On the Road to Salvation

May 4, 2014 Luke 24:13-35 Third after Easter On the Way to Salvation Year A Emmaus. Scripture says that Emmaus was either 60 stadia or 160 stadia away from Jerusalem. That could be 7 miles of 18 miles away. No one knows where these two people were really going. Today there are dozens of sites which claim to be Emmaus. I think that there is a very important point in that. Because I think, that the real Emmaus could be anywhere in the world. It is not a tourist attraction it is a place in our spirits. It is the place in our lives where Easter becomes real. This story takes place on Easter night. The disciples are traveling home after a very harrowing day. These disciples are walking him 7 miles away, they are recounting the events of the week and are overwhelmed, dejected and sad. Blinded by sadness They just want to go home and climb into bed and feel sorry for themselves. They didn’t notice anything or anybody. Jesus could have been walking right along with them, and they would not have noticed. As a matter of fact, Jesus was walking along with them. They just did not recognize him as the Christ. There are people in the world today, who do not know that Easter has come and gone. They are still living the same life. Sadness, depression, pessimism, disbelief, an unwillingness to see change, all shade our thinking and our seeing. When we are caught up in our feelings, we are not open to Christ’s presence in our lives. We just want to crawl into a dark hole and stay there. In this case, possums are actually smarter then people. Possums and graves Possums like to crawl into holes too. But before they crawl- they look at the foot prints of those who may have crawled in that same hole. If there are only one set of foot prints going into that hole, they don’t go into that hole. If there are only one set of prints in the hole, then that means that whomever crawled into that hole – for some reason is still there. Either they crawled in and did not make it out alive, or they are still in there alive and well and just waiting for someone else to crawl in. You don’t want to crawl into somewhere that you cant crawl out of. If there are two sets of tracks into and out of the hole – them it is safe to go in. there comes a time in our lives when you have to crawl out of the hole and see the light. And live in the light. Jesus is our second set of tracks. Jesus is the source that can give us the power to crawl out of our hole. The resurrection gives us the power to crawl out and live in the light. The resurrection changes everything The world changes all of the time. But sometimes we can get so caught up in our circumstance that we don’t witness the shift. When Jesus was raised from the dead the world shifted, our future shifted. Our salvation shifted. Our circumstance in the world changed in an instant. The resurrection changes everything. It transforms us. It moves us from despair to new possibilities of life. It takes us in our blindness and opens our eyes. It transforms ordinary bread into a holy meal. It takes two sad and lost brothers on the road to Emmaus who had lost the only the world they knew and gives it back to them. Jesus comes to them and says see I am not dead. I am alive. Now tell the world. Brett Blair,www.Sermons.com Luke wants us to know There are many stories of appearances of Jesus told throughout the gospels. But this story is only told in Luke. Luke needs to tell this particular story for two reasons. First, he wants us to realize that this was not a vision, but a real encounter. Something happened on Easter, and after it happened the world was different. This is the story of how the disciples responded to that difference. How do you respond to the news of he resurrection. Secondly, he wants us to realize that what happened on that day is not intended to be a secret. It was something for everyone to witness for themselves. We are still on a 7 mile journey from tragedy to salvation. We can still get so caught up on our sorrows, that we cant even recognize Jesus. Jesus is alive and well and appearing to us in our daily lives. The resurrection is not a belief, it is an encounter. When you encounter Christ, then belief in miracles becomes a moot point. What really matters is if your spirit is prepared for that encounter. The more you believe in miracles, the more you realize when they happen. Last week on facebook, there was a viral story about who family members dressed up as homeless people on the street. And other members walked down the street and did not even see them, they just kept walking. But here is an even better story – of a woman taking a run through the park. She faintly heard a noise, stopped to investigate and realized that it was a newborn baby. She quickly saw that the baby had been abandoned. She had been wanting to have kids forever, so she took the baby home. That night in bed she was talking to her husband about what do to welcome the new baby. Bored with the conversation, he turned over in the bed to go to sleep. She scolded him and told him that is not how you respond to a miracle. He needed to turn back around. How do you respond to a miracle? The two travelers walking with a stranger, invited him to dinner. Abide With Us In the King James Version of the Bible, the invitation of the two travelers reads, "Abide with me; for it is toward evening and the day is far spent,"words which were the inspiration for that beloved