord for all the good things he has done for me? 11I will lift up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. 12I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people. 13Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his servants. 14O Lord, I am your servant; I am your servant and the child of your handmaid; you have freed me from my bonds.
Second Reading: 1 Peter 1:17-25
17If you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. 22Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 24for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.
Gospel: Luke 24:13-35
13That very day two of {Jesus’ followers} were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. 16But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. 18Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. 22Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, 23and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. 24Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” 25And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. 28So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, 29but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. 30When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. 31And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. 32They 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?” 33And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.
Justified, Sanctification and Proof
A middle-aged man was on a Caribbean cruise enjoying his first real vacation in years. On the first day out to sea he noticed an attractive woman, about his age, who smiled at him in a friendly way as he passed her on the deck. This, of course, pleased the man greatly. That night he tipped the maître de so that he could be seated at the same table with her for dinner. As he’d hoped, a conversation developed.
During their chat, he mentioned that he’d seen her earlier that day on the deck and that he appreciated her friendly smile. Upon hearing this, she smiled and commented, “Well, the reason I smiled was that when I saw you, I was immediately struck by your strong resemblance to my third husband.” At this he perked up his ears and said, “Oh, how many times have you been married?” She looked down at her plate, smiled modestly, and answered, “Twice.” Hope is the sustainer of life. It’s the motivator to action. It’s the promise of tomorrow.
In the 1960s, Cleveland, Ohio, became the butt of numerous jokes nationwide. In the same way that smog was the way to take a dig at Los Angeles in the 80s, mention of the Cuyahoga River flowing through Cleveland and into Lake Erie was sure to get a rise out of people. For those unfamiliar with the Cuyahoga River, it was a sensitive subject because it would catch on fire. You heard me, the Cuyahoga river would actually be on fire. On the surface this seems like a ridiculous concept. And yet, time and time again the polluted Cuyahoga was shut down to water traffic due to chemical fires that were starting up all over the river because of the unprotected dumping of hazardous wastes. Pictures appeared in newspapers and magazines. Television newscasts documented this unprecedented phenomenon.
Because of this environmental abuse, the city of Cleveland was forced to face up to its neglect of the local environment. The Cuyahoga River was burning, and Lake Erie was declared to be dying. The widespread belief was that there was no hope; all that could be done was to put up a tombstone marker and move on to other things. Thankfully, today, the river is no longer burning, and Lake Erie has been restored. I, for one, don’t believe I’d go so far as to take a drink out of the Cuyahoga River, but I wouldn’t hesitate to take a swim in Lake Erie. What seemed to once be dead, is now very much alive. What was once an abomination, is now a productive member of our ecosystem once again.
Sometimes, as we listen to the nightly national news, we’re tempted to write an obituary for our world. If the infighting among political parties and governments doesn’t destroy our confidence in our country and world, then pollution or disease or some other global danger, threatens to kill us off. The threat of chemical and nuclear war has, for decades, inspired science fiction writers to imagine the end of time, and to write of human self-destruction and the elimination of all life on earth. If the complete destruction of all life isn’t their focus, then they speculate on the mutation of living creatures into some sort of zombies or monsters that will inherit the earth. But dooms day forecasts don’t end with the seemingly outrageous claims of Hollywood, the science community has its own foretelling’s of life ending events as well.
Global warming proponents, for example, forward that due to our excessive use of fossil fuels, and other harmful chemicals, we’re putting a hole in the ozone layer of our atmosphere that protects the earth and we’re told that we could be headed for another episode like Noah and the flood as the polar icecaps melt away. Climate change, they say, is causing ocean levels to rise, super strength hurricanes, strange weather patterns with too much rain in some areas and drought in others. Overpopulation, food and materials shortages, crime, immigration, inflation, the failure of small banks, and rising costs continue to scare us.
Worldwide diseases, some of which we thought we conquered, and new ones that keep springing up, threaten to overtake us. Terrorism, treasonous acts by our own military members, and the abuse of political power across the globe have us living in fear that life may never be as good as it once was. For the Christian, all this is proof that satan is hard at work to break down our spirits and cause despair. But we know that all is not lost, and the sky isn’t falling. We, as believers know, there is hope!
