These are the readings and sermons of St. John's Lutheran Church of Park Rapids, Minnesota. They are offered so that the Word of God would shape and strengthen you to be what He calls you to be, salt and light. You can find us at stjohnspr.org.
Now, on to the Word.
Our first lesson is recorded in the second chapter of Acts, beginning in verse 14.
But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them. Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. Now, when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brothers, what shall we do? And Peter said to them, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, for the promises for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord, our God, calls to himself.
And with many other words, he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, save yourselves from this crooked generation. So those who received his word were baptized and they were added that day about three thousand souls. 
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
The epistle is from the first chapter of the first epistle of St. Peter, beginning in verse 17.
And if you call on him as Father, who judges him partially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last times for your sake, who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory so that your faith and hope are in God.
Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart. Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and abiding Word of God, 
for all flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers and the flower falls, but the Word of the Lord remains forever.
And this Word is the good news that was preached to you.
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

According to St. Luke, the 24th chapter,
Glory to you, O Lord.
That very day, two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem,
and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him, and he said to them, What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?
And they stood still, looking sad, that one of them named Cleopas answered him, Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days? 
And he said to them, What things?
And they said to him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, A man who was a prophet mighty in word and deed before God and all the people, And how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up 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 happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even 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 him they did not see.
And he said to them, Oh foolish ones and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures, the things concerning himself. 
So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly saying, Stay with us for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent. So he went in to stay with them.
When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized him and he vanished from their sight.
They said to each other, did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures. 
And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the 11 and those who were with them gathered together saying, The Lord has risen indeed and has appeared to Simon. Then they told what had happened on the road and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.
This is the gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.

Christ is risen.
He's risen indeed. Hallelujah.
It's late in the afternoon on Sunday, the first day of the week, the day of his resurrection, when Jesus joins two disciples and walks with them as they make their way to the village of Emmaus. Notice, Jesus does not require a packed church or a crowded stadium to appear. Two traveling pilgrims will do. The good shepherd going after his lost and wandering sheep.
And he walks with them for how long? Probably for a couple of hours, certainly not for a short time. Now, he didn't have to, you know. Jesus could have pulled right up beside them, revealed himself to them right away in all of his glory, the nail prints and all of that. Boy, that would have been so much faster, would have been so much more efficient if he had done it that way. And he could have, and then gone on to appear to more people as well.
But he doesn't. He spends the time asking questions, talking. And that's a great comfort. He shows patience, show kindness, show gentleness. Not giving those guys just one chance and then throwing his hands up in exasperation. You ignorant baffoons, are you ever going to get it? No. Jesus doesn't have something better to do. He doesn't have just a short time to squeeze them in to his busy schedule. He wants to be there with them. His poor, sinful, confused, struggling, doubting, upside down, fearful and anxious disciples. He wants to spend that time. t's important. And shows us his heart. And how comforting it is to this poor disciple, to know that Jesus likes to take his time.
But it really doesn't answer the question of why. Why does Jesus take so much time? Why doesn't he reveal himself faster and more efficiently? Why does he make these two disciples wrestle a bit, struggling to understand? And did you notice Jesus intentionally hid himself so they didn't know that it was their risen Lord?
Well, before answering that, I think it's pretty fair to note that this is sort of standard operating procedure for God. When we read through the Scriptures, we see the struggle of faith happening time and time again. Jesus takes his time when he's going to the house of Jairus, whose daughter is sick. Enough time that she dies before he gets there. Remember, it was the same with his friend Lazarus. He's sick and Jesus remains in place until Lazarus has died. God made Jacob wrestle with him all night long before giving him the blessing in the morning. In fact, in Tuesday morning Bible study, we're reading Chad Bird's new book. It's called Limping with God, based on the discipleship of Jacob. And the opening words in there are, God's time schedule is not our time schedule. If you want him to show up at this certain time, you can pretty well be guaranteed that he will show up early, or late but no on your time.
Many stories in the Scriptures that remind us of this. But why does God hide himself? Why does he delay? Why does he even sometimes seem as though he's opposed to us before he reveals himself and blesses us?
Well, part of it is this wrestling of faith. The Emmaus disciples are left to wrestle with their faith, with their understanding, with their fears for hours. We had hoped he'd be the one to redeem Israel. It's now the third day. You know, the day when he said, all of this was going to happen. But nothing's happened. There's been no grand and glorious appearing. Just the hysterical ravings of a couple of the women, rumors of his body being stolen. All of our hopes have been crushed and crashed down. They were walking home, going back, going to reevaluate.
And Jesus lets them struggle, not to the point of despair, but that it might be good for them. So that their faith might be placed where it needs to be, in Christ and in his word alone. So their faith may not be in what they think Jesus should do, or what they think Jesus should be.
So that their faith would not be in some restored earthly kingdom, or in some grand and glorious appearing of Christ on earth now.
But left to struggle, so that they would finally cling to his word alone.
Cling to his promises alone.
That they would cling to Jesus, even when the very opposite things that they expected are happening.
And that is the kind of faith we need, as well.
