Who of us has ever seen Jesus? I suspect our answers would be mixed, and some of you might be asking yourselves what in the world is she talking about? Jesus died over 2000 years ago and everyone knows we don’t see the dead. But we have just celebrated Easter and at some level, we know that Jesus is not dead.

We know this, in part, because of the various appearances Jesus made after he was laid in the tomb, events that were recorded for us by witnesses who saw what happened. The first appearance was with the women at the tomb who were the first to learn of his Resurrection; the first to have confirmed that everything Jesus told them was true. This is particularly noticeable as women in that era were not regarded by the culture as literate or worthy of leadership roles. But Jesus had a different opinion. When the women heard he had rise, they recognized the prophecy and ran to tell the others.

It was on this same Easter Day that two men were walking along the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus, about 7 miles. They were deep in conversation talking over all the events that had just happened and trying to make sense of them. They had known Jesus as a prophet and a man of God. They are angered by what happened on the cross. They had trusted their religious leaders but it was they who demanded Jesus’ death, even though he was not guilty. Now, on this day, they are pondering the new and confusing report from the women that Jesus who was in the tomb had risen.

As Jesus joins them, they do not recognize him. Jesus asks them why they are upset and their response spills out of them. It had been so violent, so frightening; so many scenarios flashing by: the soldiers, Judas selling Jesus identity, the cross; the frenzy of the crowd; and the priests demanding his death. It all happened so fast and then Jesus was killed right in front of everyone. It was devastating. What were they to do now? The persecution would continue; they would never be free of it. They were accustomed to criminals killed this way but not someone innocent. What did could possibly mean?

As they walk, Jesus reminds them of the Scripture that foretold all that was to happen, and how it all occurred just as the prophets had said. Jesus had invited them to remember. So engaged were their hearts through this conversation; so full of hope, their hearts were pounding. As they ate together Jesus breaks the bread and blesses it, and they recognize him.

Some important observations can be made: First, Jesus appears to believers, those who are familiar with Scripture. Second, it is recorded that we too, might believe.

Yet, many others did not believe; just as many today choose not to believe. Even with the prophecies of Old Testament, the New Testament fulfillment of them; and even with the experiences of our own lives, there are still those today who say like Thomas,: "Unless I see the nail prints in his hands and the wound in his side, I will not believe."

It must have been startling to experience such appearances. Jesus knew that, and said, "Don’t be afraid. Look and my hands and feet. Touch me. A ghost does not have flesh and bones." In one of the appearances he even ate some fish to prove that he was alive. Each time he reminded them of the Scriptures that foretold what had happened.

Well, that was then, you say, and this is now. It would be nice if Jesus appeared to us so we would have proof too, but he doesn’t, and that’s that. Yet, you and I are here at some level, because we do believe. We are Easter people; people who live in hope more than doubt. In fact, I would be so bold as to say that all of us at one time, have experienced an appearance of Jesus, but like the two on the road to Emmaus, maybe we did not recognize him.

Perhaps this is because we don’t believe; or maybe we are unfamiliar with God’s Word; or maybe we don’t hang out much with other believers, or perhaps we are looking for Jesus the way he appeared then. I think whatever prevents us from recognizing Jesus is worth examining, in our lives. If we only cracked open a space of what has always been, to what might be, maybe, just maybe, we might catch a glimpse of Jesus.

I think Jesus very much want us to see him. But somehow, we get locked into our limited ways and think we have to stay there. I hear people say, "I have never spent any time learning about God; that’s just the way I am"; or, "I have always been a doubter and I can’t see any way to change that"; and Jesus weeps.

Remember Moses and the Israelites? Moses is leading them to the Promised Land. It is difficult work. The people have never been there before. They are uncertain, fearful, and plenty resistant. They have a case of hardened hearts; not uncommon today. We allow our hearts to become hardened and resistant with many things; doubt, the suffering in our lives; the feeling of not being connected; pressures of our world; our fears of being exposed or embarrassed about our faith, people who have hurt us; whatever it is that we allow to separate us from God.

It seems to me that holding onto our hardened hearts can harm us rather than protect us. We are vulnerable to following others, instead of Christ. By demanding proof in our own limited ways, we prevent ourselves from seeing appearances already offered. Insisting on guarantees stops us from taking the first step in faith. Instead we might look at the guarantees we have already received.

For example, we have historical proof that Jesus lived, taught, preached, healed the sick, and even raised the dead. We already have proof of the Resurrection in this very account of how it happened from those who told about their experience to others, and a scribe who recorded it. More than that, we have proof in our own lives of miraculous things happening that are not coincidences; they are appearances of the Risen Christ.

