Sermon for Easter 3-A RCL
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.
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
The disciples asked “Are you
the only Stranger in Jerusalem who doe not know the things that have taken
place in these days?” And Jesus
responded “What things?” And so the
conversation begins between the stranger – who we know is Jesus, and two of his
disciples. A conversation that allows
the disciples to have their hearts broken open with the scriptures. A conversation that allows them to express
all of their fears and doubts. Listen to
their conversation. “We thought this
Jesus was going to overthrow the Roman occupation. Did we not see him ride triumphantly into
Jerusalem? We thought he was the
one. Not like all those other prophets
and pseudo-messiahs that we heard about.
And now he is dead. And now what do
we do. Some of the women have said he is risen but it can’t be true. It is the hysteria of grief and magical
thinking.” Perhaps the only way they
could finally understand anything was to first have someone listen to their
fears, doubts and disappointments.
The story of the conversation
and the journey are ones that we can all probably relate to on some level. Have you been disappointed by someone or
something in your life? In our times of
grief we can both throw up walls and just as unexpectedly let them come
crashing down with our emotions threatening to drown anyone who happens to be
in the vicinity. So when Jesus asks “What
things?” the disciples wall of grief starts to crumble. The disciples name their dashed hopes and
dreams. And then Jesus starts to rebuild
their faith. On that road to Emmaus a
healing happens.
Not an instantaneous healing
but the beginning of a journey of healing.
Perhaps if Jesus had been recognized immediately there would have been
an instantaneous healing – like we heard with Mary when she suddenly recognized
Jesus in the Garden when he called her name.
But these two needed something different. Their grief and disappointments were perhaps too
big. So Jesus does the good active
listening trick of drawing them out. Of
asking an open-ended question. And then
first listening and then taking them – again –
on the journey of the scriptures. Of interpreting to the disciples – again
– the things that Jesus taught them during his time with them. Things that obviously they still had not
really heard. Their hope for freedom
from the Roman occupation kept them from understanding that Jesus came to usher
in a different world within the existing world in a way the world did not
understand – and in many ways the world still does not understand.
And there is good news in this
slow recognition because I am willing to bet that many of us are very much like
these two disappointed disciples heading to their home in Emmaus. For many of us our faith happens as a journey
– and frequently becomes clearest in retrospect. Can you think of a time that you recognized
God’s presence? Did you recognize it
immediately or was it in looking back you recognized it? I know that I have had times that I only
really recognized how God-filled a moment was when I have told the story to
someone else. It is then that I
recognize God at work.
There have been several times
that God has shown up for me. A few
years ago I was very disappointed that I did not get a promotion in my secular
job. I had just spent 13 months carrying
out the duties of the Assistant Deputy Director for Surface Water Quality and
in the end they hired someone else. I
was told it was not because I wasn’t doing a good job but because management
wanted to perhaps look at grooming someone who could grow much higher in the
organization. And I was disappointed to
the point that I wanted to quit. I knew
I could do a good Job – because everyone said I was already doing it. It was certainly time for a new Job – or so I
thought.
As luck would have it this
news came down on a Wednesday morning.
Luck because I was scheduled – as I usually am – to conduct a healing
service at St. Paul’s at noon. And for
no discernible reason we had a record crowd of people show up for that service.
People suddenly appeared who needed
prayers for healing. People who had
never shown up before were suddenly drawn into the building.
And it was when someone back
at the office asked how my lunchtime service went that I suddenly recognized
God’s not so subtle message of healing for me.
I recognized that my calling was not to be the Assistant Deputy
Director. My calling was to walk with
people and be a conduit of God’s healing grace through service to the
church. So now I don’t think it was a
coincidence that when my heart was broken that all the people showed up who
needed healing. God showed up and opened
my heart. God showed up on the journey
and let me know that I was on the right road – not on a road up the
bureaucratic chain of command but on a road of service. And like the disciples my heart burned as
God’s love for me was made clear.
I like the various post
resurrection stories because they are all different and they show that there is
no one way to recognize the Risen Lord in our midst. We may be like Mary and have a one-on-one
encounter in the garden when Jesus calls our name. Or we may be like Thomas who needed proof
before we would believe the things the others had said. But for me I most frequently find God in the
Journey. Especially in journeys that are
in community. And when my eyes are open
in the breaking of the bread and in the prayers.
I invite you this Easter
Season to look and see where you find the Risen Lord. The promise of Easter is that God does show
up – whether in the Garden, in the locked room, or on the Journey. And your journey may be as short as a walk in
the Garden or the seven miles the desciples walked – or even the journey of an
entire lifetime. No matter how long or
short our faith-journey is the promise is that Jesus will walk with us. And be with us even when we don’t recognize
it. And when God shows up on our journey
we are healed. So let us continue to
break bread together and be conduits of Christ in our world. Let us ask our fellow travelers “What things?”
and then listen to each other’s hopes, fears, and disappointments and yes Joys
in the love of God for all of God’s creations.
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
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