P.S. There’s More: From Speculation to Recognition (MPLS)

Luke 24:13-35

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. Then 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?” He 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, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But 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. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and 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. Some 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.” Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But 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. When he was at the table with them, he 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?” That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Once a month, on the second Saturday, at 9:15 in the morning, we offer a baptism class for families like McKensie, Matt and Cohen as they prepare for baptism. There are usually three or four families. We spend some time getting to know each other, and then we talk through logistics of the baptism, and we talk about why we do it anyway. We use a booklet that a pastor friend wrote a while back. It’s called, “Baptism: A Primer for the Weary, the Wary and the Visually Inclined.” 

Marc wrote and illustrated it for a friend who was skeptical about baptism. She hadn’t grown up in the church and now that she had a child who was going to be baptized, she wanted to know more. 

The booklet talks about “What God Says” and “How God Speaks” in baptism. 

• God says out loud, in public, for all to hear, “You are mine! I love you!… You belong to my vast and lovely family. Together we will love and heal the universe. This will not end.”
• Christian baptism relies on the presence and personality of the people doing the baptism who say the words, perform the actions, and pass along the promise. Each one has an actual voice, eye contact, and nagging doubts, along with their own mark of baptism. Some of us wear a cross and a white garment to remind us of our baptism. He notes that sturdy shoes are part of the garb, as well. 

We are baptized into some heavy stuff, he says: death and resurrection – and this in a world that only understands the death part. So we need sturdy shoes and a strong stomach. It’s a metaphor, I often say, when we get to this part. We know that all is not well in the world. Eyes open wide. It’s a lot to take on a Saturday morning – especially with a sweet, young child looking on. We’re baptized into heavy stuff: death and resurrection – and this in a world that only understands the death part. We need sturdy shoes. 

Well, sturdy shoes are good for long walks and tough terrain. They protect our feet and give us traction. But long walks and tough terrain can be metaphorical, too. 

On a sad and bewildering day, two friends take off walking. It’s been three days since Jesus died and hopes were dashed and dreams were crushed. Sometimes it helps to move. Sometimes that’s all one can do. So they walk. They talk. They recount the events. They put them in order and try to make sense of them. 

We had hoped that things would change. We had hoped for a different future. We understand their disappointment. We had hoped this job would turn out or this relationship would last. We had hoped our team would win. We had hoped the pandemic wouldn’t interrupt our plans. Disappointment at an unrealized future is a loss. They had hoped Jesus was the one who would redeem Israel and restore things to the way they should be. But now they were grieving loss – loss of a dream and the death of their leader. 

Then a stranger joined them and shared another point of view. It was a lot to take in – death and resurrection – too much to absorb on a Sunday afternoon in a world that is all too aware of death. 

These past weeks have been tense in Minneapolis. A trial is underway for the killing of George Floyd, and Daunte Wright was killed last Sunday. The National Guard is in place, and schools are ready to return to distance learning. Tomorrow the jury will hear closing arguments and begin their deliberation. Meanwhile, protests continue each night in Brooklyn Center. It’s a lot to take in. We need sturdy shoes and a strong stomach. Death and resurrection – this in a world that grieves the death part and longs for resurrection. 

That day on the road, when Jesus appeared to the two travelers, he made himself known to them in the interpretation of scripture and in the breaking of bread. If you’re like me, you’re happy to get to the meal and see the joy they feel when they recognize Jesus. But on the road, Jesus asks them a hard question: “Don’t you see that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and then come into his glory?” Not just a tough question, but a tactless one: “So thick-headed and slow-hearted you are! Why can’t you simply believe all that the prophets said?”

Then he starts at the beginning, with the Books of Moses, and goes on through the Prophets, pointing out everything in the Scriptures that pointed to him. Many Christians have wondered exactly what he might have said, but Luke doesn’t tell us. There are clues in the preaching of Peter and others in the book of Acts. 

Jesus died on the cross to show us how much God loves us. Scripture points to a God who seeks, claims and redeems the lost. So God came in Jesus to show us the distance God would go to reclaim our relationship. All is not well in the world. We are cut off and turned away, turned in on ourselves. Relationships are broken – with God and each other. People hoped God would set things right, and they assumed it would be through power. That’s what they knew. 

But then Jesus died on a cross. He was an innocent man, undeserving of crucifixion. And yet he willingly experienced deep suffering. His death exposed human sin. An unfitting death, his death was “necessary,” he said, to reveal our sin and show our need for reconciliation. To show how broken we are and our part in it. And then, it was “necessary” for him to offer forgiveness.  Jesus’ death was not about punishment but about restored relationship. Repentance is actually a gift because it allows for relationships to be healed. Forgiveness is hard… but that’s where life begins again. 

Last May when George Floyd was killed, the world took notice. In case we had missed it before, the sin of racism was exposed. The remnants of slavery had not ended with the Civil War, and the legacy of Jim Crow did not end with the Civil Rights movement. It wasn’t that something new or more egregious had suddenly happened. Our collective eyes were opened, and we recognized the injustice. Forgiveness is a long road. It begins with repentance. It takes sturdy shoes and a strong stomach.

A few days ago, I was privileged to participate in a virtual prayer service organized by local leaders of the African Methodist Episcopal Church to help a community in crisis. There were prayers of lament. “How long, O Lord?” And prayers for help. Prayers of praise. And a prayer for the ability to forgive. “Help us get to a place of being able to forgive,” someone said.  

Last summer, Hector Black died. He was a peace activist who lived to the age of 95. His reach was far and deep. He was best known for a story he told on The Moth and Radio Lab called, “Forgiveness.” Hector and his wife formed a support group for families who had lost loved ones through violence. Forgiveness is not easy, he says, “but to be angry is no way to live. It’s not life. When you hate, it’s like taking poison and expecting the other person to die.”

Jesus meets us on the road and in the meal. He shows us the God who is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in love – the God who invites us to join God’s mission of loving and healing the universe. It takes sturdy shoes and a strong stomach, but we’re not alone. We come together. 

Jesus is found here in the gathering of his body – not just here in this physical place but where hearts and minds are gathered to worship God, where the meal of forgiveness is shared, where the call of baptism sends us to work for justice and healing. 

There are important days ahead. We don’t know what the future holds. But we know who walks along beside us. May the risen Savior be near, and may his presence be known to us and to the world as we continue on our way. Amen.