CHRIST AND THE COMMONPLACE
May 3, 1987, 11:00 an. Worship Service
John M.~ Buchanan
Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago

Scripture
‘Luke 24:13-32

“...he took the bread and blessed and broke it, and pave it. to them. And
their eyes were opened and they recognized him:..." =-Luke 24:30,31 (RSV)

Inside the cover of the notebook I maintain for the storing of sermon
materials, I-keep a quotation from-the 19th century English novelist,
Anthony Trollope. I keep othér things theré as well; uplifting and:
inspiring ‘things. ~ But anong them, in that little pocket inside ‘the cover

so. l> can see it every row and then as I'm thumbing through the contents, q
keep this..

“There is, perhaps, no preater hardship on mankind in
civilized and freé countries, than the necessity of ~
' listening to sermons. No one but a preaching clergyman
thas, in these realms, the power of compelling an audience
to sit silent, and be tormented.” |
- (Barchester Towers) :

I keep- that quotation close at hand to-remind>nyself, one - that not
everyone looks forward to this experience with the same degree of cheerful
anticipation and, two, = ‘Anthony Trollope: forces: the “issue for’ ‘me as~to the
purpose of this exercise: “Contrary to what he. seems to assume,’ the purpose
is not for nie to display my wares and demonstrate my cleverness nor for’ you
to be entertained - but. something other. The purpose is that: in the."
encounter between preacher and congregation people will] kriow and experience
the reality of our boldest belief - namely that Jesus Christ is not dead,
but alive and present in ‘the world. : ;

I'm going to let you in’on a'secret’ of ‘the*trade... abit of normayty
very privileged information, widely shared by those who stand ow thissidé
of the preaching desk. “It- is that with great’ consistency you like what we
don't when it comes to our. sermons, and vice’ versa: When preachers: get”
together and discuss. this peculiar activity someone always Says and all the
others nod in recognition: "You know - I pre ached the worst sermon in-omy
career'a few weeks ago: It just never came together and I knew it. T feit
awful-about -it:. But: afterward; a nomber of people. told me> how helpful: “it:
had been and Jiow directly Tv had spoken: to them.

1 have come to believe that this common experience is God's way of

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helping us to keep this activity in perspective. I also have concluded
that it is the Spirit teaching us that God has an irritating way of
confounding our criteria of excellence and our quality control systems.
Given a choice, God has a way of going for the unlikely, the modest, the
ordinary. One has to assume that when God was looking far a people with
whom to make a covenant, a people who might represent God's interests in
human history, God was not limited. With Babylon, Egypt, Assyria, Greece
and Rome (even the United States of America) as alternatives, God ends up
choosing a bunch of Semitic Bedouins, leading their goats around the
desert, whose chief and wife were old, worn-out and childless. And when
God is looking for a man in whom to live in history, one has to assume that
among his alternatives were Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Alexander the Great,
Julius Caesar, or at least Socrates... but he chose the illegitimate son on
a young Jewish girl who lived in a remote village in a remote corner of the
Roman Empire.

I think God is always trying to teach that to people who are weaned
on standards of excellence, who have become expert at evaluating everything
on the basis of quality control - from football teams to academic
faculties. So I think one of God's more strenuous challenges when it comes
to dealing with us (by us I mean most of us here this morning, by anyone's
standards, wealthy, healthy and secure, successful, used to being number
one, feeling pretty good about being number one) is to help us see that God
loves and uses and speaks through - in addition to us, those this world
misses, the ordinary ~- that is to say, the meek, the lonely, the poor, the
failure, the sick, the oppressed and the dying. I think God is always
trying to remind us that. our extraordinary. good fortune is not...
theologically significant: that God loves..us.- in spite of. it, not. because
of it, that God's commitment to us is. not dependent on our success,: our
wealth, or. health, or power...

And I conclude that God rather enjoys reminding us that while we are
called to do our best-with this precious time together, to engage minds and
encounter. the world with-intelligence and -imagination and authority, he has
a way of using the unlikely,.the weak, the powerless for his purposes...
When it. comes. to preaching that he can use..the.poor fragments, the dry
crumbs from the whole illusive loaf,. (which is-what.some of our sermons
feel-like to us) that he, the Risen Jesus Christ will on occasion,-
‘encounter - judge us,-love- us, heal.us through the most ordinary words .or
gestures or. events or. people.

