Luke 24: 13-35
Have you ever passed by something a hundred times and all of the sudden it looks different to you? Has anyone ever said to you “hey. . . look at that design in that rock”. . . you keep looking at it and don’t see anything and then all of the sudden. . . you look at it from. . . a different angle and see exactly what they are talking about? I know I have. There is this figure of a fish that it is the side of this rock formation when you get on to rte 93 from my house. I think I have talked to people about it many times and it takes some of them a while but. . . eventually they see it. We never know what we are missing sometimes because we. . . kind of have these. . . blinders on.
This kind of reminds me of these two men walking the road to Emmaus. They were so consumed with what had happened in the past that they were missing the glorious thing that was happening in their present time. The “RISEN” Lord Jesus Christ was walking along with them. They even had a burning feeling in their heart that they ignored because they were focused on what had taken place in the days before. I wonder how many times “WE” miss our Lord walking with us because we are too concerned with what is going on or has gone on in our life instead of the blessings we receive abundantly each day.
This story of the appearance to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus is the most developed and the most beautiful of the appearance stories. Its plot is centered on the failure of the two men to recognize their fellow traveler. The suspense builds in the story until the moment that they recognize the risen Lord and He disappears. . . vanishes. . . from their presence.
Emmaus. . . it was a little-noted town. Luke doesn’t say why the two disciples were going there. They may have been going home. . . going there on business. . . or just going there to get away from the terrible things they had witnessed in Jerusalem. The risen Lord meets us on our road to Emmaus, in the ordinary places and experiences of our lives, and in the places to which we retreat when life is too much for us. The story warns us, however, that the Lord may come to us in unfamiliar guises, when we least expect him.
This reminds me of something that happened in my life years ago. It was when I was a “new believer”. . . just after I had rededicated my life to Christ. I was in the grocery store and I had one of those cubes that tells the story of Jesus’ life. I don’t know if you have ever seen one before. . . I wish I could find one, I lost mine a while back. . . they look like those Rubik Cubes that were so popular a few years back. Well. . . the High School kid that was bagging my groceries was really interested in it. He asked me about it and I told him that is was a cube and when you flip it around it told the story and went along my way. Well. . . I no sooner got to my car and felt like I had missed divine appointment. I went back to find him and show him how it worked and tell him the story but I couldn’t find him. . . I swore that I would never pass up a chance to witness ever again. Was this High School kid the risen Lord standing before me and I didn’t realize until too late. . . I guess I will never know. But. . . that lesson has stayed with me for many years.
One thing I find interesting about his passage is that as soon as they recognized the risen Lord. . . He disappeared from their sight. God’s presence is always elusive, fleeting, dancing at the edge of our awareness and perception. Now let’s be honest. Do you really feel a constant, steady, predictable presence of God? If you do I envy you (oops sorry. . . that’s one of the Big Ten). I know that there are times in my life when I am praying “Lord I feel alone and confused. . . I need you to be here with me right now”. . . and there is silence. . . but in those silent times. . . in those times that I am walking through that desert place. . . I know that God is watching me and that there is a lesson to be learned. I know that He will pick me up if I fall. . . brush me off. . . and say “Let’s try that again. . . this time my way”. But there is this. . . silence. Maybe. . . this silence is a good thing. If we all felt the presence of God with us at all times. . . we may take for granted that God is always with us. We may not have the joy we feel when we feel God’s presence because it would be too common place for us. I have learned through my life with God. . . to treasure every moment that I feel his presence. I even have learned to look for Him in my day to day dealings. I even think back on the moments when I felt God’s presence when I am going through that dry arid desert and remember how it was. Even the two disciples looked back and remembered. After the Lord vanished they said to one another “Did not our hearts burn within us?” Even the women at the tomb (with the angels prompting) remembered the words that Jesus had told them while He was still with them. They remembered back to a time when the Lord was with them. One of the secrets of a vigorous spirituality and a confident faith is learning the importance of meeting God in the past as well as the present. You need to remember.
Memory. . . we all have it (OK. . . so some are better than others but we all have one). In the Scripture from Acts this morning. . . while Peter was preaching to the people he sparked their memory. Peter reminded them of all the good Jesus did. . . of how Jesus performed miracles and wonders which God did through Him. He reminded the entire household of Israel that with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified. They remembered what had happened and realized what they had done. Their “blinders”. . . the scales. . . fell away from their eyes. The scripture went on to say “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers what should we do?”” They had been blinded of what had taken place but were reminded and they remembered Jesus and who He was. As a matter of fact. . . as we read. . . those who welcomed his. . . Peter’s. . . message were baptized, and that day three thousand persons were added. Talk about your altar call!
Memories. . . to remember something. . . sometimes it is good to remember things while other times it may be painful. Sometimes our memories help us through what we are going through and other times they may cause us to fear. But. . . we can always find a lesson in our memories. For the two disciples and the people that Peter was preaching to. . . their memories helped remove the “scales from their eyes”. It is in our memories. . . when we meditate on what has happened. . . we can see the picture of life more clearly.
Easter was not over when the day was over. It stretches into the rest of our lives. The two disciples might not ever meet the stranger from on their trip to Emmaus again. But. . . that didn’t matter. Their life was changed. The Gospel story we read from Luke has a theological insight when it stretches Easter day into the series of experiences that happened after. The Lord is risen and He comes back to meet us on our road to Emmaus. Opening our eyes to see Christ in our midst is a challenging step on the Christian journey, but this is the step that leads two disciples to recognize the risen Christ. However, opening one's eyes is only a step; for after their experience, the disciples made known to all that had happened to them. We need to share our stories too.
When we read the bible. . . . There are times that our “heart is strangely warmed” (as John Wesley would say). Christ meets us there on our road to see more clearly and understand what God’s has to say about our lives. We recognize Him when we celebrate communion in the “breaking of the bread.” We meet Him in our daily lives unaware, as did the two disciples, until it is too late at times. We need to remove our blinders. . . have the scales fall away. . . so that we can see Him more clearly in our daily lives. You never know. . . the next stranger we encounter may be our risen Lord in disguise. We may meet Him in an unfamiliar place or right in our own back yard.
Amen.
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