Sermon #12 @ St. Paris UMC (9.13.09)

Pastor Dave Kepple

Text: “Bread for the Journey”

Title: “Luke 24:13-35”

Date: Sept. 13, 2009 (15th Sunday in Easter)

A meditation on the gospel, leading into Holy Communion . . .

Internet Link for primary scripture text used in this sermon:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2024:13-35&version=NIV

You may not have realized it was Easter morning when you crawled out of bed today.
But if that’s the case, you’re in pretty good company.
Mary Magdalene and Simon Peter didn’t realize it either, on that very first Easter Sunday.
Nor did those disciples who were walking along the path to Emmaus later on.
For all of them, as the day dawned, their hearts were filled with grief, continuing sorrow and confusion – for their beloved Master lay dead in a tomb.
What they didn’t know – and what we sometimes forget – is that the tomb is now empty.
Christ is risen -- Alleluia! And because He arose, every morning is Easter morning from now on. Every Sunday is – in fact – a “little Easter.” We gather here on the first day of the week to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Though the leaves will be soon be turning, our hearts are filled with springtime as we ponder the Empty Tomb – and all that it promises.
Who knows? If we close our eyes . . . if we try really hard . . . then maybe – just maybe:
We can still imagine the cool touch of the morning dew in that garden, so close to Calvary.
We can still visualize the strange sight of the grave cloth, neatly folded in that tomb.
We can still picture the breathless excitement of Mary Magdalene, running to tell Peter and John: “I have seen the Lord!”
The tremendous thing about being a Christian – though we sometimes fail to focus on this great truth – is this: Every day of the year is part of the Easter Season.
Easter isn’t a one-shot deal.
Easter IS the deal.
As the Apostle Paul wrote: “if for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” (1 Cor.15:19)
In reality, the possibilities for new life surround us always – if we have eyes to see them.
Jesus said “I am the Resurrection.”
That’s not past-tense. That’s the Living God, present-tense in our lives today. And if we hold on to that, there’s no reason for any of us to BE tense.
You see, we’ve got Jesus! . . . We’ve got everything we need.
The promise of eternal life is more than a promise for those who put their faith in Christ. It is a blessed assurance.
We are an Easter people – just like those disciples who trekked to a town called Emmaus with a peculiar stranger, on that first Easter Sunday. Before day’s end, they, too, would be running breathlessly back to Jerusalem with a stunning message for their brothers – just like Mary Magdalene a few hours before.
That’s how Resurrection affects us, when it becomes real. When we experience the truth – that Jesus really is alive, right here, and right now. It electrifies us. It takes our breath away. And we can’t wait to tell about it.
Those two disciples, Cleopas and the other fellow, were at the end of their rope. Jesus, the one they hoped was the Messiah – God’s hand-picked Savior for Israel – was dead and buried.
The one they “hoped” was the Messiah – as in past-tense.
That was all over now. Their hope was gone.
They couldn’t have been more dejected when the stranger came along and joined them in their journey.
But after the two disciples poured out their sorrow to this stranger, he began to speak.
He had kind of an odd way of ingratiating himself to them, for what is the first thing out of his mouth? It is this:
“How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!”
Basically, he calls them blockheads! Because God has been constantly trying to get their attention, constantly trying to show them the way that leads to salvation and eternal life, and they have failed to grasp it.
Before we get too smug about all this . . . before we make fun of Cleopas and his friend, who couldn’t even recognize Jesus as he walked beside them, we need to remember: That’s us out there on that road, too. That’s you and me making our way on the journey each day – with Jesus.
Do we recognize this Risen Christ in our midst when we’re stuck in line at the bank, and we’re running late for a doctor’s appointment?
Do we sense the Risen Christ at our side when we’re at the Job and Family Center, trying to get our unemployment benefits . . . or get our food stamps straightened out?
Do we perceive Jesus, the Living God, praying for us at the funeral home, as we cry over our fallen loved ones? Do we feel Him put his arm around us? Do we hear the One who wept outside the tomb of Lazarus whispering to us: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
If we don’t recognize him, if we don’t sense his presence, if we don’t hear his comforting shepherd’s voice, it could be we have forgotten to invite him into our lives.
Whatever else we say about Cleopas and his unnamed cohort on the road to Emmaus, they knew there was something special – even wonderful – about this stranger who walked with them. They didn’t want it to end.
Luke says they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.”
In other words, they invited Jesus to stay with them, and be their companion.
The invitation is the key. Jesus doesn’t force his way into anyone’s life.
Will you invite Jesus to be your companion in the journey of life?
The literal meaning of the word companion is “with bread.” A companion is someone we break bread with.
We can all be companions with Christ – and He with us – in the breaking of the bread.
And if we take in this bread of life – through faith – we will never go hungry again. To put it another way, we will never be without life again, for our faith in Christ brings us to eternal life in His company – both now and forevermore.
In the gospel of John, Jesus declared: “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35)
We know that death does not have the final word.
And as Christian writer and historian Martin Marty puts it, “That is what Easter is all about, that love is stronger than death, that the power of God is greater than the power of forces that would thwart life.” (1)
“The stranger is still with us,” Marty adds. “If we say we had hoped He would redeem us, we can change that now to say that hope is present among us and we, too, can know Him in the breaking of the bread.” (2)
Thanks be to God!
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1. Martin Marty, “Easter on the Road,” March 31, 1991, http://www.csec.org/csec/sermon/Marty_3424.htm
2. Ibid.