“Anthony Trollope notwithstanding, - that's really why -we have the nerve
to do. this week in and week out: because we believe the Risen Christ will
use the commonplace raw material of human. Jife — your being there. listening

“attentively and my being here trying to say it right ~-. that the Risen
Christ can-use even this to live among us... That is some belief ~ and it is
believable, at least in part because of a strange but beautiful little
story which Luke alone has remembered for us.

In terms of drama, this. story won't hold a candle to most of the
religious experiences which will be the subject of intense testifying on
television this morning. This one won't even compare with a 990 foot
Jesus, or a Gospel Amusement Park. It is a terribly commonplace story.

be

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out! sif: you: prefer it that = way. The: moment of: revelation. = the

it. takes place on. Easter day, -late in the afternoon. It's Sunday,
but:.in: Jerusalem, that means Monday, the first day of the week after. a
holiday weekend: “Saturday. was. Passover, forthe friends of a Jesus,

strangely. formal day, as it always is the day: after: someone. you: love. dics:

The. traditional>rituais: take-over; - people-taik carefully and: say: things» :
they. have: learned to say: and: engage -in prescribed: behavior. Sunday™ -Life 2
resumed. . Like North Michigan: Avenue on a Monday,,-- energy level was. high,
shops: bustling;: people: full: of life... For the friends ‘of Jesus: it..was: the-
hardest= day... after: the funeral: of your loved one when you.can't believe:

‘life is going: back: to nornal,: people are falling £0" each other, “the: buses

are still funning, as if: Hothing : happened.

Then. there was that. hysterical. business. about the empty: tomb. G
alone knew what that was about. So two of them. headed out for Emmaus, aso)
town-four miles from Jerusalem. “Maybe they: lived. there Maybe. they. went.
to. Emmaus: ‘because Emmaus. as where. you. go. when. you “can re Stay ‘in: Jerusalem
any longer. a EADS : : : oe

: “What. happened. on. the. road. -wasn! Nt particularly. “nusuals Oh \ obranger
joined ‘then, “walked along. and: they: talked about: what had happened. They
persuaded. hin to: have. dinnerwith them, and. when, at the: table,: he: broke.
the bread; blessed: it. and: handed it: to ‘them. ein “the “sameway he. chad three

nights before.. their eyes: were ‘opened and. ‘they. recognized hime. Etewas-

the Lord!» And: “then: he was: ‘gone. :- vanished, Luke says "Goteup and- walked

resurrection. appearance — the. ‘encounter with the Risen- Christ owas: veri
almost: as quickly. as=it = had: happened,:.and it~ was: 80° very commonplace. Nore
flashing: lights,: no: music, “noe ‘thundercilap, no: descent | from: the clouds:
Nobody fel on. the ‘floor in: ecstasy, no. one spoke. .in)-tongues,-no-one® wept
for joy; no-one’ madea profession,* “hovene even. took. up an offering: - Just.
three. menvat. supper. and ‘the bread gets broken and. ‘passed around and: it Ss: the
Christ) --risen, alive,in:their. midst, Christ: in’ the, » Commonplace. ; oe

“Now. that strange and beautiful little. story. flies an the. Face of” the
way the world perceives these things: -If the Emmaus story is about :Christ
in the Commonplace, what the world expects of him and always seems to
demand of us is. Christ:.in-the extraordinary. “Show-us.-a-sign" they used. to
ask: Jesus.- "Walk across my swimming pool." Herod says. in Jesus Christ:
Superstar; "Prove it: —.:in:some-way..we: can taste-and. sec: and. feel::: Give! us
a burning:bush,:or.a thunderbolt, or-sa.voice speaking our: bame in the:
garden and--if: you.can't- manage: something verifiable; how -about<a private .
religious: experience, confirmed at: least: in the: intensity of my own.
emotions? Give me something to hold on-to:. “some-extraordinary

: experi ence.

