It is Easter season in the Christian community and, like many gospel preachers around the world, I have taken as my Sunday texts the stories of the Risen Lord: How he appeared to his friends and followers, and how they reacted, and what it all means for us. This coming Sunday, I have chosen the famous Resurrection Day episode of two dejected disciples walking away from Jerusalem with their hopes dashed. “Doubt and sadness clouded their hearts,” one preacher said, “so much that they did not recognize Jesus.”
That preacher was Jeremy Shoulta.
Dwight Moody
His sermon, “The Road to Emmaus.” was preached in January 2010 and published shortly thereafter in volume one of a series by Chalice Press. A Beautiful Thing is the title, and Lee Huckleberry was the editor. He opened his preface with the most wonderful sentence written in the 10 years of preaching and publishing that followed: “On January 7, 2010, a beautiful thing took place in Louisville, Ky.”
Then he explained: “Ninety-two young preachers gathered at St. Matthews Baptist Church to participate in the inaugural Festival of Young Preachers. They came from east and west, north and south. They came from small towns and large cities. They came from high schools, colleges, universities and seminaries. They came from nearly 20 denominations. They came with a passion for Jesus and a commitment to gospel preaching. It was one of the most unique, inspiring and hopeful events I have ever attended.”
I was there, of course, and today I write a hearty AMEN to all, Huckleberry wrote. It was, indeed, a beautiful thing. But I also give my endorsement to every word of the sermon by young Jeremy Shoulta, then a recent graduate of Georgetown College and a student at Baptist Seminary of Kentucky.
This week, as I prepared to read and teach about the road to Emmaus, I read something else, and it struck me as the most beautiful, elegant and inspirational sentence I have read in decades, perhaps ever. It is also very sad:
“For the life of my husband, Jeremy, with whom I’ve shared all of my happiness for 20 years, thanks be to God. October 11, 1983 — April 12, 2026.”
“For the life of my husband, Jeremy, with whom I’ve shared all of my happiness for 20 years, thanks be to God.”
Yes, she wrote it. Valarie, the wife and now widow of Jeremy Shoulta.
Suddenly, that story in the Bible and that sermon in the book become a precious witness to the presence and promise of the Risen Lord. We all have been stunned by the events of the last week, much like those two unnamed disciples who were stunned, first by the death of Jesus, whom they described as “a prophet, powerful in word and deed,” and then by the appearance of Jesus.
“Stay with us,” those two begged Jesus after they had walked and talked into the darkness of the night. Which is precisely our prayer, not all the time, for we often are too busy traveling, working, talking, even playing: not all the time, but sometimes, when we really need the grace and mercy of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Sometimes, like now.
The friends and family of Jeremy Shoulta will gather Sunday evening in the sanctuary of First Baptist Church of Gainesville, Ga. It is the sacred space where Jeremy himself told the stories of Jesus and, like Jesus, asked questions. Like the two that form the final words of his 2010 festival sermon: “How will you be the presence of Christ as you walk alongside those who think all hope is lost? How will you be the image of Christ to all of those who are in need of such marvelous grace?”
I need somebody to walk with me, and I am not the only one.
Dwight A. Moody is an author, minister, scholar and host of the media site The Meeting House, where this column first appeared.