Luke 24:13-48
3 Easter
I used to find some amusement in those little jokes about growing old—things like, you know you’re getting older when your back goes out more than you do. Or, Old ministers never die, they just go out to Pastor. They lose some of their humor, however, when they describe your situation. At Christmas Karl Arasmith gave me a book entitled My Teenage Son’s Goal in Life is to Make Me feel 3,500 years old. A few years ago, that would have been funny.
However, there are gifts that come with age that youth knows nothing of. A wisdom about life that that comes with what they used to call the school of hard knocks. Adlai Stevenson was a man who knew about that kind of wisdom, he was also a skilled orator. Mr. Stevenson was once governor of Illinois, and was twice an unsuccessful candidate for the Office of President of the United States, in 1952 and 1956. He was raised in Bloomington, Illinois. When Stevenson was a child, there was a tragic incident that haunted him for the rest of his life. While showing off with his brother's hunting rifle, he accidentally shot and killed a young playmate named Ruth Merwin. Stevenson rarely discussed the incident but many have theorized that his dedication to public service may have been due to the terrible burden of guilt he carried.
Adlai Stevenson gave a speech at Princeton many years ago, in it he said: He said, “A person of fifty has a knowledge of life that a person of twenty can’t possess. It is not the knowledge of formulas, but of people. A knowledge not gained by words, but by touch, sight, sounds, victories, failures, sleeplessness, devotion, love—the human experiences and emotions of this earth. And perhaps, too, a little reverence for the things you cannot see.”
Then Stevenson continues in a way that prepares us to hear the message from our scripture for this morning. “That reverence for the things you cannot see comes hard, and often with pain. It comes when life knocks you down like an express train and just keeps dragging you after it like a slow freight. When the gaiety is crushed out of you and you just feel there’s nothing worth waiting for. And so maybe, maybe, you try waiting for the Lord.”
In a post resurrection scene from the Gospel of Luke, the Gospel writer tells us that two people are walking down the road to Emmaus. We don’t know who they were, except that they were followers of Jesus. We know that one was named Cleopas, They were traveling away from Jerusalem, going home. They had been through one of these devastating experiences that Adlai Stevenson talked about—Jesus death. They were knocked down by an express train, they felt like they were dragging after it, like a slow freight, the gaiety was crushed out of them. They felt there was nothing worth waiting for.
Two discouraged people are heading for home after a devastating disappointment. Believing they are alone, they walk the long and dusty road from Jerusalem to Emmaus. For most people like these two, or any others who experience the tragedies of life, there is a time of feeling lost, a wandering; and even if you survive with your sanity, you wander, without any purpose, without any energy to do anything. Lifeless for a season, waiting, with nothing worth waiting for.
Suddenly, they are joined by a stranger. In a remarkable kind of way, this story points to the wonderful tenderness God has toward us -- especially in our toughest times. This story is especially significant for people like you and me, the two disciples in our scripture reading were not a part of the original 12 apostles... the inner core of Jesus' followers. Yet they are central characters in what may be the most heart warming of all the resurrection accounts. Why them? How did they get picked for this precious experience?
Here is the first truth that comes from the story. The Good News of Jesus Christ is not about who we are, but about who God is. It does not matter that these two disciples were not a part of the "inner circle" what mattered was that Jesus loved them and they needed his presence. They had been broken hearted and shattered by his death on a cross three days earlier. We don't even know both their names. How many countless hundreds of thousands of nameless disciples across the ages are unknown to anyone but God? It is very significant that Jesus cared for each and every person who came to him. Whether they were leaders or followers, rich or poor, significant or insignificant.
The second truth is that it was still hard for them to believe! Only a week before they had been riding the crest of a wave of enthusiasm. A crowd was singing the praises of the one they believed was Messiah. The future had never looked brighter. Today -- Messiah... or whoever he happened to be, was dead. His reputation was enshrouded in shame and his followers were scattered from one end of Palestine to the other. Instead of the Kingdom of God and the long expected triumph of the Christ had come the most horrible defeat. Despair instead of hope had taken hold of their hearts. They were on their way back to Emmaus now... back to the old routines, the "same old, same old..."
Perhaps you have been on a road like that. You have you had a time when your hopes and dreams were shattered. If so, you know what it is like when heartbreak wrings your very soul. Heartbreak and grief can be exhausting and it colors your world. I have known this road, I can recall actually wondering if there would ever be a day when I would feel at peace -- to say nothing of feeling joy.
In the midst of the disciple's bewilderment as they walked along trying to make sense out of tragedy, a stranger overtakes them and begins to talk with them.
They do not recognize their guest...perhaps they are preoccupied with their turmoil... perhaps he chooses to remain hidden from their recognition. In any case, he walks beside them, joins them, speaks to them, encourages them, and gives them hope.
They invite him to stay and eat with them and in the breaking of bread, they see who he is. And they see what God has done. The Divine One has given their life back to them. God has recreated their world: Chapter 24 says, When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. Of course, Luke has Holy Communion in mind here, that’s obvious. The appearances of the risen Christ to the disciples after the resurrection seek to confirm them in their faith, to nourish them, and to awaken them to their new responsibilities. Luke reiterates the unity between the historical Jesus and the risen Christ. Now they understand Him better and they see their task is to be witnesses to the message and the resurrection of the Lord - "beginning from Jerusalem". For Luke, it is from there, that the victory over death is to be proclaimed.
Some of you have heard me joke, I get paid to believe in Jesus, they don’t pay me very much. The sentiment is not original, at least the first part of it isn’t. I stole from a professor at seminary, who used to say they pay us to believe in Jesus – using sarcasm to make the point, that sometimes people think that it is only Pastor’s job, to be the proclaimer. But Jesus makes it clear in this text that the work of proclaiming belongs to all. The sermon on Sunday morning is just one form. The people of God proclaim God in countless ways every day: When a neighbor is helped, when an inspirational song is sung, in a donation to a homeless shelter, or by bringing a can of food to church. Christ is proclaimed, by a nail hammered in home repair, through prayers for the sick and dying, or the silence of a needed hug- the people of God proclaim Jesus as Messiah, when we share forgiveness, and take the word to all, in all of our everyday actions, so that we will surprise someone along the lonely and desolate road, with the love of Christ.
St. Augustine wrote: You are the Body of Christ. In you and through you the work of the incarnation must go forward. You are to be taken. You are to be blessed, broken and distributed, that you may be the means of grace and the vehicles of eternal love. Amen.