Latest / Belin Memorial UMC / Rev. Dr. Sandra Stevens Poirel - "Open Our Eyes, Lord!"
Transcript
- Belin Memorial UMC: The gospel lesson comes to us today from the gospel of Luke, the 24th chapter. What we will share is a portion of the story. It is a more lengthy story, but this is the story of the walk to Emmaus. Now on that same day, two of Jesus' 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. 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. This is the word of God for the people of God. Well, today is the third Sunday of Easter. And what we notice is that the Sundays during and included in the Easter season bear names. And the names of those Sundays are based on the theme of that particular text which is assigned to the day. So liturgically, today is the third Sunday of Easter, but it is also considered Meal Sunday. This gospel text that we just shared is one of those post-resurrection appearances of Jesus during which Emil was involved. In this particular one, he ate with his disciples. He also commissioned them, as he always did, to go and tell others. all for the good news of the gospel and to care for his people. The event in the scriptures today actually took place on the afternoon or early evening of the resurrection on what we know is Easter Day. And I apologize for the pollen just collecting. Hopefully it will soon just clear. This particular post resurrection appearance is one that is recorded in the gospel of Luke. It is one of seven appearances. Now this time was no different from the rest. When Jesus appears among his disciples, he appears as a stranger to them. They do not immediately recognize him. And it's interesting, Luke even takes it a step further and we heard in Luke, he told us that they were kept from recognizing him. We're not told why or by whom, but it was very important that Luke made it very clear. At this point, they have absolutely no idea who Jesus is. He simply appears, he walks with them, he is a stranger walking with them. They do not know that this is the one who they had been with and been training with and he had taught them and they had traveled with for three years. But then once they recognize him, which we will see momentarily, once they recognize who he is, he's gone. He disappears from them. Now as they're walking along, we're told they look sad. They had believed immediately in the crucifixion. They understood death. Thank you. That's scriptural. They offered a cup of cool water. Thank you. Living out the gospel. They understood death. They were eyewitnesses to it. They saw what happened. They heard his last word. They heard and saw evidence when he breathed his last. They saw, they knew he was nailed to a cross. They understood being put in a tomb and the tomb being sealed. They got it. They had no trouble understanding the crucifixion and death. They didn't like it. They didn't want it. They resisted it. But that part they understood, but now they're dealing with resurrection. It had never happened in all of history. So they don't understand that quite so much. But they've heard the tomb is empty. If you read the full story, we're even told that they were astonished. when the women told them that the tomb was empty. They knew what they had been told. They knew what Jesus had told them. They knew that Jesus had tried to prepare them for this very thing. But they had no experience with their Messiah dying and being resurrected. So this particular experience, post-resurrection, the walk to Emmaus, is only told by the Gospel writer Luke. However, while we're hearing about their Emmaus Road experience, We have all had the experience of walking a road similar to or like it. If we haven't, there will come a point in our lives that we do. And here's the good news. We already know the story. We know how the story concludes. We know who the stranger is. We have the benefit of reading the story with the knowledge of what has actually happened. We know that Jesus walked that road. He walks it with them. He walks with them and with us. But the story, in a nutshell, is that on that particular Easter afternoon, two of Jesus' disciples were walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Now this gave them a seven mile walking window to discuss and catastrophize over the events that had happened over the last few days. And we're told they're basically going back. They're going back to what they knew. They're going back to their village. They're going back to the comforts of the past. They're going... back to what they would have thought safe and what they would have imagined as being where they would just be. But Luke tells us, our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. They understood that because they followed it with, but we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Did you hear that? We had hoped. This is in the past tense. They're on the road. They're headed back to the known. They're really on the road of lost hope. They've given up. They have lost confidence in the future. We had hoped he was the one. But you see, they're still living in the death is real. We saw it. We understand that. So they're walking this seven mile road and while they are walking and discussing, while they're at their lowest point, they are sauntering along defeated and a stranger joins them. A stranger joins them and basically says, so what you talking about? What's going on? And they told him, still not knowing who he was. They're speaking to a stranger. But Jesus met them right in the midst of this we had hoped, dejection, disappointment. And they told him all about it. They're telling, The one who experienced all of this lived, died, and resurrected in it. They're telling him what had happened. They told him how the women had astounded them. They told him about how there has been a report of the empty tomb. They told him about the vision of angels, and not just angels, but angels that spoke, which confused them even more. And then the stranger spoke up calling them foolish and slow of heart. Now that can be disturbing when we read it because it sounds like Jesus is rebuking them, but we have already been told that they were kept from recognizing him. So when Jesus speaks to them and says, you are being foolish and slow of heart, it is not a rebuke. It is not a condemnation. This is actually a teaching moment for Jesus. He is reminding them of God's faithfulness throughout history. He is reminding them, without their recognizing him yet, of what their savior had been teaching them prior to the crucifixion and his death and ultimately resurrection. And he began teaching them yet again, just as he had taught them for three years. And he started with the scriptures. Jesus opened the scriptures to them interpreting for them that Moses and the prophets through the scriptures what they said concerning him, Jesus, even though they still don't recognize him and they don't quite get it yet, but they are walking with