Again, look at the evidence around us. The Cuyahoga River was never completely dead. Lake Erie didn’t die. So long as we’re willing to do what’s needed, life will still flow through the system, therefore there is hope of reawakening, resurgence, and resurrection. We need the faith, the will, and the vision to see beyond what might appear to be right in front of us, to be able to see what could, quite possibly, be there. As Robert Kennedy often said about himself, “Some people see things as they are and ask why? I dream things that never were, and ask why not?” For the faithful believer, in Jesus, there is hope for the future.
Several years ago, a teacher assigned to visit children in a large city hospital received a routine call requesting that she visit a particular child. She took the boy’s name and room number and was given instructions by the teacher. “We’re studying nouns and adverbs in his class now. I’d be grateful if you could help him with his homework, so he doesn’t fall behind the others.” It wasn’t until the visiting teacher got outside the boy’s room that she realized he was located in the hospital’s burn unit. No one had prepared her to find a young boy horribly burned and in tremendous pain. She felt that she couldn’t just turn and walk out, so she awkwardly stammered, “I’m the hospital teacher, and your teacher sent me to help you with nouns and adverbs.”
The next morning a nurse in the burn unit asked her, “What did you do to that boy?” Before the teacher could finish the profusion of apologies that immediately came out of her mouth, the nurse interrupted her: “You don’t understand. We’ve been very worried about him, but ever since you were here yesterday, his whole attitude has changed. He’s fighting back, responding to treatment. It’s as though suddenly he’s decided to live.”
The boy later explained that he had completely given up hope until he saw that teacher. It all changed when he came to a simple realization. With joyful tears he said, “They wouldn’t send a teacher to work on nouns and adverbs with a dying boy, would they?” Hope is stolen from us when those things that contribute to living are taken from us. Life can hand us any number of difficulties leaving us discouraged, dejected, or even knock us down, but that doesn’t mean we must lose all hope. So long as we have a breath of life left in us, we have a living hope. So long as we keep our calling in mind, we can continue to believe that tomorrow is not only a possibility, but that our future is secure.
Go to any rehabilitation facility and you’ll find people with all sorts of needs and challenges. When people enter a treatment center like that, they find out quickly that they must work hard, sometimes very hard, to get better. A stay in a rehab clinic isn’t a vacation on the beach. Patients in many cases learn a lot about themselves that they didn’t know they were capable of doing. They find hope. As long as possibilities exist, there is hope. Even people who came with little hope find a new sense of life. That’s the essence of hope. St. Peter’s letter to the “exiles in Dispersion,” as he calls them, is a letter of hope and encouragement to the young church as they were facing desperate times.
Peter reminds these Christians that through the resurrection we’ve been given new birth in a living hope. The message of Easter is that Jesus is not dead, but alive and reigning. Despite all the “evidence” to the contrary, Jesus did rise from the grave, and as long as He’s alive, we live in that same hope. We not only live in the hope of a resurrection from the dead, but a resurrection in our living as well. Although these people that Peter was addressing had not seen Jesus, they believed in Him. Although they couldn’t see Him during their time of trial and tribulation, they maintained their faith in Him. That’s living hope. It’s a hope that cannot be restrained by worldly powers. It’s a hope that cannot be thwarted by things of the past. It’s hope that cannot be extinguished by fears that some great calamity might lie ahead. Living hope never dies. And for the followers of Jesus, not even death in this life can destroy our eternal hope.
Obviously, none of us walked the earth with Jesus, as did Peter, Andrew, James, John, and the rest. And yet we still love Him. None of us can see Jesus now, not like Mary and the other women saw Him after the resurrection. He doesn’t appear to us like He did to St. Paul on the road to Damascus. Yet we believe in Him. And we believe that even though we suffer the trials of this life, we will one day rejoice in all things. We believe that through this enduring faith in Jesus Christ, the outcome will indeed be the salvation of our souls. Some say all this goes against common sense, and in some ways their right.
