I.N.I.
a sermon
to be preached on the 3rd Sunday of Easter, that is, 30 April 2017 at
Christ Episcopal Church, Accokeek, Maryland and based on the Holy
Gospel for the day: St. Luke 24:13-35
Grace,
mercy, and peace be yours in Christ Jesus the Lord.
Dear
Friends in Christ,
When
Father Brian and I agreed on me preaching here this morning, I told
him something like, "Good, because that Gospel is basically a
hiking story." What I meant, really, is that much of the text
takes place on the trail.
At some
point on Easter day these two disciples were hiking out of Jerusalem,
headed for their home in Emmaus, 7 miles away. It was late enough in
the day that the early visits to the empty tomb had been made and
reported on (and, I suppose, probably also some time passed while
they started to digest the news). But they needed to get back home,
so they left their friends and started walking. They likely would
have allowed themselves between 2 and 3 hours to get home. I'm
guessing that they weren't in any great hurry because they were deep
in discussion as they walked, so involved that at first they didn't
notice this other man out walking in the same direction until he was
right with them.
Then the
one disciple -- Cleopas was his name and, while the other isn't
identified here it's possible that it was one of the Marys in
John 19:25 at the foot of the cross described as "Mary the wife
of Clopas." There is that slight difference between Cleopas and
Clopas to deal with, and the fact that Luke doesn't make any
suggestions about disciple #2's identity, so they could have been
brothers, or father and son maybe, but this morning let's just assume
that it was Mary his wife. Anyway, Cleopas rather incredulously
explains to the man they met on the trail just what they had been
discussing. "Are you the only one in Jerusalem who doesn't know
what happened just now?" (Imagine someone in New York City 2 or
3 days after the World Trade Center attacks professing never to have
heard about them.) The disciples did a good job of summarizing the
crucifixion and resurrection. But they cast it in slightly doubtful
terms: as far as Cleopas and Mary seemed to have known, the tomb was
indeed empty, but up to then nobody had seen the body anywhere.
So, like
each of us from time to time, one day more often, one day less so,
but like us all these years after the events, they had doubts. They
were sad about the execution of Jesus; Luke tells us that "their
faces [were] downcast" (24:17). They tell this stranger by the
side of the road that they had really had hopes that this Jesus was
going to be the One to redeem Israel, but that, well, their own
rulers had handed Him over to be killed. So it looked pretty much
like that even though He was a prophet and one powerful in word and
deed, it looked pretty much like no He wasn't the One. . . . Except
there were these reports about the tomb now being empty. And some
angels saying He was alive. It just didn't all add up for Cleopas and
Mary.
They
were deeply sad about the whole thing. They had their doubts about
the reports from the women and men who had been to the tomb in the
morning. From Thursday night on, they had been simmering pots of fear
and disbelief and confusion and doubt. Sort of like we so often are.
That's the way it is in this life for those of us who are sinners.
No, we don't have perfect faith. No perfect peace. No perfect
confidence or clarity. Often at best, we're usually like these two
Emmaus disciples hiking out of Jerusalem late that first Easter
Sunday: at best we want to believe, but we just can't put the pieces
together by ourselves.
Well
this was their lucky day! I've thought for years that if I had a
chance to record one conversation in history, this would be the one.
(Of course, I'd need help with the translation, but still!) Here were
two immediate disciples of Jesus laying out all their doubts and
questions, and here was a Man who walked them through the entire
Scriptures showing them point by point how it all pointed to Jesus as
the promised Messiah, the Savior of the world, the One who had to
die, but Who would live. How utterly amazing that would have been!
Another
aspect of this that I find wonderful is the way this Gospel story
paints us a picture of the Christian life. All that Cleopas and Mary
can focus on at first is their doubt and confusion. They can't see
any way out. All they've got by themselves is more of the same,
having gone over and over the same ground talking themselves in
circles. Until this Man came and "walked along with them"
(24:15). On their own, nothing. But this Man opened up the Scriptures
to them, and the Word of God spoke to their hearts. That's what they
said to each other after, remember: "Were not our hearts burning
within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the
Scriptures to us?"
They
had, as faithful Jews, been exposed to the Scriptures since
childhood. Much of the teaching would have been historical, about how
the Lord had dealt with their people through the years. Much of it
would have been concerning holy living, about how to keep themselves
ceremonially clean, separating themselves from the unbelievers
crowding around them. And much of the teaching would have been about
the promised Messiah Who was constantly calling to them, inviting
them back into faith, right living, and relationship, and Who
probably seemed perpetually just around the bend in the road, just
out of sight.
When God
calls people today, He still does it through his Word. While we don't
have that recording of exactly what Jesus told them while they hiked
their way to Emmaus, we do have the New Testament, in addition to
what the Emmaus disciples had. And we probably have several editions
of the Bible; even pocket-sized or digital copies of it that we can
carry anywhere. We have a couple thousand more years of accumulated
study and commentary than they did. And we regularly hear the Word
read to us, preached to us, and sung to us. Rest assured that God
still comes to us in the Word, whatever form we have it. So we have
that to rely on.
