Faith Lutheran Church, Batesburg, SC, April 23, 2023

Luke 24:13-35

¹³Now on that same day [when Jesus had appeared to Mary Magdalene,] two [disciples] were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, ¹⁴and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. ¹⁵While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, ¹⁶but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. ¹⁷And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. ¹⁸Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” ¹⁹He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, ²⁰and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. ²¹But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. ²²Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, ²³and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. ²⁴Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” ²⁵Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! ²⁶Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” ²⁷Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.
 ²⁸As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. ²⁹But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. ³⁰When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. ³¹Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. ³²They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” ³³That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. ³⁴They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” ³⁵Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

These two disciples are in the thick of it. Their whole world has been turned upside down, and they’re not even sure what to do next.

They were following Jesus, and then he died, and now there are rumors that he’s alive. The tomb is empty, but they’re not sure what to believe. And it’s hard to blame them, really.

Think back to the last time you were up-ended like that. Maybe you got in a car accident and had to figure out where to pull over (if you could pull over), who to call, and how to get wherever you were supposed to have been going. Maybe you were hurt by a friend and spent a while not sure whom to trust or whom you could share your weird daily observations with. Maybe you were hit with a diagnosis and asked to make life-changing decisions while coming to terms with the fact that your life had changed.

Our brains, in those moments, get really foggy. It becomes hard to concentrate. It’s nearly impossible to be creative, or to prioritize our actions. It’s like we have blinders on, like a horse, and can only see one thing at a time.

So often, when we don’t know what to do, we default to whatever we are used to doing. I remember one time when I had to take the cat to the emergency vet in Columbia. I was distraught, but I still went to Costco on the way home because, well, I was in town. We still make our coffee, show up for class or work, whatever seems normal, because we don’t know what to do.

I wonder if this couple had dinner plans with friends in Emmaus, or if they were going home to rest and regroup. Either way, walking there seemed like the thing to do while they figured out what was next.

And in their brain foggy state, their eyes were kept from seeing who was right in front of them. It’s like Mary Magdalene, who sees Jesus risen from the dead Easter morning and thinks that he’s the gardener. Their grief and confusion hide the truth from them, even when it’s right there.

Jesus shows up, right there with them, and tells them what they know. These are people who are steeped in the Bible. And Jesus goes ahead and tells them the story again, showing them a side they haven’t seen before. They still don’t see him for who he is, right up until they break bread together. The meal, the familiarity, the bread and wine, it all clears the fog and they see what is right there.

I wonder how often we miss what’s right in front of us. How often does the noise inside our minds and souls block out the truth walking along with us?

Our culture is set up as a competition for who can get and keep our attention. And man, the people who do this for a living are really good at is. Flashy ads, attention-grabbing headlines, colors and sales and all of the things. We could sleepwalk through our lives, never paying attention to our own selves, wrapped up in the 24 hour news cycle, video games, TV shows, and internet clickbait.

When we are distracted, it is easy for us to do what the distractor wants us to do. It’s easy for us to buy the latest thing that is targeting us on facebook. It’s easy for us to believe one-sided arguments about our church, our political leaders, our family members, and our coworkers. It’s easy to get caught up in the big emotions and miss out on reality. We don’t have to think if we don’t want to, and the world takes advantage of that.

We see the effects, don’t we? We are tempted to reduce people to one of their viewpoints or one of their actions. We are tempted to see organizations as all one thing or all another. There’s no middle ground, no nuance, no both/and conversations.

And we know that’s not how life works. We know that the family members who embarrass us one day are supporting us the next. We know that where we work has its upsides and its downsides. We know that no one political party or guru holds the full truth of this world. That’s Jesus’ job.

Or we don’t even have to have things outside us distracting us. For example, when I was about 13 or 14, my parents seemed like the last possible source of good advice. Now that I’m, well, far from my teenage years, I see that I missed out on a lot of wisdom simply because I wasn’t ready to hear it. It wasn’t anything anyone did to me; it was the way my brain worked at that time.

More crucially, I suspect that there are times in my life that I have spent a lot of time and energy trying to figure out what to do when sitting and listening to God would have been a lot quicker and more peaceful.

Look at what it takes for Cleopas and his partner to see Jesus with them. They get to a place where they feel at home—whether it’s their place or not, it’s somewhere they feel comfortable enough to invite a stranger to stay overnight with them. They sit down to eat. They probably take a few deep breaths and wash the road dirt off their feet. And then, holy cow, that stranger is Jesus.

Think for a moment: what is it like when you can tell that God is with you? Is it a sense of peace in the midst of chaos? Is it a rhythm of prayer at a certain time of day? Is it the joy of your life overwhelming you in an ordinary moment?

And then, how do we cultivate that? We can’t make God appear—God isn’t a genie, for starters, and more importantly, God is always with us. But how do we set ourselves up for clear eyes and clear hearts? How do we make a space where we can experience a moment as it is?

The Christian tradition has a few answers to this question, but they all point in the same direction. They all guide us to calming down our internal noise and focusing on Jesus. This sounds simple, but requires practice.

The first way we do this is simply by showing up. You’ve all got some practice making time for Jesus in your life simply by showing up on Sundays. Showing up for your prayer time. Pausing to breathe and be with God.

If you know me at all well, you know my brain is full of squirrels. All the time. They’re happy squirrels, but man do they run around a lot. So when I say that it takes practice to sit with God and that it is worth it, I hope you’ll believe me on both counts.

The words to google are: Contemplative Prayer, where we sit and listen to God. Lectio Divina, divine reading, where we chew on a piece of Scripture slowly, sometimes alone and sometimes with a group. Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection, a lay monk back in the 1600’s, inspired a book called Practicing the Presence of God. He talks about how he made dishwashing and other daily tasks part of his spiritual practice, not just things that have to get done.

None of these is magic. We don’t need magic. We have the Holy Spirit, who sometimes lets us struggle so that we can grow.

What I hope you’ll hear is that God is with us, with you, right now. God is with you as you drive home, when you’re eating lunch, when you’re getting swept away with good gossip or sensational news, when you’re not sure what to do next. God is close when your brain is fogged with the cares and concerns of this world. God is close when you are not feeling it. God is close when you close your eyes and when you wake up.

Like Cleopas, like the other disciples, we are living in the wake of the resurrection. Christ is risen! Alleluia! Whether we can see it or not. Whether we feel hopeful or despairing, God has already won the battle. We grieve with hope, knowing that we will see our loved ones again. We live our lives, knowing that no matter what the world tells us, we are loved and valued. We were created with a purpose and sustained by the God who will care for us for the rest of time. Things may be hard. Life has a lot of suffering. But we live, we keep going, and God walks with us. Even on our worst days, the promise is true.

We are Easter people. Because we follow a God who has suffered alongside us, grieved alongside us, and now invites us to live alongside him. Christ is risen! Alleluia!

https://www.facebook.com/blfaithlutheran/videos/240326981997105 has the link to the recorded worship service at Faith Lutheran.