Henet Nouwen observed, oin a “book” on: spirituality,

“Many ‘people Flock 1 to persons and places who. ‘promise:
intensive experiences: of: togetherness, cathartic émotions.:
of exhilaration:and liberating sensations: of: ecstasy. In
our desperate. reed for fulfillment and our.-restless search:
for the experience of. divine. intimacy, we are-all--too.) -:
“prone ‘to construct our. own spiritual events." » [Reaching

~--T. don't:-know: anyone who admits to watching all-five hours of Shirley
MacLaine's televised spiritual odyssey back -in-February:. The reviews :I
read confirmed the- wisdom: of¢my decision not? to: watch... It was: apparently

“pretty thin<- and pretty: bizarre and altogether forgettable. But-:

interestingly the Christian Century, whicli<I expected to be’ properly.
offended by such a display of: tacky-and trivial spirituality ‘actually urged
gentleness: and understanding. ~ After all,- the. Century editor: counseled, -
Andrew Greely's National Opinion Research Center discovered that) nearly
one-third of ‘the ‘population claims a degree of clairvoyance. "We-needn't
advocate. trace channeling. or Hot:Tub:Telepathy.:: But neither: should we
reject out of hand signs of people's underlying desire to be in-touch with
something eternal." -.["Pruning:Time for’ Shirley :MacLaine,". Craig: V.
Anderson, Christian Century (February: 25, 1987), PD. 182. ]

: It is apparent that, ‘the more uncertainty this world presents us and
the more fear we experience, the more intense will be our need for the kind
of emotional experience popular religion offers. Our need for the eternal
is:not-manufactured, however, Shirley MacLaine is an easy target... So are
the purveyors of the occult, the weeping thousands sending tear-stained
checks into. the’ television evangelists who make them feel ‘it and thus. know
it in-their hearts, easy targets for- thoughtful’ theologically sound
religion. But let's not. Rather,” let!s:acknowledge that we'd like to know
something of the eternal also; that -while our careful. demeanor,. our
cultivated: skepticism would prevent us:from waving our:arms:-in-the air and
shouting.“Hallelujah" about anything with possible exception of a playoff
Win-over::the Celtics: or a World Series at:Clark:-and Addison; and while our
common-sense would. prevent us from sending maney to: anyone who:looks us in
the: eye -at-8:00: o'clock: Sunday morning .on:television ‘and asks us:-to.,
because -if: we don't God. is ‘going to.call him home:.. nevertheless, may-we:

“acknowledge ‘that we'd like to know something: of the: eternal: that: at
heart, that's why we: getup: on Sunday morning:and forego ‘a walk-on the: lake
or the Sunday papers. and coffee in bed, or brunch with Bloody Mary's: that
there’is always the chance,.the hope even, that we-will be introduced to
the:-eternal: that the Risen Christ will: actually meet us.

“One of the most harmful religious ideas around is that faith
experiences are extraordinary, abnormal: experiences: ~ And one-of the ‘most
helpful and-certainly-one-of. the most’ beautiful ideas. around is the one
whichis conveyed by the:story of :Emmaus, namely.that God-uses:the:
ordinary, that Christ. comes :in the Commonplace: «that :‘the.~Risen=Christ
willsactually be present:-in-the:.ordinary,: everyday, -commonness:of..our life.

_There is something particularly Presbyterian about that. Infact, we
have celubrated the political expression of. that. theological. insight. this
morning. We were born:as:aichurch out.of the revolutionary-idea of: John
Calvin's that ordinary people, with God's help, are perfectly capable of
ordering their own spiritual affairs and governing their church. “And the
more they thought -about-itcthe more the Reformers concluded that: ordinary
people-were perfectly-capable:of comprehending God's-word = so they better
read the Bible in their own’ lunguape; and of -understanding ‘and
participating in God's praise: - so they better have a liturgy in the
vernacular. And the. more. that -kind of thinking got -around in the:16th and
17th centuries, the more people began to wonder whether or not ordinary

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folk might even be capable of ordering their own governmental structures
and actually be responsible for their own povernment: We expressed that
venerable but always radical way of thinking this morning by doing
something peculiarly Presbyterian ~ namely ordaining lay people -in-the very
same way that we ordain clergy. I confess that when I: realized this: text
would appear on the same day we were ordaining and installing elders and
deacons, I thought about calling this sermon "Ordaining the Ordinary," and
decided not to lest those ordained today conclude that. I was commenting. on
their credentials.