But
there's more.
When it
had gotten evening and the three of them got near Emmaus Jesus acted
as if He was continuing on. I think He really wanted these two
disciples to invite Him in, and He gave them this opportunity, with
the motivation, the incentive, the actual power to ask Him to "stay
with them." (24:29) So He entered their home. There may have
followed some hustle and bustle, at least getting cleaned up before
they sat down to eat; maybe they had to introduce children or other
family members; maybe there was a servant there preparing a meal.
Eventually, though, they gathered at the table.
And when
He was there -- still unrecognized at this point, remember -- Jesus
knew what all would follow, so I'd bet that He let the meal go on a
ways. (They'd just walked 7 miles from Jerusalem and He wanted them
to be refreshed, as He knew they were only at the mid-point of the
day's hike.) And then Jesus, Luke says, "took bread, and blessed
and broke it and gave it to them." (24:30) Saint Luke wasn't
just grabbing for random vocabulary at this point. Just two (very
full) chapters before this, he had written the same words. Luke 22:
19: Jesus "took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to
them." These very same words that Father Brian will speak in a
few minutes at the altar.
When
Jesus celebrated this meal with Cleopas and Mary, "their eyes
were opened and they recognized Him" (24:31). This is important.
Pay attention to what is going on here: Jesus is recognized in the
giving of the bread that is His body. Jesus is recognized as they
share the now sacred meal. Jesus is recognized in the Sacrament.
First,
He opened the Word to them and they saw Christ in the Scripture. Then
He came to them in the Sacrament and their eyes were opened.
And then
He disappeared.
This is
one of those really fun scenes to imagine. What were they thinking
now? "Whoa! What just happened here?! Did you... Did He....
"Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked with us
on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" (24:32) Get me my
sandals, I've got to go back to Jerusalem!" And out the door
they went!
Now, by
the time they hiked or jogged the 7 miles back to Jerusalem, Simon
Peter had met the risen Lord and shared that with the rest of the
disciples ... not just the other 10 but also "those who were
with them" (24:34). That's the first thing Cleopas and Mary
heard when they got together with them. Then Cleopas and Mary told
all the others about how they'd met Jesus on the road, how He had
opened the Scriptures, how they recognized Him in the breaking of the
bread. There was a mutual sharing of the Good News about Jesus, an
exchange of Gospel messages. That's one of the things that the Church
still does: shares the Good News.
The
sadness they had all felt was now in the past. They were almost giddy
with excitement, with joy. And when it seemed like it couldn't be any
better than that ... "Jesus himself stood among them and said to
them 'Peace be with you'." (24:36)
Where
does this leave us here in Accokeek? Well, it leaves us forgiven,
which is great. Forgiveness from God allows us to feel happy instead
of downcast. Forgiveness brings clarity to our lives instead of
confusion. Forgiveness fosters confidence to replace fear.
In other
words, all those things that had overwhelmed Cleopas and Mary between
Maundy Thursday and Easter afternoon -- the same things that
overwhelm us from time to time -- all those things stemming from the
sin in the world around us and in our hearts -- all those things are
are turned right side up by God's forgiveness washing over us when
Jesus opens the Scriptures to us and when He comes to us in the
Sacrament.
Our eyes
are opened to this reality when we recognize Jesus in our midst, just
as the eyes of these two Emmaus disciples were opened at that moment.
This action takes place in our hearts as we experience the same
spiritual heartburn that Cleopas and Mary felt. This word "heart"
in Biblespeak is the seat of everything that makes us human. It "is
the center of the inner life" (TDNT). Your heart is the junction
of feelings, emotions, passions, desires -- the reason we associate
the heart with being in love -- but, in the Bible, the heart is also
the crossroads of thought, reflection, and the will.
In
today's first lesson we have another real-world example of this: the
Pentecost crowd listened to Peter's message and it says "they
were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other
apostles, 'Brothers, what shall we do?'" His answer is to
"Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus
Christ so that your sins may be forgiven." (Acts 2:37-38) Then
some years later this same Peter wrote the letter that is today's
epistle, and in it he tells believers "Now that you have
purified yourselves by obeying the truth, so that you have sincere
love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart."
(1 Peter 1:22)
So our
hearts are the crossroads of thought and the will and desire and
passion. And it's out of our hearts that we begin to love the Lord
and our neighbors. Jesus told us, you remember, to love God with all
our heart, and soul, and mind, and spirit. But notice here that the
heart is the one different thing in that list; a heart is the
one of those love sources that is physical. The mind ... where is it?
The spirit ... who can touch it? Soul ... who has seen it? But heart
... heart is the beating center in which the religious life is
rooted. Jesus Christ took on human flesh in order to be able to
relate to us heart-to-heart.
As we
continue to let Jesus open the Scripture for us, may our
hearts burn within us. As we come to the altar to eat the
bread that is His body and drink the wine that is His blood,
and may our eyes be
opened that we recognize Him. For it is in these things that God's
people still gain forgiveness of sins, life, and peace. Amen.
And
may the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts
and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.
S.D.G.