23 April 2023
10:00 | 
Posted by
Dr Platts |
After days of glorious sunshine, today was rainy and damp, but it did not dampen our spirits and worship.
The Easter lilies are now in full bloom and despite the greyness outside, the church was looking glorious. Today is the third Sunday after Easter, doesn't time fly!
Our gospel reading is the Road to Emmaus, where two travellers are discussing the events that happened only a few days earlier in Jerusalem. Jesus appears and walks along with them and asks what they are talking about. Fr Chris used this as the text for his sermon, starting with an amusing anecdote. When he left college, he set up a business with his brother. They were going to make instore video adverts, the whole deal. To try and encourage business they went to a business exhibition in Earls Court. Things did not go well. This was before Dragons' Den on the BBC. A chap went to their stand to ask about their product. It was Peter Lewis of John Lewis. Fr Chris asked what sort of business he was in. Like the travellers on the road to Emmaus, he did not recognise to whom he was talking.
We join the story in the gospel when Cleophas and his companion are discussing the events in Jerusalem. Cleophas can't believe that Jesus (unrecognised) could possibly be unaware of what went on and Jesus "winds them up" by asking "what events?" He then teaches them anbout the fulfilment of the prophesies in the Old Testament by Jesus. Christ was to redeem God's chosen people.
"The new is in the old concealed,
The old is in the new revealed.!
The travellers still did not know who their companion was, but during the meal and the breaking and blessing of bread, Jesus is revealed to them.
Our Eucharist is in two parts, the liturgy of the word and the sacrement. They cannot be seperated, but are equally importaant.
The action of Jesus at the table is also seen in the feeding of the 5000 and the last supper, enacted by the priest at every Eucharist. When we receive the bread, our eyes are open so we may recognise Jesus.
The anthem sung by the choir was "This Joyful Eastertide".
Acts 2:14a,36-41
A reading from the acts of the Apostles.
On the day of Pentecost,
Peter, standing with the eleven,
raised his voice and addressed the crowd.
Let the entire house of Israel know with certainty
that God has made him both Lord and Messiah,
this Jesus whom you crucified.’
Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart
and said to Peter and to the other apostles,
‘Brothers, what should we do?’
Peter said to them,
‘Repent, and be baptized every one of you
in the name of Jesus Christ
so that your sins may be forgiven;
and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
For the promise is for you, for your children,
and for all who are far away,
everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.’
And he testified with many other arguments
and exhorted them, saying,
‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.’
So those who welcomed his message were baptized,
and that day about three thousand persons
were added to their number.
1 Peter 1:17-23
A reading from the first letter of Peter.
If you invoke as Father
the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds,
live in reverent fear during the time of your exile.
You know that you were ransomed
from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors,
not with perishable things like silver or gold,
but with the precious blood of Christ,
like that of a lamb without defect or blemish.
He was destined before the foundation of the world,
but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake.
Through him you have come to trust in God,
who raised him from the dead and gave him glory,
so that your faith and hope are set on God.
Now that you have purified your souls
by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love,
love one another deeply from the heart.
You have been born anew,
not of perishable but of imperishable seed,
through the living and enduring word of God.
Luke 24:13-35
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
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,
but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
And he said to them,
‘What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?’
They stood still, looking sad.
Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him,
‘Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem
who does not know the things
that have taken place there in these days?’
He asked them, ‘What things?’
They replied, ‘The things about Jesus of Nazareth,
who was a prophet mighty in deed and word
before God and all the people,
and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over
to be condemned to death and crucified him.
But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.
Yes, and besides all this,
it is now the third day since these things took place.
Moreover, some women of our group astounded us.
They were at the tomb early this morning,
and when they did not find his body there,
they came back
and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels
who said that he was alive.
Some of those who were with us went to the tomb
and found it just as the women had said;
but they did not see Jesus.’
Then he said to them,
‘Oh, how foolish you are,
and how slow of heart
to believe all that the prophets have declared!
Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things
and then enter into his glory?’
Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
he interpreted to them
the things about himself in all the scriptures.
As they came near the village to which they were going,
he walked ahead as if he were going on.
But they urged him strongly, saying,
‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening
and the day is now nearly over.’
So he went in to stay with them.
When he was at the table with them,
he took bread, blessed and broke it,
and gave it to them.
Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized \jesus;
and he vanished from their sight.
They said to each other,
‘Were not our hearts burning within us
while he was talking to us on the road,
while he was opening the scriptures to us?’
That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem;
and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together.
They were saying,
‘The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!’
Then they told what had happened on the road,
and how he had been made known to them
in the breaking of the bread.
