Sermon Library
“The Road to Emmaus”
Rev. Dr. Gregg R. Anderson
May 03, 2009
Service Theme: Easter IV-2009
Source: Luke 24: 13 – 43
Easter IV-2009 May 3, 2009
The Road to Emmaus
Luke 24: 13 – 43
By Gregg Anderson
A Message From Beyond
A Minneapolis couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during an icy winter. They planned to stay at the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier. Due to their hectic schedules, the husband left Minnesota and flew to Florida on Thursday; his wife was to fly down the following day. The husband checked into the hotel and sat down at the computer in his room to send his wife an e-mail. However, he accidentally left out one letter in her e-mail address, and without realizing his error, sent the e-mail to an erroneous address. Meanwhile, somewhere in Houston, a widow had just returned home from her husband’s funeral. He was a minister who was called home to glory following a heart attack. The widow decided to check her e-mail, expecting messages from relatives and friends. After reading the first message, she screamed and fainted. The widow’s son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer screen which read: To: My Loving Wife. Subject: I’ve arrived. Date: April 30. I know you are surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now and you are allowed to send e-mails to your loved ones. I’ve just arrived and have been checked in. I see that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then. Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was. P.S. It sure is hot down here.
We Think and Talk A Lot About Death
We have been talking a lot about death and immortality, resurrection and the eternal at the Aspen Chapel for about six weeks now. We have discussed such issues during Lent, Easter and Eastertide. Cynthia led a three day seminar on the mystery of death during Holy Week. And such subjects have often been part of our weekly Lessons and Lunch series on great books that have changed the world and lives. One might say we have talked about death to death. I am not apologetic about that. One of the few arenas in which death is discussed is within religion, spirituality and faith. Death is portrayed in the media constantly, but it is just portrayed and not discussed personally or philosophically or meaningfully.
But We Don’t Like to Talk About It
In general, people do not talk about death and what happens after death, yet it is one of our innermost and personal fears, concerns and questions. The subject of death and what happens afterwards is something that enters our minds or subconscious minds almost every day, but we rarely talk about it as freely as we think about it. In reality, we are faced with the subject of death from various sources and mediums constantly. One cannot read any newspaper, watch a television newscast, other TV dramas, movies, novels, magazines or even have a daily conversation with someone without the subject of death being part of such scenarios. The subject of death affects us a great deal more subconsciously than we are aware consciously.
Furthermore and even more importantly, our perspective and belief on death and immortality has a most significant impact and affect on how we live our lives while we are yet alive. The subject of death and immortality is not just about death and immortality. It is equally and simultaneously about life and here and now. How we understand death has everything to do with how we understand life. Last Wednesday as we listened to the lecture on Plato’s Phaedo, Socrates presents his conviction that the soul is immortal and belief in the immortal soul can give an individual guidance for his or her life here and now.
The Road to Emmaus
The given lectionary text during this time of Eastertide is about the story typically called, “The Road to Emmaus.” This is another resurrection appearance of Jesus after his death. Two weeks ago, we presented the well known story of the doubting Thomas. Today we present a very similar story about the Road to Emmaus. Both of these stories contain a mysterious recording of a Jesus who appears miraculously among the disciples and who is not recognized at first, but only much later due to what one can only suspect as being within a different form which is immediately noticeable.
The written accounts of the “Doubting Thomas” and the “Road to Emmaus” appear to be very consistent in their purpose or purposes. They both have Jesus appearing as a ghost who can either walk through a wall or can exist within close friends and disciples while never being recognized. Then, at the same time along with this recorded metaphysical appearance of Jesus who comes and goes, recognized or unrecognized, Jesus asks others to literally feel the marks in his hands and his side. Somehow the gospel writer of Luke is still trying to make this resurrection real.
Today, we still do not know what to make of it. We have been told by scholars that there are several rationales which can be thoroughly explained to give concrete answers to this on-going question of death and resurrection. Lately, I have been perplexed as to what, why and how these texts are written to describe the mysterious entry of Jesus into walls of the upper room and along the path of the road to Emmaus yet are trying to also realize Jesus as physically real and bodily in form sufficient enough for questioners to place their own hand or finger into his hands and side, and concluding with eating bread and fish together along the shore.
