Acts 2:14a,36-41 1 Peter 1:17-23 Luke 24:13-35 Psalm 116:1-3, 10-17

…Live in reverent fear during the time of your exile.  1 Peter 1:17b

This line from Peter’s first letter has resounded with me this week.

The word “exile” would resound with the mixed group of first century Christians in the areas of Asia Minor who would be receiving this letter from the Apostle Peter.  Among the recipients were Jewish Christians who knew well the history of their ancestors who had lived in exile for four centuries in Egypt under the reigns of brutal pharaohs up until the time of the Exodus.  Centuries later, generations of Jews were exiled to Babylon and Persia by enemy armies that devastated Judah and Israel, destroyed Solomon’s Temple, and carried them into captivity into these areas of the Middle East that remain so war-torn today.  These first century Jewish Christians knew their history well; they knew the impact of exile; they knew what it was to be aliens in a strange and unwelcoming land where they were neither free nor safe.

Perhaps some among this group to which Peter is writing were Jews whose ancestors, after being driven away, had never returned to Israel in the centuries up until this first century present day.  Others in the group had more recently been driven out of Jerusalem because they were known to be believers of Jesus Christ as their crucified, risen, and ascended Lord.  They had been banned from the Temple and from their local synagogues; they had been unjustly accused of violence; their lives had been endangered; they had fled to the safety of areas to the north of Israel.

And, joining them among the recipients of Peter’s letter were the non-Jewish – the Gentiles and the former pagans – who were likely household slaves.  Declaring themselves Christian was offensive to many in their society.  They were ostracized, even persecuted, for declaring themselves followers of Jesus Christ.  They, too, knew danger and exile.

Peter writes to this mixed group of exiles, now one in Jesus Christ, living day by day in this fearful early post-resurrection era.  Peter writes of the assurance of their ransom, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ …for their sake and our sake.  Born anew, Peter continues, … of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.

Peter’s words resonated particularly this week after a clergy colleague defined our present time of social isolation as exile.  As sacramental people of God, we live in exile for now, unable to share, in the physical and traditional sense, the Holy Communion that feeds and unites us all as one in Christ Jesus.  In our conference with Bishop Haynes, we clergy across the diocese shared our thoughts of how and when we might return to the Holy Communion.  “Perhaps for now,” my friend said, “we must accept that we are in exile; we live into the exile; we fast; and as our fast continues week after week, we hunger more and more intensely for the Holy Communion.”  Masks and gloves, maybe even forceps, and social distancing just don’t fit our theological and sacramental understanding of Holy Communion.  We must wait.

We must continue to wait reverently in exile, hungering more intensely day by day for the Holy Food – for the Holy Communion that is the outward and visible sign of our oneness in Christ Jesus – the imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.

In our lesson from Luke’s Gospel, Cleopus and his companion had set out on their seven-mile journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus, walking into their own sense of exile and hopelessness.  The life they were seeking as followers of Jesus Christ seemed to have crashed and burned.  The recent events surrounding Jesus’ last days and the crucifixion, and now the disappearance of his body, had left them ever more confused and frightened.  What was to come of them?

Then a stranger came along beside them, coming to them in their state of despair as they walked this lonely road.   They urged him to stay the evening with them.  At supper, he took the bread, blessed the bread, broke the bread, and shared with them.  Then, their eyes were opened; their hearts burned as they recognized the presence of their Risen Lord.

Our Lord is by our side on our lonely and, for some, desperate paths of exile.  Our hearts burn and yearn for the time that our worship community will be restored.

We know of restoration from exile; we have been ransomed by the precious blood of Christ, born anew through the living and enduring word of God, known to us in the breaking of the bread.      Amen