David Wickmann PEC President Acceptance Address – Northern Province Synod 2002

Sisters and Brothers in Christ, it is with great humility that I accept your request to serve Christ and Community as President of the Moravian Church, Northern Province. As I stand here before you, in the words that have become the standard of this synod let me do something a little different, let me talk before I speak.

As I reflect upon the task before us as a church and as a synod, I have been drawn to the story of the two persons walking on the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus. The events of the crucifixion have happened. Jesus has been crucified. The followers of Jesus have been crushed and for the most part they have been in mourning. But on the edge of group a strange word is starting to be heard. The tomb is empty, Jesus’ body might have been stolen - no he has risen from the dead.

It is an idea which is beyond comprehension and yet an idea which attracts. But the agenda of the world presses in and these two persons are walking the road home. They are experiencing a wide range of emotions as they walk. They know Jesus was crucified, but they wonder about the resurrection. As their thoughts and emotions rise and fall a stranger encounters them and engages them in conversation. They are amazed that this person (whom we know to be Jesus) does not know the events of the previous days in Jerusalem. [It is worthy to note that Jesus apparently did not always tell the truth as we might understand it, or at the very least, he sometimes played games to get his point across.] So he suggests he does not know of the events in Jerusalem and they tell him what happened. Jesus listens and then poses the possibility that there might be an interpretation which is different from theirs. This might be a part of God’s master plan for the creation he suggests. They reach Emmaus and in the breaking of bread they understand that this was the resurrected Christ.

Now this story is important during this synod of 2002 for several reasons. First it emphasizes the fact that walking with Jesus IS IMPORTANT. There are times when we might not know that Jesus is with us, but HE IS. He is with the people we “with whom we are walking and talking and sharing.” And yes, the fact that he might be there is a mystical manner which exceeds our understanding. Secondly, we must realize that sometimes, we can be so close and yet so far. Those persons wanted more than anything else in the world to experience the resurrected Jesus. Though he was literally there with them, they did not perceive him until later. Thirdly, it appears, these two were not able to see Jesus because they were preoccupied with their own agenda and their own hurt and their own pain.

Our world is fond of speaking about paradigm shifts, otherwise known as new ways of looking at the same world. I believe that as Jesus was walking he was trying to say, “the paradigm has shifted,” but the two persons were not able to understand or willing to see. (We know however that in that moment, indeed from the moment that Jesus burst the bonds of death, that in fact the paradigm had shifted.) But in a true reflection of their humanity they refused to see and understand. So for the moment, the truth is there, literally walking with them, but they are not able to perceive it.

Until in a moment of complete innocence they engage in a basic activity of humanity, they pause to break bread, to eat a meal. At that moment in the midst of the ritual of prayers of thanksgiving, probably uttered from memory, they were able to set aside their pain, AND SEE JESUS.

THE PARADIGM SHIFTED!!!

Nope there was no lightening, no thunder, Spielberg could have certainly done it better, but from that moment on, life was suddenly seen differently and they would NEVER be able to return again to the former way of thinking.

We too are on the road to Emmaus, we likely have certainly been on the road for a while. We have been traveling along and talking about our “stuff.” We have been talking about church and what is working and what seems not to work. We have been saying that we need to change and yet we cling to our past. We want to see the future, but we are so impacted by the pain of the past and present that we are not able to see the future. BUT IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW – JESUS IS WALKING WITH US.

Our collective task is to walk and talk and to talk and walk. We need to listen and hear while listening and understanding. It is likely that we have many kilometers to travel as we journey. And we need to tell our stories and listen to our stories and tell them again and again until we reach our destination. We need to “deal with our stuff” as we journey, for when we arrive, we need to be unfettered by the past - its pain and its pleasure. We need to be open to the possibility of seeing something new.

Now we as Moravians most certainly will find Jesus, because we love to break bread. And break bread we will. As we do this using traditional and contemporary techniques and everything in between WE WILL FIND JESUS.

AS WE SEE JESUS WE WILL SEE OUR VISION AND FIND OUR MISSION AND FULFILL OUR DESTINY.