A mature faith that the Spirit develops through trials and troubles.
A faith that's not only there in good times, but a faith that endures in the bad times, in the times of struggle, in the times of darkness, and even death.
And so Jesus lets them struggle.
Because their faith and their hope have been misplaced.
Their own words and their own thoughts and their own hopes had replaced the revealed Word of God and the hope that he would have them be founded on.
They had a false hope.
And a false faith that needed to be killed, in order that they might come to true faith and hope.
In Christ and him alone.
And so the time comes when Jesus does begin to instruct them.
Had Christ promised an earthly kingdom?
Did he say what they were expecting was going to happen?
Or did he not rather say that it was necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter his glory?
And beginning with Moses and the prophets, he interpreted them all of the scriptures, the things concerning him.
Then what about you and me today?
How about the people in our world today?
Where is our faith and our hope?
think it is often misplaced as well.
Despite our best intentions.
t is so easy and the temptations are so many and so great to put our faith and our hope in success or in popularity or in recognition.
You know, if Saint John's grows, well then God is pleased.
And if not, well what have we done to make God so unhappy with us?
Or how about our faith and our hope being placed in our feelings or in healing?
You know, if I have faith, I should feel happy all the time.
f I have faith, I should never worry.
And if God approves of me, I know that he'll heal me and protect me.
Or to put our faith in our own strength or in things or in people or in prayers answered in the way we want them answered.
Or in how life, how easy our life goes.
See, those are all things we naturally sort of think of as marks and approvals of God.
And then don't we doubt when things get rough?
When they aren't going just the way we want or the way we think they should be?
When the things that we have put our faith in in this world have let us down?
Doesn't it sound an awful lot like the disciples on the road to Emmaus?
We thought, we hoped.
But is that what God has said?
And so God hides himself.
He delays and sometimes even seems to stand against us to cut us to the heart.
To kill our misplaced faith and to give us genuine faith.
That we would turn to him because we have nowhere else to turn.
So that we would have a faith that relies on him, on his word and on his promise.
Not on glory, not on pleasure, nothing but him.
Only his word, only his sacraments, his forgiveness.
And so it must be as long as we live this life in this world.
And then the two disciples, their false faith, having been killed by the word,
true faith being given and strengthened, he asks, they ask him to stay.
Abide with us. Take up residence with us.
The evening is fast approaching.
That's the very thing, in fact, that Jesus wants to do.
And when he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.
And their eyes were open and they recognized him and he vanished from their sight.
And even though he vanished, they were not sad.
For they knew now that he was not actually gone.
Their faith was no longer in the scene or in the glory, but it was in the Word, in his promises.
And so they get up at that very hour, the late hour of the evening, and they rush back to Jerusalem.
They're no longer confused. They're certain.
No longer sad. They're joyful.
No longer struggling because they have been set on the firm foundation.
And so it is for us as well.
The good shepherd has come and found each of us lost and wandering sheep.
And he has invited us here to his house, a refuge for the weary pilgrims.
And he stays with us for to be with us is the very thing Jesus wants to do.
And he is here with us, giving us his word spoken and preached and recited and rehearsed.
Killing our misplaced faith, giving us the genuine faith we need.
He's here hearing our confession, forgiving our sins, our doubts, our fears.
He's here opening the scriptures to us that we might see him in the scriptures and know and believe.
And he's inviting us to stay, to eat at his table where he is both the host and the food.
And as we come, we recognize him here in the breaking of the bread and in the giving of the wine.
No mere bread and wine but him, Jesus, the resurrected Savior in, with and under the bread and the wine.
The same body and blood he gave on that night that he was betrayed.
The same body and blood he gave on the cross.
The same body and blood is here for us today and our eyes are open.
And though we cannot see him, we know that he is not gone.
For our faith is not placed in our sight or in glory but in his word, in his promises.
And so as Adimeus, so it was for the early church and so it is for us here.
Scripture and supper, teaching, table fellowship, word and sacrament.
The divine service of our Savior for us here for us.
Poor, sinful, confused, struggling, doubting, upside down, fearful, anxious disciples, each and every Sunday.
Each and every Sunday, a little Easter as we travel through this life, as we travel to our homes,
as we travel to our jobs, to our friends, to our neighbors, traveling but never alone.
Traveling but always going by faith.
Traveling as one of the very ancient prayers says, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us
and your love supporting us.
Traveling by faith until we reach the end of our journey, the darkness and night of death.
Then the house that we will enter, the house that we will stay in will be our Savior's house.
And by faith, strengthened by Christ on the journey and faith only in him, you will enter.
And you will see him and you will recognize him face to face and he will not vanish from your sight.
For at the end of our journey, it's the day that never ends, where there will be no night.
There will not be the night of death or separation anymore, but only our Savior's presence with us
for evermore, evermore in the place he wants us to be.
For Christ is risen.
He is risen in me.
Hallelujah.
Thanks for listening to Lightly Salted. We'd love to hear from you.
You can contact us at stjohnspr.org or look for us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
Our thanks to Eric Mediasch at soundimage.org for morning due.
God's blessings.