The Road to Emmaus
Category: Sundays after Pentecost
Speaker: The Rev. Shearon Sykes Wiliams
Every Sunday we come to church carrying all sorts of experiences from the preceding week- sometimes they are joyful and fulfilling experiences and other times they are ones that leave us discouraged or mournful. However we arrive at church, we pray that we will be different when we leave- that something transformative will happen while we are here that will bring us greater meaning and hope.
The disciples on the road to Emmaus were no different. They had had the worst week of their lives watching Jesus being tried, tortured and crucified. They had left everything 3 years earlier to follow Jesus as he taught and preached and healed. Jesus had lifted them out of their ordinary lives and given them an extraordinary mission. Had it all been for nothing? All of the talk of bringing in God’s kingdom, of everyone being included in God’s redeeming work? And then some of the women had told them that they tomb they had laid him in was empty.
Nothing made sense any more. And yet just as Jesus had entered their lives so unexpectedly 3 years earlier, he showed up again- unannounced- talking with them along the road, explaining to them what everything that had happened meant. But he didn’t look the same as he had before. They didn’t recognize him. They just knew they had a familiar burn in their hearts that made them feel alive and energized again-that more was going on than met the eye.
Jesus had told them repeatedly during his 3 years with them that they would not fully understand who he was and what he was all about until later. It was only now- on the road to Emmaus that they could start understanding when they experienced him in his mysterious Resurrected presence- when they heard him explain everything from the beginning yet again-using the same words he had used before- but now it was different- now what he said had more meaning.
That is how it is for us when we come to church. Some weeks the readings from Scripture and the words of the liturgy sound flat, rote and meaningless. And other times our hearts burn within us-we hear the words in a new way. They pierce us like an arrow and make us see that they are meant for us- that they are bringing God to us in a very personal way. We suddenly see that the death of someone we love – as painful as that is- is survivable because of the belief of this community that the Resurrected Presence of Christ is with us always- and that it means greater life for the one who has died. Christ is with us all- the one who mourns and the one for whom we mourn. The key is learning to recognize him when he shows up.
The disciples’ hearts burned on the road to Emmaus but they didn’t fully recognize Jesus until they invited him to stay with him- when he took bread, blessed and broke it. That is when their eyes were opened- when they were around the dinner table with their old friend and teacher and finally recognized that he was so much more- that he was the one that everyone had waited for for so long- and that he was there with them- in the flesh- and yet not of this world. He was there with them, restoring their hope and reminding them that although he would not be physically be present to them much longer, he was with them to empower them to carry on the work they had begun together. All of the pieces of the puzzle came together in the breaking of the bread. They were reminded of their true identity and the important work that they had to do. The news of Jesus’ resurrection and the difference it makes in our understanding of life and death – was news that just had to be shared. The disciples knew that it changed everything.
That is why our weekly service of Holy Eucharist is so important. We bring all of the messiness of our lives- all of our confusion and all of our hopes, and we listen for God’s Word for us that sets our hearts on fire. And the climax of that service is communion -it opens our eyes to Jesus’ Real Presence with us is when we take bread, bless it and break it and receive it- TOGETHER. We come to the altar with burning hearts and see that Jesus is truly in our midst.
Very early on in Christian tradition, this story of the road to Emmaus became a model for the shape of the liturgy. And all of these years later, our worship in the Episcopal church has the same flow- we listen to Scripture, the “breaking of the Word,” and then a sermon that will hopefully help us connect the dots between “then” and “now.” And then we “break the bread,” sharing Christ in this sacramental way and literally taking him into ourselves, creating a place for him in our lives just as the disciples invited him to dinner with them.
That is why I am so excited about the work that our Building Possibilities Committee has been doing for the past 2 years- dreaming dreams about how our building- and particularly our worship spaces- can help us experience God’s presence even more profoundly-and inspire us to take that presence into a hurting world.
During our adult forum time today, we (will hear/ have heard) the overarching vision of the committee- one communal dream that was developed by listening to input from you- individual parishioners and all of the ministry leaders. The committee chairs will be reflecting back to all of us what we told them and how that might take shape.
And the centerpiece of that vision is how we can hear God’s Word more effectively in worship and how we can experience Christ more completely at communion. One of my favorite aspects of this vision is to have an accessible altar- so that EVERYONE, everyone, can gather around together- so that no one is left out- no one has to have communion brought to them separately. So that people with mobility challenges can come to the altar just like everyone else.
An accessible altar will make a profound statement about who we are- an inclusive Christian community whose worship space reflects what we believe about God- that the Eucharist is central to who we are and it is a gift to be shared with ALL. That we live an ancient tradition that is not dead- but alive! We are living it now and bringing it into the future. A fresh expression of the old, old story of Jesus and his love for us.
The resurrection brought all people into God’s loving embrace- and we are called to embody that in our lives and in our worship space. It is vitally important that we express our theology of inclusion through our building, maintaining our beautiful traditional architecture, while also doing something new and inspired, having an altar that everyone can gather around.
Every Sunday, John and I have the profound privilege of celebrating the Eucharist with you. It is a powerful communal experience – and yet not everyone can be with us at the altar. I believe that God is calling us all to do something about that. What affects one of us affects all of us. We share the Body of Christ to become the Body of Christ- and there are no second-class citizens in the Kingdom of God.
The road to Emmaus is the road of discovery. It is a road that begins at creation and ends on that day to come when Christ returns to bring all things to fruition. Until that day, we bring our joys and sorrows to the altar-together, experience Christ’s Resurrected Presence with us, and go back out into the world healed, restored and empowered to love a hurting world in Jesus’ name.
“When he was at table with them, the took bread, blessed and broke it and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They 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?"