Third Sunday of Easter - A April 6, 2008

Acts 2: 14, 22-33 1 Peter 1: 17-21 Luke 24: 13-35

I do not know about others, but for me it has taken years for me to appreciate the skill and craftsmanship of a true artist. What does this mean? I have come to realize that a good, or a great, painting, is not simply a recording or repeating of a great scene or event. The artist in such a painting us using skill in order to tell a story, to give some insight, to offer an interpretation of the event or scene, the idea or thought, that is being conveyed. A good musician, as another example, does not merely repeat the notes on a page, but seeks to interpret the composer within the context of the mood, the moment the inspiration that is affecting the musical artist. Or even an architect, especially the architect of a significant building, is not merely providing the framework or structure to be followed in the construction of the building but, in some way, makes a statement about how the building might reflect or represent the community in which it is found. This I see as true of this church building. Mr. Johns did not only design a place for worship, but a place where the people of this neighborhood, this community gather together in worship. Thus, in many ways, he sought to have this building reflect us, here and now, many of whom live near by, in homes that bear a remarkable similarity to this church.

This log development of the appreciation of the skills of an artist comes into play in understanding this story of the two followers of Jesus which was just read, the two on the road to Emmaus. This is the last chapter of St. Luke’s gospel. It is the finale of his first book about the experience of Jesus Christ, of God coming to the world. This is the story which he wishes to leave with us before he begins the next book, the book of the Acts of the Apostles.

With some thought and reflection, I have come to realize that he is telling us much more than an event in the lives of the followers of Jesus. He is telling us about “our” story, the story of our lives. He is telling us how we can come to appreciate, encounter, and recognize Jesus in out midst, now that he is no longer with us as he was for that period just after the Resurrection.

He tells the story of a journey, a simple ordinary event, which reflects our own lives. Our lives can often be seen in terms of a journey, that we are on the road from one place to another, with twists and turns, clear paths and obstacles. On this journey we are introduced to Jesus Christ. In a way, this has occurred to all of us. We do not necessarily recognize him immediately. It is not his physical appearance that reveals him, that makes him known. This is a message which is so contemporary as it reminds us that it is not the historical Jesus that is so important. We are not learning about a biography of Jesus. Nor is it all that important what archeology might tell us about the facts of his life and times.

On this journey with Jesus, we might talk about his mighty words and deeds. The miracles he worked, the following his teaching gained seemed so important. But even these do not reveal him entirely. As the followers lament, these things led Jesus to be captured and killed, like so many others who seemed similar to him. It almost seems that the investment of their time and effort was wasted.

In the story, in the artistry of Luke, the stranger whom these two meet is Jesus. He takes them through the Scriptures - which ones we do not know - to open their eyes to understand the real message which is being communicated, the message of God’s interaction, God’s relationship with creation, with us. This was the start - Scripture - but it was not all that there is. If we are to develop a relationship with God, it will not be in Scripture alone.

The stranger was going to go on the journey. But he was invited to stay. There was to be more to this story which Luke was telling. They all join together in another ordinary event, a meal, the breaking of bread. It is there and then that they recognize him. Luke is telling his listeners, he is telling us, that when we gather for this meal, when we come together for this meal, this is where Christ is to be met. This is where the Risen Lord is present and can truly effect us.

He is good, this writer, this artist, Luke. He is not only telling us a story, he is reminding us about ourselves, what we are and what we experience. He is telling us how we are to live out our faith, how we are to experience the Christ of our faith.

We continue to tell this story, not only when we are elsewhere, when we are away from here. We especially are to tell this story to one another when we are here, in what was are and in what we do. In this simple and unadorned gathering of people of faith that we are, we repeat the experience of the two followers of Jesus. All of us, each of us, declare to one another and to the world that our hearts are burning - or are to be - with attention and enthusiasm to what is happening to us. Christ is with us. He is truly risen. He is known and he is experienced here and now, in this Eucharist, in this Breaking of the Bread.