hymn, "Abide with me/Fast falls the eventide." The hymn was written by Henry Francis Lyte, for 25 years the vicar of the parish at Devonshire, England. He was 54 years old, broken in health and saddened by dissensions in his congregation. On Sunday, September 4, 1847 he preached his farewell sermon and went home to rest. After tea in the afternoon, he retired to his study. In an hour or two, he rejoined his family, holding in his hand the manuscript of his immortal hymn. It was in that abiding, in that fellowship with jesus that they finally came to see him for who he is. Three Table Fellowships "The Scriptures speak of three kinds of table fellowship that Jesus keeps with his own: daily fellowship at table, the table fellowship of the Lord's Supper, and the final table fellowship in the kingdom of God. But in all three, the one thing that counts is that 'their eyes were opened, and they knew him.' "The fellowship of the table teaches Christians that here they still eat the perishable bread of the earthly pilgrimage. But if they share this bread with one another, they shall also one day receive the imperishable bread together in the Father's house." Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1954), 66. They saw Jesus in the remembering Jesus comes to us in strange ways and in even stranger people. My seven year old nephew tends to have a wisdom way beyond his age. He always says things that make me wonder, where someone so young could get such insight for life. I gave him a card for his birthday, and he said that he would treasure it forever. As he reflected on his mother’s death, he said that he is learning that sometimes that all that we have is our memories. So we have to keep our memories, because they are special. As Jesus spoke with the two travelers, he started to recount some of his lessons, and it was when they remembered what Jesus had taught them, they were able to see who was really with them. Jesus comes to us in the reading of the scriptures and in the breaking of bread. Coming together in communion Our whole understanding of what communion is, comes from the book of Luke. Luke believed that miracles happened when disciples gather together in fellowship and unity. We cant help but to see Christ when we are willing to faithfully come together. When we are spiritually grounded in scripture and united in fellowship we see Christ for ourselves, and we are able to show Christ to others. What difference does the resurrection make to you? How can you see Christ in the world today? How do you look for a miracle? Anticipation: What Is Going to Happen Today? In Winnie the Pooh, Pooh and Piglet take an evening walk. For a long time they walk in silence. Silence like only best friends can share. Finally Piglet breaks the silence and asks, "When you wake up in the morning, Pooh, what's the first thing you say to yourself?" "What's for breakfast?" answers Pooh and then asks. "And what do you say, Piglet?" Piglet says, "I say, I wonder what exciting thing is going to happen today?" You and I can't really plan to meet the Risen Christ because we never really know when or where He's going to show up. But you can be sure of this, He will show up. If you believe, He will show up. And the attitude you need to meet him is the attitude of Piglet, "I wonder what exciting thing is going to happen today?" Amen. Children’s Sermon Billy D. Strayhorn, Easter Heart Burn Jesus Makes the Bible Come Alive by Wesley T. Runk Passage: Luke 24:13-35 • Lectionary: Easter 3 Item 2 of 9 | Back to Results They said to each other, "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?" Objects: An unsharpened pencil, an unused candle and a radio that is not playing. Lesson: Good morning, boys and girls. How would you like to take a walk down a road with Jesus? (Let them answer.) Wouldn't that be great? Just imagine how wonderful it would be to talk with Jesus and spend one day outdoors in the sunshine with him. I can't think of how to have a better time. People did that with Jesus. As a matter of fact, there is a story in the Bible about a couple of men who were walking down a road between towns when they were joined by Jesus. They didn't recognize him then, but they enjoyed him so much that they invited him to spend the evening at their house. Jesus taught them many things about the Scriptures, and they were amazed. They said afterwards that he had opened the Scriptures for them. It was as if they had never seen the Bible before, when really they had studied it often. But Jesus was such a wonderful teacher that he made people feel as these men felt. We should all discover the Bible and the things that it teaches us. I brought along some things that I hope will help you to want to read the Bible and learn all that you can from it. And when you read the Bible you should read it as though you were seeing it through the eyes of Jesus. First of all, I brought a pencil along with me. What's wrong with this pencil? (Let them answer.) That's right, it doesn't have a point. There is no lead. You can't write with a pencil like this. Next, I have a candle. What's wrong with my candle? (Let them answer.) That's right, it isn't burning and it can't give light unless it is burning. I also have a radio with me but there is something wrong with the radio. What's wrong with it? (Let them answer.) Right again, it isn't being played. A pencil without a point, a candle without a flame, and a radio without sound, is like