Max Lucado, in his book 3:16, explains why we choose to have hardened hearts. Our hearts harden as an unhealthy reaction to fear, he says. Being fearful is not at fault; it is rather how we choose to react to it that matters. Nothing persuaded the Israelites to trust God. Not plagues, nor light by night, or food dropped in their laps, or freedom from slavery; nothing penetrated their hardened hearts. No proof was good enough. No experience convinced them that God was more powerful than the golden calf they worshipped.

This all are reminds me of the man who found himself in a flood. To escape the rising waters he climbed onto his roof and prayed that God would save him. Soon a row boat appeared and the man in the boat called to him to climb in. The stranded man declined saying "God will save me." The waters continued to rise and a motor boat came by offering him safety, and again the man declines saying. I know God will save me." The waters rise still higher until the man is clinging to the chimney and a helicopter spots him dropping a rope for him to grab. Again he declines and subsequently drowns. Later, when he appears before God he blurts out: "Why didn’t you save me?" God responds, "What more did you want? I sent a row boat, a motor boat, even a helicopter, and still you refused."

We do the same thing, don’t we? We fill our lives with the noise of radios or TV every waking moment, so that even if God were screaming, we would not be able to hear. We hear about an appearance in another’s life and roll our eyes or squirm with discomfort. We choose blindness over seeing.

Every time we turn away from God, we harden our hearts.

Every time we refuse to dip our toes into new pools of faith, we harden our hearts. Every time we demand proof on our own terms, discounting the proof given already, we are hardening our hearts.

So, do we just give up or are their some clues? There is no limit to how God can choose to appear, but some ways, we know already.

Jesus appears to us through the Bible. The Scriptures are the inspired Word of God. It is God’s story of who and why God is. The Bible is the explanation of how Jesus lived and died and rose again. It is about our relationship with God and each other. It is about how we survive suffering. It is about the appearances of Jesus that help us believe. One author states, "Scripture presents a living portrait of God and God’s will for human beings."

Jesus appears to us in the Sacraments.

We are about to share this common meal where Jesus makes an appearance. When we gather around the table, it is not just a remembrance of the life and times of Jesus; it is an appearance where we sense or feel the spirit of God moving around the room. In worship at the table, we remember and we experience the living Christ. In Baptism, new life is blown into us too, when we remember our own Baptism and how God chose us. If we focus on how cute the baby is, or how interesting an adult Baptism is, we can miss the appearance Jesus is making to us, in this new life.

Jesus appears to us through the grace in our lives. Grace defined, is any time we are awakened, and can "see" God in our world. It is when tears come to our eyes when we recognize something holy is happening to us. Grace is an act of love by God that can come in the form of healing our heart, or mind or body. It can come in the form of comfort or an act of forgiveness. It can appear in a love offered to us that we did not earn. Grace helps us recognize Jesus in us.

Jesus appears during the sorrows and joys of our lives. Many of us have experienced such powerful joys in our lives that only God could be behind it. Such joys as finding the right spouse, or the joy of an estranged relationship being reconciled; or the miracle of childbirth, events that we are unable to create alone. God chooses to be revealed through such life events.

Likewise, none of us are exempt from suffering. God does not create it, but works through it for good. Some of our suffering is self induced, while other suffering has nothing to do with our actions. Either way, God appears to us in unique ways so that we might see and believe.

Jesus appears to us in the coincidences of our lives. A loved one dies on our birthday; several events happen the same week that bring us meaning, a person from our past resurfaces with a message for us. Or we are awakened in the middle of the night about someone who needs us. Whatever it is, take note. Don’t readily dismiss it as coincidence; for perhaps it is an appearance.

When the Word of God becomes our experience, we are being transformed. When we find ourselves wandering in the desert, like the Israelites, angry and lost, Scripture is being played out in us. When we are led to share our faith story, in a class, or with a neighbor, it is then that Jesus has appeared.

Thomas Merton, a profound and influential writer, put it this way: "The Word of God is recognized in actual experience, because it does something to anyone who really hears it: it transforms his or her entire existence."

Appearances are everything; those of Jesus, that is. Jesus does not demand or threaten us to believe. We can be available, or we can be too busy. We can simply glance, or really see. Neither life nor our faith is static, despite how we try to keep it that way. It is evolving, changing, growing or dying, all the time.

Celebrating the Resurrection is more than that Easter Day so long ago. It is every day we see Christ is our lives. It is each time that our faith dips into the unknown. It is every time we hear God call our name and answer "Send me." Resurrection comes every time we say "I believe", and when that happens, the angels sing their hosannas and God smiles down on us.

Amen