"A Good Teacher"

When you hear the word greatness what comes to mind for you? 

When you hear the word spiritually poor what comes to mind for you?

When you hear the words “a road of broken dreams” what comes to mind for you?

April 30, 2017  Readings:  1 Peter on 17-23 Psalm 116, Luke 24: 13-35

I have a story to tell you about a Kingdom and its King.  The king decided to set aside a special day to honor his greatest subject.   When the big day arrived, there was a large gathering in the palace courtyard.   Four finalists were brought forward, and from these four, the king would select the winner.  

The first person presented was a wealthy businessman.   The king was told that this man was highly deserving of the honor because of his humanitarian efforts.  He had given much of his wealth to the poor and underprivileged.
The second person was a celebrated physician.  The king was told that this doctor was highly deserving of the honor because he had rendered faithful his gifts, dedicating much of his service to the poor and the critically ill for many years.
The third person was a distinguished judge.  The king was told that the judge was worthy because he was noted for his kind hearted wisdom, his fairness, and his brilliant decisions.
The fourth person presented, was an elderly woman.   Everyone was quite surprised to see her there, because her manner was quite humble, as was her dress.  She hardly looked the part of someone who would be honored as the greatest subject in the kingdom.  What chance could she possibly have many though, when compared to the other three, who had accomplished so much in life?   Even so, there was something about her, her soft gentle smile beamed of joy and love, there seemed to be  understanding of contentment in her eyes reveling her quiet confidence.  
The king was intrigued, to say the least, and somewhat puzzled by her presence.  He asked his queen who was seated next to him, “who is this woman and why is she here?”  the queen replied: "You see the wise and wealthy businessman, the compassionate doctor, and the judge with a heart full of wise discernment?  Well, she was their teacher!"
The woman had no wealth, no fortune, and no title, but she had dedicated her life to producing great students.  Is that not what Jesus has done for you and I.  Is he not the humble teacher who has dedicated his life to producing great people?  Not all of us are meant to be a great teacher, business person, or community leader but we are all meant for good.  Not just to be good but to teach good by example.   This is a teaching that seems to have slipped through the cracks of society today.  Especially if we look at what society holds up to us as greatness and great persons today.  I wonder how Jesus would see the example being set by the leaders of our worldly kingdom, or  by the sport and music celebrities of our day. 

Jesus gave up his life through example so you and I might have and everlasting life in exchange for that which is not so good.  Look to Him, committee yourself to Him and allow yourself you see the great potential God has gifted you with.  We were not meant for bad, we were only meant for good.  I think it would surprise us to know how often we miss the example and presence of Christ in the people we meet, Cleopas missed the significance of the stranger on the road to Emmaus.   Jesus’ example and presence can be found in what many of us would probably call strange places, let alone see him in a strangers face.  Let us note from the passage today that Jesus apparently in disguise, joins them on their journey, as they walk a road of broken dreams.   Encountering Jesus rarely happens during the good or smooth sailing times in our lives.  On the contrary, it usually happens for most of us during the times when we are on our road of broken dreams, or when we are in crisis.  Jesus comes to the seeker in times of spiritual poverty, when faith seems distance and unbelievable.   He teaches us that if we remain in pain, or hand pain out, it bigot’s more of the same: if we remain in sadness, sadness bigots more sadness.  It works the same for angry, anger bigot’s more anger. unforgiveness bigots more unforgiveness and the list of negative emotions goes on and on.  So if the principal is true then Jesus also teaches us by example that gratitude bigots more gratitude.  In fact even better, Jesus teaches us that gratitude bigots grace for the one who would follow his example .    Grace bigots, humility or humbleness, and humbleness bigots contentment, contentment bigots joy, and joy bigots faith, and faith bigots a teacher who teaches others by their good example.   Isn’t that amazing!! 

 We all have a hole in our souls, a longing and the only thing that can fill that hole is a relationship with God.  For the Christian that relationship cannot be complete until we have come to know His only begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ.   Folks many of us think we can skip over Christ and get directly in relationship with God.  No so for the Christian.  We have a savior, we have a resurrection, and we have a life to come it begins in the here and now.   Blessed be the name of the Lord, now and forever more.