Wow, this all sounds – way too familiar.
Let’s see: The event is on a Sunday, and it involves the interpreting of Scriptures, furthermore there is proclamation or proclaiming the word, and then, finally there is the sacrament, the Eucharist, Holy Communion, the Lord’s Supper, the Last Supper, the Agape meal – itself – the breaking of bread.
There is even an order. A proper order. A correct order. A right order.
Word, preaching and sacrament and all on a Sunday!
“Wherever two or three are gathered together in my name…there am I, in the midst of them.” And BAM! It happens!
It is normal.
It speaks of our worship. It speaks of our liturgy. It speaks of the normalcy and the familiarity of it all. It speaks of us gathering together.
The story ends with the two men going to Jerusalem to “report” what had just happened to them. “Good News” has got to be shared! Something tells me they probably couldn’t get there – fast – enough.
But before they can share “anything,” they hear the testimony of the eleven – first – who say that Jesus “had been raised” and that he had appeared to Simon, as in Simon-Peter, the “rock.”
The statement “functions” to place Peter as “the first believer” in the risen Christ, the first “apostle.” Again, I think its “function” is to show “the primacy” or the importance of Peter for the early church.
Now he is the first witness, the first believer in the resurrection…
But close behind, are these two unknown – followers of Jesus, who were throwing in the towel, giving up, crying uncle and getting out of Dodge, as it were.
These followers of Jesus were not looking for a resurrected Jesus. They were simply on their way – back home.
They had just lived through a horrendous time – almost like a “PTSD-time” – they needed to separate themselves, they needed time, they needed to get away.
They were not expecting to encounter Jesus. Jesus was dead. And now “the weird report” that his body was missing.
So, encountering Jesus was the furthest thing from their minds…
The belief in Jesus – as the Risen Lord was not “self-evident” to his earliest followers, even after his crucifixion and resurrection. It was not a conclusion that they would have come to…
The reason why people “back then” came to believe in him was that he appeared to them.
In other words, it took “divine revelation” for them to believe.
That was true for Peter and it was true for these two guys who traveled on the road to Emmaus.
Why is it that some believe, and others do not?
Martin Luther explained it all so well in his explanation to the third article of the Apostles’ Creed in his Small Catechism.
There, he says, “we cannot believe by our own reason or strength; it is by the Holy Spirit that one comes to believe.”
The “setting” for most persons to “come to faith” is in Christian worship, which includes Scripture, proclamation, and the sacrament.
That is also where the faith of “most of us” is sustained and nourished.
It is the place where Jesus continues to reveal himself, in word and sacrament.
The Christian faith is born and nurtured where people share in worship together – through word, gesture, and earthly means, such as water, bread, wine, and “tactile expressions of mutual care”—the smile, the clasp of another’s hand, perhaps even a hug.
We journey together, we share our joys and our sorrows – together.
It is in and through the community of the faithful – that the “Spirit” chooses to work and to function.
Lastly, I want to share with you that this Gospel narrative for today is all about “movement.” “Action.”
It contains at least nine verbs describing movement. The two men “are going” … Jesus “came near and went with them” … they “came near” Emmaus …Jesus “walked ahead of them”… “he went in to stay with them” … “he vanished from their sight” … and “they got up and returned to Jerusalem.” There is a whole lot of movement going on here… Some of the verbs tell of movements made by Jesus; others tell of the two men.
Either way, both Jesus and his followers are “on the move.” But it is not movement for its own sake. “The moves” being made have a purpose, and that is to tell the story of Jesus, to interpret it, to have fellowship (communion) with Jesus and others, and to share it all with others. And, that is what it means to “be the church.”
No wonder the story seems so familiar – it is about what we do all the time!