April 14, 2024 | Rev. Loren McGrail
Jesus, the crucified and Risen Christ shows up to show the disciples that he is not a disembodied spiritual ghostly presence. He comes with his wounds still fresh so they would know it was him. He quells their fears by greeting them with Peace. He lets them know he is hungry. Jesus comes bearing his scars of injustice and fear, with an appetite that needs satisfaction, “Have you anything to eat?” As Jesus chews and swallows; something becomes possible that was impossible before. The disciples lose enough of their fear to draw close and actually listen to what he’s saying, and their receptivity allows Jesus to “open their minds to understand.” By the end of the encounter, they are no longer frightened; they are “witnesses of these things,” emboldened for life and ministry.
Simply by expressing physical hunger and accepting bodily nourishment, Jesus turns trauma into communion. We saw this at the last supper and earlier in Luke’s story when the disciples broke bread with Jesus on the Road to Emmaus after the resurrection.
Feeding people. Giving out food. The late Archbishop Desmond Tutu from South Africa once said, “The Gospel of our Lord is concerned for the whole person. When people say they are hungry, Jesus didn’t say, “Now is that political or social? He said, “I feed you because the good news to a hungry person is bread.”
Feeding people at Bayshore and collecting food for Calico Cat are long time ways we have responded to this command to feed the hungry. As the church moves into exploring its relationship to living on the earth in a more sustainable way, we will explore ways we ourselves eat. Next week we will have a plant based coffee hour, for example. Food is important because Jesus returns to us hungry and scarred. To be his witnesses, we must be vulnerable ourselves and let people see our scars. The Word is made flesh. It is disabled and divine. The resurrected Christ is a disabled God who shares in our human condition; They experience our vulnerability and flaws. The Word is made flesh means this.
Equally important, if we are to embody him, we must also not only say no to a ceasefire, but no to those who send bombs and not food, or slay the hungry, or those that bring the food. Embodiment is sometimes saying NO so we can give our Yes.
Dear Ones, I wish I could end the sermon here. I had planned to. I thought it would be enough, but it is not. The world this morning is on the verge of a greater escalation of violence throughout the Middle East, some say a regional war while others fear a third world war.
I, like you, have already been struggling on how to process the weight of the body count, the loss of some many lives, in Gaza.
What O God, can I say this morning? Where are you? We have been praying for peace forever. How many candles will it take? Are you deaf? Are we? “Blessed are the peacemakers,” I hear you whisper ever so quietly I thought it was the wind. “Blessed are the peacemakers; become one of them.” The whisper becomes more audible. “I will arm your spirit with love; I will put peace in the palm of your bloody hands; I will invite you to break bread and eat fish with me as long as you share. Beloved, this is how you witness to me. You become my body, traumatized, and redeemed; you become one of my peace makers. You say no to violence---all of it. That simple and that difficult. Your No is my Yes. Peace, salaam shalom.”