(This sermon, a written version of the sermon given at Hebron Presbyterian Church on September, 4, 2016, contains ideas inspired by and references to the book “The Road To Amazing: Basics Of Christian Practice” by Mary Brooks Casad and Clayton Oliphint)
Text: Luke 24:13-35
Inscribed on the front of our communion table are these words - This Do In Remembrance Of Me. These words are not on every communion table, but these words or some close approximation are on many tables. Keep that in mind. We’ll come back to it.
Two sad disciples. That’s who we have in the story in Luke 24:13-35. We don’t know many specifics about them. We know one of them is named Cleopas. Beyond that we know they were on their way from Jerusalem to Emmaus. And they were sad.
They were sad because everything had come to an end. Okay, obviously not everything. They are still alive and they are walking on the road to Emmaus, so we know something remains, but they feel like everything has come to an end. Where there was hope, there is now no hope.
Our two disciples are talking about what had just taken place in Jerusalem. What had just taken place was Jesus - the person they had pinned all of their hopes and dreams on - had been crucified and placed in a tomb. As we meet the two disciples they are heading away from that misery and they are heading back to…something. Something unclear. Something filled with despair. They were on the road to nowhere.
It was the road to Emmaus. But it was also, in that moment, the road to nowhere.
The road to nowhere is a cruel place to be. Things can seem so hopeful and so promising. And then it all goes away. We have been on this road at one time or another. May be on it now. A job disappears. A visit to the doctor and health circumstances change for ourselves or for someone we care about. A relationship hits the rocks. The clouds roll in.
The size of the problem often doesn’t really matter. Despair just needs a toehold. It could be something great or it could be something small. To be honest sometimes nothing happens. Sometimes that’s the problem. It feels like nothing is happening. And we begin to think nothing ever will happen. In those moments, we share the same road those disciples were on. The road to nowhere.
An unexpected thing happens to those two disciples on the road to nowhere. A third person joins them on their journey. Luke doesn’t leave us in suspense.
Jesus himself arrived and joined them on their journey. (Luke 23:15b, CEB)
This is so unexpected that the two travelers don’t recognize Jesus. He’s right there walking with them and they don’t realize who he is. Understandable. Jesus had been crucified. Jesus had been put in a tomb behind a stone to seal the entrance. That same Jesus does what the hymn says. He walks with them and he talks with them. He teaches them
He asks what is bothering them. They are curious if he is the only one who doesn’t know what has happened in Jerusalem. Over the course of time, Jesus teaches and something interesting begins to happen. The travelers don’t know who is teaching them, but they know they like it. By the time they reach Emmaus they, somehow, are starting to feel better. They may not recognize him, but they want him to stay.
They gather around a table for dinner. Jesus breaks bread. Their eyes are opened and they recognize him. The road to nowhere is a distant memory.
If we let it, this can remain a story on a page in Bible history. We can be excited that two very depressed followers of Jesus had their eyes opened and felt better. We can marvel and wonder how they walked all that way and didn’t know him. We can meditate on what it might have been like to walk with Jesus and learn from him, to be at table with Jesus and experience the transformative moment of the breaking of the bread. Joy and purpose and hope are all back in a moment.
The road to nowhere, becomes the road to amazing.
We can leave it at that. A story about an amazing encounter that happened…a long time ago, in a place far, far away.
Or it can be much, much more.
Here is the thing. Nothing changes about the road to Emmaus in this story. It’s the same road. Begins in Jerusalem. Ends in Emmaus. Same distance. Same hills and dips. All the same geographical features. Same things going on in the world. One thing changed. The two disciples realized Jesus was with them.
This Do In Remembrance Of Me. Yes, do this remembering what Jesus did on our behalf. Remembering that Jesus lived for us, died for us on a cross, was buried and then rose for us. Remember all that. But more basically…remember Jesus. Remember that you are not on any road by yourself. The joyous roads. The challenging roads. The roads that are crowded with sadness and seem bent on leading to despair. Remember that Jesus is on the journey with you.
We can be as blind to Jesus presence as the two disciples on that ancient road. Remember Jesus. Whatever the road is. Wherever the road is. Whatever it may be called. With Jesus alongside, we are not simply headed for an amazing destination, we are on a journey that is itself, each day, amazing.
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