Gospel Luke 24.13-35 The Walk to Emmaus

13 Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and talking with each other about all these things that had happened.

15 While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, 16 but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.

17 And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad.

18 Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” 19 He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. 22 Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, 23 and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see him.”

25 Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! 26 Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

28 As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. 29 But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So, he went in to stay with them.

30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight.

32 They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us[k] while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?”

33 That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. 34 They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

SERMON: SOUL WALK AND SOUL TALK.

Do not walk in front of me; I may not follow

Do not walk behind me; I may not lead.

Walk beside me and be my friend.

These words by the French author and existentialist Albert Camus speaks to the Gospel today: this wonderful story about a walk and a talk. About a meal and a faith. About these two disciples in doubt and despair who found their way, their faith and their courage as Christ walked beside them as a friend.

We walk through life.

Sometimes alone, sometimes with others.

We walk through time.

Sometimes we do not know the way, sometimes we do.

We walk with determination and directions and sometimes we do not, and we get lost, meet dead ends, or need to make a U-turn. We walk, and it is vital, whom we meet on our way and whom we listen to.

Last year I was in the process of finally going through a candidacy process with ELCA, Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. After graduating from Aarhus University in 1991 with a Master in Theology, and after being ordained on a rainy November day the same year in the Cathedral of Ribe, and after serving as a pastor in Denmark and here in Yorba Linda for more than 27 years, I was going through the candidacy process here in order to become a fully rostered leader in ELCA. There were conversations and talks with the candidacy board and there were essays to write. One of the questions I was asked was to point out a scripture that was important to me as a pastor and in my discernment to become a pastor and be a pastor.

There are so many poignant pieces of scripture to choose from, but I was actually not in doubt when answering: Luke 24.13-25. Yes, exactly the piece of scripture that you just heard as the Gospel reading of this third Sunday of Easter.

The walk to Emmaus is a profound text about soul walks and soul talks. It is indeed one of my absolute favorite stories in the New Testament as it is one of the finest stories about discernment and the importance of life-long conversations and questioning. The Emmaus Walk in the Gospel according to Luke is a beautiful story to remind us to walk the walk of discernment and faith; and it clearly tells us that we need to have somebody open the scriptures to us, speak to us, guide us, and call us. To be open to good conversations, but even more to be open to the Holy Spirit.

The story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus is an absolute favorite of mine. I love the image of pilgrims traveling together, struggling to understand tragedy and loss. I love that Jesus enters the story as a pushy traveling companion who sidles up beside them and talks their ears off for the rest of the trip.

Walking and talking is such a good exercise for the body and for the soul.

I am an avid walker, and more so in these Corona times, and our sweet dog Saxo is thrilled that I and our family have times for many walks with him. Walking with my husband or our boys, gives us time and opportunity to talk. Walking alone with my dog, gives me time for different kind of soul talks: granted I do sometimes talk to Saxo, but most of the time walks him Saxo gives me ample time of inner conversations with myself and my God.

Any of you familiar with Danish customs, you know that families often go for a walk after having shared a meal – for hours! Then we get up, go for a walk, to stretch our legs and to talk as we walk.

We are two weeks after Easter, and we listen to this after Easter story from Luke. And what exactly does Jesus do after the resurrection? He takes a walk!

As Kirk Byron Jones write in “Christian Century” about this text: “Super Bowl champions are known for following up their victories with a television commercial announcing that their next stop is Disney World.

Amazing experience deserves amazing experience. This is strikingly different from what Jesus does after his victory over death: he takes a walk. How anticlimactic. How mundane. And yet how so like Jesus.”

Yet, how so like Jesus. To take a walk. Jesus did do a lot of walking – this was indeed how he move through villages, along dusty roads and between people, He walked. And he talked. His ministry was indeed soul walks and soul talks.

On the day of his resurrection, Jesus chooses to take a slow walk with two disciples and simply enjoy the conversation. Like Kirk Byron noted: “It seems like Jesus is just happy to be breathing and moving about again. Message giving and miracle making are not at the top of his agenda. The sensational gives way to seeing, smelling, hearing, and touching. Doing gives way to being.”

As I said last Sunday at the Danish Service, it might be one of the truly positive consequences of this Pandemic and otherwise horrible situation. That we are slowed down. That our pace and our hurry is slowed down. That we do have and should take time to walk and talk.

This Corona Time could be our Emmaus Walk. We might not be able to walk to Church and into our beloved services, but we are able to attend worship on line – and then maybe enjoy a walk with our closest to have a talk about hope, joy, fear, faith, future, presence, and love. Our to have a soul talk, some prayer time, to focus on our pleas or our gratitude.

At the end of the walk to Emmaus, there is an incredibly special moment of happiness and astonishment. The 2 disciples, who have just spent time with him, notice that their hearts were burning within them. In just a short span of time and a short number of steps, they have felt more alive than ever before. Through the words, through his presence, through the meal of broken bread and red wine, - they felt alive and hopeful. Jesus took a walk and took time to be with his disciples.

And this story encourages us to do the same. To take time. To take a walk. Maybe we should intentionally go for an Emmaus Walk in these days after Easter.

It is one of the most beautiful stories from the New Testament, as it shows how we need to walk, to move, to ask questions, and how we often cannot hear and see what is right in front of us.

1. Sometimes we need to go for a walk truly to recognize the beauty of the creation and nature that we are blessed to be part of every day of our lives.

2. Sometimes we need to sit down, turn of our iPhone or other distracting devises in order truly to see and hear who is right in front of us. To find real facetime!

3. Sometimes we need to be quit and listen to our friends advise, our deeper con-sciousness or even our mothers voice.

4. Sometimes we need to eat and drink to recognize and feel the presence of something bigger, brighter, and more divine among us.

5. Sometimes we need to walk to the church and into the church and take the time to listen, to pray, to eat and drink, for us to recognize that we indeed do not walk alone. That we do rely on each other, in family and friendship, in fellowship and faith. Thank God we ca connect as a church virtually – but we all long for the day of real encounters and real in person services~!

6. Sometimes we need to confirm our faith: that we do trust that God walks with us as a true friend, through the brightest Sundays and the darkest Mondays, through the sweetest moments and the most bitter times, through despair and doubt, through hope and faith.

Let us walk our Emmaus walk and have our Emmaus talks in this time of Pandemic that changes our way of living. Let our Emmaus walk, make us consider:

· How often do we miss the value of those around us, those closest to us, those we almost take for granted? Those who form us, shape us, and made us who we are? Our lives and days and ways are truly formed by the ones who walk with us, talk with us, and stay with us.

· How often do we miss the very presence of God, of Jesus, of the Holy Spirit, in the nature, in the stranger, in our encounters, in our family and in the fellowship?

· How often do we walk in despair or in blindness, eagerly trying to understand or find our way…? And then someone comes and walks with us.

It can be a real person of flesh and blood walking with us, a friend a family member or a teacher.

It can also be the memory of a dear friend or lost family member, who walks with us and talks to us, in mind and soul.

It can be the presence of God, through prayer or silence, through questioning or listening, - if we dare to be open to the guidance and presence.

Do not walk in front of me; I may not follow

Do not walk behind me; I may not lead.

Walk beside me and be my friend.

And remember:

"If you are in a bad mood, go for a walk. If you are still in a bad mood, go for another walk." —Hippocrates

AMEN.