Date: 02 April 2002
Time: 06:20:17
I find it interesting that it was only in the breaking of bread with Jesus that the Emaus disciples recognized him. I wonder...do we recognize Jesus when we brake bread together at His table? Why? Why not? Preacher in Ks.
Date: 03 April 2002
Time: 12:43:03
I'm preaching this text April 7 instead of the 14th. Just couldn't pass up the opportunity to preach it on a communion Sunday (we celebrate the first Sunday of the month).
I've been thinking about holy moments I've had in my life and ministry, how Christ has surprised me by his presence. One of those moments came when I visited a member who was dying of cancer. Near the end of the visit I asked her how / for what she would like me to pray. She expressed concern for family members and a sick church staff member. As I bowed my head to pray she got out of her recliner with great difficulty and knelt there at that chair. After I'd prayed she prayed and in her prayer she prayed for me. I knew I had been in the presence of the living Christ and I now treasure that moment.
A common thread of the holy moments I've been able to recall is that in each one I was doing something God had called me to. (In this case, visiting a sick woman.) The two on the road to Emmaus insisted their traveling partner become their guest at table; they shared their bread and companionship with the stranger. It was then that they were blessed with recognizing the risen Christ.
One angle for preaching is to encourage the hearers to faithfully do what God's given them to do. Christ will meet them in their lives.
Jeff in Jax, FL
Date: 03 April 2002
Time: 12:58:38
Preacher in Ks:
I've been puzzling over the same thing. Sometimes it seems like just a bit of bread and some juice. Other times it is the body and blood of Christ; it is truly communion with the risen Lord. What makes the difference? I'm thinking it's "Who" that makes the difference. Maybe like Cleopas and his friend we must open our hearts/lives to the people around us in order to be open to Christ's presence.
Jeff in Jax, FL
Date: 03 April 2002
Time: 13:16:34
Hey, Long time no writing! I hope everyone is having a blessed Easter!
Isn't the road to Emmaus an interesting text? What I believe is so interesting is that Jesus is invited to be the guest, but in the end he becomes the host.
How many of us, at times, have invited Jesus in to our lives only to find that Jesus is the one that actually invites us (into fellowship, communion, and ultimately eternity!)
There is definitely, for the sacramental types, a lot of language that might be used to illustrate Holy Communion. For the pastoral types there are words that might comfort the saddened (just as Jesus gave Cleopas and friends hope for the future). Perhaps, an evangelical evangelist might use this text as a call to faith (to open the eyes to where God is).
Well, I hope your sermon touches the life of at least one person this week. God bless!
Vicar in Chicago
Date: 04 April 2002
Time: 07:55:26
We are celebrating hope for the Children of Africa Sunday this week. The connection between finding Jesus in the stranger at Emmaus and finding jesus in strangers across the sea is pivotal for me. the Des moines Register had an artlicle on Catholics converting at Easter and how powerful the rituals were for them in fostering a relationship with Jesus. How can the ritual of communion help us foster relationships with jesus and each other?
Date: 04 April 2002
Time: 10:55:33
I am baptizing an adult and baby this day, and the first half of the service is orientated toward Baptism. I want to move to this text for the second part of the service. At present I am working on any transitional link. Nancy-Wi
Date: 04 April 2002
Time: 13:56:54
re transitional link for Baptism and Lord's Supper
Baptism = Welcome to the Family!
Lord's Supper = Join us at the Table!
wd in WNC
Date: 04 April 2002
Time: 16:35:38
I too am preaching this text on the 7th -- a welcome Sunday off the following week. Came across one of Buechner's sermons on the text. I like his question about Emmaus being the places where we go when it all gets to be too much. My title is "Where do you go to forget?" And, of course, the bottom line is that God comes to us wherever it is we choose to escape to, breaks bread and invites us to come home again. Gives a little different spin to the "warm heart" picture I've loved for so long. ChapPA
Date: 06 April 2002
Time: 18:29:13
Well, I've got my sermon title . . .
"A Walk To Remember" :-)
Dave K. in West Ohio
Date: 07 April 2002
Time: 11:28:52
I love how Jesus listens first, then envites them to discribe more of what they were experiencine and how they were making sense out of things and then helps them rebuild new hope on their old foundations of scripture, newly interpreted.
I believe Jesus is a master of paradigm shifts who listens carefully to what paradigms we are currently using and gently helps us find anothe bridge to new meaning. Manzel
Date: 07 April 2002
Time: 12:09:32
Isn't this characteristic of the mystical experience? We can have this awareness of the divine presence while it is mysterious but once we become self consious about it, poof. Like Peter walking on the water, once we become self conscious of it, our limited mind caused some kind of shutdown. Manzel
Date: 07 April 2002
Time: 12:14:22
I can hear Jesus making some kind of comment on how ploddinly slow our hearts and minds are, not as a condemnation but as an observation that it does not have to be this way. Reminds me of Yoda's Jedi teaching "do or do not, there is no trying". Manzel
Date: 07 April 2002
Time: 12:18:56
There eyes keep them from recognizing them. What does this mean?
Date: 07 April 2002
Time: 17:07:49
Matthew, Mark and John are all very clear about The risen Christ appearing first to Mary (and possibly other women) so why is Luke bent on saying that Peter was the first to see the Risen Lord? It is unthinkable that Luke had not heard stories that Mary was sthe first to see the risen Jesus. It certainly smaks of deliberate male Chauvinism by the auther of Luke-acts. This tarnishes his credibility.
Date: 07 April 2002
Time: 19:11:51
I'm intrigued by the notion that it was only when the disciples welcomed a stranger into their midst, eventually inviting him into their home, that the risen Christ was revealed to them. What if they had snubbed off this weirdo who edged into their private conversation? What if they'd said at the door to their home, "Well,it was nice meeting you - have a nice rest of the journey." Could it be that hospitality is a crucial Christian discipline that we've neglected, and that if we were to practice hospitality to strangers, we'd see evidence of the resurrection far more often than we normally do?
I'm also curious about hospitality codes in the ancient middle east. Anybody know if the disciples were just doing what was expected of them,or if any social mores were broken in this story?
Re: the question about women as first witnesses of the resurrection -- the thing Luke doesn't mention in this story, but would be fairly obvious to the early hearers/readers (unless it could be assumed that the 2 on the road to Emmaus were gay or lesbian partners) is that this is a married couple, man and woman, who invited Jesus into their home. So perhaps even Luke, who includes stories of so many women in the gospel, but usually in paternalistic or even derogatory terms, couldn't get around the fact that at least a woman MAY have been among the first witnesses ... after all, they didn't really pay attention to hours and minutes like we do, and who's to say that Jesus didn't appear on the Emmaus Road before he appeared to Peter? It's almost like the writer of Luke just can't bring himself to put it in writing, but he doesn't know how to deny it, either. But let's not be too hard on him -- he wasn't exactly evangelizing in a feminist culture. Blessings to all -- Kay
Date: 07 April 2002
Time: 21:13:03
Luke does not say that the Risen Lord appeared first to Simon, Simon is merely the one who is mentioned. It may be that the culture would not give the same kind of credence to any appearances to Mary or the other women. After all, if they did not believe the women when they had said he was alive (verse 11), then why would they believe it if they said he had appeared to them? A claim by Simon could not be as easily discounted, for he was not a woman.
I have never read Luke as a chauvinist, even though his culture may have been. In Luke, often times it is the women who are the examples of faith. I will, however, pay attention to the possibility that I have overlooked something.
Michelle
Date: 08 April 2002
Time: 07:30:21
Whoever understands this passage as chauvinistic needs to read the passage within a first century context and not today's.
John near Pitts.
Date: 08 April 2002
Time: 09:39:38
A few early impressions ...
Because it's been a theme lately, I want to highlight the "walking," or the traveling in some way. suggestions?
I'm questioning the "stranger" component. Maybe because I'm extroverted and talkative, I have a hard time putting myself in the traveler's shoes for that many hours (I'm presuming it took awhile to GET to Emmaus) and still considering a walking companion a "stranger." I'd be thinking "friend," even if I expected that it would be a short-term friendship shared just for the journey while your paths were crossing. Shoot, I remember CB radios - people you met at rest stops would arrange to talk with you over one of the channels. I'd even heard of people sharing picnics with so-called "strangers"
re: ancient mideast hospitality customs - I had a class in parables and I remember my professor's comment on "the friend at midnight." If a friend asks you for something, you are to get it. The audacity wasn't in asking for the bread but in the hour. So, it seems possible that one would offer a meal to a travelling companion. And, having recently re-read "The Bronze Bow" (b/c my daughter had to read it for class), I recall the characters in that setting offering food to whoever they were with at mealtime.
Interesting that Jesus kept his identity a secret until breaking bread - although, who would've believed him? And, come to think of it, did he intend to reveal his identity when he broke bread in the first place?
Sorry to be so long ... Sally
Date: 08 April 2002
Time: 11:31:38
I find the phrase "were not our hearts burning within us" very interesting. Does anyone know how the word burning translates? Nancy-Wi
Too bad they just did believe the women in the first place! but then there is power in the scars as we learned last week to transform hearts and vision. just mutterings.
Date: 08 April 2002
Time: 11:32:07
I find the phrase "were not our hearts burning within us" very interesting. Does anyone know how the word burning translates? Nancy-Wi
Too bad they just did believe the women in the first place! but then there is power in the scars as we learned last week to transform hearts and vision. just mutterings.
Date: 08 April 2002
Time: 11:32:35
I find the phrase "were not our hearts burning within us" very interesting. Does anyone know how the word burning translates? Nancy-Wi
Too bad they just did believe the women in the first place! but then there is power in the scars as we learned last week to transform hearts and vision. just mutterings.
Date: 08 April 2002
Time: 11:35:00
"Came across one of Buechner's sermons on the text. I like his question about Emmaus being the places where we go when it all gets to be too much. My title is "Where do you go to forget?" And, of course, the bottom line is that God comes to us wherever it is we choose to escape to, breaks bread and invites us to come home again." The Children's book "The Runaway Bunny would go well with this theme. Nancy-WI
Date: 08 April 2002
Time: 12:42:17
Jeff, your comment "they shared their bread and companionship with the stranger. It was then that they were blessed with recognizing the risen Christ." is so exciting. I plan to preach on having our eyes opened by Christ leads us to seeing our differences and appreciating one another! This is a great lead in to it.
