THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER A     LUKE 24:13-35     “THE ROAD TO HERE”    APRIL 6, 2008

 EACH SUNDAY AS WE GATHER IN WORSHIP WE CELEBRATE JESUS CHRIST’S VICTORY OVER DEATH IN THE RESURRECTION.  EACH SUNDAY IS A CELEBRATION AND REMEMBRANCE OF THAT LIFE CHANGING AND LIFE SAVING EVENT.  IT’S AS THOUGH WE ARE CELEBRATING EASTER EACH TIME WE GATHER ON WHAT WE CALL THE LORD’S DAY.

SO FAR IN THIS SEASON OF EASTER OUR READINGS FROM THE GOSPEL HAVE ALL BEEN ACCOUNTS OF THE EVENTS OF THAT VERY FIRST EASTER SUNDAY.  TODAY’S READING BEGAN “NOW ON THAT SAME DAY …”  AND THE STORY CONTINUES.

REMEMBER - THE CELEBRATION OF EASTER CONTINUES FOR SEVEN SUNDAYS.  A WEEK OF WEEKS.  THIS CELEBRATION WILL CONTINUE LONG AFTER THE JELLYBEANS AND CHOCOLATES HAVE BEEN ALL EATEN UP.  

OUR CELEBRATION OF EASTER IS SO BIG THAT IT TAKES SEVERAL WEEKS JUST TO TELL THE STORY.  AND WHAT A STORY IT IS.  WHAT A DAY IT HAD BEEN.

EARLY THAT MORNING THE WOMEN HAD FOUND THE EMPTY TOMB.  WORD BEGAN TO SPREAD QUICKLY THROUGHOUT THE AREA.  JESUS HAD RISEN.  AND NOW, JESUS WAS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND.

WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED TO JESUS?  ALL THEY KNEW WAS THAT TWO MYSTERIOUS PERSONS AT THE TOMB HAD REMINDED THE WOMEN OF JESUS’ WORDS CONCERNING HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION.  THEY RECALLED THOSE WORDS, ABOUT HOW HE MUST SUFFER AND DIE, AND THEN ON THE THIRD DAY BE RAISED FROM THE DEAD.  EVEN SO, SOME DOUBTED.

AND NOW, JESUS’ BODY, OR JESUS HIMSELF, WAS MISSING.

WELL, EVEN IN THE MIDST OF EARTHSHAKING NEWS LIKE THIS, LIFE MUST GO ON.  TWO DISCIPLES OF JESUS HAD TO MAKE THE TRIP TO EMMAUS.

WHILE THEY WERE WALKING ALONG THE ROAD, THEY BEGAN TO DISCUSS ALL THAT HAD HAPPENED IN THE MORNING.  AS THEY WERE WALKING AND DISCUSSING THESE EXCITING, YET CONFUSING EVENTS, THEY ENCOUNTERED A STRANGER.  THIS STRANGER WAS INTERESTED IN THEIR CONVERSATION.

THEY WERE SHOCKED THAT THIS STRANGER KNEW NOTHING OF THE EVENTS THAT HAD OCCURRED IN JERUSALEM OVER THE PAST THREE DAYS.  CLEOPAS SAID “ARE YOU THE ONLY STRANGER IN JERUSALEM WHO DOES NOT KNOW THE THINGS THAT HAVE TAKEN PLACE THERE IN THESE DAYS?”

EVIDENTLY SO!  WHEN THE STRANGER PERSISTED, THEY TOLD HIM THE STORY.

THEY ALSO TOLD HIM ABOUT THEIR DISAPPOINTMENT IN HOW THE STORY HAD TURNED OUT.  SPECIFICALLY, HOW THEY WERE DISAPPOINTED THAT THE ONE WHOM THEY HAD THOUGHT WAS THE MESSIAH, TURNED OUT TO BE SOMETHING SOMEWHAT LESS THAN THAT IN THEIR EYES.

THE MESSIAH, AS THEY BELIEVED, COULD NEVER HAVE BEEN PUT TO DEATH IN ANY MANNER.

THE MESSIAH THEY HAD HOPED FOR WOULD RULE ON HIGH AND COULD NOT BE DEFEATED BY ANY PERSON NOR BY DEATH.  JESUS HAD DIED, AND ALONG WITH HIM, THEIR HOPES AS WELL.

“THEN HE SAID TO THEM, ‘OH HOW FOOLISH YOU ARE, AND HOW SLOW OF HEART TO BELIEVE ALL THAT THE PROPHETS HEAVE 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 ALL THE THINGS ABOUT HIMSELF IN ALL THE SCRIPTURES.”

AFTER HEARING WHAT JESUS HAD SAID TO THEM ABOUT THE MESSIAH, CLEOPAS AND THE OTHER DISCIPLE INVITED HIM TO STAY WITH THEM SINCE IT WAS BEGINNING TO GROW DARK OUTSIDE.

THEY WERE IN THE PRESENCE OF THE RISEN CHRIST, BUT THEY DIDN’T KNOW IT.  THEY STOOD BEFORE JESUS, BUT THEY DIDN’T RECOGNIZE HIS PRESENCE.  THEIR EYES WERE OPEN BUT AT THE SAME TIME THEY WERE BLIND TO WHAT THEY WERE LOOKING AT.

IT’S HARD TO IMAGINE WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE TO STAND IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD AND CHRIST JESUS AND NOT RECOGNIZE THAT PRESENCE.  OR IS IT, REALLY?  MAYBE THERE ARE MANY IN OUR WORLD WHO ARE STILL BLIND TO THAT PRESENCE.

