Sermons for the Month
My Life as an Alien
DATE: April 6th, 2008
SERVICE: Third Sunday of Easter
TEXT: Luke 24:13-35“To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN
Everything was strange about that Sunday morning including the stranger they met on the road to Emmaus, who was stranger than most strangers. Or so it seemed, but perhaps that was because their vision was clouded by the strangeness of the week. Cleopas and his friend, or wife (there is no way of knowing the identity of the un-named disciple), have been overwhelmed by the unexpected, or rather by expectations that were not met. They had come to Jerusalem for the Passover expecting that Jesus - who had proved his divinely ordained power by raising Lazarus from the dead - would initiate the redemption of Israel. It had seemed possible, indeed probable, that freedom from Roman domination was on the horizon. But their hopes had been destroyed as Jesus died the death of a slave, a common criminal, on the cross. How could this be? Jesus had failed them and the stories of the empty tomb reported earlier that day were foolishness. So, they had decided to take their dreams and walk the seven miles home to Emmaus. It was all too strange. And then, they encountered this strange, but vaguely familiar, traveler and the strangeness of the day increased. Can you see them in your mind's eye? Can you feel their confusion and despair? As you do so, let's leave these two disciples on the road for a moment to consider some significant details. The first is that while they often are criticized for being so preoccupied with disappointment that they do not recognize Jesus, the text clearly says that their eyes were kept from recognizing him. That's interpreted in a variety of ways, but I think it means that there has been a strange, divine intervention that prevents them from grasping that what makes this traveler so strange is that he is someone who has been raised from the dead! The second significant detail is that Cleopas calls Jesus a stranger, but actually the Greek word is closer to alien. On the walk to Emmaus, in what may be Jesus' first resurrection appearance in Luke, Jesus is recognized as an alien! (1) What do you think of when you hear the word alien? Do you conjure up visions of a being from outer space that visits, or invades, our planet with malicious or caring intent? Perhaps you think of people from other countries who live among us, with permission or illegally. The fact is that alien can be an emotional word, usually used to describe someone who is unknown, an outsider, different and who does not really belong. And here's Jesus, the risen Lord, showing up as an alien. Now…that's strange. Yet…a Messiah who suffers, is crucified and then is raised from the dead is an alien idea. Maybe that's why Jesus had to explain it incognito using the familiar words of scripture; otherwise, when they first saw him, they would have doubted their sanity, just as we would if we saw a little green being with antennae. And, the fact is that Jesus is an alien, the word fits him because the risen Jesus is not of this world. He is not bound to a particular time or place, and the way he lived and died was alien to those who witnessed it. And here's a really alien thought; Jesus transforms his followers, you and I, to be aliens, to be those who do not really belong. We are to live as aliens whose homeland is with Jesus; Paul writes in Philippians that our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. So we wait in what is to us alien territory; all around us people live as enemies of the cross, their focus on earthly matters. (Philippians 3:17-21) Here's the thing, though, we look around us not with fear or distain, but with courage and compassion. Our goal is to live alien lives that make a positive difference, that make the Kingdom of God come among us NOW. Opportunities to be aliens abound, often showing up in the midst of our daily journeys, just as Jesus did on the Emmaus road that day. In her book Wrestling with Angels Carolyn Arends tells a wonderful story about her father's decision to sell the family's blue four-door Impala and, provided he got a good price for it, to buy a brand-new car, right off the lot. Now, this was momentous in her family, and she and her brothers were thrilled at the possibilities. Well, the first person to show interest was an unassuming man who brought his family of giddy kids and wife. The entire family was dressed in clean, but threadbare clothing. One of the boys was in a pair of shorts that were cinched up at the waist with a belt that was tied in front like a rope. The other children had clearly outgrown their jackets; their skinny arms extended like pipe cleaners past the cuffs of their sleeves. They approached the car as if it was something holy, and then took it for a cautious test drive. Carolyn's father came back in the house excited, "They are really interested; I think they are going to buy it!" The children began to debate the make of their band-new car. When the potential buyers returned from their spin around the block an intense conversation began between buyer and seller. Suddenly, leaving the family outside, Carolyn's father came in the house. "We have a problem," he told his wife. Of course everyone thought negotiations had broken down. But that wasn't the case. "Oh, they want it," he said, "but they want to pay what I asked for in the newspaper. That's way too much." The children were incredulous; their father was upset because his buyer wanted to pay too much??? He was a banker; he would haggle relentlessly for better deals. What was going on here? "They are supposed to negotiate," he complained. So, at his wife's suggestion, he went back outside and told them the AM radio didn't work, so he was taking off $200. The talking continued, but no money changed hands, and soon he came back into the house. He had reduced the price, and they were willing to pay it, but he was still bothered. It didn't seem that they could afford it. In their conversations he had learned that they were missionaries in a rural area, and would be using the car to drive people back and forth to Sunday School, for crying out loud! So, again at his wife's suggestion, he went out with an amended deal. He told the buyer that one of the air vents was blocked and that the passenger-side floor mat was missing, and he again reduced the price. By this time the children inside are shaking their heads in despair. There was a mild argument outside - no doubt the man was trying to talk the seller into a higher price! But money was handed over and they drove off in the Impala. Carolyn's father did not even count the money. He joined the family as they watched their brand new, right-off-the-lot car drive away. "To them it's a Cadillac," he said, "Better than a Cadillac. It's like a Bond car or something." Amazingly, everyone in the Bond car AND in the house was grinning from ear to ear. (2) That's what living an alien life looks like; somehow it does not fit, does not belong, is impossible to understand, and yet…it causes the Kingdom of God to come. In the midst of it, Jesus is present, just as he was present in the breaking of the bread that first Easter. Cleopas had rightly called Jesus an alien, and when his vision cleared as the Stranger blessed the meal, he saw the risen Jesus handing him the bread and calling him to a strange life as an alien. Our alien Lord is here too, as we break the bread. He is present in the bread and the wine to forgive us and sustain us, which is good, since living an alien life is not easy. On the other hand, though, if we are true to our alien-nature, it will never be dull!
AMEN
(1) "Consorting with Aliens" by Edgardo Antonio Colon-Emeric, The Christian Century, April 5, 2005, pg. 18, www.religion-online.org
(2) Wrestling with Angels by Carolyn Arends, Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, Oregon, 2000, pgs. 165-171.