Date: 08 April 2002
Time: 12:45:12
Jeff, your comment "they shared their bread and companionship with the stranger. It was then that they were blessed with recognizing the risen Christ." is so exciting. I plan to preach on having our eyes opened by Christ leads us to seeing our differences and appreciating one another! This is a great lead in to it. It is in sharing and giving of ourselves to those strangers from whom we expect no return that we gain our greatest spiritual encounters. Still have lots to consider yet!!
Date: 08 April 2002
Time: 12:48:15
Jeff, your comment "they shared their bread and companionship with the stranger. It was then that they were blessed with recognizing the risen Christ." is so exciting. I plan to preach on having our eyes opened by Christ leads us to seeing our differences and appreciating one another! This is a great lead in to it. It is in sharing and giving of ourselves to those strangers from whom we expect no return that we gain our greatest spiritual encounters. Still have lots to consider yet!! The Story about the little boy and the man with the burnt hands last week was so moving. It worked so well in my message!! THANK YOU THANK YOU jmj in Wi
Date: 08 April 2002
Time: 17:05:42
Nancy-WI asked "Does anyone know how the word burning translates?"
The verb is "kaio" ... the specific word is "kaiomene" -- literally meaning "set on fire" or "consumed with fire".
Blessings, Eric in KS
Date: 08 April 2002
Time: 17:38:29
Thanks Eric, "Were not our hearts consumed with fire with in us." I wonder what kind physical feeling this would be.
"Opening the scriptures to us" I think this means that what we now see as prophetic texts, where shown now to the disciples. We can not always see where we are going until we have examined where we have been. Nancy-WI
Date: 09 April 2002
Time: 02:00:00
In ancient times hospitality was vital for the survival of travellers.
Initially people lived in villages that consisted entirely of their own relatives (clans) and they were therefore quite secure in their own village. However, for those who ventured outside the village their journey could well involve travelling through villages of rival clans. It was a kind of unwritten rule that if you came across a traveller you would offer them hospitality, to help their survival. The idea being it could be your son, daughter, father, mother etc. travelling in foriegn and unfriendly territory.
Hope this helps
RRR London UK
Date: 09 April 2002
Time: 04:44:59
I was raised in the church and have been taking communion since I was able to walk, but there came a time when the bread and the juice wasn't just bread and juice anymore. My eyes were opened and it became the blood and body of Christ. As John Wesley said, "My heart was strangly warmed." This is a good week to give testamony to the first time our hearts burned for Jesus Christ. Is the burning getting stronger or weaker?? Harrell in Texas
Date: 09 April 2002
Time: 06:58:48
A priest in our area commited suicide Easter week, and the mass that Wednesday night (the day his body was found) included the Walk to Emmaus. The bishop's homily included personal remarks (including his forgiveness for suicide, thank goodness), and pointed out how the disciples walked the road and "opened their "opened their hearts to each other and to Christ" not knowing it was him. He encouraged the congregation to similarly open their hearts to one another. Then he pointed out that when Christ was revealed at the breaking of the bread, the disciples realized that Christ had been walking with them all the time. At the eucharist that followed, I couldn't help but notice that Christ had been walking with us all the time. Our eyes were opened to him. Mark from Ark
Date: 09 April 2002
Time: 07:51:17
Sally said she wants to highlight walking.... this just came in from eSermons as part of a longer squib. I thought it might be helpful to someone taking that focus:
======
The theology of Jesus seemed to take root among the ordinary people, the people who understood the street. It didn’t play very well in the temple. It seems that Jesus was never able to accomplish much with the people in the temple. He made an important declaration and read some Scripture. But he met more resistance than hospitality. Perhaps that is why most of Jesus’ miraculous healings and transformations happened out in the streets. Did not Paul the religious prosecutor encounter the risen Christ on the Damascus Road?
On the very first Easter day the risen Christ could not be found in a temple or church. He was out walking on the Emmaus Road, out walking with two of his disciples who did not yet recognize him. But their eyes would be opened. The Ethiopian had a life-transforming encounter with Jesus on the Gaza Road. Blind Bartemaeus experienced Jesus’ healing touch right on the berm of the Jericho Road.
Jesus had a market-place theology. He met people where they lived. He walked where they walked. While out in the streets, his message didn’t play very well in the temple or the academy.
Adapted from Michael Slaughter, Out On The Edge, Abingdon, 1998, p. 44-45
=======
Blessings, Eric in KS
Date: 09 April 2002
Time: 07:53:47
Mark from Ark. I'm so sorry to hear about your colleague's suicide. He will be in my prayers.
Blessings, Eric in KS
Date: 09 April 2002
Time: 08:07:14
I agree that the scripture does not say that he appered to Peter first it only says that he has appeared to Simon the women had already told the gospel story the women had been the first to carry the gospel message of the risen Lord. But they did not believe the women but they could not discount what Peter had to say. I also think that this could have been a married couple and one of the disciples on the Emmas Road that day was indeed a woman. In our walk with Jesus how often are we focused on our own disappointments and problems and when we turn to walk with Jesus and invite him into our walk he shares in our sorrow and can replace that sorrow with joy. Grace and Peace Kathy in NC
Date: 09 April 2002
Time: 08:47:33
did not our hearts burn within us? Reminds me of Moses burning bush experience. Manzel
Date: 09 April 2002
Time: 08:49:01
did not our hearts burn within us? Reminds me of Moses burning bush experience. Manzel
Date: 09 April 2002
Time: 09:32:15
I have a question. If these 2 disciples were not present when Jesus broke bread with the 12, how did the breaking of the bread inspire them with such insight in Emmaus? Of course, Jesus also broke bread with the crowds along the shores of Galilee when he fed the multitudes. Maybe that's what was registering in their minds?
Also: I am intriged by the idea that these two may have been a couple -- husband and wife. Isn't it interesting that because we read "two OF THEM (disciples)", we think only of MEN?!!!
Clare in Iowa
Date: 09 April 2002
Time: 09:37:13
09 APR 02
"Holy Heartburn" could be a sermon title, but like an anonymous writer, I'm intrigued by "their eyes were kept from recognizing him." Sounds a little predeterminational, at first blush. And reminds me of GOd's "keeping" of another bodily part/organ, as in "God hardened Pharaoah's heart" (various places in Exodus, e.g. 9:12). However, at other times in this saga, Pharaoah's hard heartedness (e.g. 7:13)seems to be more of his own doing (or at least, less of God's doing). I.e., Pharaoh had his predelections, inclinations, propensities. So, it gets back to perceptions, I believe: the folks on the walk (yeah--could have been a couple? Man (Cleopas is named) and a woman?)must not have been looking for this risen Lord (if they trusted that far, at it seems they did) to appear on this ordinary journey. I'll encourage my people to look for God in the ordinary. I've used a fun children's book before, in a children's sermon, "Nobody makes cookies like grandma" (think that's the exact title). Between that and the breaking of bread, sharing of bread at the food pantry, serving on committees and boards always expecting to find the Spirit of the living Lord. Peter in WI
Date: 09 April 2002
Time: 09:37:30
09 APR 02
"Holy Heartburn" could be a sermon title, but like an anonymous writer, I'm intrigued by "their eyes were kept from recognizing him." Sounds a little predeterminational, at first blush. And reminds me of GOd's "keeping" of another bodily part/organ, as in "God hardened Pharaoah's heart" (various places in Exodus, e.g. 9:12). However, at other times in this saga, Pharaoah's hard heartedness (e.g. 7:13)seems to be more of his own doing (or at least, less of God's doing). I.e., Pharaoh had his predelections, inclinations, propensities. So, it gets back to perceptions, I believe: the folks on the walk (yeah--could have been a couple? Man (Cleopas is named) and a woman?)must not have been looking for this risen Lord (if they trusted that far, at it seems they did) to appear on this ordinary journey. I'll encourage my people to look for God in the ordinary. I've used a fun children's book before, in a children's sermon, "Nobody makes cookies like grandma" (think that's the exact title). Between that and the breaking of bread, sharing of bread at the food pantry, serving on committees and boards always expecting to find the Spirit of the living Lord. Peter in WI
Date: 09 April 2002
Time: 10:43:01
Nancy in WI, Baptism and Communion are so hand in hand. As you recall, they are the "Initiation Sacraments" of the early Christians. Could use this opportunity to do a little teaching....maybe. lp in CO
Date: 09 April 2002
Time: 10:57:33
Mark in Ark, Our prayers are with you and all those who hurt from this loss. Blessings! lp in CO
Date: 09 April 2002
Time: 10:59:33
Eric in KS, How are you doing? We prayed for you this past week. lp in CO
Date: 09 April 2002
Time: 12:51:08
I love Nancy-WI's idea about The Runaway Bunny. A parent vows to pursue a beloved child no matter how far the child roams, no matter what ruse used to hide. God's love does pursue us to the ends of the Earth, doesn't it? Even when we head away - down the road to Emmaus or some other hiding place, God comes to call us back and offers refreshment through Christ. -RevMama in ND
Date: 09 April 2002
Time: 13:01:01
Friends: I just thought I'd offer my sermon from three years ago ("God's Multi-Purpose Table") to anyone who'd like to take a look --
http://www.stfrancis-ks.org/subpages/asermons/easter3.htm
Hope it helps someone.
Blessings, Eric in KS
Date: 09 April 2002
Time: 13:01:12
For all those pondering the sex of the 2 travellers on the road to Emmaus: I studied in Israel in 1993. I had the good fortune of walking the Emmaus Rd even though it is in left bank teritory. There is a church there - the Emmaus Church and one of the stain glassed windows has the picture of the story of the Emmaus Rd - and it is a man and a woman who are travelling together on the road! I also have a question - I have read that Easter is a verb - and a quote or prayer about- May God Easter in me/you but I cant remember. does anyone know that meaning of Easter that I am referring to. Thanks. Nina in the North
Date: 09 April 2002
Time: 13:02:37
A suggestion for the Walking theme - sing Just a Closer Walk with Thee. Nina in the North.
