(All our songs this morning are from Singing the Faith (StF) numbers will be given where available)
Welcome to our Sunday Service, today shared on paper across our circuit and with the congregation at Bolton Methodist Church and led by Paul Coleman our Circuit Student Presbyter.
Click on the blue links to follow them for bible readings and associated links
Call to Worship – The Emmaus Road
The road between fear and hope,
We need your presence on the long road, Lord.
the road between the place where all is lost
and the place of resurrection.
Like the disciples walking the road to Emmaus,
we are in need of your company!
Jesus, stand among us, in your risen power,
let this time of worship, be a hallowed hour.
~ written by Carol Penner and posted on Leading in Worship. http://carolpenner.typepad.com/
Last Sunday we celebrated with the Disciples who saw the risen Christ, but this morning we journey with two disciples who had witnessed the events of Good Friday, who had heard the story from the women who found the empty tomb, but who had left the city before the others had seen the Risen Christ.
Song – StF 296 – Christ has risen while earth slumbers
Prayers of Confession
Risen Lord Jesus,
you walk with us, yet we do not always recognise you.
When fear or disappointment cloud our vision,
Lord, have mercy.
When we are slow to trust your promises,
Christ, have mercy.
When we fail to see you in those we meet,
or welcome you in our midst,
Lord, have mercy.
Forgive us, we pray.
Open our eyes, kindle our hearts,
and lead us in the way of your risen life.
Amen.
Reading
Luke 24: 13-35
You can watch/listen to the reading HERE
Would we recognise Jesus if we met him on the road?
I used to ask how these disciples, who had followed Jesus, entered Jerusalem with him, presumably having eaten with him and spent time hearing him teach on countless occasions could fail to recognise him when they met him on the road. Surely, they would recognise his voice and mannerisms. We are told that they were kept from recognising him, but not what kept them from recognising him.
Let’s start with the obvious; they did not expect to see him there, because only three days before, they had seen him executed and sealed into a tomb. The only evidence they had of his resurrection was the story of the women, and they had left before anyone else had seen Jesus. How many times have we failed to recognise someone simply because we did not expect to see them in that context?
Maybe their eyes were closed through sadness and despair? I mean what a rollercoaster of a week? It had started full of hope with the parade into Jerusalem. The hopeful cries of “Hosanna – Save us”. Jesus overturning the tables of the corrupt money changes in the temple. You can imagine the anticipation of these disciples, likely from impoverished rural villages: Jesus was going to change everything. …. And then, betrayal by a trusted friend, seduced by money, Jesus arrested and put on trial, mocked crucified and buried. Then three days later, the tomb is empty, there are stories of angels, and yet they had left, maybe not daring to stick around to see what happens next. What would the Romans do? Had the Romans taken the body? Were they going to be next?
Were they too engrossed in their conversation to pay much attention to the person who had joined them. They didn’t know who this man was and yet they took a tremendous risk, sharing everything they knew about Jesus, who they called a prophet and who they had hoped would redeem Israel. What if he had turned them into the authorities?
We don’t actually know where Emmaus was or how far they had to travel. Based on an average walking pace, it was likely somewhere between 12 and 20 miles from Jerusalem. We certainly know it took a long time, not only did they narrate everything that had happened, but Jesus also explained it all to them, going right back to the ancient prophets. And yet it is not until they sat with him around the table and saw him breaking bread, that they were able to recognise him. Maybe the more familiar setting helped them recognise the mannerisms, maybe they had a renewed sense of hope, hearing again how God had been at work over the centuries. Whatever it was they could finally identify that warm feeling they had had along the road, and without hesitating got up and ran all the way back to Jerusalem to share this amazing news: Jesus is alive,
So, what does this mean for us today? First, would we almost run a marathon to tell someone that Jesus is alive? Are we that excited, that filled with hope, that we literally cannot keep it to ourselves? It would have been so much easier and more sensible to sleep on it and walk back the next day in daylight, but instead they ran.
Second, their hearts had burned as they walked and talked with him, but they had not responded to that feeling. Would they have recognised him sooner if they had? What does it feel like for you to encounter Jesus? And how can we learn to recognise, as Wesley might put it, when “our hearts are strangely warmed?”
Finally, it was in the moment of breaking bread that they recognised Jesus, I wonder how often we break bread with others and fail to see Jesus in them? So as we break bread, or share a cup of tea, with friends, family and strangers, may we learn to see Jesus in them.
Song – StF 308 – On the journey to Emmaus
Intercessions
Loving Christ,
You come to us
In unexpected places,
In a crowded room,
In a journey on a dusty road,
In conversation,
In the stillness.
You come in the midst of our doubt, our fear, our sorrow
You come in the power of the resurrection
No pain and suffering is unknown to you.
You bring us peace,
And we pray for the places where there is no peace.
Countries torn by war,
Refugees seeking homes,
Prisoners facing torture.
You bring peace.
Peace to the tensions and conflicts within us,
To the regrets, the failure,
The broken relationships
The lost friendships.
You bring peace.
For you are a friend to us,
When we are alone,
When we are lonely,
Unseen you are there.
You bring us peace.
And we pray that we too
may become peacemakers.
Amen.
written by Susan Miller, and posted on the Church of Scotland’s Starters for Sunday website. http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/
Its easy to forget, that according to the text this is still Easter, after all for us this is the third Sunday of Easter. So for our final hymn we join with the celebration of these two disciples as they run back to Jerusalem to share their good news ….
Song – StF 297 – Christ is Alive
Closing Prayer
Living Jesus,
whose presence on our daily road
we often fail to see;
warm our hearts with fresh confidence in your Word,
so that, in making room for the stranger beside us,
we find your hospitality awaiting us,
and the reassurance of your presence
to inspire us to tread the road again
and to share the good news of your resurrection life.
Amen.
posted on the Monthly Prayers page of the Christian Aid website. http://www.christianaid.org.uk/
