A Walk to Emmaus

Sermon Luke 24:13-35 April 26, 2020 3^rd Sunday of Easter

A Walk to Emmaus

Gathering with you this morning in the intimacy of our safe sacred spaces, our sanctuaries beyond these walls, our sanctuaries at home is a real blessing. 

We have the opportunity to worship our God beyond all praising; to offer our voices to a love so amazing, to the gift of God sent to us and revealed to us, with whom we rise to bless. These are the words from the anthem we’ll sing soon. But, I think on this morning as we gather across the internet, its important to be mindful of this gift of praising God from wherever we are.

It wasn’t until we’ve had this shelter in place order that I began to look at this post resurrection story of Cleopas and his friend differently.

Here we are today all hunkered down in our homes waiting for a moment to allow us to get on with life.

We are all waiting for the word that this mess we’re in is all over.

We’re all waiting for the word that we’ve emerged healthy and unscathed.

Cleopas and his friend are scared, disillusioned, and bewildered of the events of their past few days. They only want to go home, to get away from the turmoil and agony of the cross. This story is about the walk to Emmaus. That seven mile journey from Jerusalem.

But, these days all the familiar things we do that offer us solace, we are unable to do. It’s hard to identify with this story.

We can’t participate in all the familiar things they mention.

We can’t journey far,

we can’t gather at table with friends,

we can’t engage with strangers.

These elements in our lives are the things we miss. This story has the potential to create an even deeper sadness.

And yet, we are here holding God’s Word in our hand wondering, hoping, trusting, how Jesus will be revealed for us, to us today.

Cleopas and his friend were at their home and they had invited Jesus to join them. And in their home at table together, they recognized him in the familiar acts of their life.

Perhaps, this is all we need to remember today.

You see all the stuff that happened on the road to their home was important. That’s how they wondered and recapped the events and did their best to process out loud with each other what had just happened in history, what had just happened to Jesus, what had just happened to them. It was more than they could bare. They didn’t have enough within them to go on. They didn’t have what they needed-they didn’t have Jesus anymore.

Jesus was the one who they followed and who all the disciples loved. Jesus was the one who provided for them in a way they had never experienced before. It wasn’t the miracles. It wasn’t the preaching. It wasn’t, well, they couldn’t put their finger on exactly what it was that caused their hearts to be moved when they were with him.

And now he was gone and they missed him and all that had become familiar to them seemed to be gone too.

Through their connection with Jesus they experienced the joy of family and community with the other disciples. They experienced their lives transformed into a new identity with Jesus. They experienced the power of God within them to sustain them from day to day. And the cross took all that away from them…so they thought.

We too have important connections with one another.

Coming to church gives us the joy of family and community.

Coming to church reminds us we are a transformed people with our identity in Christ.

Coming to church we experience the power of God at work within us to sustain us from day to day.

And this covid crisis has taken all that away from us…so we think.

Mike and I learned a lot when we took our trip sailing across the Atlantic. Every time I look around at my life in these last four months since our return, I see a connection of our trip with our life as it is right now. And that’s just it. It’s connections. When we joined the World Cruising Club Atlantic Rally Crossing we had no idea how important the connections we made were for us before we sailed. We discovered how the relationships we built with the crews of the different boats prior to our departure created what we needed. We discovered the connections of the church and our family prior to our departure became an important part of our daily routine. We knew we were far apart from each other while we were by ourselves on our little boat out in the middle of the Atlantic. But, our faith in our connections with one another allowed us to know we were never alone out there. Whether by radio, or email, or looking at the same night sky, we knew we were present with those beyond our reach.

On this Sunday we are all beyond the reach of one another.

And yet, through the connections of radio, email, letters, computers, the night sky and the sun, we can know we are fully present with one another.

The one thing that seals this connection is the invitation to Jesus.

Cleopas and his friend invite Jesus into their home.

And there they are together at the table enjoying a meal.

And then they remember!

And then they recognize him!

And they are lifted up in the joy of his presence.

We do not have to pretend that we have it all together.

We do not have to pretend that life is dandy.

We do not have to pretend that ‘we’ve got this’ staying at home gig figured out or are even coping.

We can be truthful.

We can speak the truth of where we are and how we are.

 And then we can do one thing.

Just one thing is all we need. And that is to invite Jesus in.

We can invite him into our home to be with us.

To sit with us.

To cry with us.

To laugh with us.

To sustain us.

Wherever we are Jesus shows up at our invitation.

It is a gift.

The greatest gift of amazing love.

As one podcaster said (KCBowler) when there is more than enough for us to bear, the math of self care is not enough. Kate C Bowler says, when we no longer have enough for ourselves the prayer for the Holy Spirit to show up for us, to carry us is real. God shows up, she says, to put us in our hamster bubble and push around for awhile when we just can’t do it ourselves any longer.

Cleopas and his friend couldn’t do life the way it was any longer. At their home they invite Jesus in. and in that moment of returning to the familiar, a meal together, they recognize the gift of the fullness of his presence with them.

And so on this Sunday, you out there, and we in here.

Trust the promise.

Trust the invitation.

Jesus has us connected with one another.

We are not alone.

In life and in death, in all our circumstances, we belong to God and to each other-and these are our blessed connections.

We are gathered this morning in the intimacy of our safe sacred spaces, our sanctuaries beyond these walls, our sanctuaries at home with Jesus at our tables, and we are blessed. Let us lift up our sacrifice of praise. Amen.

Resources: Podcast Working Preacher podcast for April 26, 2020  Rolf Jacobson, Karoline Lewis, Joy J. Moore, and Matt Skinner; Podcast Kate C Bowler; NIB Luke