Date: 09 April 2002
Time: 13:05:20
"Eric in KS, How are you doing? We prayed for you this past week." asked and said lp in CO
Fine, so far. Last Friday they took the first of two pints of blood to be used during the surgical "harvesting" of the marrow. The second will be drawn on Monday, 4/15.
The actual extraction of the marrow will be on 4/24.
They tell me that since I've signed the consent to donate "John" the recipient has started the process which will kill off his remaining bone marrow in preparation for the transplant -- which will take place within 12 hours of the harvesting of the marrow from me.
I've discovered during all the testing etc. associated with this that I may have a slight case of hypertension -- so after the harvesting, I'll be doing some more tests to find out about that.
Thanks for the prayers.
Blessings, Eric in KS
Date: 09 April 2002
Time: 13:11:34
Nina in the North -- I can't give you a source for "Easter" as a verb, but Easter 2001 I preached about "Eastering moments" (borrowing the phrase from a Unitarian colleague). The sermon (entitled "Easter Is a Joke") can be found at
http://www.stfrancis-ks.org/subpages/csermons/easter-c-y2k+1.ht
Maybe it will give you some ideas.
Blessings, Eric in KS
Date: 09 April 2002
Time: 13:12:46
Oops! There's an "m" missing on that URL ... should be
http://www.stfrancis-ks.org/subpages/csermons/easter-c-y2k+1.htm
Blessings, Eric in KS
Date: 09 April 2002
Time: 14:24:47
Their eyes were kept from Recognizing to that it what jumps out at me? Why? Perhaps If we utilize this illustration The Road to Emmaus...Like the Walk to remember thing... Dave K I am a West Ohio Preacher to Athens District. MY Title "The walk of your life" Think of the Emmaus road as our road, timeline, we are born, innocent to the world, faith of a child, then the age of acknowledgement comes, choices, we make, the beckoning of Prevenient Grace...calling us...One Day we choose to follow Christ, We no longer think Church is boring, We thirst after the word, we grow, perhaps even we teach sunday school, join UMW or UMM or UMYF (or other denomination counterparts of that) perhaps maybe we go thru a fallow time, we drift away, rebel... but Grace pulls us back...we feel the burning in our hearts...hearts strangely warmed...Suddenly with have that eye opening experience, the the two did here in this passage...(Holy Ghost Fire Baptism, spirit-filled to UMC) And then we can never be the same... I know this is pretty radical stuff for United Methodist! Holy Spirit in this way a novel concept- Acts 2 is historically viewed... Congregations today say,oh we don't need that, the early Church just did that, only the apostles performed 'those gitfts', I say, LOL! The Gifts are for all who ask, a banquet table has been prepared, all you have to is take and eat. The two invited Jesus home for supper, see the connection there? He took bread and he blessed it and gave it to them. That bread is for all, us today included... So, Listen, learn, accept Him, grow, and grow, eyes will Open When God allows them to, TI- MING , When is right, You will see! You are all invited! The Bread is already been blessed...Will you take and eat????? West Ohio "Methacostal"
Date: 09 April 2002
Time: 15:34:18
Those were the Days my Friends- You should have been here yesterday- That is a good topic for Sunday's Sermon. Cleopas and his friend were putting Jesus away in the Past tense, until the breaking of the bread. A wonderful opportunity for preaching on the Real Presence in the Eucharist and the importance of attending regularly. saintwin-Florida
Date: 09 April 2002
Time: 17:46:34
Holy Heart burn and Methocostal! Wow! I love it, the HS is so important in our work. I would want to leave the womb without it! Methocostal I really like your piece, it can be a good tie in for the baptisms and life in the Spirit! Sorry not to have many bright ideas this week. Incidently, I have used the Runaway Bunny for adults too. I am making sheep ears for next week! Heads up all you shephards! Nancy-WI
Date: 09 April 2002
Time: 17:48:33
Friends,
My wife and I travelled south this past week as part of our annual post-Easter mini-sabbatical. We go from Connecticut to the mountains of Virginia, where we catch an early glance at pink peach trees in bloom, the gasp of redbuds on the greening hills. During the weekend we visited the closest town, where they were having a historical celebration of the community's Civil War history, including a visit from Robert E. Lee and a host of confederate soldiers re-enacting an encampment there. One of the highlights of the day was the capture of a Yankee spy. "Are we here too late to see 'em get the Yankee," we overheard one excited little boy say to his mom, tugging on her sleeve. I almost volunteered, "No, I'm over here." But I kept quiet, although it did give me just a little pause to leave my car with Connecticut license plates parked on the street nearby.
By and large these old differences have faded over the years, but I suspect that there are still a few suspicions that ooze to the surface when we hear each other talk. Differences in regional accents sometime are interpeted as differences in politics, world-view, religious style, and traditions. Sometimes we don't hear each other because we're so different. It occurred to me that maybe they didn't hear Jesus because his accent was different, and it wasn't till they spent some time with him that they felt his message sinking into their hearts, warming them all over like the pink peach trees and redbuds.
Maybe we have to be ready to hear Jesus' speak in a different accent, too.
The other possibility is that we don't recognize because the voice is too familiar, too common. We miss a lot of resurrection miracles because we are looking for fireworks instead of fireflies.
Too different and too familiar, both can be the reason we miss Jesus on the Emmaus road.
Thanks for listening to some ramblings.
Tim in Connecticut
Date: 09 April 2002
Time: 18:18:43
Nina, your question about Easter as a verb intrigued me (and rang a distant, soft bell), so I went looking for some references and found this (which also unrang the bell):
"Christians also see Easter as 'a hope rooted in reality.' Walter J. Burghardt, S.J., tells of the 'Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins' who wrote a 'poem entitled "The Wreck of the Deutschland" in which Burghardt became intrigued by one half line of the poem: "Let him Easter in us". Burghardt points out that it is very rare that easter is used as a verb: 'but it suits this sacred season. How does Christ easter in us? Especially by a hope rooted in reality. "I have life and you will have life" (John 14:19). Jesus Christ is alive!'"
Part of an essay at http://www.trinidad.net/st-margaret/mess1.html (citing William J. Carl III, "Without The Resurrection, There is no Christianity" ; The Living Pulpit, January-March 1998, Volume 7 No. 1, page 6.)
The "distant bell" was Hopkins poem. He's one of my favorites, but it's been years since I read The Wreck of the Deutschland.
Blessings, Eric in KS
Date: 09 April 2002
Time: 18:23:18
Nina -- try this sermon (by a UU pastor, not my friend, but making the same point my friend made.... mmmmm)
http://www.rruc.org/sermon23.htm
Blessings, Eric in KS
Date: 09 April 2002
Time: 18:51:13
I've been reading your inspirational thoughts for several weeks. It is a joy to 'listen' to you all. This is my first time to write. Could it be possible that when Jesus held out his hands to give bread, that the scars were revealed? He was offering so much more than bread. Remi in MO
Date: 09 April 2002
Time: 19:39:00
wow, so much good stuff here! Thanks, everyone.
A follow-up question about hospitality codes: clearly, the Emmaus couple was just doing their duty. But how about Jesus? Would it have been normal for the guest to break the bread? (not sure this matters in the scheme of things, but just trying to imagine the scene and what it would have meant to those who first heard about it.)
re: Luke and women ... I really don't have an axe to grind, but as Pentecost is on the way, I'll raise a question I picked up from the UMW study guide on "Jesus and courageous women": why is it that these women who've been so central throughout Jesus' ministry, who hosted his meetings and financed his ministry and risked their lives by following him to the cross and were the first, at least, to find his body missing from the tomb -- why is it that they all disappear from the story by the day of Pentecost? Why does a whole new cast of women characters develop in Acts? Was Luke leaving out important info, or were the male followers of Jesus already pushing women out of the inner circle since Jesus wasn't there to welcome them in any more? Or is there some other explanation? Forgive me if this should be in the topical section, but it feels like a pertinent question to the lectionary for this season. --- Kay
Date: 09 April 2002
Time: 20:01:16
Hey, friends! Lots of good stuff here to use as "thinking points" for this week. I'm not certain yet where I'm headed, but am working with the title "Eyes Wide Shut" for this pericope. This follows upon the theme from last week and one during Lent of "Seeing Is Believing". I may be belaboring the point of the disciples and others Jesus met needing to see before they can believe. It seems to me, though, that these stories all required a specific encounter with Jesus -- healing, scars, breaking bread -- in order for the characters to identify Jesus. In too many cases, those of us who claim the name of Jesus also need specific ways to identify Christ (or God or the Holy Spirit) at work in our own lives. We can't see the Presence until our eyes are opened.
Still just pondering all this....
StudentPastor in KS
Date: 09 April 2002
Time: 20:42:13
I see in this passage that Jesus in the consummate teacher/transformer. First he walks with us; secondly, he listens to our burdens, our perspective; thirdly, he opens the scriptures to us in a way that answers our deepests longings, and finally, we see Christ in the stranger in our midst. The best of teachers do these things.
I'm reminded of two other passages when I read this story. In John Jesus says it is better for you that I go, otherwise the spirit will not come. We want to hold on to Jesus, to package him (eg. golden calf, baal, temple, laws). But we don't possess Jesus, he possesses us. We don't have to climb up to him, he is already with us, but we don't recognize him in the people around us.
Also I think of the end of Matthew 25. Do you want to recognize Jesus? Look to the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick, imprisioned.
Our town of 7,000 had few minorities ten years ago, now it is 25% latino. This week I think I'm going to talk about hospitality. Seeing Jesus in our midst. And this idea, mentioned above, that when we think we're the host, we find we're the guest.
