Where Do You Meet God? (3rd Easter A)

A sermon by the Rev. Guillermo A. Arboleda, written for and delivered at All Saints' Episcopal Church, Tybee Island, GA, on Sunday, April 19, 2026, the 3rd Sunday of Easter (Year A).

Image Credits: https://www.themissionalnetwork.com/emmaus-road/

Primary Bible Reading(s)

(Click on April 19, 2026, to see all of the Lectionary Texts)

Luke 24:13-35

Now on that same day two of Jesus' disciples were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Where Do You Meet God?

By the Rev. Guillermo A. Arboleda, Program Manager for New Starts, ELCA

Where do you meet God? In church? In Holy Communion, through “the breaking of the bread” (Luke 24:35)? During private prayer? Through reading and studying the Bible? By walking along the beach or other outdoor, natural spaces? Those are all legitimate places to encounter God. But this Gospel story also suggests that you can meet God in chance encounters with wandering, undocumented strangers.

In the aftermath of Jesus’ crucifixion, we meet two of his disciples walking away from Jerusalem. They are downtrodden, stunned by their grief. This story drips with dramatic irony because we know that Jesus has risen, but the forlorn disciples do not. As they walk, they run into a pilgrim stranger. Again, we know that the stranger is Jesus, but the disciples do not. They were prevented from recognizing him. He asks them, what is the matter? They tell him about the miracle worker and prophet named Jesus who Rome unceremoniously beat, tortured, stripped, and crucified. Some crazy women say they saw him alive again, but that’s impossible. After all, they think, you can never believe anything women say.

The cross was the worst tool of capital punishment in the Roman arsenal. Crucifixion was arguably the most painful and certainly the most shameful way to die. Accordingly, crucifixion was beneath the dignity of Roman citizens. Instead, this punishment was considered so cruel that it was reserved only for non-citizens, both free and enslaved. This is one of the ways we know that Jesus and most of his early followers were not Roman citizens. Like most residents of the Roman Empire, they had been born there, but they were not granted equal rights. If you were born to the wrong family in the wrong place or were just a poor peasant, you were part of this persecuted under-caste of second-class non-citizens. People like Jesus were denied legal rights through no fault of his own. (According to ancient traditions, a few of the twelve apostles—Simon Peter and Andrew—were also crucified, meaning they were non-citizens too. By contrast, the Apostle Paul was born a citizen [Acts 22:28], and, according to ancient Christians like Tertullian and Eusebius, he was executed by beheading, not crucifixion.) 

In addition to his undocumented status, Jesus was a traveling preacher, migrating from town to town with “no place to lay his head” (Luke 9:58). He was essentially homeless. He depended on the hospitality of others to provide food and shelter wherever he went. If you caught him on the wrong day, he might look dirty and unkempt from days of sleeping outside. So when the two disciples met Jesus the stranger, they probably weren’t looking at the clean cut man in flowing white robes that we see in so many images. He may have looked more like a beggar than a rabbi.

Jesus’s social standing was not that different from undocumented immigrants in the United States today. Like Jesus, they are denied basic rights. Like Jesus, they are barred from legal work and other forms of social advancement. Like Jesus, they may be detained, tortured, or even killed without a fair or serious trial. Like Jesus, they are demonized and blamed by the empire for problems that it creates. That’s why it would have been so easy for people to forget Jesus after he was crucified. Like millions of deported people and the tens of thousands of immigrants in detention right now, people thought Jesus was just another degenerate who got what he deserved for disturbing Caesar’s peace.

But we haven’t forgotten about Jesus. We remember him because “truly this man was God’s Son” (Matthew 27:54; Mark 15:39). We remember him because God raised him from the dead. The resurrection is the pivot point on which history turns. God appeared as a lowly man who the empire overlooked, then tried to but failed to destroy. God was in the unlikeliest of places as a traveling preacher from Galilee, and as a stranger on the road to Emmaus. This stranger preached to the disciples who should have known about the resurrection. They didn’t want him to leave, so they invited him to stay with them. And there, Jesus revealed himself to the disciples by blessing and breaking the bread. He shared communion and fellowship with them in a way that only Jesus could. 

Through this story, Jesus shows us that God is always in our midst. When we least expect it, we can meet God. Even in the face of a migrant stranger, we can meet God. And the key here is that the disciples offered hospitality before they knew they were talking with Jesus. They offered hospitality because it was the kind thing to do. They would have done it even if the stranger turned out to be any ordinary man. And by opening their doors and their table, they met God. But perhaps we should expect this. Jesus once praised his followers for feeding him when he was hungry, giving water when he was thirsty, and more. He taught, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40). The Letter of Hebrews teaches, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it” (Hebrews 13:2). Moments of hospitality can become God moments. And in God’s Kingdom, nobody has to show a passport or provide a social security number. Those documents don’t hold any eternal weight.

So, where do we meet God? Like these disciples, we might only discover the presence of God by welcoming strangers into our homes and breaking bread with them. God becomes known to us when we practice hospitality rooted in love for humanity, not fear of the other. I know this church is hospitable. Y’all are excellent at welcoming visitors to church or friends in our home. You’re doing your part to support first responders this weekend for Orange Crush. But God always calls us to a greater sense of brotherhood and welcome. Maybe God wants to meet us through other neighbors: immigrants, unhoused folks, partying college kids. It could be anyone. And that’s the divine mystery. Amen.