Easter 3 2014

Easter 3 2014

Alice was falling. She had followed a little white rabbit into a hole; a rabbit with a fob watch, wearing a waistcoat, who said that he was late…and she found herself falling. Falling for a very long time, in fact.

She had been falling for such a long time when it occurred to her that she really ought not to be so frightened. Not only should she not be frightened, but she couldn’t imagine how she could have possibly ended up in such a strange situation.

And in Lewis Carroll’s characteristically weird way, Alice begins to wonder if she really is Alice… After all, if she couldn’t possibly imagine herself being in such a strange situation, perhaps the reason was because she wasn’t really Alice at all. Maybe, she was, in fact, the little girl who lived down the street—she might have an adventure like this one…but, never Alice.

After all, if Descartes was right; if “I think, therefore I am,” and this is the basis for a rational life…how should Alice handle a situation where she can think, but she can’t think that she is who she thinks she is—because who she is could never be in such a strange situation…

Oddly enough, even though the story is called “Alice in Wonderland,” Alice never fully reconciles herself to her identity until well after her adventure ends, and she’s no longer in Wonderland. So, there is this sense that even though she can’t rationalize the experience, she was still able to somehow come back to herself—even reclaim her identity.

In today’s Gospel reading, we have yet another post-resurrection appearance of Jesus to his disciples. This time, however, it isn’t any of the disciples that we’ve read about before. Instead, these are just a couple guys who were perhaps some of the ‘general admission’ followers of Jesus who probably had some miraculous fish and bread at some point, and stuck around afterward. Who knows?

We’re told that they were walking toward a village outside Jerusalem, and from the conversation that they end up having with Jesus, they’re not entirely sure what happened. All they knew was that Jesus had been a great teacher; they followed him in hope; he was betrayed and killed; and even though they heard rumors that Jesus had been raised from the dead—they just weren’t sure what to make of anything anymore.

In a sense, with all of the confusion and excitement, I think we might say that these two disciples were in free-fall.

Imagine, everything that they had hoped of Jesus, the one to redeem Israel, was lost, utterly, in one afternoon. His identity, as well as their theological hope and understanding, must have come crashing down. It’s likely that no matter how much they would have liked to believe that the empty tomb meant that Jesus was alive; they probably were just as confused about what was next for them…

We might even take it a bit further, and say that not only were these men in free fall, but I would imagine that they were wondering who they were now. The text tells us that one of these men was named Cleopas—but other than the two of them being called followers of Jesus—we know nothing about them.

Well, guess what? As far as they knew Jesus was either dead, and his body missing, or (fingers crossed) he had been raised from the dead, and was doing something wonderful.

But, even if he was alive again, what are the chances that the risen Jesus would show-up for these two no-name, bargain bin disciples? And, if you’re identity is that of a follower, and you no longer have anyone to follow…well, it begs the question. Who are you then?

Like Alice, these two men followed someone they thought was extraordinary, and find that now, in this state of free-fall, they don’t know who they are.

However, just like the Cheshire Cat in “Alice in Wonderland,” Jesus shows up just at the right time, and even though these disciples don’t recognize him, he begins explaining everything…like everything. He started with Moses, and began interpreting and explaining all that had foretold his coming, and even everything that it meant.

Apparently, this conversation was so long that it lasted until they reached the village, and it was so interesting that they asked Jesus (who they still didn’t recognize) to stay with them.

The culmination of the story then happens when Jesus sits down to table with these two disciples. He blessed the bread and gave it to them—and then…it all made sense to them. Finally, everything had context for these two, and somehow in this action of breaking bread they were able to see the risen Christ who had been in their midst this entire time…

Now, of course, even after this revelation of Jesus to these two disciples, and even everything that Jesus had explained—these two still didn’t ‘get’ all of it. I would assume that like us, they still had any number of questions that were just going to have to be left unanswered.

That’s quite a thing, really, when you think about it. I mean, here are two disciples who are leaving Jerusalem because they think everything is over now—and suddenly Jesus shows up in disguise to explain things and prove that he’s alive.

That’s huge. But still, even Jesus’ closest disciples needed orders to stick around in Jerusalem until Pentecost, so they could receive the Holy Spirit and get their marching orders.

That event was the birth of the Church, but from the rest of the New Testament, and all the centuries between then and now; we’ve all still got a lot of questions…and in a sense we’re in a kind of free-fall, wondering who we really are.

However, like Cleopas and his companion, we’re invited to hear and try to understand how all of our history, and all of our stories converge and find their meaning in Jesus Christ. I also believe that, like these disciples, a lot more than we realize is revealed to us in the breaking of bread, our prayers and the Sacraments. It’s just up to us to be open and attentive.

In the end, the mystery of all of this—this life of faith—amounts to the continued work of uncovering (with God’s help) who we really are as “Christ’s own forever.” In other words, if we remain people of faith, we’ll continue to clear away layer after layer of ‘who-we-are-not,’ and all of the illusions that we have come to believe about ourselves, only to find who we always were underneath.

And while it’s likely that we won’t complete that work, this side of heaven; we should all the same be encouraged by the fact that we will always be that much further along in the process when we come together as the gathered Body of Christ. Because it’s in this mystery that Christ meets us, and it’s where we’re given just a small foretaste of what is yet to be revealed.