The Emmaus Walk and Talk

Let’s just go for a walk and clear our minds, find a nice path in the forest, or maybe somewhere peaceful near the water. Have you ever said that? Needed to do that? Cleopas and his companion must have. It had been quite a week. A big supper with a dear friend, who ends up getting arrested, put on trial, an unfair one at that, then brutally crucified, martyred, buried, and then, that morning they learn that his body was gone! This is horrible. Why? Just, why. We heard how Cleopas and his companion leave Jerusalem for the seven mile walk to Emmaus. We don’t know exactly where Emmaus was, but no matter. We don’t know the name of his companion. It might have been his wife. Often women’s names were not included. But we don’t know.

Cleopas and his companion were crushed with utter disappointment. Then they get into a conversation with a stranger who is walking on the road too. Jesus comes along beside them, incognito, without any special invitation, and meets them on their road trip. They tell him what’s been going on. Haven't you heard what’s been going on in Jerusalem? Everybody is talking about it. Their conversation keeps going.

What on earth prevented Cleopas and his companion from recognizing Jesus? Had they never really seen him before? Maybe they had always sat in the back row when Jesus was speaking. Maybe they both could have used a pair of glasses. Maybe they were kind of like fans who had only heard of his stories and his miracles second hand. Maybe the sun was in their eyes , maybe their heads were down, or maybe they were so involved with their own sorrow and grief that tears had blocked their vision. Perhaps they were so heartbroken and wounded that they just couldn't stay cooped up in that room with the rest of the disciples. Perhaps they just had to go home, to hit the road and talk it out.

But we had hoped… they said to Jesus, their walking companion. We had hoped that Jesus could have stayed with us. But we had hoped, we had hoped that the cancer wouldn't return, or that we would be able to keep our job, or that that dearly beloved person would not die. But we had hoped… that we could work out that relationship, that marriage. We had really hoped that it would all turn out for the best, and that there would be a happy kind of ending, but…

And as they talk, the stranger, Jesus, unpacks the scriptures, he sheds light on the mysteries of Moses, and the prophets - and how the scriptures tell about the messiah coming, and what the prophets had to say about a resurrection and on and on. And after they have been together a while, and the scriptures have been shared, Cleopas and his companion invite him to stay with them. Stay with us! Don't leave us now. This is just getting interesting! We can keep talking over supper. And he does. They include the stranger, and as he sits down at the table to break bread and drink some wine, they see! They recognize him, and he is gone.

Jesus is revealed to them at the table, in a time of hospitality. With the holy hindsight that we have, we can see that they were sharing communion, the bread and the wine, like Jesus had done at the last supper, just days before.

They are so ecstatic that they have to hit the road again, even though it’s evening. Their joy impels them to return to Jerusalem, to go and tell the others! Faith is not something coerced. Rather, it is revealed and experienced in the context of a relationship. God is alive and on the move. Jesus isn’t confined or might I say imprisoned simply in our creeds, our denominational preferences and routines. Jesus is with us wherever we go, filled with energy and possibility. The joy of our experience of Jesus’ presence impels us to go and share the joy.

Hopefully, that’s what happens in a time of worship. A revelation, an aha! We meet together, come together on our various journeys, our own pilgrimages. We hear the scriptures read and unpacked, we break bread and share the wine. Jesus is our guest. We hear his words. Jesus is made visible and then we are sent out. Not to be street corner preachers, but to be Jesus’ hands and feet, among those we meet. And to see Jesus’ face in the stranger.None of us are second hand Christians. Jesus reveals himself to us. Now. In this place. Wherever two or more are gathered in his name he is there. Jesus shows up in our everyday lives, and is revealed in the midst of wherever we are, and whatever road you are traveling on. You never - none of us - ever travel this road alone.

Where are you sent out to? How is Jesus revealed in your midst? Maybe we need to back up a bit, and ask ourselves where we have met Jesus? Where have we encountered him on our journey? Many of us can joyfully say that we have met him in worship, in the reading of the scriptures, in our own quiet times of prayer and bible reading. Maybe you have encountered Jesus in a small group or in something you read that opened your eyes and your spirit. Is there an experience that has left you with your heart burning with the presence of Christ? And wanting to say please don't leave - stay!

John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, wrote of his own personal experience of Christ. He said, “In the evening, I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter to nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”

While this may be true for some of us, it is also a sad truth that many have left the church. Some have not encountered his presence. Some have been hurt. Some have simply become wounded for various reasons, and in their brokenness simply had to hit the road. There is history in the church and in all human gatherings - where there is much wounding. Our world is filled with injustice and sorrow. And the church is not exempt. Many have chosen to walk off in another direction.

So how does Jesus meet these broken people, these folk who walk these journeys of disappointment or continue to utter the words, 'but we had hoped...' How is Jesus revealed in their midst? How is he revealed in your midst? outside the walls of this sanctuary.

We have been called to be the hands and the feet of Jesus in the places that we live and work in. You are the hands and feet of Jesus. It sometimes makes me smile when I discover that I have been like some 'undercover pastor' working incognito in my neighbourhood in what seem like random conversations. I have met some wonderful people who often have had histories of woundedness, or disillusionment in their lives. I have often caught an echo of 'But we had hoped...' in those conversations. I imagine there are those of you sitting here this morning who have similar experiences. It can take some added grace and patience to walk that road together. Whatever those burdens are that the people near us are carrying, or that we carry, Jesus comes alongside as we walk.

Wherever we go, be it on a walk, a drive or sharing a conversation over a meal. Jesus comes to us filled with the joy of new life, new beginnings. What is he saying? Is he whispering in your ear? Let’s keep moving. Jesus is right beside us.