“Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus

             …talking with each other about all these things that had happened.”

    –Luke 24:13-14

A year or so ago, I stopped by a gas station on my way to the church. While I had been to that station many times before, I had never been helped by the attendant working that day.  I handed my credit card to him and requested a fill-up. He got the pump started and then asked “On your way to work?”  When I said “yes” he replied “That’s a great thing. What do you do for a living?”

When the man learned I was a pastor he said “Oh, that’s wonderful” and told me how he had grown up Methodist, but had gotten away from it. He went on to share that he had started an online Bible study recently and really enjoyed it.  We kept chatting and eventually the click of the nozzle signaled my tank was full. Before finishing the process, he said “I’ve got two quick stories to tell you. I was 16 years old when my father died. I was sitting in the room with him and when he died I felt his spirit pass right through me.”

He then walked to the back of my car, removed the nozzle, and replaced the gas cap. Upon handing me the receipt, he added “When my mother died, she had this arbor of rose bushes over the driveway. There hadn’t been any flowers for years, but on the day she died it bloomed again.  Amazing huh?”

In my years as a pastor, I‘ve heard similar stories from individuals who have experienced the death of a loved one. A hawk appears outside the new widow’s home staring inside and does the same with two adult children in other parts of the country. A grieving mother has a dream where Jesus appears with her young son who had been killed crossing a street, a vision that gives her peace. Grandchildren tell of ladybugs showing up in unexpected places after a beloved matriarch’s death and happening again years later when a first cousin died unexpectedly. I’m guessing some of you have heard such accounts, too, or perhaps have experienced them yourselves. 

I have no trouble believing God is at work in such incidents to provide comfort for those who have been left behind; new evidence that we are not alone. Yet even if those ordinary occasions are only coincidence and we are reading too much into them, they still leave us pondering.

That happened on the first Easter, too. Luke recalls how on the same day a group of women found Jesus’ tomb empty that two men were walking on the road to Emmaus. The risen Christ appears to them, but the men do not recognize him. When he asks what they are discussing they offer a summary of his ministry. They recount the women’s discovery that morning and how it had been confirmed by others later. Luke goes on to say that  “beginning with Moses and all the prophets, [Jesus] interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.”  How I wish the details of that account had been recorded somewhere for the rest of us! 

That Bible lesson wasn’t enough for the men to recognize the one before them. Yet when the group stopped for dinner, Jesus became host. He took some bread, blessed and broke it and gave it to them. Only then did they know who he was, but Jesus immediately vanished. The men rush to tell the eleven disciples all about it, leaving yet another group of amazed followers to ponder the truth of the resurrection.

During this Easter week, I encourage you to ponder your own stories or those of others around or after the death of a loved one. If you feel comfortable doing so, I would encourage you to then share those accounts via a message to this post so that others can be inspired by such signs of God’s care.  Whatever you decide to do in that regard, on this day I hope you will join me and countless others in celebrating this truth: the Lord is Risen and is still actively present with us!

Resurrected One, we give thanks for the promise of a lasting rest with you. On this day help us to see and celebrate signs of your comfort and love yet again.  Amen.