Encountering the Risen Christ

A sermon preached at St Martin-in-the-Fields on April 19, 2026, by Revd Richard Carter

Reading for address: Luke 24: 13-35

One of the best pieces of simple advice I was given in my training in theatre and drama was ‘show don’t tell’. There is, as you will realise, a lot of cross over between church and theatre. Both the theatre and the church’s worship involve the performance of action to an audience or congregation through word and movement in order to communicate a narrative in a way that engages all our human senses. We may think that that theatre depends on pretence- pretending to be someone we are not. But what the best drama has always been about, is not pretence but revelation- revealing the deeper truth behind human facades. And the greatest actors are not those who are best at pretending but those best at revealing the nature of our humanity and the truth beneath the skin of the character they act- in other words not deception but a greater transparency.

And isn’t this ability to reveal the deeper truths of our humanity the very thing we see in Jesus Christ and the Gospel? Jesus is the very greatest dramatist. He reveals truth not with rules or dogma or theory but by living his narrative. He makes word become flesh. His own flesh and blood. He communicates throughout the Gospels not just by the things he tells us, but by the life he shows us and the narrative he invites us to enter into. He shows rather than tells. And he lives – lives to such an extent that his words become inseparable from his actions. Jesus in the Gospels embodies the love of God- in a real and transformative way..

This for me is what makes dramatizing the life of Jesus so exciting in a church like this. Because we are not working out how to pretend to be Jesus. When members of the International Group and congregation acted out the Passion story, our aim was not to represent past history but to make this story live- live now- embodying it in our own flesh and blood. It is easier of course to embody pain and crucifixion than it is to act out rising from a tomb and resurrection. And yet this is the work of the church itself- to make resurrection real. And one of the ways to do that is to show the way people respond to resurrection so that we respond too. This is what we tried to do on Easter Day- create a living narrative into which we are invited to enter- Mary in the garden, weeping and then longing to hold onto Jesus, Mary trying to relate what she has seen- then that vitally human response of running: the disciples running with all their might to the tomb- the beloved disciple outrunning Peter, but fearful of going in- Peter reaching the tomb and going in and then the response- we responded in this church with bells and baptismal water- like those first disciples commissioned and empowered by Christ to take his Good News to the ends of the earth.

The narratives of resurrection are not packaged into learning modules  for dissemination- like prepacked takeaways. Rather each of the dramas of his risen life are  vivid encounters – revelations which go on working – go on revealing their meaning for generations to come. Each encounter with Jesus is an epiphany- an opening up. The resurrection stories are encounters that opened the disciples eyes to a new way of seeing, living, understanding and believing. Narratives that we take up and live too- Mary seeing Jesus in the garden-  the frightened disciples in a locked room meeting Christ and being breathed upon and given the gift of peace- Thomas unable to believe called to place his own hands in Jesus wounded hands and feet and side. The fishermen disciples returning to their trade on Galilee and being unable to catch anything all night and then seeing a person they do not recognise and following his instructions to cast their nets on the other side and being overwhelmed by the most abundant catch of fish – Peter plunging into the water and the disciples eating together an easter breakfast with Jesus.  These are all powerful sensual dramas of seeing, hearing, touching, tasting the living risen presence of Jesus in their midst- and inviting us too into the drama- not to experience Jesus as some historical theory or book of commandments but to live his presence- so that we too may be transformed by his presence.

One of the common factors in all these stories is that at first those who were familiar with Jesus fail to recognise the risen Christ. And this is the same in the story in today’s Gospel which Luke narrates for us quite brilliantly the story of two disciples meting a stranger on the road to Emmaus and not recognising who he is.  This is as good as any Shakespearean scene  of dramatic irony with disguised or mistaken identity because the unrecognised Risen Jesus of Nazareth has the opportunity to interpret for them the meaning of his own death and to repeat the actions of the last supper for them until their eyes are finally opened in the action of blessing and breaking bread to who he really is.  Luke is using this narrative to express a truth which is so difficult for all to grasp. A miracle of life and hope is taking place in their midst which changes absolutely everything. Like those disciples on the road at first we too have heard a story told to us of events that have taken place that seems impossible to believe. And yet through his presence with us that story is opening up and becoming vivid and real and life giving.  The story will be told over and over again and become part of their community, their meaning their identity.  And we too two thousand years later today and in each Eucharist will be still living out that drama, and living out of it, recognising Jesus present with us in the breaking of bread. This is what a sacrament is- not a tired ritual- but the revelation that we encounter the risen Christ here and now.

