04-27-25

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS 
April 27, 2025
In the scripture that we will focus on this morning, we learn of two people who encountered the resurrected Jesus on the Road to Emmaus. As the story is told, they did not recognize this stranger as Jesus until they sat down at a table and Jesus took bread, blessed it, and broke it. In that moment, their eyes were opened. I am intrigued by what they say to each other after Jesus disappears. They say to one another,

“Weren’t our hearts on fire when he spoke to us along the road and when he explained the scriptures for us?”

How often, after the fact, do we say to ourselves, “I should have seen what was right in front of me!” There are a handful of moments in my own recent history when I came to a situation where an opportunity to act on behalf of Jesus was there as clear as day. Yet somehow I talked myself out of it. We can beat ourselves up when it comes to those missed opportunities, or we can learn from them and seek not to repeat them. How much time has been wasted bemoaning a failure? I wonder if in that time of spiritual and emotional flogging, I missed another opportunity. It is good to reflect and learn, but then it’s time to act from an improved vantage point. I think of Maya Angelou, who wrote, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better.” God’s grace helps in that work.

Through your immeasurable grace, Merciful God, I find the capacity to learn from mistakes, make corrections, and try to do better. For everyone who needs me to do better, continue to encourage me on that trajectory of growth. Amen.