reading the Scriptures without Jesus. Jesus is the one who makes the Scriptures happen. When you read the Scriptures or Bible and you see it or hear it as Jesus would tell it then the Bible comes alive and it is the most wonderful book that was ever written. The next time you sit down to read the Bible, I want you to imagine that Jesus is talking to you and telling you the story. When you hear the voice you will know how the men felt who took the walk with Jesus down a dusty road after his resurrection. THE ONE-HANDED CLOCK, Wesley T. Runk, C.S.S. Publishing Company, 1989, 1-55673 Despite what most think, Lyte's "eventide" has nothing to do with the end of the natural day but rather the end of life. "Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day/Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away." The words are about the faith that face life and death fearlessly and triumphantly in the light of the cross and the empty tomb....East of Easter. Thus Lyte could conclude, "Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee/In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me." Vicar Lyte died three months later. David E. Leininger, East of Easter "On Sunday morning in contemporary America, modern disciples come straggling through the church door weighed down by cynicism, stress, and strife. We are too busy, too suspicious to recognize the risen Christ." Susan Andrews Jesus' Post Resurrection Appearances To Mary Magdalene Jn 20:14-18; Mk 16:9 To the women returning from the tomb Mt 28:8-10 To Peter later in the day Lk 24:34; 1 Cor 15:5 To the disciples going to Emmaus in the evening Lk 24:13-31 To the apostles (except Thomas) Lk 24:36-45; Jn 20-19-24 To the apostles a week later (Thomas present) Jn 20:24-29 In Galilee to the seven by the Lake of Tiberias Jn 21:1-23 In Galilee on a mountain to the apostles and 500 believers 1 Cor 15:6 At Jerusalem and Bethany again to James 1 Cor 15:7 At Olivet and the ascension Acts 1:3-12 To Paul near Damascus Acts 9:3-6; 1 Cor 15:8 To Stephen outside Jerusalem Acts 7:55 To Paul in the temple Acts 22:17-21; 23:11 To John on Patmos Rev 1:10-19 The New Unger's Bible Handbook, Merrill F. Unger, Revised by Gary N. Larson, Moody Press, Chicago, 1984, Page 397-398 When the Circus Comes I am reminded of the story of the little boy whose grandmother regularly took him to her weekly prayer meeting. He was bored silly, but being a good lad he endured it. One day he was invited to attend the circus. He had never been to a circus before. He came away from this experience anxious to share with his dear grandmother what he was feeling. "Grandma," he said, "I went to the circus today, and let me tell you, once you have been to the circus you'll never want to go to another prayer meeting." And so it will be when God opens our minds to understand and experience God's marvelous, incredible risen presence. Something happens that sets us free, which renews and refreshes our sense of God's love, grace, and forgiveness that simply cannot be contained. Greg McDonell, Out of the Ashes POSSUMS AND THE GRAVE I have heard that possums are smart animals. You wouldn’t think so because you hardly ever see one except when it’s dead on the road. There’s a joke that goes, “why did the chicken cross the road? To prove to the possum that it could be done!” But possums, it turns out, are smart. They won’t enter a hole if there’s just one set of tracks going into it. They know there’s something in there. But if there are two sets of tracks. The possum will enter and not be afraid. The message of Easter is that we can enter the grave - we don’t have to fear death because there are tracks leading out of the tomb. Paul preached the proclamation of Easter: "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" This is the message that we need to hear this Easter. Jesus is risen! We are not asked to believe the doctrine of the Resurrection. We are asked to meet this person raised from the dead. Larson, B., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1983). Vol. 26: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 26 : Luke. The Preacher’s Commentary series (349). Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Inc. Do You Know the Way to Emmaus? Do you know the way to Emmaus? It should be relatively easy to find because the text locates the town "seven miles from Jerusalem." But no one has ever been able to identify an "Emmaus" seven miles from Jerusalem. Perhaps there is confusion because two different numbers appear in ancient manuscripts at the point at which Luke gives us the location. Some texts say "60 stadia," and others say "160," which works out roughly to be either 7 miles or 18 miles. Although there are indeed many references to Emmaus in ancient sources, none of them give us any specific directions. Because of this, the unlikely village of Amwas (20 miles from Jerusalem) is currently a popularly recognized site for pilgrimage, even though other towns have stronger claims to be the historical town. Ironically, the seemingly superficial mystery regarding the actual location of Emmaus fits in nicely with the deepest meaning of this passage. Do you know the way to Emmaus? Emmaus may be here, or there, or anywhere. The site of the original episode is irrelevant. Christ will travel wherever his followers are going. Christ will appear wherever they break bread. Even here. Even now. David E. Leininger, Do You Know the Way to Emmaus? -141-8