Dave in IA
Date: 09 April 2002
Time: 20:44:17
My thought in the past week as been to build on the understanding that Easter is a Season and not just a day. To that end, I started preaching (last week) on "Living As Easter People: Faith" and focused on faith, doubts, questions, journey, etc. of Thomas and offerings of Shalom by Jesus. In trying to get to the (or a) central topic of the Emmaus Road experience to focus on... well, I'm just not there yet. There are many. My pen&ink lectionary group today was really focused on the Recognition/Eyes being open part. I'm still searching... and listening. Thanks! --RevAmy
Date: 10 April 2002
Time: 04:23:02
I have considered calling my sermon, "Expectations and Disappointments - the Road to Enlightenment"
A fair while ago, in contemplating this text, I happened upon the insight, that what happens in the breaking of the bread, is that in that act, finally the inside is revealed. Until that point, no-one can see what it is like on the inside. The result of baking, cooking is completely hidden and unseen until that point. I can assure you, in cooking damper, that I have seen many dud loaves, that looked quite appealing on the outside. It is the inner substance of the loaf that satisfies, not the crust. The full impact of our efforts can only be revealed in the action of when the bread is broken open.
In the resurrection, God broke open the fullness of his plan for humanity. Until that point, Jesus true purpose was hidden or at least obscured, by our limited ability to appreciate who he truly was.
The people on the road to Emmaus were heading home because their expectations had not been met, and they were despondent and disappointed. Only in such a state, were they prepared to listen to the revealing nature of Christ. Prior to that, they simply were unwilling or unprepared to accept the inner message of the scriptures.
So many people read the scriptures and go to worship without any appreciate for the deeper meaning of their actions. Is it any wonder they come away from such things greatly disappointed.
So many people get their babies baptised without a full appreciation of what is occurring in the life of the child, or their own baptism.
To use another metaphor, for the bread, it is like a gift, that is never unwrapped. That gift can never be fully known or appreciated, we simply contemplate the wrapping paper/crust.
They recognised Christ in the breaking of the bread. That is the only place you will fully appreciate him. A literal or superficial faith, will never reveal the glory of God.
There is a depth to this passage and all the resurrection appearances, which denies description.
The challenge is always to look deeper.
Regards for a great week.
KGB in Aussie
Date: 10 April 2002
Time: 06:45:27
On the gender of the two: RSV has Jesus call them "Foolish men" in v. 25, but none of the other translations I have is gender specific. I don't think "ho anoetoi" is specific either. Seems natural, in a male dominated society, that only the husband would be mentioned. The other one is just "Mrs. Cleopas". I have a rather familiar painting (no artist mentioned) of this scene which shows only one with a beard, and only he has shoes!? We know from the story of the 12 year old boy Jesus that women did travel to Passover, so it should not be strange to find a couple who went, and are now going home. It would seem more strange that women did not go with their husbands. On the idea of traveling and roads, Luke, more than the other Gospel writers, has Jesus "on the road" to Jerusalem, and on the way to die. Here he is "on the road again" (with apologies to Willie Nelson), helping people get back on the right road, away from gloom, dispair and death, and toward resurrection and new life. JRW in OH
Date: 10 April 2002
Time: 07:10:17
I think it was Philip Yancy that pointed out that during the war with the Soviet Union, Afghans lost one-third of their dwelling places. Yet, thanks to their tradition of hospitality, not a single person went homeless. How's that for welcoming the risen Christ and not even knowing it? Mark in NC
Date: 10 April 2002
Time: 07:23:59
Luke has the two saying to one another, "Wee not our hearts burning witin us while he was talking tous on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us." A great quote that fits with this is from Kathleen Norris: "that 'to believe' is not a matter of the mind, but a matter of the heart. For what we 'believe' is what we 'give our heart to.'" RVM, North Carolina
Date: 10 April 2002
Time: 07:35:47
Chap in PA--where can I find a copy of the sermon of Buechner's you mentioned, titled "Where Do You Go to Forget?" Thanks RVM in North Carolina
Date: 10 April 2002
Time: 08:14:36
Two comments: 1.Shakespeare said of Lady Macbeth," Her eyes are open But, Aye, their sense is shut. Perhaps this would be of use for Eyes Wide Shut. 2.If we use Easter as a verb then what does it mean to be Easter People? That seems to me to move us from some theological concept to a life style.
Date: 10 April 2002
Time: 08:38:57
Nancy-WI: thanks again for giving me my children's sermon this week - "Runaway Bunny" is indeed a gem of a book.
I am using the title "Holy Heartburn" as well, but note that it comes from a commentary in "Christian Century" 1999 by Susan R. Andrews from Maryland. A brief excerpt to get some wheels turning:
"On Sunday morning in contemporary America, modern disciples come straggling through the church door weighed down by cynicism, stress, pretense, power. They are sophisticated lawyers and skeptical scientists and shell-shocked journalists -- skilled practitioners in the seductions of the world, but nervous novices in the realm of the Spirit. They, like the first disciples, yearn for the living presence of God. But they are too preoccupied, suspicious, too busy to actually recognize God. In their objective world of fact and truth and matter and money, the church's world of mystery and meaning and risk and relationship seems silly. And so they are eager to discuss and debate the idea of God, but unprepared to experience or recognize the presence of God. They do not yet realize that it will only be through pounding hearts and burning hearts that they will come to believe -- that they will come to recognize Jesus."
Great stuff, as you can see. The rest of the arcicle is here: http://www.religion-online.org/cgi-bin/relsearchd.dll/showarticle?item_id=589
What jumps out at me from this passage is that it is the opening of the SCRIPTURE that makes their hearts burn on the road. Can we say that about our preaching/interpreting of God's word? Do we "open" the scriptures to others, or are we more likely to look to the Scripture to support our (or their) preconceptions? In Western Culture I think we are sometimes lazy with Scripture because it is so available to us. We miss the life-transforming impact of God's word to us. I think it is no mistake that the most tyrannical and opppressive political regimes often ban the reading of the Bible. In our apathy we at times miss the fact that the Scripture truly does have the power to liberate, transform, and give us "heartburn". We are ever challenged to go deeper into the gift of the Bible that God has given us (thanks KGB Aussie for your stimulating words!)
Shalom,
BO in KY
Date: 10 April 2002
Time: 08:40:19
Nancy-WI: thanks again for giving me my children's sermon this week - "Runaway Bunny" is indeed a gem of a book.
I am using the title "Holy Heartburn" as well, but note that it comes from a commentary in "Christian Century" 1999 by Susan R. Andrews from Maryland. A brief excerpt to get some wheels turning:
"On Sunday morning in contemporary America, modern disciples come straggling through the church door weighed down by cynicism, stress, pretense, power. They are sophisticated lawyers and skeptical scientists and shell-shocked journalists -- skilled practitioners in the seductions of the world, but nervous novices in the realm of the Spirit. They, like the first disciples, yearn for the living presence of God. But they are too preoccupied, suspicious, too busy to actually recognize God. In their objective world of fact and truth and matter and money, the church's world of mystery and meaning and risk and relationship seems silly. And so they are eager to discuss and debate the idea of God, but unprepared to experience or recognize the presence of God. They do not yet realize that it will only be through pounding hearts and burning hearts that they will come to believe -- that they will come to recognize Jesus."
Great stuff, as you can see. The rest of the arcicle is here: http://www.religion-online.org/cgi-bin/relsearchd.dll/showarticle?item_id=589
What jumps out at me from this passage is that it is the opening of the SCRIPTURE that makes their hearts burn on the road. Can we say that about our preaching/interpreting of God's word? Do we "open" the scriptures to others, or are we more likely to look to the Scripture to support our (or their) preconceptions? In Western Culture I think we are sometimes lazy with Scripture because it is so available to us. We miss the life-transforming impact of God's word to us. I think it is no mistake that the most tyrannical and opppressive political regimes often ban the reading of the Bible. In our apathy we at times miss the fact that the Scripture truly does have the power to liberate, transform, and give us "heartburn". We are ever challenged to go deeper into the gift of the Bible that God has given us (thanks KGB Aussie for your stimulating words!)
Shalom,
BO in KY
Date: 10 April 2002
Time: 10:58:23
We live in Southwest VA near the Appalachian Trail, where we often take hikes, meet hikers, and invite them home with us for an overnight. Most of these this time of the year are "Northbounders" -- heading to Maine from GA. On Easter Sunday evening two years ago, my husband and drove to the AT for a short hike. As we were getting out of the truck, we noticed two hikers crossing the road and started to talk with them. One of them "looked like Jesus," with long brown hair and beard -- in fact, recalling that the day was Easter Sunday, he mentioned that a year before he had played the part of Jesus in a church production. After we had talked awhile, the hikers turned as if to continue on the trail when I piped up with, "Say, it's getting late! Why don't you come on home with us for the night?" And they did. And the time we shared was a blessing. It was only in retrospect that I realized what I had said and the appropriateness of the day and time. Living word, indeed! Murray in SW VA
Date: 10 April 2002
Time: 11:17:42
Buechner's sermon, "The Road to Emmaus" comes from his book, "The Magnificent Defeat," and includes the idea of Emmaus being the place we go to forget. Thanks for all the great contributions! PM in PA
Date: 10 April 2002
Time: 12:06:53
If you can stand another take on "burning hearts," here's what I've always thought of ever since I first read this scripture in the early days of my walk with Christ. Blame it on my degree in psych, but I think it has something to do with the autonomic nervous system. The extreme reaction would be the fight/flight response, but the early physiological reaction feeling of heightened awareness might be experienced by flushing or blushing. I get that feeling when I was in trouble, had a crush, or now when I'm deeply moved or even angry. It's a physiological response to an emotion. Which of these did Cleopas & companion have is anybody's guess, but they didn't appear to fight or flee, so it seems they might have been profoundly moved by what Jesus said.
Thanks, Eric, for the quote! It's EXACTLY where I'm going! (so to speak) - and know that I, too, am praying for you.
Where can I get a copy of "Runaway Bunny?"
Sally in GA
Date: 10 April 2002
Time: 12:21:42
I was struck by the following story by Max Lucado, as he looks at this encounter with Jesus from the standpoint of “Hope.”
