April 23, 2023
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois
Luke 24:13-35[1]
Our church is in a time of
transition, the ending of a chapter. We are reflecting on what we have
experienced over the past few years together. We are anticipating what will
change, and cherishing the time we have together. Like travelers on the road,
we have walked together for a time, and we will part ways, changed by the
experience.
This passage from Luke would
actually fit chronologically before the story from last week. In Luke’s
telling, the women who go to the tomb in the early morning see only two men in
dazzling clothes; they do not encounter the risen Jesus. This journey to Emmaus
reflects the ambiguous time between the empty tomb and the appearance of Jesus
to the disciples and Thomas behind locked doors.
As they travel, the two disciples
converse about the dramatic events of the past few days. When the stranger
joins them, the recount the mission of Jesus and the events of the passion, but
without fully understanding their meaning.
Luke’s Gospel sets the entire
story in the context of journey, the journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, and in
the following story of Acts, the journey of the early community from Jerusalem
“to the ends of the earth.”[2]
The early Christians were known as the people of the Way, or people of the
journey. As one scholar describes it, “For Luke the journey of Jesus and of the
church itself expresses the unfolding history of salvation that finds its
origin In Israel and through the Spirit extends salvation to the ‘ends of the
earth.’”[3]
What Jesus interpreted to them
from the scriptures, from Moses and all the prophets, is the story of God’s
saving work revealed through the people and history of Israel. God’s story is
one of life emerging from death, of the journey of renewal, reconciliation, and
transformation. As Jesus reveals the connections between the story they know
and the story they have just witnessed, they begin to understand the meaning of
Jesus’ death and resurrection. Here is some of what they might have heard.
The story of the Exodus from Egypt
is a story of bondage, liberation, a journey, and a destination. It begins with
the Hebrews as slaves in Egypt. Daily life was hard labor with perhaps enough
food to survive on, but not much more. By means of the plagues, God liberates
the people from Pharaoh. They are led into the wilderness by Moses. There they
journey for forty years toward the Promised Land.
This story suggests that the human
condition is slavery or bondage. You and I are in bondage to many things, such
as cultural messages about what we should be like, what it means to be
successful, attractive, and to live the good life. We can also be enslaved to
fears, addictions, or other kinds of oppression. We might be trapped by debt,
or the fear of losing employer-supplied health insurance. The story of Moses
and the people seeking freedom remains a particularly poignant one for the
descendants of African slaves in America.
God’s salvation comes as the
people are led from bondage to liberation, leaving Egypt and Pharaoh. It also
involves a journey through the wilderness. It is in the wilderness where God is
encountered and known. It can also be a place of fear and anxiety where we
sometimes find ourselves longing for the security of Egypt, of the familiar
things of the past. But the wilderness is also a place where we are nourished
by God and where God journeys with us. The destination is life in the presence
of God.
This congregation is faced with a journey
through the wilderness. As the Hebrews were not always content with the
leadership of Moses, you may find that new leaders make you long for the familiarity
of the past. But on that wilderness journey you will be nourished by the manna
of God, and led to a new experience of the presence of God promised through the
ages.
Through the prophets we learn of
the Exile. The exile began in 587 BCE,
when, after Jerusalem and its temple were conquered and destroyed by the
Babylonians, some of the survivors were marched into exile in Babylon some 800
miles away. There they lived as refugees, far from home and oppressed. Fifty
years later, the Babylonian Empire was conquered by the Persians, who allowed
the Jews to return to their homeland.
We live in a time when millions of
exiles and refugees know this experience firsthand. It is an experience of
separation from all that is familiar. People contend with powerlessness and
often oppression and victimization. There is sadness, loneliness, and grief. It
is a yearning for home and a place where we belong. It can also mean the loss
of meaning or a sense of purpose. These feelings may be familiar to us as familiar
ways of working, learning, gathering, and traveling are changing.
God’s salvation from exile leads
the people on a journey of return. The religious life is a journey to the place
where God is present, a homecoming, and God assists those who undertake the
journey. As God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah, “I will bring you back to
the place from which I sent you into exile.”[4]
We may ask, like the exiles, “How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign
land?”[5]
Perhaps in the days ahead we will sing a new song, a song of joy as we see
familiar places in a new light.
Another way in which we understand
salvation comes from the days of the temple, the priesthood, and sacrifice. It
is a story of sin, guilt, sacrifice, and forgiveness. When we people turn away
from God, we are in a state of sin and brokenness. When we are lost from the
ways of God we need to return to God, to repent, to be cleansed, washed, or
covering over. When we have done wrong, we need forgiveness. We need to
sacrifice to God to make up for what we have done wrong. Since the early Middle
Ages, some Christians have understood Jesus as the dying savior whose death is
a sacrifice for our sins, thereby making our forgiveness by God possible.
“Jesus died for our sins.”
This image of Jesus is powerful,
and can be a sign of God’s great love for us, as we know from John 3:16, “For
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes
in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” The message is simple,
direct, and radical: we are accepted, just as we are. Our own sense of sin,
impurity, and guilt need not stand between us and God. New beginnings are
possible.
Each of these stories is part of
the grand story of God’s work of salvation. For some of us, the need is
liberation; for others, the need is homecoming; and for still others, the need
is acceptance. Each of these stories helps us to understand what it means to be
Christian, living life as a journey whose central quality is a deepening and
transforming relationship with God.
Where do we go from here? The
story doesn’t end with supper that night in Emmaus. That was a moment of
revelation, a vision of the living Christ in the breaking of the bread. It was
also a moment of understanding that their journey was not ended, but just
beginning.
The story of Jesus is the story of
discipleship. The word disciple means “a follower after somebody.” Discipleship
is a following after Jesus, a journeying with Jesus. It is a journey, not
alone, but in the company of fellow disciples. The Christian life is about
being in relationship with God, which transforms us into more and more
compassionate beings, changing into the likeness of Christ.
Our journey also continues, and
though we can’t see the future, we can think about what is coming down the
road. Things won’t be the “normal” we had before. The disciples didn’t just go
back to fishing. There will be changes in our lives. If nothing else, we will see
and appreciate what makes us a unique people, what binds us together, and how our
very beings are being transformed by the company of those who travel down the
road with us.
I hope that down the road you will
realize your interconnectedness in new ways, and be more grateful for all the
people who come in and out of your lives. I hope that when you break bread
together, the living Christ will be made known to you. And I pray that you will
continue on in the Way, the journey which takes us all ever-closer to the One
who saves us. Amen.
[1] The
scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard
Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of
the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2]
Acts 1:8.
[3] Donald
Senior, Exegetical Perspective on Luke 24:13-35 in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary, Year
A, Vol. 2, David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, General Editors
(Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010), p. 421.
[4] Jeremiah
29:14.
[5]
Psalm 137:4.
