Luke
24:13-35
13 Now that same day two of them were
going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem
14 They were talking with each other about
everything that had happened.
15 As they talked and discussed these
things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them;
16 but they were kept from recognizing
him.
17 He asked them, "What are you
discussing together as you walk along?" They stood still, their faces
downcast.
18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him,
"Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem
19 "What things?" he asked.
"About Jesus of Nazareth," they replied. "He was a prophet,
powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.
20 The chief priests and our rulers handed
him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him;
21 but we had hoped that he was the one
who was going to redeem Israel
22 In addition, some of our women amazed
us. They went to the tomb early this morning
23 but didn't find his body. They came and
told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive.
24 Then some of our companions went to the
tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see."
25 He said to them, "How foolish you
are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!
26 Did not the Christ have to suffer these
things and then enter his glory?"
27 And beginning with Moses and all the
Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning
himself.
28 As they approached the village to which
they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther.
29 But they urged him strongly, "Stay
with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over." So he went in
to stay with them.
30 When he was at the table with them, he
took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.
31 Then their eyes were opened and they
recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.
32 They asked each other, "Were not
our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the
Scriptures to us?"
33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem
34 and saying, "It is true! The Lord
has risen and has appeared to Simon."
35 Then the two told what had happened on
the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
(NIV)
In a
little while we will participate in the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. Holy Communion. The Eucharist.
On
one level, this meal might seem like a reminder of some of the snacks we’ve had
elsewhere -- like the cookie and juice we were given by our first grade teacher
and like the bag of pretzels and soft drink we are given by the flight
attendant. Before we leave here this
morning, the ministers and elders will give us a bite of bread and a sip of
juice.
But
why? This spiritual snack is not needed to help us concentrate on our current
tasks nor is it intended to curb our hunger until lunch time.
What's
the purpose of our eating and drinking here in church? Why do we have this tiny
little meal in worship?
This
is not just a snack. This is not just a
nice, attractive little ritual. This is
a Sacrament. It is an outward sign of an
inward, spiritual grace. It is not just
communion – it is HOLY Communion.
Something special happens at this table. Something meaningful and profound.
It is so special, that in Luke’s Gospel it has the power to open the eyes of those who did not recognize Christ – it has the power, in the words of these disciples, to make their hearts burn with passion.
But --- why?
Why is this such an important part of who we are as Christians?
What is this meal all about?
1. Obedience
One
reason we do this is simple obedience.
Christ
commanded us to celebrate this meal on a regular basis. When Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, he
told us to “do this.”
He
didn’t say, “if you happen to do this that would be nice,” or “if you would
like to do this from time to time.”
It
was a definite, clear cut – do this!
When we come to the Lord’s Table, we are expressing a commitment
to be obedient to Jesus Christ.
In the Old Testament book of Isaiah, chapter one, the prophet
writes this:
18 "Come now, let us
reason together,"
says the LORD.
"Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.
says the LORD.
"Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.
19 If you are willing and
obedient,
you will eat the best from the land;
you will eat the best from the land;
Our obedience is a willing expression. We are not slaves. God does not oppress us. We are invited into a life of discipleship, and an important aspect of that discipleship is a willing obedience to obey Him.
One of the dynamics of this Sacrament is that by doing this, we are living out our obedience to Christ.
Communion
helps us to know to whom we should be obedient.
John
Kenneth Galbraith, in his autobiography, A Life in Our Times,
illustrates the devotion of Emily Gloria Wilson, his family's housekeeper:
It
had been a hard day, and he asked his housekeeper Emily to hold all telephone
calls while he took a nap. Shortly thereafter the phone rang. Lyndon Johnson
was calling from the White House.
"Get
me Ken Galbraith. This is Lyndon Johnson."
"He
is sleeping, Mr. President. He said not to disturb him."
"Well,
wake him up. I want to talk to him."
"No,
Mr. President. I work for him, not you.”
When
Galbraith returned the President’s call, Johnson was delighted and tried his
best to convince the housekeeper to leave her job and work for him. It is, after all, rare to find someone who
has that sort of focused obedience.