Rev. Karl in Utah
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
“God Came Near: Chronicles of the Christ” / By: Max Lucado / Multnomah Publishers, Inc. / (c) 1986 / Chapter 16
HOPE
It’s one of the most compelling narratives in all of Scripture. So fascinating is the scene, in fact, that Luke opted to record it in detail. Two disciples are walking down the dusty road to the village of Emmaus. Their talk concerns the crucified Jesus. Their words come slowly, trudging in cadence with the dirge-like pace of their feet.
“I can hardly believe it. He’s gone.”
“What do we do now?”
“It’s Peter’s fault, he should have ...”
Just then a stranger comes up from behind and says, “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help overhearing you. Who are you discussing?”
They stop and turn. Other travelers make their way around them as the three stand in silence. Finally one of them asks, “Where have you been the last few days? Haven’t you heard about Jesus of Nazareth?” And he continues to tell what has happened.
This scene fascinates me – two sincere disciples telling how the last nail has been driven into Israel’s coffin. God in disguise, listen’s patiently, his wounded hands buried deeply in his robe. He must have been touched at the faithfulness of this pair. Yet he also must have been a bit chagrined. He had just gone to hell and back to give heaven to earth, ans these two were worried about the political situation of Israel.
“But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.”
BUT WE HAD HOPED... How often have you heard a phase like that?
“We were hoping the doctor would release him.” ... “I had hoped to pass the exam.” ... “We had hoped the surgery would get all the tumor.” ... “I thought eh job was in the bag.”
Words painted gray with disappointment. What we wanted didn’t come. What came we didn’t want. The result? Shattered hope. The foundation of our world trembles.
We trudge up the road to Emmaus dragging our sandals in the dust, wondering what we did to deserve such a plight. “What kind of God would let me down like this?”
And yet, so tear-filled are our eyes and so limited is our perspective that God could be that fellow walking next to us and we wouldn’t know it.
You see, the problem with our two heavy-hearted friends was not a lack of faith, but a lack of vision. Their petitions were limited to what they could imagine — an earthly kingdom. Had God answered their prayer, had he granted their hope, the Seven-Day War would have started two thousand years earlier and Jesus would have spent the next forty years training his apostles to be cabinet members. You have to wonder if God’s most merciful act is his refusal to answer some of our prayers.
We are not much different than burdened travelers, are we? We role in the mud of self-pity in the very shadow of the cross. We piously ask of his will and then have the audacity to pout if everything doesn’t go our way. If we would just remember the heavenly body that awaits us, we’d stop complaining that he hasn’t healed this earthly one.
Our problem is not so much that God doesn’t give us what we hope for as it is that we don’t know the right thing for which to hope. (You may want to read that sentence again.)
Hope is not what you expect; it is what you would never dream. It is a wild, improbable tale with a pinch-me-I’m-dreaming ending. It’s Abraham adjusting his bifocals so he can see not his grandson, but his son. It’s Moses standing in the promised land not with Aaron or Miriam at his side, but with Elijah and the transfigured Christ. It’s Zechariah left speechless at the sight of his wife Elizabeth, gray-headed and pregnant. And it is the two Emmaus-bound pilgrims reaching out to take a piece of bread only to see that the hands from which it is offered are pierced.
Hope is not a anted wish or a favor performed; no, it is far greater than that. It is a zany, unpredictable dependence on a God who loves to surprise us out of our socks and be there in the flesh to see our reaction.
Date: 10 April 2002
Time: 12:23:31
I was struck by the following story by Max Lucado, as he looks at this encounter with Jesus from the standpoint of “Hope.”
Rev. Karl in Utah
P.S. Sorry for resubmitting this however I discovered some typos. Hope I caught them all.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
“God Came Near: Chronicles of the Christ” / By: Max Lucado / Multnomah Publishers, Inc. / (c) 1986 / Chapter 16
HOPE
It’s one of the most compelling narratives in all of Scripture. So fascinating is the scene, in fact, that Luke opted to record it in detail. Two disciples are walking down the dusty road to the village of Emmaus. Their talk concerns the crucified Jesus. Their words come slowly, trudging in cadence with the dirge-like pace of their feet.
“I can hardly believe it. He’s gone.”
“What do we do now?”
“It’s Peter’s fault, he should have ...”
Just then a stranger comes up from behind and says, “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help overhearing you. Who are you discussing?”
They stop and turn. Other travelers make their way around them as the three stand in silence. Finally one of them asks, “Where have you been the last few days? Haven’t you heard about Jesus of Nazareth?” And he continues to tell what has happened.
This scene fascinates me – two sincere disciples telling how the last nail has been driven into Israel’s coffin. God in disguise, listen’s patiently, his wounded hands buried deeply in his robe. He must have been touched at the faithfulness of this pair. Yet he also must have been a bit chagrined. He had just gone to hell and back to give heaven to earth, ans these two were worried about the political situation of Israel.
“But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.”
BUT WE HAD HOPED... How often have you heard a phase like that?
“We were hoping the doctor would release him.” ... “I had hoped to pass the exam.” ... “We had hoped the surgery would get all the tumor.” ... “I thought eh job was in the bag.”
Words painted gray with disappointment. What we wanted didn’t come. What came we didn’t want. The result? Shattered hope. The foundation of our world trembles.
We trudge up the road to Emmaus dragging our sandals in the dust, wondering what we did to deserve such a plight. “What kind of God would let me down like this?”
And yet, so tear-filled are our eyes and so limited is our perspective that God could be that fellow walking next to us and we wouldn’t know it.
You see, the problem with our two heavy-hearted friends was not a lack of faith, but a lack of vision. Their petitions were limited to what they could imagine — an earthly kingdom. Had God answered their prayer, had he granted their hope, the Seven-Day War would have started two thousand years earlier and Jesus would have spent the next forty years training his apostles to be cabinet members. You have to wonder if God’s most merciful act is his refusal to answer some of our prayers.
We are not much different than burdened travelers, are we? We role in the mud of self-pity in the very shadow of the cross. We piously ask of his will and then have the audacity to pout if everything doesn’t go our way. If we would just remember the heavenly body that awaits us, we’d stop complaining that he hasn’t healed this earthly one.
Our problem is not so much that God doesn’t give us what we hope for as it is that we don’t know the right thing for which to hope. (You may want to read that sentence again.)
Hope is not what you expect; it is what you would never dream. It is a wild, improbable tale with a pinch-me-I’m-dreaming ending. It’s Abraham adjusting his bifocals so he can see not his grandson, but his son. It’s Moses standing in the promised land not with Aaron or Miriam at his side, but with Elijah and the transfigured Christ. It’s Zechariah left speechless at the sight of his wife Elizabeth, gray-headed and pregnant. And it is the two Emmaus-bound pilgrims reaching out to take a piece of bread only to see that the hands from which it is offered are pierced.
Hope is not a granted wish or a favor performed; no, it is far greater than that. It is a zany, unpredictable dependence on a God who loves to surprise us out of our socks and be there in the flesh to see our reaction.
Date: 10 April 2002
Time: 12:50:07
I know this request would be better be placed somewhere else, but I am desperate. Helping a friend with a graduation speech. Does anyone remember the ear catcher story about the hen that wanted to lay an egg in the middle of the interstate. The advice was to "Lay it quick" " Lay it on the line" and another line for which I am drawing a blank.
Regarding the text, I did a series of sermons some years ago on "Eye's That Could Not See" I remember that Emaeus was to the west of Jerusalem and that they would have been walking toward the blinding sunset. I guess they thought their sun had indeed gone down. jrbnrnc
Date: 10 April 2002
Time: 14:09:50
Sally, your inquiry into emphasizing "walking" makes me respond for the first time in this forum. I remember a sermon years ago where the preacher put down yellow tape on the carpet to indicate the broken yellow lines on a highway. He then delivered the sermon while walking from one end of the road to the other. Very effctive visual, though I don't remember the content of the sermon. I'm planning on using this device this Sunday as well, I just hope the message of "hospitality" sticks with the folks. gospelrider
Date: 10 April 2002
Time: 14:38:51
Sally, most book stores have the Runaway bunny, by Margaret Wise Brown. Nancy-Wi (ps allow about 5-7mins for reading it)
Date: 10 April 2002
Time: 15:09:59
Dear Folks -
Although I have been to Israel and have seen the monument marking the road to Emmaus, I just read somewhere that there actually was no such place - and that, perhaps, a fictional name was used to suggest that this particular meeting could,and might, take place anywhere anyone else run across something like this??
Ontario
Date: 10 April 2002
Time: 15:49:06
Ontario: The "Emmaus is fictional" position is espoused by John Dominic Crossan. In Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography (San Francisco: Harper, 1994), he writes, "Emmaus never happened. Emmaus always happens." (P. 197)
Blessings, Eric in KS
Date: 10 April 2002
Time: 18:44:45
Nancy-Wi asked about the connection between Baptism and the Road to Emmaeus. One of the points of the Luke passage is that they recognized Jesus while they participated in a physical act (eating). In the Acts passage for today, when the people heard Peter's speech it says they asked, "What should we do?" Peter answered, repent and be baptized. We, being physical beings, need to DO SOMETHING to "get it". We know with our bodies. But in most mainline churches we de-emphasize the body, at least in learning and worship.
We are having laying on of hands for healing and wholeness this week as part of the worship service. So I'm thinking about how we encounter God/Christ in/with our bodies. Any further thoughts on the subject would be appreciated!
Thank you all for being out there! DGinNYC
Date: 10 April 2002
Time: 19:07:25
How about a good old fashioned 3 - point sermon? 1. Jesus Meets us "on the way" of our otherwise mundane lives. 2. Jesus meets us "in the Word" of the Bible and interprets it to us, opening our eyes to the truth about himself. 3. Jesus meets us "in the breaking of the bread."
And how about the fact that Jesus is revealed slowly, deliberately to us as well as those disciples on the road?
-Jeff from NY-
Date: 11 April 2002
Time: 03:01:33
Luke 24: 13 - 35 1 Peter 1: 17 - 23
It’s Still Easter
It’s still Easter.
In several ways it’s still Easter. We are now at the 3rd Sunday of Easter. Easter, of course, is a season – just as Advent and Lent are seasons. The Easter Season is 50 days long and it begins on Easter day. The season of Easter includes the 40 days after the resurrection when Jesus walked and talked and even ate with his disciples here on earth.
