Meeting Christ Along the Way

In Luke’s Gospel we find that on Easter afternoon two disciples decided to go for a long walk. One of them is named for us. He is Cleopas. So Cleopas and a friend leave Jerusalem on a seven mile walk to the little village of Emmaus. We don’t know why they went for this walk. The story simply says that they were talking and discussing all the things that had gone on with Jesus in the last few days. I don’t know about you, but this is exactly what happens when my family gathers together. Whether the gathering is a happy or sad occasion – a time of celebration or a time of loss – inevitably folks take time to go for walks and talk about all that is going on. So Cleopas and his friend are walking and talking and thinking about what they have heard on that Easter morning – about the angel’s appearance and the news that Christ is alive. And on their way to Emmaus they will learn more than they had ever guessed. But before we get there let’s back up and remember a little bit about the bigger picture of Luke’s Gospel.

Something important to keep in mind about Luke’s Gospel is that it is the first of a two volume work that the Gospel writer Luke put down on paper. We do not usually take the time to think about it this way, because in the Bible Luke and Acts are separated by the Gospel of John. But the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles were both written by Luke. Let me just read the opening verses of Acts for you. “In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles.” So in the first volume which is his Gospel Luke tells us about the life and ministry of Jesus. Luke tells us about Jesus’ death and resurrection. Then in the second volume of Acts Luke tells us about the beginning of the church and how the Holy Spirit gives life to the church will become the people of God, who tell the world about Jesus and who live out the ways and teachings of Jesus in their life together. So Luke and Acts go together even if we usually only think of them as separate books.

The reason that I mention it this morning is because our passage today is the link between the two volumes – the connection between the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles – in other words, the connection between the story of Jesus and the beginning of the church. The story of Cleopas and his friend walking to Emmaus is the important connection between the life and ministry of Jesus to the what comes next with the Holy Spirit beginning the church who will carry on the story of Jesus’ resurrection. So what we can see here on Easter evening are the first hints, the first signs of what is to come, namely the body of Christ, the church. So let us look this morning at what this story tells us is important about being the church today.

First, the Emmaus Road story is set in the context of fellowship. It starts out by saying, “Now on that same day (Easter) two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, talking with each other about all these things that had happened.” The reason for their walk together was a friendship that they shared. The relationship that Cleopas and his friend shared was one that was grounded in their relationship with Jesus. They needed to be together to work through all that they had experienced since his crucifixion. They weren’t locked in their rooms alone, trying to figure all this out by themselves. They relied on each other and supported one another. Surely they consoled each other about the loss of their teacher and friend. They shared their emotions of anger, confusion and grief about the injustice that had happened to Jesus on the cross. Then they pondered together the shocking news that the women had told them about his rising from the dead. The story begins with this fellowship, this friendship set in the context of faith. The New Testament has a wonderful word for it in Greek – koinonia – the loving, supportive fellowship of faith. Wherever two or three are gathered in my name – I will be with them. That’s what we are going to see in this story.

Second, we find that for Cleopas and his friend, their fellowship was not a closed circle. The faithful friendship and support that they shared was not something that they horded to themselves. They shared it with a stranger, with a newcomer, with someone they did not know. A man who they thought was a stranger approached them and these two friends invited the man to join them on their seven mile walk to Emmaus. Do you see how their faithful friendship was shaped by the teaching of Jesus? They welcomed a stranger. They shared the kind of hospitality that they had seen Jesus share with so many others. …… Quite honestly it would have been understandable if they had said “You know we are tired and worn out. We have just lost our best friend and we need to be alone to talk things over.” But their fellowship had been so shaped by Jesus that even in their grief and confusion they made room for a fellow traveler on the way to Emmaus. ……. Let me say briefly, I am not going to go on about it this morning, although I could. Y’all provide hospitality like this faithfully and constantly. Your Saturday morning mission outreach is a key component of this. Your mission commitment here in Danville and to the world is well-integrated into the life of First Presbyterian Church. ……… I’m hoping that you see this connection.