They are clearly an extraordinary bunch. But the point of this
exercise is precisely their ordinariness and our faith that God uses the
ordinary; that Christ comes in the Commonplace. So, we call them elders,
and in case they start thinking like a Board of Directors, or a Cabinet, or
ruling: junta:- we call them:by that eccentric ‘name -— a Session. ~ Our
strength is just: this business ‘of ordaining ordinary members of the chirch
and asking them to become spiritual leaders. :

One of the loveliest. idéas I know is. that ‘the Risen Christ is present
in the commonplace. -Where might that. be? Christian scholarship has. spent
a lot of time discussing that and has suggested-that the Risen Christ
encounters us in:

~ the unexpected and unanticipated surprises of life:

~ and in judgment, when life feels “out of harmony with the ultimate
coherénce: of. things." Des Sane

~-and in reconciliation, whenever that which -is broken is healed.”
[See The Essential Reinhold Niebuhr, -p. 234} -—

if that is more ambitious ‘than you want to be’ try a popular
preacher, novelist, Frederick Buechner, who says it another way.

"The sacred moments, the moments of miracle; are often the
everyday moments, the’ moments which, if we do not: look
with more than our eyes or listen with more:than-our ears
reveal only....the gardener, a stranger coming down the
road -behind us,-a meal’ like Any other meal. “But if’ we
look with our hearts, if we listen. with all our being and
imagination... what we may see is Jesus himself."

[The Magnificent Defeat, p. 87-88]

The Risen Christ appeared to his friends---in rather ordinary. ways...
he walked with two of them on the road to Emmaus. And so — you and T-might
hegin by naming our own Emmaus: moe

Emmaus is. where you go when you can't stay in Jerusalem any longer...

Emmaus is where you go and what you do to avoid the truth about
yourself.

Emmaus is where you go when life closes in, when it’s al] blind alley
and closed doors and there are no options left.

I

Emmaus can. be a-very ordinary place.

ce Emmaus is where you go for novelty, when everyday sameness. ts),
oppressive and. you think you: Will. die.of: boredom.

Emmaus is where. -you-go when you can't think anymore about” your
failures: + or the hollowness.of.-your victories.

Emmaus is where you go to avoid. the reality of death in your life.

Emmaus is: where you go.when you.cannot:.remain in the same-.place any
longer.

Emmaus is-a-very.human place: ..It is. your dinner. table .—--where bread
is blessed, broken and shared - with those you love.:° Christ is always
there, : os

Enmaus. can .be the theater, or-a. trip. around the world.: It can be an
affair,:a martini. too many, a behavior you know. is destructive, dishonest
and. unheaithy but which: you.find yourself doing anyhow.

And Emmaus is where you and I go to meet something of the eternal..
Emmaus is where you and I. go-in the. hope that) Jesus Christ will -sshow up and
find:us. there.

The promise of the Gospel which I proclaim.to you is: that Jesus
Christ will be there. Jesus Christ is Risen: The Christian religion makes
the bold-assertion..that Jesus Christ .is.God's healing power at work in the
world:= that he. is alive, :risen, and that he will come to you in the
ordinary, the commonplace... when love surprises you, when beauty intrudes,
when: judgment makes you uncomfortable,. and when reconciliation. happens.

The Good News is only partially contained in the memory of an open
tomb. The rest of it is in this strange but beautiful story... Christ in
the commonplace, on a dusty road, in bread: broken, in city streets, in all
those places, where life-.is. lived... :

That is when he. will meet. us. That is where he bids. us believe in
him, love him, and live as his joyful people. Amen.

Come, Lord Jesus, Come Holy Spirit, with light and truth:so that we
nay. see his face in the faces of.those about. us, and know his love-in the
ordinariness of our own lives.

_Come, Lord God, in the.commonplace. and help us receive you-there and
love you and serve you, in all we do. Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

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