BUT HOW COULD THAT BE?  GOD’S PRESENCE IS SURELY EVIDENT ALL AROUND US, RIGHT?

I MEAN FOR ONE THING, LOOK AT ALL THESE CHURCHES EVERYWHERE.  IN SOME PLACES THERE’S ONE ON EVERY CORNER.  THEY CAN BE FOUND ON BUSY STREETS, SIDE STREETS, SPRAWLING CAMPUSES, AND EVEN IN STRIP MALLS.

WITH ALL THESE HOUSES OF WORSHIP SURROUNDING US, HOW COULD ANYONE NOT BELIEVE IN GOD AND CHRIST JESUS.

AND THEN THERE ARE ALL THESE CROSSES EVERYWHERE.  NOT JUST ON CHURCH BUILDINGS BUT ON LOTS OF OTHER PLACES OF BUSINESS AND PERSONAL HOMES.  EVEN HANGING ON CHAINS AROUND PEOPLES NECKS.

WITH ALL THESE CHURCHES AND ALL THESE CROSSES HOW COULD IT BE POSSIBLE THAT THERE ARE SOME WHO DO NOT KNOW CHRIST AS LORD AND SAVIOR?  HOW CAN THERE BE PEOPLE RIGHT HERE IN OUR COMMUNITY WHO CANNOT SEE THE PRESENCE OF THE RISEN CHRIST IN THEIR MIDST?  IT JUST DOESN’T SEEM POSSIBLE DOES IT?

IF OUR PERCEPTION IS THAT EVERYONE ALREADY KNOWS ABOUT JESUS AND ALREADY KNOWS THAT SUNDAY SERVICES ARE AVAILABLE AT CERTAIN ADVERTISED TIMES MAYBE THAT SORT OF LETS US OFF THE HOOK FROM OUR CHARGE TO TELL THE EASTER STORY AND TO INVITE OUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS TO COME AND SEE THE RISEN CHRIST HERE IN THIS PLACE.  LET’S SEE HOW THE SCRIPTURE ADDRESSES THIS PERCEPTION.

JESUS SAID IN THE GOSPEL “GO THEREFORE AND MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS.”  AND HE SAID “You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised;”

AND THEN IN ACTS WE READ “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

JESUS DID SEND THE HOLY SPIRIT AT PENTECOST.  THAT SAME SPIRIT IS BESTOWED UPON US IN BAPTISM.

TODAY THAT SPIRIT WORKS WITHIN US IN PROFOUND AND EXCITING WAYS.

MARTIN LUTHER WROTE IN THE SMALL CATECHISM THE WORDS “I BELIEVE THAT I CANNOT BY MY OWN UNDERSTANDING OR EFFORT BELIEVE IN JESUS CHRIST MY LORD OR COME TO HIM.  BUT THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS CALLED ME THROUGH THE GOSPEL, ENLIGHTENED ME WITH HIS GIFTS AND SANCTIFIED AND KEPT ME IN TRUE FAITH.”

SO YOU SEE, ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE, IT’S NOT ENOUGH TO SIMPLY HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF JESUS, OR TO TAKE NOTICE OF CHURCH BUILDINGS AND CROSSES IN ORDER TO BE A BELIEVER.  ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE, JESUS MUST BE REVEALED TO YOU IN ORDER FOR YOU TO BELIEVE.

THAT HAPPENS THROUGH THE LIFE GIVING WORDS OF THE GOSPEL.  THAT HAPPENS IN THE TRANSCENDENCE OF WORSHIP.  THAT HAPPENS IN THE EATING AND THE DRINKING OF THE BREAD AND THE WINE.

AND OF COURSE THAT WAS WHAT HAPPENED ON THE ROAD TO EMMAUS SO MANY YEARS AGO.  THE TWO FRIENDS ON THE ROAD HAD KNOWLEDGE OF JESUS BUT THEY DID NOT YET BELIEVE.  THEY KNEW ABOUT THE STORY OF THE CRUCIFIXION AND THE RESURRECTION BUT THEY WERE NOT SURE OF WHAT IT ALL MEANT FOR THEM.

NOT UNTIL THE RISEN PRESENCE OF JESUS THE CHRIST WAS REVEALED TO THEM.  SAINT LUKE WRITES “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;”

FOLLOWING THIS REVELATION “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 THEM WHAT HAD HAPPENED ON THE ROAD, AND HOW HE HAD BEEN MADE KNOWN TO THEM IN THE BREAKING OF THE BREAD.”

TO THIS DAY THE HOLY SPIRIT CALLS US TO FAITH THROUGH THE WORDS OF THE GOSPEL.  TO THIS DAY THE HOLY SPIRIT CALLS US TO WORSHIP SO THAT WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO PARTAKE OF THE REAL AND REVEALED PRESENCE OF JESUS CHRIST IN THE BREAD AND THE WINE OF COMMUNION SO THAT WE CAN BE STRENGTHENED AND SUSTAINED IN OUR LIFE OF FAITH.

AND TO THIS DAY THE HOLY SPIRIT SENDS US OUT INTO THE WORLD TO TELL THE GOSPEL STORY OF JESUS CHRIST’S TRIUMPH OVER SIN AND DEATH AT EASTER.

JESUS THE CHRIST, GOD’S ONLY SON, HAS BEEN REVEALED TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF US.  AND FOR THIS REASON WE GATHER TOGETHER IN WORSHIP TO CELEBRATE THE EASTER VICTORY SO THAT OUR FAITH MAY BE STRENGTHENED, ENABLING US TO MEET THE CHALLENGES OF EACH NEW DAY WITH THE PROMISE OF JESUS’ LOVE AND PRESENCE IN OUR LIVES.  AMEN.

Amen!