Mission on the Emmaus Road

 Luke 24:13-15

The Walk to Emmaus

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them

The Risen Christ

Drew alongside

Listening as they shared their hopes and dreams

their fear and disappointment

He stayed

a quiet companion on a long road

paying attention to all that they shared

And when he had listened carefully

And only then-

did he share

how Scripture had been fulfilled

He showed them gently 

where God was - and is - at work

Igniting a spark within them

that saw them racing forward

to share what they had discovered

Those disciples did not run back 

the way they had come

But forward into new possibilities

They moved into a new reality

not with a formula to practice

but with a conviction to be shared

When the Risen Christ

drew alongside 

(Liz Crumlish Easter 2023)

The one who got it!

 John 20:24-25

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

Thomas - forever dubbed as the doubter

Yet I believe…

That you were the one who truly got it

You were the one whom, realising the enormity

of all that resurrection meant,

took off and took time

to process

For something as momentous as that

needs time

You weren’t prepared to take anyone else’s word

You weren’t prepared to learn second hand

You demanded your own experience

And even then, you knew that this was so much bigger

so much weightier

than anything you - or the world

had ever known

It wasn’t at all that you didn’t believe

It was that you believed so completely

You saw that the world was forever changed

and you were doing what you needed to do

to be part of a new calling

a new chapter

in being a disciple.

Thomas - you got it.

And, today, we might take our cue from you.

(Liz Crumlish Easter 2023)

Faith and Politics

Matthew 26:14-15

Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I betray him to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver.

At this midpoint of Holy Week

we return, for a moment

to recall the Hosannas,

the waving of Palms 

and the joy-filled hopes

with which the week began

And we might ponder:

Are we still ready to champion 

the donkey-riding king

to hold our nerve, to watch what unfolds

even amidst the forces of darkness?

Or have we already moved on

to call for his arrest and torture?

Are we already siding with another mob

who are baying for blood - 

indeed perhaps even the same mob

whose instincts have grown ugly 

as we work out the safest strategy for our own survival?

As politics keeps step with unravelling faith

are we prepared to listen to the evidence,

to hold back our judgment

Will we allow compassion and curiosity

to prevent us from reaching easy conclusions

that condemn and crucify

The spotlight is on us as much as him.

How will we be revealed?

Liz Crumlish 2023

The journey back

As the sun rose on the day

that the ferry would carry us homeward

we gathered up the treasures

of time spent in community

with those who simply “get it”

packing them carefully away

to be unwrapped at our leisure

in those moments given to ponder.

Perhaps in this week that we call holy

we will take time to contemplate

gifts of laughter and tears

and graces of wisdom and insight.

And as we follow

and lead others

to the foot of the cross

and beyond

to Resurrection

may we be reminded yet again

of all that draws us

to a life of love and service

and with renewed purpose

may our steps be joyful

and our words be hopeful

as we proclaim the mystery of faith

Christ has died

Christ is risen

Christ will come again.

Liz Crumlish Iona 2023