In the Midst
LETTER BY BRIAN MORYKON
You’d think defeating death would warrant an immediate cosmic coronation, the risen Christ crowned in the clouds for all to see.
No doubt that day will come, and no doubter will be left standing.
But Jesus’ resurrection appearances, while startling, were earthy and humble. He came to little groups of his friends right where they were. One wouldn’t expect some of the first words of the immortally-clothed Messiah to be “pass the fish.”
“He never approached from on high, but always in the midst,” Frederick Buechner writes, “in the midst of people, in the midst of real life and the questions that real life asks.”
One resurrection story in Luke 24 radiates warmth and wonder.
Two broken and bewildered friends are walking away from Jerusalem. A stranger joins them — Jesus undercover. He plays dumb then takes them to school, every word a bellows breath bringing their hearts to flame. As the day ends, the stranger agrees to stay with them. Then comes The Moment.
He takes bread, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it to them, then — Eureka! Epiphany!
“Their eyes were opened and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight.”
He’s gone. But not. For they were still two gathered in his name, right where he promised to be.
They go back to where they left and tell the others — it’s one of the best lines in Scripture — “how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.”
Then “while they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them ‘Peace be with you.’”
Mark the sequence.
Two friends honest in grief.
Jesus appears in their midst unaware.
Cold hearts are fanned into flame.
An ordinary meal is taken, blessed, broken, and given.
Eyes are opened.
The story is retold.
And in the retelling, Jesus shows up again.
This week, the Life with God podcast features two friends whose bond is palpable. You can feel they’ve accompanied one another through sadness and celebration, and that Jesus has shown up in their midst. From their journeys, Audrey Elledge and Elizabeth Moore mined two books’ worth of prayers for everyday life—Liturgies for Wholeness and Liturgies for Hope.
When asked how to write such prayers, Elizabeth said…
“My first advice is honesty. What I try to do when I write liturgy is first pour out everything I’m already feeling and situate myself and God in the most honest place. Invite God in to where you actually are. Then look in Scripture. Where did other people experience this? What does God have to say about it? What promises perhaps are spoken into this?”
Friendship. Honesty. Meditating on what is true and lovely. Retelling the story. These are the ordinary places where Jesus shows up and forms us with resurrection power.
Brian Morykon
Director of Communications
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LET’S DIVE IN...
CURATED BY GRACE POUCH
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1.
On the latest episode of Life with God, a Renovaré podcast, Nathan Foster talks with co-authors Audrey Elledge and Elizabeth Moore about their friendship, the experience of writing together, and their new book Liturgies for Wholeness.
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2.
Read two selections from Liturgies for Wholeness, hand-picked by the authors: “A Liturgy for Cultivating Imagination” and “A Blessing for Bravery.”
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3.
“All the elements of formation-by-resurrection are present every time we sit down to a meal and invoke Jesus as host,” writes Eugene Peterson. Peterson mines the treasures of sharing food and drink with others in “The Practice of Resurrection at Every Meal.”
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4.
Friendship calls us out of isolation, meeting our deep desire to know and be known. James Bryan Smith reflects on the kind of intimacy that comes from having shared spiritual goals in “Longing to Be Known.”
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5.
“Telling a lonely person that God is his or her friend can sound very hollow,” writes Trevor Hudson. “It only becomes meaningful when we make the divine friendship real by modeling it in our own relationships.”
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6.
“Jesus is apt to come… at supper time, or walking along a road.” Read “In the Midst” by Frederick Buechner.
Grace Pouch
Content Manager
WORTH QUOTING
“Here we are, you and I, and I hope that Christ makes a third with us. So come now, dearest friend, reveal your heart and speak your mind. You have a friendly audience; say whatever you wish. And let us not be ungrateful for this time or for our opportunity and leisure.”
– Aelred of Rievaulx (1110-1167) (source)
TO CONTEMPLATE
The Supper at Emmaus
Ceri Richards 1958
(source)
TO PONDER
What friendships or written prayers help you recognize Christ in your midst?