The Road to Emmaus

April 30, 2017

Helen Jacobi

Easter 3     Acts 2:14a, 36-42     Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19     1 Peter 1:17-23     Luke 24:13-35

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The story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus has always been my favourite passage in the Bible. And in checking my sermon file I realised that this was the passage I preached from on my first Sunday at St Matthew’s 3 years ago. So for me now it is also about my life here in this place. I think it is my favourite passage because it is about what I do from one week to the next. Talking with people, walking alongside people, unpacking the scriptures, and breaking the bread. But this passage is not just about the priesthood it is about our community gathered around the table and our common journey together.

Our two companions walking the road to Emmaus this morning begin in a place many of us know well. They are feeling lost, despairing even. In telling the stranger what is wrong they say “we had hoped” [1] – we had hoped he was the one; like we had hoped our father would improve; we had hoped she wouldn’t be made redundant; we had hoped for a better outcome; we had hoped …..

They are lost, they do not know what to do. The one who gave them hope for the future of their people – their prophet, who seemed to be mighty in word and deed, has turned out not be so mighty after all.

What are they to do? This mysterious stranger joins them on the road and they do not recognize him. They do not know him. They had known Jesus well it seems, they have listened to his teaching, but they do not recognize him now, this post resurrection Jesus is different, changed. This stranger listens to their tale and then does some teaching of his own, talking about Moses and the prophets, explaining perhaps that God was never going to give them the triumphant victory over the Romans they wanted. Moses might have had victory over the Egyptians but that was followed by 40 years in the wilderness, (where the people were fed with bread, manna from heaven they called it); and perhaps he explains how Elijah was chased out of town in fear for this life (and a widow gave him her last bread); and how Isaiah spoke of a servant who would suffer with the people, and not bring the victory they imagined.

Jesus taught Cleopas and his unnamed companion as they walked along and still they did not know him. But they ask him to stay with them as the day is ending. The word used here for “stay” is often translated “abide” in the gospels. “Abide with us, because it is almost evening”. The word is more than “stay”, it means: be with us, let us know you, abide with us a while. And the stranger stays – and they gather at the table for a meal and they ask the stranger to bless the bread as was customary. “Jesus took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.” In that moment they recognize him, they see him, they know him.

Jesus took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them; as he did at the Last Supper; as he did in the sharing of the loaves and fish with the crowds of thousands.

These actions of taking, blessing, breaking and giving are actions Cleopas and his companion recognised.

We know these actions – we share them together every week in the eucharist; they are what binds our community together. In three years of sharing the eucharist with you I have come to know you, and you me; but much more importantly, in knowing you I come to know Jesus. Knowing God, discovering the divine, is something we do in community.

Apart from a few hermit monks no one can know God alone. We need each other and we don’t get to pick and choose who is part of the community because all are invited. Today some of our number have cooked food for the City Mission lunch and so our table is extended even further.

Our life in community needs organising and so today we commission our Vestry, the group of people to whom we give the responsibility of governing the life of our parish. They make decisions on our behalf and set the direction we are heading. They take on the responsibility of worrying about the building and the finances, things which are essential for our community life. Today we also restart our annual stewardship programme seeking our financial commitment to the parish. You have elected our Vestry and now we need to give them the tools to do their job. Please read the brochure, think about your commitment; what can you do to support our community. It belongs to all of us and we all are called to play our part.

Our Emmaus passage is about community but it is also about being on the road. This week I begin my sabbatical which will last for 2 months. I am very grateful three years into my ministry here to be able to go on the road for a while and see what is out there and reflect on what is back her, for the benefit of our journey together. I will be in New York, Washington DC, Toronto and Chicago – visiting churches from whom we might learn something; looking at urban ministry projects; talking about marriage equality with people who have led their churches to a place where marriage is for everyone; and stretching my brain in a couple of seminary courses. I am looking forward to meeting strangers on the journey who will become companions. I am looking forward to seeing colleagues and friends who are already companions. I hope and pray that I will recognise Jesus in these many places and that my heart will burn with what I see. And I know I will look forward to being back again, to break the bread with you and recognise Jesus in our midst.

[1] http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1992