The Easter Season also includes the 10 days after Jesus was taken to heaven and before the Holy Spirit was sent to the disciples – the day we call Pentecost.
Does that make sense? 40 days when Jesus was on earth plus the 10 days he was not on earth but before the Holy Spirit was sent to the disciples.
So it’s still Easter.
In our Scripture story from Luke, and this story is told only in Luke, it is still Easter as well. Still Easter Day. Although most, of the disciples do not even know it is Easter Day or what Easter day means. But this particular story happened in the afternoon – long enough to walk 7 miles and then it was time for the evening meal. Takes me about 2 – 2 ½ hours to walk 7 miles – so even though they are probably faster than me - this probably happened mid-afternoon.
Two disciples of Jesus are walking along the road to Emmaus. In ancient maps and manuscripts there is no record of any place called Emmaus. Today though there are 3 different towns on the outskirts of Jerusalem that claim they are Emmaus. So where is Emmaus? No one knows for sure.
But on that first Easter Sunday, 2 disciples, one named Cleopas, and his friend or maybe its his wife – are leaving Jerusalem discussing all the events of the past 4 days . When a stranger joins them on the road.
These 2 disciples were discussing what the priests had done. What Pontius Pilate had done. They were discussing the arrest and the trial, the torture and the crucifixion of Jesus. That entire Passover holiday would always be remembered – the people in Jerusalem for the Passover that year would remember forever the details of the last days of Jesus’ life.
Very much like all of us will remember where we were and what we were doing when we saw the 2nd plane fly into the World Trade Center and when we saw the Trade Centers collapse. Each of us here will always remember the details of that day.
And Cleopas and his companion were remembering and wondering and discussing the details of that Passover holiday as they walked and as this stranger joined them. And the stranger asks, “What are you talking about?”
And there is this wonderful little line that I never even noticed before – Scripture is like that – you can read something time and time again and then one day you see something that you never noticed before – and that happened as I read this story – the stranger asks, “What are you talking about?” and Scripture says “they stood still, looking sad.”
The question brought them up short – reminded them that all hopes and dreams that lay in Jesus were dashed. They stood still, looking sad. But they do finally answer.
And they say, “Wow! Are you the only stranger in all of Jerusalem that does not know what happened?!” Equivalent of being in NYC on 911 and not knowing what happened there.
The stranger says, “Well what happened?”
“Well Jesus, was killed. He was a great prophet – he did great things, healed people, fed people, he taught like none we had ever heard and our priests and leaders handed him over to be crucified. We had hoped he would be the one to redeem Israel – to save us. Now it has been 3 days since they executed him and some crazy women went to the tomb found it empty and said they had a vision of angels. Some of the other disciples went to the tomb but they didn’t see anything at all.”
In that one paragraph – that one short saying – these 2 disciples perfectly describe the situation. ? Jesus was great – did great things both in word and deed ? We thought and hoped he was the Messiah we have waited for ? Our priests and religious leaders betrayed him and us by having him crucified ? Some of the women who followed Jesus have lost their minds ? And someone has stolen the body
How is it possible that someone could be in the city of Jerusalem during Passover and not know that all of this had taken place?
And the stranger listens, listens to everything these two tell him and then replies, “Don’t you get it? This is what the prophets said would happen! The Messiah, the one sent to save you – had to suffer all these things before he could enter into glory – before he could sit on the throne and rule over Israel!”
Then beginning with Moses and working his way through all the Scriptures, the Stranger explained Scripture concerning the Messiah to these two disciples.
How strange that must have sounded to these 2 folks walking down the road from Jerusalem. To hear that the arrest, trial, torture and death of Jesus was part of the plan.
But eventually, as they approached the village of Emmaus, the stranger finished speaking – teaching is what he was really doing – but he finished and walked on ahead to go his way. And Cleopas and his travelling companion strongly urged him to stay with them and eat with them as the day was almost over.
The stranger does indeed stay and even presides at the table – taking bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to them. At the moment the stranger did that – Cleopas and the other disciple’s eyes were opened and they immediately recognized the stranger as Jesus. Upon recognizing the stranger – Jesus immediately vanishes. And they said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us as he spoke to us on the road, as he opened Scripture to us?” The 2 disciples, go back to Jerusalem – walking – or maybe running – the 7 miles to tell the 11 they have seen Jesus and recognized him in the breaking of bread.
It is still Easter – and these 2 disciples have gone from despair to joy. They have returned to tell the 11 that “He is risen, He is risen indeed!” Only to find that Peter is telling the others that he also has seen Jesus – and seen him alive.
These 2 disciples, Cleopas and the other, recognize Jesus at the table, in the breaking of bread. When in fact, Jesus had been with them for the afternoon, but for some unknown and divine reason, they were kept from recognizing him.
There are several points to this story I want to bring out.
First, Christ can only be known through revelation. I have said it before and I say it again, Christianity is a revealed religion. We do not know or understand this religion through our intellect or our reason, we do not understand Christianity because we are smart or have good sense. We understand Christianity, we know Christ because God has chosen to reveal God’s Son to us. It is by the will of God we know Jesus – not through anything you or I have done. Knowing Jesus, recognizing Jesus, is entirely through revelation.
The second point in this story is that Jesus, Himself, explains Scripture. That is immensely important in that Jesus explains that what we call “the Old Testament” is in fact the prophecies of the coming of the Christ. He also explains that He, Himself, is the fulfillment of those prophecies. In those few hours he spent with Cleopas and the other, Jesus explained that the Scriptures had not been fulfilled until the resurrection.
These 2 disciples were standing on a dusty road, leaving Jerusalem and having God himself explain God’s plan for all humanity.
I heard a quote once that “destiny turns on a dime.” On that 1st Easter morning destiny turned, not only the destiny of Cleopas and his companion, but all of history, and all of humanities destiny turned . Not on a dime but on the fulfillment of God’s plan for humanity – which was the resurrection of Jesus. And these 2 weary, hopeless travelers are having it explained to them by none other than God.
It is still Easter and the things that God has done on that day – all of history – all of humanity will turn on. The entire human race will rest on what God did that day, what God did in Jerusalem; what God did in an upper room; what God did on the road to Emmaus; what God did at a table in the breaking of bread.
It is still Easter -
Let us pray.
Almighty God, it is still Easter. You have risen from the grave, you have walked with your disciples, you have taught your followers, you have broken bread. Lord, grant that we may walk with you, talk with you, and share the bread you break. We are grateful for this table where our eyes are opened and our hearts warmed with your love and compassion for us. For all this and more we give you thanks. Amen
Date: 11 April 2002
Time: 07:59:17
To Karl in Utah...THANK YOU THANK YOU ! I read every one of the comments looking for anyone to see the image of HOPE in the Emmaus passage. I can't help but think what the spirits of the travelers were like before meeting the divine stranger. They were "looking sad" v17, and they "had hoped" Jesus was the one...but the language hints that their hope is all but dashed... And thats when Jesus met them. He met them at their weakest point. THey had all but given up...packed up and headed for home to Emmaus..."forget it...its no use...lets go home. What awaste of time and energy...saviour of the world...yeah right! whatever" And up walks God. A week or so ago i got a phone call form the Board of Ordained ministry saying i would need to come back before the Board next year. There were issues the Board had with me. Talk about hopes being dashed. But since then i have dined at His table...my hope has been restored...its not about me...but Him. I'm going with the Hope theme...can you tell. Associate in NC
Date: 11 April 2002
Time: 08:31:05
24:31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight.
Where else in sacred Scripture do we hear about "eyes being opened"?
Indeed,
Gen. 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate.
Gen. 3:7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked;
... she took .... she ate ...she gave ... he ate.
And what did our Lord do
24:30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.
... he took ... he blessed ... he broke ... he gave
It seems that "blessing" is the restorative element, a return to Paradise, to the garden, where shame is not known, and where the focus is no longer on ourselves.
The story of the fall and the Emmaus account have more in common that we first realize.
Alleluia. Christ is risen!
tom in ga
Date: 11 April 2002
Time: 10:18:53
Thanks, everyone for your comments! I'm still piecing mine together, but I'm going to call it, "Hit the Road!" In the last 6 weeks, our congregation has done more than they have in a l-o-o-o-ong time. It's not that busy-ness is a walk in faith, but we did some hard, physical labor despite the comment, "Sally, you're not being realistic. We're too old and we don't have many men."
Turnaround is hard work! and it seems it takes an almost Pollyanna-type optimism! - and the decided majority of the people have to embrace the hope (we're not even to the "vision" point yet). Well, that's "hitting the road," or where the rubber hits the road in faith. When we get no visitors, or our attendance is down, or despite resistance, can we encounter Christ? I remember a seminary prof, Bill Mallard, asking, during his Luke/Acts lectures, "Can we recognize Christ when he's right in front of us?" Often, we don't.
thoughts, sorry if it rambled too much; I think as I speak.
Sally in GA
Date: 11 April 2002
Time: 12:00:05
I believe I might go in the direction of "On a Dark Road." The road to Emmaus was the valley of the shadow of death for the two disciples. They had no hope, they travelled in despair. Yet, even in their darkest hour, a light begins to shine, here in the person of Jesus.
How many of our people suffer from depression, and are walking in their darkest hours? Can we be--not only the voice of Jesus, but--the light? How can we facilitate the burning of hearts in those whose eyes yet need to be opened?
The road gets darker as they travel along, but it also becomes brighter, as at the end, they encounter the light of Jesus Christ.
Hope!
