Have you heard the story about the minister
who was called to help with a delicate situation? Retired and widowed, Mrs.
Smith was hard pressed to make ends meet on her fixed income. Knowing her
situation, a distant relative left her ten million dollars in his will.
However, she had a cardiac condition, and her children were afraid to break the
news to her because the shock might give her a heart attack. So they asked her
minister if he might find a gentle way to tell their mother that all her
financial worries were over. The minister came to call, and after a few
niceties, asked: "Mrs. Smith, what would you do if God gave you ten million
dollars?" "Why, Pastor." "I would give half of it to you
for the church" she replied. And the minister had a heart attack!
Following Christ is not for the
faint of heart. Each of our scriptures today deals in some way with the
visceral experience of faith. The Jews, gathered in
Is this a report of something that
happened or a parable of how things always happen for us as disciples of Christ? It is still the first day of the week, the first day of the new creation, only now sunset
nears. And what a day it has been for Cleopas and Annas, two lesser known followers of Jesus. On Friday they
saw Jesus die on the cross, and there their dreams died. On Saturday they
learned where he was buried, and there their hopes were buried. But today they
have heard a rumor of resurrection, and they don't know what to think. The
women claimed they have seen angels announcing Jesus is alive, but these men
are accustomed to discounting the voices of women. Peter and John verified the
tomb is empty, but what does that prove?
Cleopas and Annas, two
lesser known disciples of Jesus, walk in sadness
and confusion, unable to trust a rumor just too good to be true. Why is it we
are so quick to believe rumors of scandal and tragedy, but we cannot trust a
rumor of resurrection…why are we unable to believe good news as soon as
we hear it?
A stranger joined them on the way. The
story is told so that we know it is Jesus though they do not. Luke tells us
simply "their eyes were kept from recognizing him." What does
that mean? They didn't recognize him because they were walking with heads down
in sorrow rather than eyes lifted in hope? They didn't recognize him because
they didn't expect to see him on their dusty road to Emmaus any more than we
expect to see Jesus with us in our familiar daily ruts? They didn't recognize
him because they were two lesser known followers of Jesus who would never
expect him to appear to them, of all people? They didn't recognize him because
his appearance had changed in some way so that seeing him is now a matter of
spiritual rather than material vision?
He asks them what they are discussing
and they are amazed. "Are you the only stranger in
And then, Jesus opened the scripture to
them and explained the necessity of the cross and resurrection, how none of
this was accidental, but the plan of God all along. Could Luke be telling us
that the inspiration of the biblical authors by itself is not sufficient? Could he be saying that the church needs the
risen Christ to illumine the meaning of the text? Just like faith, understanding scripture is
not a head trip but a matter of the heart.
Still, they did not recognize him
until they sat at table with him. Luke described the scene sacramentally,
with clear eucharistic
language that was already used in the liturgy of the Lord's Supper by the time
Luke wrote his gospel and was quite familiar to his audience: "(Jesus)
took bread, blessed it, and broke it." That is the "aha"
moment. That is when they see who he is. John Claypool wants to say Jesus is
revealed by his gratitude, as are all his followers. I think that is true, but
what Luke wants to tell us is that the risen Christ is at the table with us
whenever we share the sacred supper.
That is when we recognize him. That
is where we see who he is.
Caravaggio painted this scene with
dramatic realism in 1601. It depicts the moment of recognition. The two
disciples, dressed in dark clothes are slack jawed. One disciple's hands fly
out to the sides in surprise. The other is bolting from his chair. The light in
the picture seems to radiate from Christ and illumines their features. But
Caravaggio adds a character not present in Luke's story … a servant who
does not know Jesus … who stands dully by watching this scene as the
risen Lord of the new creation blesses the sacred supper with two lesser known
disciples. There are those who will always be oblivious to the presence of God.
And in that moment, he is gone. They
say to each other: "Didn't our hearts burn within us while he was
talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?"
Like Moses, who was only allowed to see the glory of God after God had passed
by, so we see the glory … and recognize Christ … in the aftermath. Our eyes are blinded by sorrow and our lack of
faith in the moment of crisis, but later we can see that Christ was walking
with us all along.
The disciples recognized him, and he
disappeared from sight, and that's when they remember: "Didn't our
hearts burn within us while he was talking to us on the road?" They
are seized by a passion which drove them back to the disciples in
All our scriptures today -
especially the story of the walk to Emmaus - remind us that faith is a visceral
experience. As Susan Andrews suggests:
They are about pounding hearts, wounded hearts and burning hearts. And they
invite us to encounter the living Christ in the heart of who we are. Kathleen
Norris and others remind us that "to believe" is not a matter of the
mind but a matter of the heart. For what we "believe" is what we
"give our heart to."
We're not talking about a mindless
emotionalism here, driven by the need for a weekly high, confusing
excitement for spirituality, a feel-good faith which evaporates at the first
sign of strain. But we are talking about a faith that is more than just in your
head. Jesus Christ is not merely a good idea that we choose to believe. He is a
living presence who encounters us in our daily lives and sets our hearts on
fire. Believing in Jesus means giving yourself to being his disciple because
you have been seized by someone greater than you … someone who captures
your mind and emotion and will and imagination. Being a Christian means living
from the inside out, not driven by external appearance, but engaged with
enthusiasm from the deepest center of your being. Enthusiasm is combination of
two Greek words - en theos
- the inward God.
John Wesley was born to a scholarly
rector of the church of England. He was raised in the church. Well educated
by his literate mother, he attended
In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate
Sreet, where one was reading from Luther's preface to
the Epistle to the Romans. At about a quarter before nine…, while he was
describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I
felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for
salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even
mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.
Wesley went on to become the founder of Methodism and an influential spiritual
leader in the history of Christendom, because he moved from an intellectual
appropriation of his religion to an engagement with the living Christ who had
seized his heart.
As Marcus Borg suggests, whether
this story of Luke's happened or not, who can say? But that it happens again
and again, we can all attest. Even when we feel we are
walking alone in despair, Jesus walks with us. It's a good word for us
who live in this cynical, materialistic time. It’s truly good news for us
who can't help being so infected by doubt that we tend to disbelieve any good
news we hear. I probably wouldn't urge this message upon a Pentecostal church who may need to be reminded to love the Lord their God with
all their mind. But to a progressive church like ours whom some of my
evangelical friends might lovingly call "the frozen chosen," it is a
good reminder that being a Christian isn't all in your head. More importantly,
for those who are facing the darkness, the pit, life and death struggles with
relationships, health, or whatever challenge darkens your horizon like an
approaching storm, it is a good reminder that the risen Christ walks with you,
even if you do not see him, even if you feel like a lesser known disciple not
likely to be on his list of upcoming appearances.
Are you wrestling with your own demons? Look
to the past and remember how he has brought you safe thus far. Look here and
see Jesus illuminating the faces around you. Look at what some of our people
are doing in their daily walks with those less fortunate - not because they think
it is what Jesus would want done, but because Christ is alive in their hearts
and they give their hearts to his work. I'm telling you, here and there, now
and then, suddenly you will see him among us as plain as the nose on your face,
not with your eyes, but with your heart. In fact, beloved, I have heard a rumor
of resurrection here at Nekoosa United Church of Christ. Have you heard the same thing? Do you believe
it?
May we pray?
Living Savior, you meet us where we are that you might lead us where you
wish. Walk with us wherever we walk. Open our ears to hear and understand your
word. Open our eyes to see the opportunities we have to serve you. Open our
hearts to your loving presence that we might be seized from within by the One
from beyond who is risen indeed. Amen.
Mary Anne Biggs, Pastor
Nekoosa United
Nekoosa