In dramatic theory, Patsy Rodenburg, one of theatre’s leading teachers, writes of moments of presence- presence that vital moment of connectedness, and full attentiveness akin to flicking on a switch, that surge of energy within when we realise our eyes and senses have been opened up to a greater truth. She writes of three circles of presence and relationship- the first circle the focus is inwards. It is the circle of introspection where we withdraw from the outside world and our interior world takes over. It is a needed circle for reflection, space, rest, withdrawal but  it can be isolating and a lonely space. The third circle of connection is the opposite it is when all  the energy is outside oneself. Putting on a public persona, creating an outward impression, acting out, projecting an image. One sees clergy, policemen, politicians, lawyers, officials, and world leaders acting from this third circle of connection. It is a rehearsed role they are playing and yet there is often a disconnect- they are speaking o and at but not with. The person presents, performs, speaks but  without  attentive response or interaction or intuition of those they are speaking to.

The true presence of a person is revealed according to Patsy Rodenburg not in the first or third circle of connection but the second circle of connection.  When we discover the centre of who we are. This is when you draw on your interior self from first circle of connection and the outgoing confidence of the third but discover a receptiveness an inner truthfulness- which draws on one’s inner self but is also responsive and attentive to those you are speaking to. You are in the moment, in the zone, giving but also receiving. Rodenburg describes this second circle as the place of energy, truthfulness and naturalness. It is an experience of truthful transparency: when we are in tune with our true humanity and that of those around us- and we are communicating without pretence of façade and the experience is liberating. There are moments when we all experience the life force of this open, natural truthfulness which feels like heart speaking to heart.

I think our true encounters with one another and with Jesus move us into this centre circle of openness and truthfulness. I was leading a wedding preparation for my nephew and his wife to be and I asked him what he most wanted for his wife and he said ‘I want her to be her true self’.  Her whole face lit up when he said this. He had recognised the most important need for this truthful centre. He didn’t love an image of what he wanted her to be- he loves her. It takes faith and wisdom and truthfulness for us to discern this true communication especially in a world where the public stage is so dominated by the bombastic, the celebrity, the threat, the fake, the deceptive. When you hear someone speaking from that second circle- that circle of transparency and truthfulness it has a luminosity and a soul in the midst of the world’s deception.

I am saying this because are there not moments for us too when our eyes are opened and our hearts burn within us? We may not have recognised Christ’s presence at first We hear the story, hear the explanation, and then in an encounter or an action the door is unlocked and we too can be set free. People describe these as light bulb moments- moments of revelation when the true self opens up and we recognise our reason for living and we are unafraid. Like those two disciples suddenly recognising the risen Jesus. This second circle- this truthful opened up humanity- this life in all its abundance is within us all waiting to be revealed. The true Christ given self so often oppressed of hidden or unheard.  This is what I and I am sure many others felt like this during this last week hearing the words of Pope Leo. I man who at the beginning of his office has not tried to publicise or in any way proclaim himself but has emerged simple, still , luminous, truthful, and humble in the midst of the world’s destruction: speaking Christ’s truth that we have longed to hear. To hear him speak was like a light being switched on.  I want to end this reflection on signs of resurrection with some of the words he has spoken:

‘Enough of idolatry of self and money! Enough of display of power! Enough of war! True strength is shown in serving life.

Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic or political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.

‘The masters of war pretend not to know that it takes only a moment to destroy, yet a lifetime is often not enough to rebuild. They turn a blind eye to the fact that billions of dollars are spent on killing and devastation, yet the resources needed for healing, education and restoration are nowhere to be found. Those who rob your land of its resources generally invest much of the profit in weapons, thus perpetuating an endless cycle of destabilization and death. It is a world turned upside down, an exploitation of God’s creation that must be denounced and rejected by every honest conscience. We must make a decisive change of course — a true conversion — that will lead us in the opposite direction, onto a sustainable path rich in human fraternity.’

Peace is not something to be invented. Rather, it is something we discover when we embrace our neighbour as our brother or sister. Family is not something we choose, but people we must accept as we live together in the same common home.

Amen.