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They pack quickly for their road trip – bread and wine, a couple of fish, a few figs. They toss a wrap in their bag to protect against the early morning chill. After bidding a tearful farewell to their friends, they start on their journey. It wasn’t long before they realize that the heaviest things they are carrying are in their hearts: Disbelief and confusion, anger and disappointment, all woven together by the grief of losing their dear friend and teacher. They can’t believe that Jesus is gone. Gone. Taken away from them in such a horrible way, dying at the hands of the Romans by crucifixion. And then a few days later, the women come with their idle chatter, tales of seeing angels at the tomb and whispering about resurrection. Suddenly – it seems like suddenly – a stranger comes upon them. Funny, they hadn’t heard footsteps or voices. They wondered how long he had been walking behind them. This stranger wants to know what’s going on, and they can hardly believe their ears! What? You’re the only one who does not know? All that has happened, all that has been taken from us! Where have you been? Friends, Our lives are a road trip of sorts. The things that mark our journeys might be a bit different than those disciples who are walking to Emmaus, as our daughter Rose reminded me when I asked her to recall our family road trips. Here’s what she said: Long stretches in the car, music, fast food stops, game playing, and annoying siblings – or spouses! But, like Cleopas and his companion, The things we carry are heavy, too. Among us this morning, some come with disappointment for something we’ve done, Or with worry about the next doctor’s appointment or the state of the world. Some of us are afraid that we won’t be able to continue our lives after the loss of someone we love. We walk with these and myriad other feelings and concerns as part of our faith journey, Searching for understanding. In that way, we’re like those earliest disciples, wondering how we are to live together and live in the world after Jesus’ death. They can’t make hide nor hair of what is happening, and yet they continue to talk about these events and experiences, to search for understanding. It’s just as true now as it was then: A genuine search for understanding and how to live begins where we are. It begins with what is happening in our lives and in our world. We wonder how to live as faithful disciples after the death – and for us today – the resurrection of Jesus. We wonder how to be a faithful community, a beloved community that preaches the gospel in word and in deed. We wrestle with some hard questions and realities: If God is really at work in the world, why do so many suffer? Jesus promises peace, and yet it seems so hard to attain. Jesus shares the commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves, and yet we continue to ask. Who is our neighbor? How are we to love? Along that road to Emmaus all those years ago, The stranger- whom Luke tells us is Jesus – listens intently and carefully – to the details of the disciples lives. He receives their questions, their longings, their expectations: Oh! How they hoped Jesus had been the one! It was then – after receiving their story, after listening to the confusion that confounds them and and the fear that paralyzes them, then, Jesus teaches them, revealing to them the meaning of their situation. Jesus takes them back to the source, to the sacred story of God’s interaction with God’s people. Like he has so many other times, Jesus takes the script that people have used to live and shape their lives, Spreads it out, And says, “it’s not what you think.” Friends, Jesus takes the disciples back not just to recount the past, but to make meaning of the present in all its confusion and craziness. Oh! If only we had Jesus’ interpretation of the Scriptures! Our lives of faith, Our life as a community of faith, would be so much easier, wouldn’t it? But that’s not the reality, friends, For some reason, the earliest Christians did not record Jesus’ words that he shared with those disciples on the road. Maybe they couldn’t imagine that we’d be sitting here all these years later wondering how to live faithfully and fully as disciples of Jesus. Or maybe they kept in the way of Jesus, The Master who often taught in parable and story Instead of direct response, And invited people to make connections and interpretations. And so the Scriptures invite – Maybe even demand – our interpretation. They require our questions, our hopes, our longings, our experiences from the setting of our lives. They require us to be guided by the spirit of Jesus, The Holy Spirit, who receives all of us, and accepts all of us. The task of interpretation invites us to be humble in our approach and commit ourselves to dialogue with other disciples along the journey. Friends, we may not have Jesus’ interpretation of the Scriptures, But the church does have the interpretations of others in the tradition who have wrestled with the Scripture and with similar experiences, questions, confusion, and longings. These interpretations can be a resource for us as we seek to understand what it means be the church as we walk the road of discipleship in this day and age. Sisters and brothers, The portion of the Emmaus story we heard this morning ends with Jesus’ interpretation of Scripture. But the encounter on the Emmaus road continues on for several more verses in Luke’s gospel. I invite us to listen to the rest of the story, this time from a translation of the Scriptures called “The Message.” (Read from the Message, Luke 24:28-37) Friends, it’s more than the interpretation of the Scriptures that lead Cleopas and his companion to meet the Risen Christ. The questions and the interpretation are only the beginning. Hospitality – Come and stay – and communion – take and eat – are also part of the process. For once the Risen Christ is perceived, disciples – then and now – go out into the world proclaiming the good news. Cleopas and his companion do not remain at the table, saying to each other, “Wow! What an experience we’ve had! What new understanding we’ve been given! No, for them – and for us – it means another road trip. Sometimes the trip takes you back to where you first began, but now embodying a new truth, a new passion, a new faithfulness for living the gospel. As we come to the table of the Lord today, may it be so and may it be soon for each of us. Amen and alleluia. |