the Messiah. not the one who engages in power struggles to win. They had already witnessed that. He is an humble servant. He is the suffering servant. He is the one whose wounds are still visible. It has been said that Christ and his followers are recognized not in power and might, but in their humility and through their scars. What the stranger, what Jesus was sharing with them was yet again the good news. He was reminding them that regardless of the way things seem, he had taught them, he had told them, I will never leave nor forsake you. And now he is giving them ample reason to move from we had hoped. And this was very heavy for them. We had hoped he is helping them move from the past tense to resurrection hope, present and future. And while they were at it, Jesus was resurrecting their own hope individually in the present and in the future tense. So they go on to the village. Jesus prepares when they arrive, he prepares to bid them goodbye and to leave them. But they invite him, encourage him to stay with them. It's very clear they don't want him to leave. They may not even understand that yet because they still have not recognized who he is. So he stays, he accepts the invitation, but then the strangest thing happens. He's in their place, their home, their table, their provisions. He joins them. at their table and he actually becomes the host in their place. We're told he takes the bread, he gives thanks to God, he breaks the bread and he gives it to them and in that moment. Now notice when this is, he has met them, he has walked with them. They are dejected, disappointed, they are sad. He invites them to tell him what's going on and they do. He hears it. He teaches them. He opens scriptures. He prepares to leave. They invite him to stay. He does. He goes to a meal with them, which he had just taught them a few days earlier. That was their last act together, was this very thing. What we know as Mom Day Thursday, the Last Supper. He did the very same thing. He took bread, gave thanks to God, broke the bread, and gave it to them. He did that again. in this community and it was at that moment that their eyes opened. The eyes of their hearts were opened. They recognized him then immediately as the risen Messiah, Jesus the Christ among them and he vanishes. At that moment he's gone from their sight. That is what happens in the post resurrection experiences. But here's the good news for us. That's why I was so appreciative of Ben and the band having that song, Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord, as our opening song today. We too. have walked a similar road. We too will or have, or maybe are walking, a road of discouragement, of doubt, disappointment, hopelessness. All of us at some point have had our own Emmaus to reach. And this is the story that reminds us. Whether we are on the mountaintop, whether we're somewhere in between on the plane, or whether we're in one of those Emmaus road experiences. Jesus promised and did not and does not limit his post resurrection appearances to only those who are exploding with confidence. Fortunately, he appears to in some way to all of us. And we too can pray basically what those disciples were praying. Open our hearts, Lord, we want to see Jesus. He reminds them when they recognized him, he disappeared from their sight. We don't see Jesus physically, but we see him. We see evidence of him. He comes to us right where we are, even when we don't recognize him walking with us. Sometimes those are the moments that he's carrying us. But we recognize his presence often in each other. And Jesus still comes to us when we've given up. When we had hoped, when we were in the past tense, when we're ready to go back to our comfort place, Jesus appears again and again and has never left us and walks with us. And this reminds us that this is the story of blessedness, of brokenness. Even in our brokenness, even in our moments of our greatest need, even when we think we may be at our lowest point, Jesus does for us exactly what he did with those first disciples. He stays. And he's working and providing even when... we don't immediately recognize it. When he was taking the bread, giving thanks, breaking the bread, and preparing to give it to them, up until the moment of receiving the bread, through all of that, they didn't recognize him. But he was always making provisions. So then eventually, the disciples returned back to Jerusalem. And there they report their hearts were burning. Even while they were on the road, something was happening to them. Now they're reflecting back and they say to each other, were our hearts not burning within us? Even before they recognized him. You see, this is a response. This is a response to an encounter with the risen Christ in the context of scripture, which Jesus opened for them and they recognize in him again the blessing, the breaking, the giving of the bread. reminding them, this is my body that was given for you. So they could understand and connect what they knew, which was the crucifixion and he had died, but he moves them from we had hoped to the future with hope, resurrection life. Recognition actually came at the end of their journey. And the good news for us is that we too recognize Jesus is alive, risen and present. And he reminds us that he came to give life and give it abundantly, full of joy and full of hope. And just because we might not recognize Jesus immediately walking with us does not eradicate his presence, nor does it indicate his absence. We have the assurance that Jesus accompanies us on every road, whether we recognize him immediately being with us or not. He will do exactly what he has promised to do. He will stay and he still walks on all roads with us. In the word and sacrament, Christ makes himself known in the blessing. the breaking and the giving of bread. This is my body that is broken for you. We're going to celebrate in a few moments the sacrament of Holy Communion. And on this day, we also may say with the first disciples, open our eyes, Lord, open our eyes. Let us pray. Gracious God. You have made known to us in the risen Christ. The breaking, the blessing, the serving, the tasting of bread, you are God of Easter hope. Open the eyes of our hearts that we may recognize his presence. And with those first disciples proclaim the Lord has risen indeed, hallelujah. Reveal to us the new life Christ brings to us this very day and lead us by your spirit to welcome him. Be with those who are struggling, who are grieving, who feel like they are traveling this Emmaus Road, as well as with those who have turned to head back to Jerusalem. whose gate is lighter, who recognize and understand you are with them. Open the eyes of our faith that we may see him in his redeeming work and recognize him as the one who responded when the disciples said, Lord, teach us to pray. Who teaches us to say when we pray? Our Father, who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory.