Sermon for the third Sunday of Easter 4.26.2020
Church of the Good Shepherd, Acton, Massachusetts
Rev. Melissa Buono, Interim Priest
Readings: Acts 2:14a,36-41; Ps. 116:1-3, 10-17; 1Peter 1:17-23; Luke 24:13-35
This story of the Emmaus road reminds me of my visit last year to Minneapolis where I thought I’d get to see my dear friend and former seminary roommate Dawn, one more time before the ravages of colon cancer would take her life. But alas, I was too late. She had died 2 weeks earlier in the early hours of Easter Sunday morning.
It was the first time in the 9 years they lived in MN that I visited their home and saw the church where her husband was the Sr. Minister and she had done a great deal of teaching as well.
And on my visit, her husband Daniel and I walked for about an hour through their neighborhood, traveling our own Emmaus Road, and remembering Dawn. Our conversation was of happier times of their vacations back East in MA and RI, recalling our days at the seminary, her life before cancer and her struggle in it, and how bleak the future looked without her.
Unlike the 2 disciples of Luke’s story, I don’t recall being joined by any strangers on our walk, but I think Jesus was with us all the same, in our heartbreak and grief.
The Gospel lesson from Luke this morning takes us on a journey down a long and difficult road of heartbreak and grief as well. It’s the story of 2 friends or a married couple, both followers of Jesus and known to the other disciples. They are deeply upset and grieved by the events of Jesus’ death, the unfairness, the cruelty, along with the fact that he simply is no longer with them.
They’ve heard the story of the women at the empty tomb and how they saw Jesus, but the friends don’t know what to make of that tale. Peter and John went to the tomb after the women and confirmed that it was empty but they didn’t see Jesus.
They are confused, maybe even feeling silly for having believed that Jesus would be the Savior of God’s people Israel. Their hearts are filled with grief for Jesus as far as they know is dead. They didn’t understand resurrection any more than we do. They knew of Lazarus and a few others being raised from the dead, but resurrection? that was complete mystery.
While some of the other disciples hunkered down together in an upper room in Jerusalem, hiding out and wondering what’s next, Cleopas and his companion want to get away from it all; away from the crowds, the noise, the Roman soldiers, the smell of the air, and the anguish. A long walk to the countryside might help clear their heads and give them some perspective.
Ken GIre in his book Moments with the Savior, writes that they had several options as to where they could go. “The road north leads to Ephraim, but that was too far. The road east leads to Jericho, but that was too dangerous. The road south leads to Bethlehem but that was too glaring a reminder of all they were wanting to forget. And so they take the road west. The road to Emmaus.”
We’ve all been on the road to Emmaus at one point or another in our lives. It’s the road travelled when the things we had hoped for don’t work out: the marriage or relationship that failed; the business that went south; the school application rejected; the life lost to cancer or COVID or other disease.
And along that road, friends walk and talk, and share with each other all that had transpired as they tried to wrap their heads around it.
The conversation of Cleopas and the unnamed companion was probably not unlike the conversations we are having with family members and friends, (albeit 6 ft apart), whether out for a walk in the yard or the neighborhood, or on zoom or FaceTime. Together we go over all that’s happening right now and expressing the sadness and frustration and revealing a piece of what we are all experiencing.
Cleopas and his companion walk and talk and at some point they find themselves joined on the road with a stranger. They wonder, who is this one that knows nothing of the events of Jesus’ death and rumored resurrection? It’s all everyone is talking about, how could he not know?
And as they articulate their struggle to comprehend the events of the last days, the stranger lightly chides them asking, wasn’t this all necessary? Wasn’t this what Jesus said would happen? And to help them see the bigger picture, the broader history, Jesus shared with them the stories of the Scriptures from Genesis on through the prophets, helping them to see the bigger picture of life and why things unfolded as they did.
But it wasn’t until later in the evening, when they had invited the kindly stranger home with them, and gathered at the table, that suddenly their guest took on the role of host as he took the bread, blessed and broke it and gave it to them to eat. It was then, in that moment, that they recognized the Savior Jesus, and their grief turned to joy as they recalled the warming of their hearts in their earlier conversation with him. Oh how life had been transformed in that moment and oh how life continues to be transformed for each of us today as it has in every generation.
In 2020, COVID-19 has certainly changed the way of life for people around the world. And yet, probably one of the hardest challenges of this coronavirus outbreak is the social distancing - not being able to get together with extended family or friends, be it for celebrations or in mourning.
Granted some people have been able to find some creative ways to see loved ones they’ve been separated from - like the 88 year old Watertown man (Nick) whose wife has been in a nursing home for the last year. He sat by her bedside every day until precautions were put in place and the facility had to stop allowing visitors. Seeing his father’s devastation at being separated, the couple’s son put out a plea on FB for a bucket truck and shortly thereafter he had plenty of offers to help with his mission to get his dad to see his wife of 61 years. Strapped in and hoisted 3 stories up, Nick was finally able to see Marion through the screen of her window, and it was such joy.
In this time we must look for ways to journey with one another and to be the good news of Christ’s resurrection in the world. The Mission Outreach team has been thinking about this recently and later in the service, Barb Magee and Helene Gagliano are going to share with you some ideas of how you can get involved.
In the meantime, let’s remember that even in our darkest moments, we are not alone. The Lord Jesus is with us and gives us the strength to journey on. And so we must keep walking and listening to one another, welcoming the stranger and breaking bread together. For in these simple acts, we are neighbor to one another as we are gathered into one in Christ.
Amen.