The Emmaus Way – Mark 16:1-8
I think I’ve told this story before, about a disastrous sermon my father preached at Epping Baptist in Sydney where he began by saying to the congregation that the basic principle of mission, the fundamental practice of the Christian church, is ‘to go’. So rather that speaking about that or listening to him speak about that, it would be better if they practiced it, if they practiced ‘going’! So, he told the people in the front right area of the church to move to the back left, and everyone in the back right to the move to the front left, and everyone at the front to move to the back and vice versa, and… you get the picture.
I was 12 at the time and in my memory the church was very full and had pews like ours, though I think there was a horizontal aisle that divided the sanctuary towards the back, but the aisles were narrow and when everyone got up at once and moved at once – it was chaos. Or rather – it was gridlock. It took everyone ages to find seats again. Some people got fed up and left and wrote unhappy letters to the minister as some people do. But that sermon – that ‘going’ sermon, has stayed with me for 40 years and, I imagine, stayed with others.
And dad was right. The fundamental principal, the fundamental practice of the Christian church is ‘to go’. An article I read this week said, “Easter is about embodied movement. Resurrection moved the cells as well as the soul of Jesus, and the cells and souls of his followers. Resurrection still gets us out of our comfort zones and calls us to the open road, spiritually, ethically, and sometimes physically.”
This is not just a story about two people on the way to Emmaus, a town which interestingly scholars struggle to locate geographically, but a story about the way we, as Christians, wrestle with our faith, live out our faith, and proclaim the joy of our faith. The way in this story is the way. We make the road by walking.
So, this morning, though we are sitting not walking, we are going on a road trip.
I find it curious that the writer of Luke, at this late stage in the gospel, suddenly introduces two entirely new characters. One of them is later named. He is Cleopas and was most likely known in the early Christian community, but the other remains unnamed. It is another invitation to me to imagine this as our story, to imagine ourselves on the way to Emmaus.
So, we and Cleopas are walking and talking. This is not about getting from point a to point b. It’s what modern film makers calls a ‘walk and talk’ scene and the walking and the talking is mentioned three times; using terms that describe the intensity, the fraught nature, of the discussion. How such an atrocious, awful thing have happened to Jesus? What do we do now – now that all our hopes and dreams for the future have been dashed? And what about these crazy stories the women are telling that Jesus is alive? One commentator points out the word describing the pace here indicates they/we are just getting by, just putting one foot in front of the other. This is heavy going and we are struggling – genuinely struggling.
But in our struggling, the risen Jesus comes alongside us – though we might not recognise him at first – and invites us to share our struggles. Commentators suggest verse 25, Jesus saying, ‘How foolish you are!’ would be more accurately translated as a term of endearment: “You sweet dummies! How could you miss this?” Jesus invites us to walk and talk with him; to ask our questions and share our pain and struggles, whatever they are.
Let’s take a moment to think what we would like to ask or say to Jesus now; and what our experience of the Latin phrase, ‘solvitur ambulando’, ‘it will be solved in the walking’ has been? (30 seconds)
Sing – All the way my Saviour leads me
By the time they/we approach Emmaus the pace has picked up. The word is now unimpeded walking. Unconsciously we are walking with a sense – not yet realised – just as Jesus is not yet recognised – that we have hope and purpose.
And as we reach our destination, it is clear we can’t just walk and talk, but we must walk the talk, we must put our understanding of the life of Jesus into practice, and we invite our companion to eat and stay the night.
In fact, we insist on it! The word used here is a strong verb meaning ‘to compel’, ‘to twist someone’s arm’. When these disciples – when we as disciples – practice hospitality – we really practice hospitality! Is that true of us?
But gathered around the table, the stranger takes the role of host! Jesus “took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.” If these words sound familiar, they are meant to. All Jesus’ disciples had seen these actions and heard these words before. All Jesus disciples will see and will hear these actions again. They are repeated over and over as we remember Jesus’ hospitality and as we exercise Jesus’ hospitality. As guest becomes host. And hosts become guests.
But hospitality which is sourced in the generous love of God takes many many forms.
Take a moment now to think of a way someone has shown you hospitality, and a way you have shown hospitality to others. In those moments have you ‘seen Jesus’? (30 seconds)
Sing – Stay with me, O Lord Jesus Christ
When we see Jesus, in the generous love, the eager hospitality we give and receive, much we have struggled with becomes clear. We and Cleopas say, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” We are filled with a wild and exuberant joy.
We plodded initially wrestling with our grief and questions and loss of hope. We have picked up the pace in Jesus’s company and the giving and receiving of hospitality, and now our feet have wings! We have experienced in ourselves resurrection! “That same hour,” verse 33 says, “they got up [in other words ‘they arose’] and returned to Jerusalem.” We rise, we run, we race back to Jerusalem with the wonderful news – to be met with the wonderful news – that the Lord is risen indeed! He has appeared to Simon. He has appeared to us. He has risen in us in the wrestling with our faith, in the living out of our faith, and now in the joyful proclaiming of our faith. The way is the way, and the way continues to be the way.
Let’s take a moment now to think about the joy of the resurrection, that the Lord is risen, he is risen indeed! How has that joy been evident in our lives? How have others seen it?
Let us commit ourselves to continuing this journey by singing…
Sing – We will walk with God