Michelle
Date: 11 April 2002
Time: 13:31:00
Someone on this site stated that perhaps the scars or Jesus'hands were visible as he broke the bread. I don't know about that. However, as we look at the gospel for last week and the gospel for this week, both have implications for how we witness Jesus. I believe that our sermons somewhere must help us and our other listeners to see the relevance for life in this day and in this time. Last week, I took up someone's suggestion about scars. I used that idea of the beauty of scars and that Jesus can be made visible in our life scars because that is where we have been healed. This week it was in the two, whomever they were, reaching out in hospitality and in Jesus' receiving that hospitality that Jesus is recognized. Is hospitality beyond more than good manners? Where is the potential for grace and for revealing Christ in hospitality? What does it mean to be hospitable in our congregations, our places of employment etc. Whew! Got long winded there! Blessings! lp in CO
Date: 11 April 2002
Time: 13:41:51
It seems to me that this story is a parable, or a metaphor, of what was going on in the early church. 1. Table fellowship was very important to them. They experienced the spirit of Jesus in communion with them when they gathered in community and had table fellowship. I don't find communion that spiritual for me today. I wish I did. But often I find communion to be just a ritual that I participate in hoping someone out there is finding it meaningful. I do think it would be pretty cool if Jews and Palestinians (and Christians) could eat a common meal together today. It seems that would be pretty spiritual. 2. They were desperately trying to make sense of a. Who Jesus was, and b. Why did he die? This story says his death should not be a surprize. Scripture is clear about the suffering servant. God is not below working through weak and marginalized people. As shocking and revolting as the cross is, that's what the scriptures concur with. It's not such a big stumbling block, the Emmaus story is saying. Even today we have to be thoughtful about why Jesus died a violent death, and who, exactly, was he. Theological platitudes are not enough. 3. They were grappling with the resurrection being physical or spiritual. If it was physical then it was historical. If it was spiritual, then it is timeless. The story says the risen Jesus was experienced by those who were willing to have their eyes of faith opened - to meet them on their journies. If there is a timelessness about the resurrection, I would take from this that we today could meet the risen, spirit-Jesus, much like the earlier believers did. We can be a part of the Easter people, not through second hand hear-say, but through personal experience. The resurrection happens when we have some kind of "spiritual awakening" and see that we are not alone. This is God's world. Brent.
Date: 11 April 2002
Time: 14:09:36
At my presentation before my colleagues at Annual Conference the year I was to be ordained Elder, we were asked to share our vision for ministry. I shared the "why" of my ministry, and it centered around communion.
One Sunday just prior to Annual Conference, I was administering the Sacrament, and a 4 year old girl came forward, and as I broke the bread and said the words "The body of Jesus given for you because He loves you very much and you are very special to him," I touched my hand to her cheek, and began to weep. I was weeping because of the power of that message. Jesus Christ gave His life for the likes of you and me, and He did it over 2000 years ago WHILE WE WERE YET SINNERS! He did it for me, for the 90 year-young woman in my congregation and for that 4 year old and all in between and around. What a wonderful witness to God's presence among us and God's great love for us.
Do we see Him in the breaking of the bread my brothers and sisters? I pray always and evermore.
Betty - An awestruck pastor in Upstate NY whose heart is "burning within her."
Date: 11 April 2002
Time: 17:23:37
I think we are being hard on these disciples. Just think how we feel after the funeral of a loved one. What state of shock are we in? What questions are we asking? My wife and I buried my mother-in-law on Good Friday. It was difficult. We are both only children. My wife's father died in 1975. She feels alone even though she has me and our two sons. We had to work in the house while we were in Michigan and get it ready to sell. How hard to empty a house that had been home for 48 years. It was hard for us to go to church on Easter, but we did. It was hard for me to sing "Christ the Lord is Risen Today," but I did with tears in my eyes. We know what we are to believe, but it is still hard to lose a loved one. I think these two disciples were having just as hard a time as we do. I am not always a literalist, but why not take this story that way? PH in OH
Date: 11 April 2002
Time: 19:35:45
Thank you, anonymous contributor, for "It's Still Easter!" Unlocked the door to a message.
God keep you!
pastorkat, PA
Date: 12 April 2002
Time: 07:04:12
Emmaus, I heard a preacher once say, was the "spa" of Israel. It's where you went to be pampered...everything was there...you didn't have to think, you could "forget your troubles come on get happy". I told a friend of mine that once, she was an interior designer, and she drew up plans for "One Emmaus Place" a kind of "subaru" in the Roman sense, where a group of residences, apartments if you will, were grouped together with "everything but the kitchen sink" at their disposal: resturants, stores,grocery, everything within it's own place. Not only didn't you have to travel for the necessities, you could stay within your own walls and not be in need or want of anything. You didn't have to plan.... or think ....
ALS in CNY
Date: 12 April 2002
Time: 07:08:34
"[Their] eyes keep them from recognizing them. What does this mean?"
There are places throughout the gospels where Jesus speaks of having the knowledge but not the resources to understnad it. The Holy Spirit was given to "unstop the ears and open the eyes" of those who had heard but didn't understand.
ALS in CNY
Date: 12 April 2002
Time: 07:15:21
"Also: I am intriged by the idea that these two may have been a couple -- husband and wife. Isn't it interesting that because we read "two OF THEM (disciples)", we think only of MEN?!!! "
Clare: I have been rasied to understand this as the fact that they were followers of Jesus. It doesn't say they were disciples (read two of the 12. Doesn't it read in other places that they were actually possibly related to Jesus? And that it was a husband a wife...not 2 men????
ALS in CNY
Date: 12 April 2002
Time: 07:49:50
BTW, I never read Bechner's sermon about emmaus being the place to go to forget. I heard a preacher in St Paul while I was at UTS preach that sermon. Maybe he got the idea from Bechner? Who knows. All I know is that it was the first sermon I ever requested a copy of. That sermon, and Charles Rice's sermon on "Mass Appeal" while I was at Drew are proably the two most influential sermons I ever heard...that and Thomas Ogletree's metaphor of GOd "tugging at our sleeves like a little child vying for attention".....
Date: 12 April 2002
Time: 07:50:26
Eric, thanks for all the leads. I just got around to reading them - the Eastering sermon was very helpful. Your input and the time you take to help others is phenomenal. Blessings. Nina in the North
Date: 12 April 2002
Time: 07:50:56
BTW, I never read Bechner's sermon about emmaus being the place to go to forget. I heard a preacher in St Paul while I was at UTS preach that sermon. Maybe he got the idea from Bechner? Who knows. All I know is that it was the first sermon I ever requested a copy of. That sermon, and Charles Rice's sermon on "Mass Appeal" while I was at Drew are proably the two most influential sermons I ever heard...that and Thomas Ogletree's metaphor of GOd "tugging at our sleeves like a little child vying for attention"..... ALS in CNY
Date: 12 April 2002
Time: 07:51:39
BTW, I never read Bechner's sermon about emmaus being the place to go to forget. I heard a preacher in St Paul while I was at UTS preach that sermon. Maybe he got the idea from Bechner? Who knows. All I know is that it was the first sermon I ever requested a copy of. That sermon, and Charles Rice's sermon on "Mass Appeal" while I was at Drew are proably the two most influential sermons I ever heard...that and Thomas Ogletree's metaphor of GOd "tugging at our sleeves like a little child vying for attention"..... ALS in CNY
Date: 12 April 2002
Time: 08:12:29
PH in OH, I think you're on a helpful track. Of course they were grieving, and in shock; probably numb from the loss not only of their mentor, but of the one they truly hoped would be the "redeemer" of Israel(i.e, the one who saved Israel from Roman oppression). Like being in the inner circle of JFK or MLK (only more so) at the time of their assassination.
Add to this situation the fact that they may well have been afraid for their lives, if they were identified by temple leaders or Romans as Jesus' followers, and it is truly astounding that they welcomed the stranger into their conversation on the road. For all they knew, he could have had them arrested and imprisoned or worse.
Another topic: Christ's disappearance from the table, which has such an urban legend -like quality, perplexes me. In C.S. Lewis' Lion, Witch & Wardrobe at the celebration feast after the white witch is defeated, Narnia restored and the children crowned as kings and queens, the great Lion Aslan quietly slips away. Mr. Beaver explains (not sure if this quote is exact - my copy is lost), "He'll be coming and going. He'll often drop in. Only you mustn't press him. He's not a tame Lion, you know."
Kay
Date: 12 April 2002
Time: 12:00:57
Does anyone know if the words "companion" or "accompany" have anything to do with 'break bread with'? I am trying to tie together the breaking of bread with the One who accompanies us on our journey. Tom from MO
Date: 12 April 2002
Time: 12:10:43
"Does anyone know if the words "companion" or "accompany" have anything to do with 'break bread with'? I am trying to tie together the breaking of bread with the One who accompanies us on our journey. Tom from MO"
Tom, commuion and companion come from almost the same root: communion->Etymology: Middle English, from Latin communion-, communio mutual participation, from communis Date: 14th century
companion->Etymology: Middle English compainoun, from Old French compagnon, from Late Latin companion-, companio, from Latin com- + panis bread, food Date: 13th century
both have roots in word for company, late Latin for fellowship
ALS in CNY
Date: 12 April 2002
Time: 13:19:28
Thank you for all your help on "companion", "accompany", ALS from CNY. These words seem to bring together some of the meaning in this text. Tom from MO
Date: 12 April 2002
Time: 15:13:49
Nina, you're welcome.
Today (Friday) is the day I usually gather all my notes, including thoughts from this forum that will work in my sermon, and put the darned homily together.
But today is also the day I had to have our 13-1/2 y.o. Golden Retriever put to sleep because of advanced arthritis and a case of obstructive pulmonary disease. We've had him since he was six weeks old, so this was not easy. I'm really not in the mood to write a sermon.
I'm continuing my series on the Episcopal Catechism, taking it three articles (in the order published in the BCP) at a time -- so this week we will look at "The Ten Commandment" - "Sin and Redemption" - and "God the Son"
I'm thinking of using the following quotation from Dietrich Bonhoeffer as the core of the sermon:
"The Scriptures speak of three kinds of table fellowship that Jesus keeps with his own: daily fellowship at table, the table fellowship of the Lord's Supper, and the final table fellowship in the kingdom of God. But in all three, the one thing that counts is that 'their eyes were opened, and they knew him.'
"The fellowship of the table teaches Christians that here they still eat the perishable bread of the earthly pilgrimage. But if they share this bread with one another, they shall also one day receive the imperishable bread together in the Father's house."
Life Together, New York: Harper, 1954, page 66.
