The Revelation

This post is part of the Sunday Setlist blog carnival. See what other churches did on this day at TheWorshipCommunity.com.

Easter season continues today at The Table. In the Anglican tradition, the Easter season is from Easter Sunday until Pentecost Sunday (May 19th this year). Today we read the account of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. My former pastor Stephen Mansfield suggests that this passage contains some of the saddest words in the New Testament. I agree. During their journey, the disciples discuss the sad news of the crucifixion of Jesus with an apparently clueless stranger. The words that ring authentic and true, yet full of pain, loss, and disillusion are “but we had hoped.”

How many times have the same words rung in our own hearts? “We had hoped.” Such a common experience, but is often denied in polite Christian company. Disappointment with God is real and common and hard.

The stranger continues to walk with them as they process their loss. He reveals insights and corrects the lens through which they had viewed the past. They are unaware of the great secret we readers know: this stranger is Jesus Himself in the resurrected flesh. In time – his time – he reveals himself at the table. With burning hearts, their hope is restored to an even greater degree than it ever had been.

Thank you Jesus for continuing to walk with us especially through that which we cannot understand and threatens our hope. Reveal yourself to us as we commune with you. Amen.

This was our set: