This morning at Advent Lutheran Church (ELCA) we continued the Easter Hope series.
Sermon
My message, “Opening Our Eyes” is based on the narrative lectionary passage: Luke 24:13-35.
You can watch below or read the manuscript.
Excerpt
The walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus wasn’t a leisurely stroll around the neighborhood. This was a 7-mile-long road trip. So, even if their uninvited companion joined them a mile in, the trio would have walked together for 6 miles. At a decent pace that travel would have taken them nearly 3 of Joshua Bell’s performances.
In other words, there was plenty of time. Plenty of time to tell stories and share memories of Jesus. Plenty of time to observe the newcomer and to wonder about the questions he asked – and those he avoided.
All that walking yielded not a bit of recognizing. Not by the duo nor by any others who may have passed them by or overhead their stories. Instead, an invitation to extend the interaction lands Cleopas and his companion at the dinner table with their guest.
At the table their guest took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them.
Siblings in Christ I know you know that formula. I trust that those words are familiar to you.
For the two travelers this is when the fireworks went off.
A contemporary version of this passage begins the next verse with these words, “At that moment, open-eyed, wide-eyed, they recognized him.”[1]
And today the men’s story ends just like the women’s story ended last week. Once they grasp that Jesus who was dead is alive again, they hurry to tell the others. In their case this takes significantly more effort. They set out immediately traveling back down the same 7 miles of road to the place where the 11 and the other disciples have gathered.
I’ve related two stories. In the first more than 1,000 people passed by, but only 1 recognized Joshua. In the second two men took 1,000 steps followed by 1,000 more over and over again, but it wasn’t until the bread was broken that they recognized Jesus.
Recognition is often closer than we realize. Picture a child tugging at a parent’s sleeve struggling to get them to slow down for a deeper experience of something special that they see and hear. Imagine two disciples whose hearts burn within them as they walk a familiar road unaware.
Recognition transforms. The world-class musician went unnoticed because people didn’t expect such a sound in the corner of a metro station. And the risen Christ went unrecognized on the road to Emmaus because grief clouded the men’s vision. But when their eyes were opened, everything changed.
That’s the invitation before us today. To look again. To pause. To notice. Because resurrection isn’t something to celebrate once a year; it is a reality we are called to live into every day.
We at Advent Lutheran are a people who walk the road together. We ask questions. We wonder. We doubt. We hope. We serve. And in all of that, Jesus shows up in expected ways and in ways we can never imagine until we experience them.
Today I invite you to open your eyes and to keep them open. Expect to encounter Jesus every time you come to church and expect to see Jesus in every person you meet.
Then, like Cleopas and his companion, let that recognition move you to action. Go and tell the others – friends, family, and anyone who will listen.
Christ is risen. The world will never be the same.
Amen.
[1] Luke 24:31, The Message