Blessings, Eric in KS
Date: 12 April 2002
Time: 17:21:29
Eric, May God bless you and renew your spirit.
I was thinking about the cost of discipleship. There is nothing optional about the ten commandments. Everyone is required to keep them always.
Yet, while we are all invited to have life through Christ, it may be that not all believers are ask to leave everything to follow Jesus. Some are certainly asked to make great sacrifices to serve our lord. But are all? Manzel
Date: 12 April 2002
Time: 17:31:24
I have always been put off by coerce people into certain behaviors by means of fear or guilt. It seems abusive to me.
Certainly there is a call to discipleship that requires extreme commitment and all of life revolving around a number one priority. No doubt all Christians are called to love their neighbor. But are all Christians obligated to live a life characterized by sacrifice? If Grace is truly a gift, should preacher make people feel like they are obligated to repay Jesus through service? Manzel
Date: 12 April 2002
Time: 17:43:55
I meant to say "religions or religious leaders that try to coerce people through fear or guilt".
Date: 12 April 2002
Time: 22:10:46
This is off the subject... but does anyone know the prayer by a "Chuck Wilhelm (sp)" IN it, the author asks for Christ to come into ones life... like God came in the morning to Mary at the tomb, at night as he did to Nicodemus, etc. etc... ending with and may Christ go to hell to meet us in the depths of our darkness so that we might know that there is no where that God won't go to find us... or words to that affect.... it's a great prayer. I heard it at a workshop recently... of course I could just write the guy who quoted it. :?)
Dwight Vogel of Garrett ETS... in Chicago... just thought this might be as quick...
pulpitt in ND
Date: 12 April 2002
Time: 22:21:11
John Sumwalt tells a story about "The Well-Worn Path"... in it he describes a mysterious worn path on the carpet around the pews in the sanctuary of an inner city church... the congregation joked about the ghosts leaving a trail.... people came from miles around to witness this weird phenomenom... the church grew because of this... revitalized the church... still, no one knew why it continued... postponed recarpeting until they knew the real reason...Time went by, years passed...
come to find out... the custodian upon arriving late at night on a cold January night to check on the boiler discovered a homeless man who actually used to be the cobbler across the street from the church, people thought he had moved away... but he moved into an upstairs storage room... and got "lost there"...
Roy couldn't kneel any more so he paced as he prayed every night...
The story ended when the "secret" was discussed at an Ad. Min. Council meeting... some thought maybe the church should open the doors of the church and allow the homeless of the neighborhood to stay in the extra rooms in the old building. Most knew it was the right thing to do... still, there was a quiet hush in the room... it was then the pastor invited the people into the sanctuary to pray along the well worn path...
Seemed this could be used... in conjunction with the discussion along the Walk to Emmaus...
Blessings, and thanks all,
pulpitt in ND or http://faithumcfargo.com
Date: 13 April 2002
Time: 03:20:47
Brothers and sisters - Christ is Risen ! I have always been fascinated by this passage. Being wondering on the way that the travellers didn't recognise Jesus - think I will ask my congregation to turn to the people next to them and share the meaning for them of the sacrament or Easter message - they are fellow travellers many who sit in the same pew week after week yet I am not sure they recognise Christ in each other ! An interesting thought Blessings Koala George in Oz.
Date: 13 April 2002
Time: 06:23:28
just found this nugget: gk word for "stranger" ("xenos") is also the word for "guest" and "host". Hmmm....
Also - was listening to a story tape with my 2-yr old, and the last words of Little Red Riding Hood were, "And she NEVER talked to a STRANGER again." Got me to thinking ... how early we instill fear of strangers into our children. From Red Riding Hood in toddler years, to "Mr. Stranger Danger" in elementary school assemblies, to (for girls, at least) being taught never to go to the public bathroom alone. There is a legitimage basis for xenophobia, fear of the stranger, in our world ... and yet, it occurs to me, xenophobia also translates to fear of the guest and fear of the host.
Another connection that just hit me, for those working on communion connection -- I'd never thought until now about why some traditions refer to the communion bread as the host. Duh.
Back to my original train of thought -- there is risk in hospitality; strangers can be dangerous. This story may tell us about a level of risk and danger that we haven't thought about. What would it have meant for those two disciples to go back to the city where Jesus had been crucified, and where his body had disappeared? Wouldn't the temple leaders and the Roman army be looking out for his followers? Could it be that "stranger danger" is a risk Christians should expect to undertake? ... if we dare to welcome the stranger and thus discover the risen Christ, shouldn't we expect that a daring response might be required of us? Into what dark roads and troubled cities might we be compelled to bear the good news that we've seen with our own eyes?
OK that's all for now. sorry this is so long. Hope some of you are still out there, 'cause this is the day I'll be putting it all together.
Peace, Kay
Date: 13 April 2002
Time: 14:49:20
Erik -- dog is God spelled backwards. Perhaps the grief you are feeling about the loss of your canine companion mirrors the grief of the Emmaus Road travelers. It's an incomplete metaphor, of course.
Today I was pondering my sermon for tomorrow and feeling like it didn't quite say what I wanted to say. Your comment about your dog brought back all the grief I felt in October when I was faced with the same sadly loving choice. I think I know what'smissing in my sermon.
Thank you. Star/MD
Date: 13 April 2002
Time: 15:58:46
Thanks Tom in ga for the interesting connection to Genesis. Similar wording in the two stories, different outcomes. When Adam and Eve's eyes were opened they realized they were naked. They had broken trust with God, they became self-conscious and hid themselves from God. When Cleopas and his friend's eyes were opened, they recongized Jesus, the one who came to forgive and restore people to God. In one act of eating, people were separated from God. In another, they were restored. But in both stories, it was the physical act that made the difference. They didn't understand just by thinking about it. In the act of eating their eyes were opened, and they were changed.
Still working on that connection between spirit and body, between faith and action. DGinNYC
Date: 13 April 2002
Time: 16:53:57
"And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself." Does anyone have the brief summation of how Jesus is revealed in each book of the Bible, Old and New Testaments? It's been several years since I heard it, but it easily fits within a sermon. Thanks, Pastorbeth in TN
Date: 13 April 2002
Time: 17:44:46
FYI -- the Buechner sermon can be found in "The Magnificent Defeat" (New York: Harper & Row, 1966)
Date: 13 April 2002
Time: 19:33:51
I like your idea ChapPah... where do we go when life is too tough on us...
I notice the lights are being shut down that symbolically displayed the form of the World Trade Center... some discussion if the lights should stay... $300 a night to run the electricity... can people still remember without lights... can we? Without the BODY can the BODY live on? Early thoughts on this SATURDAY NIGHT! ;?) Hey, what are Saturday nights for if not fine tuning... eh?
pulpitt in ND or http://faithumcfargo.com
Date: 13 April 2002
Time: 20:29:22
I'm preaching a low-mileage used sermon tomorrow, but I had to stop in here for a look, for a look and a wonder ....
I wonder if she is on the road to Emmaus, this proud woman who turns people away from her home when everything is not just right, this woman who knows her husband is at home, and sick, and she can't get out of the hospital to get to him, and her son is two hours' drive away. She had hoped that they would be able to live together in their comfortable home until the ends of their lives, but now that they are in their late eighties, she wants to shriek "No!" whenever she hears mumbled the words "nursing home", assisted living", whenever she sees the face she loves and hears the words of the betrayer, "Now, Mom, you know it's not safe for you and Dad to live there any more." She had hoped ...
Two days ago she was desperate, called out to everyone for help, got nearly frantic. Finally she cried out to God, please, please send someone! So when I walk in the door at first she doesn't remember who I am and then she wants to give me a halo and I do not want to deal with one more person with huge problems I can't solve, with a dilemma that may be mine someday: "Karin, you know it's no longer safe for you to live alone ..."
I didn't sit there with her and break open the scripture. I just sat there with her, listening and talking, thinking my husband was probably wondering where I was. When dinner came, she didn't need any help buttering her bread, eating the rice and meatballs.
Maybe she and I are still on the Emmaus Road. Us and a hundred people who will be at church here tomorrow. Maybe we all have grown weary from want of hope, all desperately need the sustenance of broken bread. What will get us to stand up and turn around and walk seven miles with our hearts burning, filled with joy? Yeah, sure, someone will break open the scripture for us tomorrow, and we'll recognize his presence.
I guess it happens.
kbc in sc
One more thing - could you all pray for a colleague of ours, the man who opened the doors of the church to me? He is having heart surgery Monday. I guess it's true that when he opened the scriptures for us, we could see where Jesus was headed down the road. Thanks.
Date: 13 April 2002
Time: 21:03:32
Eric in Kansas, I offer my sincere condolences on your loss. I lost one of my dogs three years ago on a Communion Sunday. Matson was a great missionary for the church in the little town I was in. Everyone loved him and all the parishioners doted on him. The morning he died -- it was sudden liver failure -- I had to serve Communion to my parishioners and they cried with me. And they insisted that we have a memorial service for him at one of the churches. Neighbors and townspeople and parishioners came. Romans 8: 21f was my comfort.
re the sermon for tomorrow: title is "Hunk of Burnin' Love"
KT in DE
Date: 13 April 2002
Time: 21:10:32
Part Two of the Catechism series is done:
http://www.stfrancis-ks.org/subpages/asermons/easter3-rcl-a-2002.htm
Thanks to all.
Blessings, Eric in KS
Date: 03 September 2003
Time: 19:56:37
Cleopas had a wife named Mary as seen in John 19:25. It is quite plausable that it was her who was the companion.
John 19:25 25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. {Cleophas: or, Clopas}
As per the revelation after the breaking of the bread, it may very well have been because that was when the scars were revealed. This is because the teaching that crucifixion was through the hand is incorrect as it was through the wrist. If it were through the hand, the victim's flesh would simply rip and they would fall off. The Greek term implies the hand including the area of the wrist.
Regardless, it could have been his wife or even Alphaeus. What is important here is that the scriptures (read only the Old Testament) are sufficient to demonstrate who Christ was and what he alone accomplished for us and can be proven. The salvation that we can in no way earn for ourselves.
God bless,
Mike