Now we know the rest of the story. This unknown stranger will turn out to be the risen Christ. And not until he takes the bread and breaks it will their eyes be opened and will they see that he had been with them on their long seven mile walk. It reminds us of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 25. The faithful do not always realize that when they share hospitality and reach out to someone in need they are doing it for Christ himself. In that parable the faithful say, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you? And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’”

So we see Cleopas and his friend in this early foretaste of what the church will be, sharing fellowship and amidst this fellowship, they offer hospitality to a stranger.

Third, we see these three discussing the Scriptures and talking through the meaning of what God had done in the past in order to understand what God was doing in the present. Jesus opened up the Scriptures, explaining the law and the prophets and how they pointed to the coming of the Messiah. And the two talked about how their hearts were burning as Jesus opened up the Scriptures. They were learning with the combination of both their heads and their hearts as well. Then finally the story reaches its height when the stranger breaks the bread and in the breaking of the bread the disciples recognize the risen Christ. So again we see a foretaste of what will be important for God’s people in their life together as the church of Jesus Christ. The Scriptures and sacrament. Word and communion. The worshipping life of God’s people that is centered on Scripture and sacrament.

We see the most important and foundational aspects of the church in this story: the fellowship of God’s people, hospitality to the new person and worship that is grounded in Scripture and sacrament. ……..

At the beginning of the story as they set on on their walk, how are Cleopas and his friend described? It tells us that, “They stood still looking sad.” Then what happens at the end? After their fellowship and hospitality, the scripture and sacrament – after having experienced these basic foundational aspects of what will be the church – they get up with excitement and purpose and they walk back to Jerusalem all over again. They walk back to tell their friends that the Lord is risen. And this time they are walking with purpose, confidence and joy.

This is such a wonderful picture of what the church is, even for us today some two thousand years later. In our individual walks with Christ, in our own journeys of faith we find purpose, confidence and joy as we walk with and support each other. The Christian faith is something that we do together by developing the face to face, personal relationships with others. In these relationships we open space for welcoming others into the whole. And the Scriptures shape our community together and the sacraments nurture the life of the people. It’s exactly how the early church worked. Think about all those individuals named in the Book of Acts – all these face to face, personal relationships that develop between the early Christians and their neighbors. Saul and Ananias, Barnabas, Cornelius, Simeon, Lucius, Manean, Timothy, Lydia, Dorcas, Silas, Jason, Dionysius, Damaris, Aquila, Priscilla, Apollo, Sopater, Aristarchus, Secundus, Gaius, Tychicus, Trophimus, Eutychus and let me stop there, but we could keep going.

This is how the Gospel grows as it is shared in face to face, personal relationships. ….. When we think about the early church, we often rush to Pentecost. Right?! The great big booming day of Spirit and fire. But when did Pentecost happen? How often did it happen? It happened in Jerusalem during the holy observance of Shavuot. Pilgrims from all over Israel and Jews and Gentiles from neighboring countries were there for the festivities. What were the disciples doing? Nothing. Well, still sort of cowering behind closed doors after Jesus had departed this world. There was no bulletin. No order of worship. There was no planning committee that set that day in motion. There was the Holy Spirit. The Spirit showed up and did something unprecedented that became the birth of the church. It was the ecclesiastical big bang! How often did this happen again in the Book of Acts? Not once. Never again.

How did the church grow? All those pilgrims, all those folks who were there at Pentecost and trusted the story about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, they went back home – to their own towns and villages and they told the story to their families and friends. Churches started. Small Christian communities naturally came to be. Churches that were simply small gatherings of new Christians in homes, welcoming others to come and break bread. Small communities of Christian fellowship. Face to face, personal experiences of koinonia, sharing Scripture and sharing bread and remembering Jesus Christ. That was the normative pattern for the early church for the first three hundred and thirteen years. And just like Christians have done in many different seasons of change, understanding the way forward always has a little bit of going back to the future. Let us remember who we are as we remember our faith story. And let us take this opportunity this coming week to foster the Christian fellowship, the koinonia, the holy relationships between ourselves and with God.

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.