We are, by nature, not the kind of people who make major purchases sight unseen. I personally can’t see myself buying a car without at least taking it for a test drive, even from a source like eBay motors. I know that companies like Carvana, Vroom, and Car Gurus are on the rise. But even these companies give you a few days to decide before the final sale goes through. Or how many folks do you know who purchased a house in a strange city without checking it out and carefully making sure it was just the right house? It’s been a day or two, but I didn’t care for a blind date. And if a blind date brings reticence, then getting married without ever meeting the spouse is scary. I know there are places in the world where arranged marriages are still accomplished, but for the most part, people want to know the person they plan to spend the rest of their lives with. And yet, we, as Christians, put our living hope in someone we’ve never seen. This is the faith God gives us in baptism.
Because of our God given faith, we can put our complete trust in a teaching that says this man Jesus died on a cross for our sins and that God is willing to forgive us our sins because of Him. We believe that because of His willingness to endure the suffering, shame, and death on the cross, that God is willing to overlook the shortcomings of those who believe. We believe we’ve been justified, that is, made right in the eyes of God, through faith alone. And because we’re justified in Christ Jesus, we live our lives differently, never losing hope for a better tomorrow and living today with appreciation for what it brings. But Justification is just the beginning for those who believe.
Justification is the starting point of our lives of service in God’s kingdom. We commit ourselves to live, empowered by the Holy Spirit, according to God’s will. And like the individual going through rehab, we know this isn’t easy. We still struggle against the forces of our own self-will, the forces of sin, of evil and even death and this is a life-long process. This process is called sanctification. The process of sanctification means we’ve been set apart, made holy by God.
Sanctification involves striving to do God’s will, and it involves becoming more like Christ each day, of purifying our hearts and minds, and aligning ourselves with God’s desire for our lives. Sanctification is a process that begins at justification and continues throughout our lives, with the help of the Holy Spirit and the word of God. Sanctification is the process of reducing the power of sin and satan in our lives and a process of becoming perfect even as Jesus is perfect. Sanctification means yielding our will to God’s will and placing our faith in God no matter the trials, temptations, or situations that we endure in this life. The process of sanctification also means bearing fruit worthy of repentance, each and every day. It’s with the help of the Holy Spirit that we have faith in Jesus and in the hope of the resurrection, no matter how dire things seem in this life.
There’s a story of the long and rough Atlantic crossing, when passenger ships were still prevalent, in which a seasick passenger was leaning over the rail of an ocean liner and turned several shades of green. A steward came along and tried to cheer him up by saying, “Don’t be discouraged, sir! You know, no one’s ever died of seasickness yet.” The nauseous passenger looked up at the steward with a deadly glance and replied: “Oh, please, don’t say that! It’s only the hope of dying that’s kept me alive this long.”
Sometimes it appears that Christians live, only to die. Yet we profess that Jesus died, that we might live. Is life, as God created it, so bad that only the hope of dying can keep us alive? I hope not. Scripture tells us that trials and temptations will come. It’s all part of living in this world and is the lifelong work of sanctification. We also believe in the promise given through St. Paul that for every trial, God will give us a means of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13). Experience tells us that the trials of this world always end. And in Christ we will be victors. That’s the life and hope of the Christian.
Everybody goes through it, and everybody must endure. Our life at baptism begins with justification, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, our sanctification ends in victory, perfection, and eternal life with God. But before our earthly journey is complete, we know that we will at times walk through the valleys to get to our heavenly home; that there will be mountains to climb before our sanctification is complete, but Jesus walks with us each and every step. The good news of Easter is that, in Christ, the ending is always the same, regardless of what it took to get there. This is our living hope.
In Christ, all things are possible. In Christ, there is always help along the way. In Jesus we have the strength to reach where we’re heading. The message of Easter tells us that because of Jesus, we have been justified in His death on the cross, that in the power of the Holy Spirit we can live lives of sanctification with the hope of our resurrection just like Christ’s. As Christians we have hope; hope in the promise that Jesus is alive, and because of this living hope, we live lives bearing the fruit of the Spirit for all the world to see.
Amen