Sermon (April 15) by Pastor Cheryl Foulk - "When We Least Expect It"

                            

Blue skies and clouds. Remember as a child lying on your back looking at the clouds ?

I still like to look at the sky and notice the cloud formations. Sometimes I spot a cloud that looks like an animal or a person's face.  I watch it intently for awhile and then notice that the cloud has shifted and the image is gone.

In VBS this July, the sky is part of our theme of “Trusting God.”  Every day at VBS  the children will be encouraged to look for God sightings. They will share their observations and then will put  cotton balls(clouds)  on a sky poster.  By the end of the week, the sky poster will be covered with clouds!

What are God sightings?  If you haven't been part of VBS yet, I'll tell you:  a God sighting is a time when we see God's presence in our world, when we experience something that reminds us of God. 

The VBS children are encouraged to be very observant. They will come in and tell us about butterflies, and beautiful sunsets, kindness within their family,  or how a friend shared a toy with them. It is a  great habit for all of us to be open to God's appearance in our daily routines.

The Gospel reading from Luke describes a God sighting that was totally unexpected.  We learn   about two people who have followed Jesus, believed in him, thought he was the Messiah. They have been in Jerusalem the last few days, and saw that Jesus was arrested and died by execution. It has been a great shock and sorrow to see their friend beaten and tortured.  They are walking home, to the village of Emmaus, sharing their grief together. Jesus' death is a nightmare that came true. They weren't looking for God's presence, weren't looking to be inspired. They were just trying to put one foot in front of the other, just make it home.  Their words reveal the depth of their sadness:

“We had hoped”...  There is tremendous emotional weight in those three words.

Those words are also part of our vocabulary.

“We had hoped that the medical treatment would work, but the test results are not good.”

“We had hoped to get that job offering, but they didn't call back.”

“We had hoped that the news was wrong...”

“We had hoped... “

There is  great disappointment and question in that statement.

Great hopelessness when things do not work out as planned

What do we do now?

In the midst of their confusion and sorrow, a stranger joins them on the road to Emmaus and they share the story of how Jesus' life ended. The  stranger shares with them a different story: a story of how God is working through history , expressed in the words of the prophets, and that there is hope even though it looks like tomorrow is unbearable.

There is no visible way to recognize that the stranger is the risen Lord himself. He is just present with them. It is only when they eat together and he offers prayer that  their eyes are  opened as to his identity.

In retrospect, when they think back to the incident,they realize that :”their hearts were burning ”. There  is a realization on the inside that something has happened.

We too have been touched by experiences  that happen in our daily life. Our hearts have been warmed. Perhaps the experience caused us to cry- to feel a sense of urgency or of peace within- we felt loved or challenged  or convicted.  It is a stirring within our souls. It is important to take time to consider what has happened , and how God is present with us in these moments.

In the spring 2001 my father died a few days before  Palm Sunday. Funeral was in NC on Palm Sunday afternoon. We made a quick trip home because we needed to be back for Holy Week services at our churches.  Maundy Thursday- Good Friday- Easter morning services all loomed ahead.

With heavy hearts after the service  we traveled on north  I-77  through Virginia; both of us wished that we could have stayed with my family. My husband surprisingly suggested that we stop at a state park, to take a brief stop to break up the trip. 

We stopped at Jackson Ferry Tower Park. The park highlights a tower dating from  the  late 1700's where  ammunition was made. We toured the tower, and were walking back to our car when we were met by an elderly man in the parking lot. He lived nearby , knew a lot about local history, and began to share his stories. He wanted to show us something in his trunk which turned out to be scrapbooks about the history of the tower.  I really had no deep interest in all that he was sharing with us- I only knew I was greatly comforted by this polite gentleman. My dad also compiled scrapbooks, loved history, and had the same white hair, outgoing manner.  I can't explain it- somehow I knew God's care thru this stranger. The man could have talked all day but we needed to say goodbye and  get back on the road.

When I think about the time of my dad's death, it is a blur. But I still smile when I think of that elderly gentleman and his scrapbooks, his kindness  and friendliness that I needed in my time of sadness.

I can't predict how and where God may become more evident in your lives-what your God sightings may be like. I don't know how your heart may be warmed.  There is no one way that God comes to us. What I do believe is that it is possible for each of us.

The  imprint of God's presence in our lives  may be more obvious at some times than at  other times. It may be much later when we can appreciate what happened.

People have shared with me their stories:

A lady who very nervous about her upcoming surgery suddenly felt a sense of calm in her hospital room. She said it felt as if she was surrounded by God's light. I have heard stories of dreams that helped to give new perspectives to  dilemmas. God's presence has felt real when someone was reading Scripture, or hearing music, or riding a motorcycle.  Sometimes it has been in conversation with a friend or with a stranger, or in  the stillness  of the night.

Maybe your heart was burning as you were working on your tax returns!

For all these folks ,the heart experience was not expected, but they did not dismiss the experience. In sharing with me, they were seeking an understanding of what it meant for them in their relationship with God.

They were open and receptive to what God might be saying to them in those moments.

God speaks to us in a language that we can understand. In a multitude of ways, we are shown care and concern for our lives. Who knows where and how God will show up?

 God is  unpredictable!  Look at the Easter accounts: in the midst of her tears, Christ was with Mary Magdalene in a garden; in the midst of a fishing trip, Christ came to Peter and his crew; in the midst of his skepticism, Christ came to Thomas.

A young boy went to play in a park. He took along a peanut butter sandwich  and slices of orange for his snack. When he stopped to rest , he sat on a park bench beside a lady who was dozing in the sunshine. They smiled at one another and he shared his snack with her.  They talked about the ducks on the pond and about how scary a thunder storm can be. Mostly they just sat together. When he left, he gave the woman a hug.

When the little boy returned home his mother asked him about his morning.
“I ate lunch with God today; I never realized  that God had such a beautiful smile and was so wrinkled.”

When the lady's son came to walk her home. he asked her how her morning had gone. She replied:

“I ate an orange with God today. You know God is a lot younger than I had imagined.”

When we least expect it: driving home from a funeral, at work, in the grocery line, sitting in a park, Christ comes to us. We may not even recognize his presence until we are  overwhelmed by his love and grace.

Luke's Gospel tells us about two  weary travelers making their way home to  Emmaus and walking with them was  the risen Lord .If it could happen to them, why not us? 

When we were in ministry  in Cincinnati, my husband had a church in a community next to the Ohio River, a neighborhood with many challenges. There was woman connected with the church who was greatly troubled. She often wandered the streets at night;she even walked under the viaducts that led from downtown to the western part of the city.  I think she was searching for a peace that alluded her.

Many times she would ask my husband “Does Jesus walk  the 8^th. Street viaduct?”

I hope that she found the assurance of the answer to that question. I hope that we also know that assurance.  There is no place where Christ cannot be found, no path that he does not travel.

'Where can I go from your presence? If I go to the heights of heaven you are there. If I go to the lowest depths, you are there. If I  rise on the wings of the morning, your hand will hold me fast.”

O Lord, may we recognize you today. Amen.

“ Moments such as these are there for all of us if we simply learn to notice- moments when our awareness opens up and we see something from a spiritual perspective that somehow changes everything. If we take time to pay attention, we see that God was with us- protecting us, guiding us, blessing us- and we realize how thin the veil really is between the material and spiritual worlds.”

Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership by Ruth Haley Barton (InterVarsity Press, 2008)

.