2/12 Sermon

Luke 24:13-35

The Walk to Emmaus

 Now on that same day two of them 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 uswhile 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.

I want you to think for a moment about this question:  What did you expect to happen this morning?  When you got up and came to church, what did you expect?  Did you spend any time thinking about it?  Did it occur to you to have expectations?  Did you think it would be just like any other Sunday?  Or do you expect something so incredible to happen you couldn’t possible imagine what it might be?

Our expectations can have a powerful impact on how we perceive an event.  If I go in to the movie theater and expect that I’m going to see a great movie, it would take a lot for me to not like the movie.  In the same way, if I expected the movie to be terrible, I’d probably seek out every possible glaring hole in the plot and manage to dislike the movie, even if it isn’t a bad movie.

Our expectations can also change.  I’ve been on planes before where I expected the flight to be a smooth ride to my destination.  Thirty seconds into the flight, when the plane hits a rough patch of air and jumps sideways, suddenly that expectation is gone—my hope is that I make it to my destination safely, while somewhere in my gut I’m expecting the plane to crash any minute.

So we can have all sorts of expectations, and we acknowledge that they can have a big impact on how we perceive an event, and that they can also change after an event has started.

Now, let’s turn to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus.  Think of everything they have going on in their minds as they go to walk these seven miles.  The average person walks about 2.5 miles per hour, so they have almost three hours to ponder the events of the weekend.  They’ve seen their Lord arrested by the Jewish leaders, crucified by the Romans, and they spent time mourning him before hearing reports that he was not in fact dead but has risen from the grave.  They set out for Emmaus with all of this information on their hearts, probably hoping that by the time they reach their destination they will have sorted this all out and come to some sort of conclusion.  They probably expect this to be an uneventful walk in which some truth is shed upon their situation. 

The reality of what they experience is far different than their expectations. 

In summary, Jesus appears and walks to Emmaus with them.  The entire time they walk, he is busy unfolding the truth contained in the Old Testament that points to him.  He is opening their eyes to the reality of Christ as a Savior, and they are spellbound.  What they expect to be an ordinary walk is transformed into a lesson about the single most important truth that has ever graced this world—that Jesus Christ is the Messiah the world has been waiting for. 

What Christ did on that walk was transform their expectations.  They hadn’t expected to be confronted with the reality of Christ.  When they invited him in for a meal, they thought they were simply going to have a dinner guest.  Instead, their ordinary evening was transformed into a sacramental moment, into an incredible encounter with the Risen Christ.  Their eyes were opened and they realized that Christ had always been with them, and it had been no ordinary walk at all.  Their expectation and the reality were far different.

I think it’s important that we shift this back to ourselves—that we make the connection between the disciples and ourselves.  But this story isn’t only about us.  Remember, we’re talking about expectations.

Forty years ago, there were different expectations than there are today.  Forty years ago, it was expected that people would be in church on Sunday morning.  It was expected that the church was the place you would be, and that the church was a trustworthy and worthwhile institution for people to put their trust in.

No more. 

There is a general loss of trust in institutions.  It’s part of what this big, post-modern world is about—people don’t have faith in institutions.  They don’t approve of Congress, and don’t expect them to make good decisions—and Congress, lately, hasn’t been disappointing them.  They don’t expect to grow up and spend their Sundays in church.  There isn’t the expectation that the church is a trustworthy institution.  The church is not considered relevant anymore. 

It’s difficult for those of us inside of the church to grasp all of this.  We wonder why people don’t trust us, but the reality is that people don’t expect the church to be a worthwhile place to spend their Sunday mornings.  And so they stay home. 

The reality is that if we are going to be relevant in the 21^st century, we have to break some expectations.  People expect the church to be a stale and irrelevant place, a place where people come and are comfortable but are not transformed into disciples who base their entire lives on Christ.  People don’t expect transformation, so for the church to reach out to people, we have to break some expectations and allow ourselves to be transformed by the reality of Christ in our midst.

Friends, for us to be agents of transformation in the community, for us to demonstrate to the world that we are serious about our faith and that it is worth their lives, we first have to be willing to be transformed ourselves.  We can’t expect other people to want to take up Christianity if we are not living a faith that transforms us.  If we’re caught up in something comfortable that isn’t dynamic and alive, why would someone else want that?

And this is where we turn back to the disciples, walking the road to Damascus.  They didn’t expect Jesus Christ to accompany them to Emmaus, but they were mistaken.  They didn’t realize it until much later, when they sat down to break bread, but Christ was with them every step of the way. 

In the same manner, Christ is with you every step of the way.  Think about that for a moment—it’s not just some nice platitude that should make us feel better—it should radically alter the way we look at the world, the way we see our lives.  Jesus Christ, the God who created the universe, walks with you every step of the way, every moment of your life.  Wherever you go, Christ goes with you, is already there before you arrive.  Whatever you do, Christ is beside you—leading us to the question, do your actions bring glory to him?  If you stopped for a moment and recognized that Christ was with you, would you live differently?

How would you live differently if you expected to meet the Risen Christ on your daily commute, around your breakfast table, in a conference or hospital room?  Would you act differently if your expectation was that Jesus Christ, Lord of Heaven and Earth, would be with you?  Would you come to church with a different set of expectations if we stopped for a moment and recognized that Jesus Christ is here to transform our hearts and our lives?  Would you go out with a different attitude if you realized that Christ goes with you, before you, and leads you outward?

Friends, we’re called to live with a different set of expectations.  Each day, we should expect that Christ will accompany us in all that we do.  His Holy Spirit is at work within us, and that should transform how we live, how we speak, how we act.  Our lives should be evidence that Christ is with us.

Do you show that to the world?  Do you allow Christ to transform your ordinary life into a holy offering?  Do you expect Christ to show up every day?

And if not, why would anyone else want to have the same faith?

Let us pray