Given by Rev. Madison Shockley May 3, 2020
Many people are feeling discouraged after these many weeks. Our reading talks about what happen after the discovery of the empty tomb. Not finding Jesus’s body was devastating to the early Christians. Those who have lost someone, a family member or friend, know this lost too. We could not be there as they took their final breath or gather to mourn them. The two disciples in the reading were going home. Home is a place of safety and comfort. these disciples had left everything to follow Jesus. Now they felt defended and hopeless. today, we are feeling these same emotions. We had such plans for the future. Then the pandemic hit. Our world was turned upside down and now just want to find some normalcy. Some think we can never go back. Others believe if we just go back to what we were doing, everything will be fine. It is clear we will never be able to go back to that life. There is a new normal. Home is never what you think it is going to be. The road home brings us to new places. We are currently on a road never traveled before. Life will go on. The way of Jesus is not dead. Everyone deserves the basics in life. By reaching out to the stranger, you receive a blessing. The lesson today is how you behave when you think you are not talking to Jesus. Everyone deserves help. We are still a community.
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