“Next Saturday, the men of the church will get together for their Men’s Tea.”
What, did I not say that right?
Men don’t normally get together for tea, do they? They may drink tea, as I do, but they don’t get together for tea. No, the women do that. The men, they’d rather fix things. They’d rather get together and fix a door, fix a light switch, fix breakfast, fix the church.
Please understand, I’m just describing things as I see them. If the men wanted to have a tea, well, that would be fine.
However, the male brain has more white matter in it. Males rely more on their visual cortex than women do. Which means that men think best when they are constructing, or building, or moving about. But sitting still—that’s a little harder.
By the way, if any of you men need to stand up and stretch right now, go right ahead.
So it’s hardly surprising, then, that two men were having an in-depth conversation not as they sat around a table drinking tea, but as they journeyed on a seven-mile walk. And indeed, they had a lot to talk about. Just days before, Jesus—whom they followed—had been crucified. His crucifixion caused such an uproar among the whole city of Jerusalem, given the accusations against him, and the crowds of supporters as well as the crowds who called for his execution. “Where were you when it happened?” people asked one another. “Where were you when you heard the news?” Like Pearl Harbor or 9/11, it was a moment people knew they would never forget.
These two men were talking about these things as they walked, trying to process all the information as they walked together, when a third man came up alongside them and joined them. They stopped and greeted him, and he asked them what they were talking about.
Well, where to begin? The two travelers didn’t know where to begin. It didn’t help that they were standing still. So they resumed walking. And they told this man everything that had happened, and how they now had no idea what the future would hold in store.
But this man who had joined them knew, because he was, of course, Jesus, whom the two travelers did not recognize. Jesus knew that his followers would come together, and would live by the way he had taught them, and that they would, in fact, become what we call the church.
This is an amazing story in scripture. There is so much here, and I think that I could hear someone preach on this scripture every Sunday for a year and never tire of listening. I’m sure that every sermon would reveal some new wisdom and insight, and indeed, the only real challenge I have in preaching on this scripture—and I will admit that it is a rather formidable challenge—is figuring out what aspect of this story God is calling me to preach on. Which of the many important angles to this story is the right one for today? What is the good news in this story that needs to be heard on this particular occasion?
The event which kept the minds of the two travelers preoccupied was such a pivotal moment in their lives—such a pivotal moment in history—that they had absolutely no clue what the future would hold. It was, to say the least, an uncertain time. Certainly there is a message in this story for we who live in our own uncertain time.
These men did not know what would happen in the future, but Jesus did. Jesus knew that the people of God would come to see God’s power at work in the events that had taken place, and that they would come together as God’s church.
And hidden in this story, I see three ingredients that are key to building a church.
The church is not, as we know, a building. This story does seem to end in a building, but it seems to me that, in this story, “church” begins before they even reach a building or even a town or village. “Church” begins out on the road.
I see “church” taking place in the presentation of the Word; and that is the first “ingredient” I see here. the men try to explain, as best they could, what they know about Jesus, and then Jesus explains to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. The Word, shared, is the first ingredient of church.
I also see “church” taking place when the two travelers invite Jesus to stay with them and share a meal with them. Together, they break bread, which implies not only eating together, but fellowship, friendship, and agape love. Indeed, when bread is broken in this way, it becomes a sacrament.
But the third ingredient is perhaps the most important. Many will say that the church is made up not of buildings but of people; but I will go one step further. The church isn’t made up of people, but of the relationships people have with one another.
In this story, “church” began when the two travelers invited this stranger to join them and journey with them. And then, when they reached their destination, they invited this stranger to stay with them. That’s called hospitality.
They invited him to share dinner with them, and then they allowed this stranger, this newcomer, to lead them in the blessing.
The two travelers did not know who this stranger was, but nevertheless they welcomed him, offered him hospitality, shared a meal with him, and showed him genuine love. They treated him as if he was an honored guest, or a long-lost family member. They were doing more than fulfilling their duty to “welcome the stranger.” They were establishing and building a relationship with him.
Because of that, I think, their eyes were opened, and they recognized the stranger as none other than Jesus. In the relationship they had established with this stranger, God had become incarnate once again. In opening up their lives to him, they enjoyed holy communion and they experienced church.
When I was in college at Chapman University, I became friends with a man who was then the pastor at All Peoples Christian Church. His name was T.J. Bottoms. At the 1997 General Assembly in Denver, he gave a sermon in which he challenged the church to really and truly see Jesus in the relationships we have with one another, and even in the relationships we develop with strangers.
After all, aren’t we as followers of Christ called to see the presence of Jesus in every human being,… and especially in the “least of these?” And isn’t it true that how we treat others is how we treat Christ?
Would you think to look for Jesus in a stranger whom you happen to meet along the road? Would you even recognize Jesus if he were to come up to you on the street?
In his sermon, T.J. Bottoms asked, “I wonder where you go to look for Jesus? I wonder what your artist rendering of the master teacher would look like. I wonder if you’d be more inclined to look for him in Beverly Hills than in South Central. Would it occur to you to look for Jesus in the AIDS ward? I wonder if it occurred to you that in the face of that child you’re so ashamed of, is the face of Jesus. Did you know that that homeless and destitute man who annoys you every day is an embodiment of the Christ of God and that everybody watching you will make a decision about you and your beliefs based on your treatment of that man. Did you know that the lesbian or gay man that you love to make jokes about over the water cooler is loved by God? Ridiculed and mocked by you—loved by God.”
T.J. Bottoms went on to say this: “Like the first disciples, Jesus could be (and in fact is) in our very midst—we just don’t recognize him. But like them, we have things to do, places to go and people to see, that we don’t really have time for Jesus…. When, Jesus, did we see you naked, thirsty, or hungry? ‘When you did it unto the least of these my brothers and sisters, you did it unto me.’ Do you know what that means? It means that Jesus is appearing regularly in the nearest welfare line, AIDS hospice, hospital, nursing home, rehab center, prison, and soup kitchen. And he’s waiting there, right there, to meet you. Have you seen Jesus?...Would you recognize him if you did?”
I regret that I did not get to hear T.J. preach this sermon in person. I was not there, because while that General Assembly was taking place, Ginger and I became parents.
And I regret that T.J. is no longer with us. He died the year after that Assembly, at age 38, of a brain tumor.
But I am thankful that I have the words he spoke, because every time I pull that sermon out of my files and read it, I am challenged to remember just what it is that makes up a church. A building is nice and can be helpful. And people are good—you can’t have a church without people. But people aren’t enough.
To have a church you need to have some good news, you need to hear the Word and share the Word.
To have a church, you need to encounter God through the table of Christ.
And perhaps most of all, to have a church, you need to learn to see Jesus in every person. You need to walk with Jesus. You need to learn to recognize Jesus in the people around you. And the only way to do that is to practice hospitality and genuine, agape love.
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