A Radical Change of Thought and Life – Luke 24:28-53

Lectionary Readings for May 22, 2022                     6th Sunday of Easter, Year C
Psalm 67 v5 Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.
Acts 16:9-15   Paul travels to Macedonia where he meets and baptizes Lydia.
Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5    John has a vision of the new Jerusalem.
John 14:23-29 v27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

But this week we’ll look at Luke 24:28-53 as we spend the Easter season exploring Jesus’ life after the resurrection.

Peace through Leadership Quotes

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”  ~ Barack Obama

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”  ~ Mahatma Gandhi

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”  ~ Frederick Douglass

If we want the world to be a more peaceful place, we must realize that it’s up to us to do what we can, when we can. Any time you wish to create positive change, you should expect there to be struggles. That’s OK because we believe that God is with us as we work for peace. Peace is a labor of love and well worth the effort.

Any time I preach or lead a group, regardless of age, I start the same way. I’m going to say three short sentences. Please repeat each sentence, with enthusiasm.
God made me. God loves me. God has plans for me.

Preface to Today’s Scripture Reading

Jesus died so late on Friday afternoon that His body was essentially rushed to a burial site before sunset – the time when the Sabbath day began. The last chapter of Luke opens early Easter morning as we see half a dozen or more women who had been part of Jesus’ closest companions arrive at the tomb with spices they had prepared to ensure He had a proper Jewish burial.

Their surprise of finding an empty tomb was quickly eclipsed by their greater surprise at seeing two angelic figures who told them Jesus had risen. They reported this to the disciples who – as we’ve heard in the other gospels – didn’t believe them. Peter ran to the tomb and confirmed that nothing but linen cloths remained.

Later that same Easter day, two disciples were walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus when a stranger joined them. They were stunned to discover the stranger had not heard of Jesus’ execution, since that was the talk of the town. “Then [the stranger] began with Moses and continued, prophet by prophet, explaining the meaning of the Hebrew Scriptures, and showed how the verses talked about the very things that had happened to Jesus.” (Luke 24:27).

Despite their long conversation and walk together, the disciples still don’t realize that the stranger is Jesus. Would you or I recognize Him?

Let’s open our ears, minds, and hearts as we hear Jesus’ last words in Luke’s Gospel.

Read Luke 24:28-53.

I love how this photo conveys the idea of a radical change. For the last three weeks, we’ve looked at what each gospel tells us Jesus said and did in the time between His execution and resurrection. In Luke’s version, Jesus tells us what He wants us to do in verse 47: “a radical change of thought and life should be proclaimed, and that in His name the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed…”. For me, that’s both specific enough and vague enough to give me the direction and flexibility I like.

Notice that this directive – or commission – is not limited to any group of people in any way. ALL of us who are disciples – followers of Jesus – are called to the task of proclaiming.

Our Tuesday evening Bible Study group talked about what it means to proclaim in the sense of sharing our faith and/or faith experiences with others. We all agreed that people of ALL ages can proclaim their faith in numerous ways, perhaps most importantly in how we treat others. We could easily name people we know who live out their faith by being genuine, sincere, loving people who offer others grace, mercy, and a sense of safety. They communicate their faith through their words, their actions, and most of all their attitudes. Many of us can learn a lot from and strive to emulate these saints among us.

And just what are we supposed to be proclaiming? Many modern English translations use the word repentance, but I think The Voice offers us wording that better conveys what repentance means: “a radical change of thought and life.”

Rather than asking ourselves or God, “What do I need to apologize for?” we can ask, “What radical change of thought or behavior would help me better love myself and others?” Last week I talked about forgiveness. Since last week, God and I have been talking about the different ways I need to forgive myself and others. Sure enough, forgiveness pops up again in this week’s reading. Maybe God is trying to get my attention. If I radically embrace forgiveness, I know for a fact that I will be a happier, healthier, more loving person. Perhaps we can proclaim the joy we experience when we have made progress forgiving ourselves or others.

I firmly believe that God wants us to fully experience the fruit of God’s Spirit – recall Galatians 5:22-23. What in our lives are holding us back from fully experiencing that fruit? What changes can we make that will help us more fully see, hear, and feel the fruit of God’s Spirit?

And… When we DO experience any part of that fruit, how can we proclaim our experience to others? Nobody’s life is perfect; we all have setbacks, disappointments, and even profound suffering – that’s “normal” and we should acknowledge those experiences. But if we make the effort, we can all find some part of the fruit to celebrate – even in the midst of suffering.

You don’t become strong by accident; you have to eat right, exercise, and get some sleep; that takes effort. I am convinced that people who naturally exude the fruit of the Spirit have made a deliberate decision and effort to find that fruit and embrace it.

We can choose to love ourselves and others. Depending on the circumstances (including our own mood), that might take considerable effort. But we can choose to make that effort.

We can choose to find joy throughout our days, OR… we can choose to complain about what’s not perfect or ideal.

We can choose to be at peace with ourselves and others, OR… we can choose to spend our time and energy anticipating ways to attack and harm others mentally, physically, emotionally, socially, or spiritually.

We can choose to share patience, kindness, and goodness with ourselves and others, OR not.

In our relationships, we can choose faithfulness.

We can celebrate our accomplishments with humility.

And we can choose to be mature adults who embrace self-control.

As we practice pursuing all of this spiritual fruit, we can proclaim moments of love, joy, peace, patience, and kindness, etc. Proclaiming is NOT bragging when we direct people’s attention to others or to God.

We can celebrate the joy we feel when we see a sunrise, sunset, or rainbow. We can share photos of those and tell people how much joy those give us. And… you can say, “God does great work, hunh?”

Every time someone asks you, “How are you doing?” they’ve given you an opportunity to proclaim some positive way you’ve experienced the fruit of God’s Spirit in your life. That’s your opening, your foot in the door – “How are you doing?” The ONLY way you will become good at naturally answering that question is if you try every chance you get.

If each of us begins to intentionally use that question to proclaim the fruit we’ve experienced and the radical changes in our lives, people will hear what the Kingdom of God is like. And sometimes, they will ask, “How can I start enjoying such a great life?” I am so glad you asked!

Amen? Amen!