(John Kenneth Galbraith, A Life in Our Times, Houghton
Mifflin, Reader's Digest, December, 1981.)
We
live in a world where all sorts of things are calling for our attention. Work, pleasures, greed – are we to obey them
– or can we focus our obedience onto God?
Communion
helps us to focus obedience onto the Lord.
2. Remembrance
Participating
in this sacrament is an act of obedience, but why?
Why
does Christ command us to do this?
Earlier
in Luke’s Gospel, we read the familiar story.
If you have been in this church for a while, you have heard these words
over and over. On the night in which
Christ was betrayed, he met with his disciples for a meal. After the meal, he took the bread and broke
it and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body given for you, do
this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:9)
Why
are we to obey Christ and “do this” – we do it to remember.
How do we remember people and events in our lives?
If you want to remember something or someone, what do you do?
You might take photographs and put them in an album. From time to time, you take the photo album
out of the cabinet and open it and look at the photographs – and you remember.
Or you might keep a lock of hair from your child’s first haircut.
Or you might buy a souvenir and whenever you see it you remember
that wonderful day you had in Paris
What Christ did is to take a ceremony that was already an
important part of Jewish culture.
He and his disciples were not just having a meal on the night in
which he was betrayed. They were having
the Passover meal. That’s a big deal.
In our culture, we have our Thanksgiving dinner – or Christmas
dinner. But in Jewish culture it was the
Passover meal that was so important. It
was a great feast. It was a time to be
with family and friends. And it was a
time to remember. For Jews, they were
remembering how they had been in Egypt
But on the night Jesus was betrayed, while he was still with his
disciples, he gave this meal a new meaning for Christians. He called on us to celebrate this meal and to
remember how we were able to escape the spiritual slavery of sin, and how the
bread is for us the body of Christ broken for us and for our salvation, and how
the wine is to be for us the blood of Christ poured out for our redemption.
When we are obedient to Christ’s command to celebrate this meal,
we do so in order to remember the sacrifice of Christ for us.
3. Enlightenment
But the Sacrament is not just a way of living in the
past and remembering what happened long ago.
It is also a means of being nurtured in the present here and now, so
that we can move ahead into the future.
Our
reading from Luke’s Gospel is an interesting scene. It is, on the surface, a story of two
disciples walking along the way. They
encounter the risen Lord, but they do not recognize him until, in the words of
the Gospel “When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks,
broke it and began to give it to them.
Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him.”
There
is something about this meal that has the power to open the eyes and to give
passion to the hearts of those who receive it.
I can’t explain it. I simply know
that it is true.
Years
ago, I was in a nursing home to give the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper to one
of our shut-ins. The poor woman had no
grasp of reality at all. She thought I
was her son. She thought the elder with
me was her husband.
I
took the bread and the wine out of the small kit that I carried and began to
prepare the nightstand next to her bed as a sort of Lord’s Table. As I began the service, we had prayer. When I began to recite the familiar words of
institution, her eyes became very sharp.
The
elder read a portion of Scripture and when he finished, said, “This is the word
of the Lord.”
Without
hesitation, the old woman replied, “Thanks be to God.”
When
we prayed the Lord’s Prayer, her voice was clear and every word rolled off her
tongue with ease.
I
took the bread and gave it to her, and then the wine.
For
one brief moment, her eyes were opened.
Her heart was on fire for the Lord.
The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper served in a small nursing home had
the power to break through.
When
the service was over, her mind was once again gone to whatever place it had
been. I was no longer her minister, but
her son, and the elder was her husband, and she had no clue where she was or
even what her name was.
But
every time we went to the Nursing Home, until she died, the serving of the
Sacrament had the power to open her mind to the clear presence of Christ.
It
doesn’t always happen that way, but at every Communion, SOMETHING powerful
happens. It happened on the road to
Emmaus, and it can happen today.
Copyright
2012, The Rev. Dr. Maynard Pittendreigh
All rights reserved.
Sermons are available online
and can be found by visiting www.Pittendreigh.com
