"This church allowed me to progress spiritually slowly and steadily towards understanding Christ Jesus and his teachings. I've met and known some great people!"  -Vince, member since 2006

THEY WERE TALKING TOGETHER

A sermon by George R. Pasley

Luke 24:13-35

What did we talk about this week?

With some of my friends I talked about four people who were stabbed to death in Sitka, and about the funeral that will be held at First Presbyterian Church there tomorrow.

I talked with some of you who are looking for work, and with one of you who is working fewer hours than you were used to.

I talked with one woman who about some trips she has made to the emergency room with her daughter.

I exchanged phone calls with one woman about the war in Iraq. I know she’s talked to other people on that same subject.

I’ll bet that some of you had similar conversations.

Whatever else we might have we talked about- jokes, family news, visits to the doctor, the weather, the prospects for fishing this year, hummingbirds, or the tests that everybody had to take at school, I’m certain that we talked about “everything that happened,” meaning we talked about things that create upheaval in our lives, just as those two disciples did on their way home from Jerusalem.

But there is a reason we come here this morning. If we come here every week, there’s a reason. It’s because those events that happened in Jerusalem- a betrayal, an arrest at night, several rigged trials, a public execution and finally and most amazingly, the discovery of an empty tomb- those events are the grid by which we interpret the events of our life, however said, shocking, troublesome or amazing our own events might be.

I love this story that we read from Luke, about Jesus walking anonymously with two disciples, teaching them as he walked. I wish I could have been there, listening and remembering every word he said. Maybe you do too.

But we need to remember one thing: there was a loaf of bread on the table just like there is on ours. He took that loaf, and blessed it, and broke it and then those two disciples knew exactly who it was that had warmed their hearts along the Emmaus RoadIt was Jesus, and this loaf of bread on our table is a sign of a promise he made. Today he is here with us, and he is always with us, whenever we call on him when we are talking about things together.

So let’s just walk through this story again. Once we get past the part where they are kept from realizing he is Jesus, we’ll see that the first thing Jesus does is get them to talk.

What things? What things are you talking about? What things happened?

We need to remember that. There is never anything that happens that we can’t talk to Jesus about. Not our job problems, not our sexual problems, not our family problems, not our money problems, not our problems with greed and lust an envy, not our problems with power and control, not our problems with that man or that woman, not any problem at all that Jesus isn’t asking us, “What things?”

Now, you may have noticed the words, “How foolish you are!” after he was finished listening.

Four words from me in response: Don’t worry about it.”

Those words are cue to connect this story with the pre-crucifixion stories in the bible, the stories where Jesus says, “I’m going to die” and they don’t get it.

Because after he said, “How foolish you are,” Jesus went on to explain. This is the only place where the Bible says that Jesus gave a long exposition on scripture. There are some other places where he expounds on scripture, but this is the only long one- long enough for a seven mile hike!

When Jesus explained this time, something was different. They started to understand, but they did not completely understand until they realized it was Jesus who was teaching them.

There’s a lesson in that and here it is: Scripture becomes less mysterious to us if we know Jesus. So whenever we read scripture, it’s a good idea to at least acknowledge that we need God’s help in understanding it, and it’s an even better idea to pray and ask for that help. Saying a prayer like that is like making your bed and fluffing up the pillow- it prepares your heart for the activity you looking for.

In fact, you should notice what happened next in the story. They reached Emmaus. They were home. Jesus seemed to have somewhere else to go, but they asked him to stay- stay the whole night- and he accepted their invitation.

Jesus will never turn down our invitation to stay by our sides. The other night I told Inez at the Emergency Room I would stay with her until the doctors were through, as I didn’t want her to be alone. But Inez is a woman of very strong faith and very quickly she said, “I’m never alone.”

She’s never alone because she has invited Jesus to stay, and she knows he is there.

But Jesus does a whole lot more than stay when we ask. When Jesus enters our life something quite remarkable happens. Jesus opens our eyes.

Jesus opens our eyes and shows us that he has taken a very different path towards defeating the powers of sin and death that oppress us.

He didn’t call down legions of angels like some of the disciples thought. Instead, he died on a cross, taking the path of vulnerability.

Vulnerability may lead to pain and suffering- just ask anyone who’s had their heart broken. But vulnerability is the only path to real love, and that’s the path that Jesus took.

That does not mean we let ourselves be abused. That doesn’t mean we look for pain. But it does mean we know the price of love, taking a risk and seeking love, which is precious and beautiful and beyond compare. Indeed, when we do suffer we know without a doubt that our savior knows EXACTLY what we are going through.

So when he broke the bread, just as we did and just as we will do again, their eyes were opened and they saw that God’s love is so steadfast that not even death can separate us from God.

So what was their response? Joy. Great joy. Exceeding great joy, and the next thing they did, while they were filled with joy, was to talk about Jesus.

I’ve wanted to talk to you some more about how to talk about Jesus and it seems this is a perfect time.

I noticed something at the hospital. Every time Inez met a new person- a doctor, an orderly, a nurse, or even a stranger there to visit someone else, her first question is always, “Do you know Jesus?”

Inez is comfortable with that, and her manner is comfortable enough that people know she’s not out to judge them or to rack up points for conversions. So if that’s a comfortable way for you to talk about Jesus, go for it.

But my own style is somewhat different, and it’s sure a lot slower. But Dixie Anders tells me it is a style recommended by some of the best evangelists in America, so I must be on the right track.

Get to know the people in your life. Maybe you’ll know them for a long while or a short while, but get to know them as best you can.

Sooner or later God will provide an opportunity for you to break the bread.

Sooner or later God will open a door, and you can let Jesus into the conversation.

Sooner or later they’ll ask you to pray for them, because the events of this life are overpowering them, just like those two disciples on the road to Emmaus.

Sooner or later they’ll ask, when you are talking about things together, “What helps you hold on?”

They’ll ask you because you’ve walked on the Emmaus road with them.

On that walk they will have sensed something warming your heart, and when they ask what it is you can tell them, “Jesus is alive. I’ve seen the Lord.” 

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.