The Resurrection Story Keeps Christ Alive
In the Road to Emmaus story, Jesus is walking with them and they are talking to him about the recent events in Jerusalem and they do not recognize him until much later. Whether this story is created as a fable in keeping with many other resurrection stories in history or is factual and Jesus really appeared to his disciples in some form or another – the resurrection stories are essential in knowing about the person, teachings and love of Jesus the Christ. One way or another, the resurrection appearance stories keeps the message alive. In a real sense, even if the resurrection of Christ is mythological it has throughout history kept Christ alive in the hearts and minds of people quite literally and physically.
Simply debating about the resurrection of Jesus keeps the spirit of Jesus literally alive. It took the disciples some time to realize it was Jesus to whom they were talking on the Road to Emmaus and it has taken me some time to realize the relevance of the resurrection or resurrection story. It does keep Jesus quite alive in our hearts and minds and it has been doing so for two thousand years.
Perhaps the writers of the gospels knew that this would happen if they included a resurrection story about Jesus. Maybe it is all quite purposeful and it even provides a possible answer as to why Jesus is portrayed as being both physical and shall I say spiritual, both substance and transcendence. One of the contemporary theories of some biblical scholars is that the writers were keenly aware of the use of common metaphors and meaningful images and used such literary devices quite purposefully.
The most important message is that Christ is truly kept alive through these resurrection appearances. Christ’s message of love, equality, compassion, tolerance, forgiveness, simplicity and immortality is furthered because of the road to Emmaus. The risen Jesus, wiping the crumbs of fish off the table, reminded them that it was not a philosophy they were dealing with, but a real and resurrected person in whose name repentance and forgiveness would be proclaimed to all nations beginning from Jerusalem. Jesus became alive and had ushered in a new age when God would set a fallen world to rights, and they had been witnesses to this fact. Their eyes were opened at the end of the road to Emmaus.
Three Stages to Truth
Another repeated theme in the Wednesday study on books that have changed the world is about truth, absolutes and absolute truth. And we are still working on it. Robert McAfee Brown has examined the Emmaus Road experience in particular to illustrate the unique, powerful method of teaching employed by Jesus in order to convey the truth of a revolutionary new reality to his followers. Brown’s analysis suggests a way for us to use Jesus’ methods to transmit revolutionary messages of truth in our own day with power and perceptivity. Brown’s study entitled “The Boundary Area Between Biblical Perspectives and Religious Studies” discusses truth as transforming knowledge which is also engaged knowledge. He talks about three stages of truth. Without going into detail they are searching for truth, listening for truth and embodying truth. All three of these processes of truth were applicable in the road to Emmaus.
Truth is always a process. The etymology of truth does not mean mere fact, but a revelation of great import. In Greek the word truth is “aletheia” and more literally means revelation or “non-concealment.” The pursuit of truth is so often more significant than fact. There is a truth beyond fact. Jesus teaches and embodies the truth of life which is unconditional love and a zeal for the eternal.
Psychological Maturity
I came across and most interesting article when I was surfing for something else. It is entitled “Psychological Maturity.” I read a little bit and had to keep reading the four page article. I concluded that this was a terrific article and proceeded to find out about the author whose name is Tal Ben Shahar. Have any of you heard of him. It turns out that he is a relatively new professor at Harvard and is teaching a course on Positive Psychology and Happiness. It also turns out that the class is the most popular class at Harvard right now with two classes of 800 students each.
He begins his article on psychological maturity by employing a bigger picture of life. I think this can apply to the life of Jesus and the Road to Emmaus. Tal Ben Shahar writes, “A friend recently asked me to define psychological maturity. After some reflection I said that it is the ability to willingly shift perspectives in time and in space, the capacity to appropriately choose between engagement in the here and now and awareness of the big picture. While this definition does not fully capture the nature of psychological maturity, it does pinpoint an important aspect of it.”
“The here and now, present perspective, pertains mostly to our emotions; the big picture, long-term perspective, is associated with our rationality. Rationality is about having an integrated view of temporal and spatial reality. When deciding on the appropriate action, a rational person considers the impact of his behavior beyond his immediate surrounding as in spatial dimension; when making decisions he looks beyond the present and integrates lessons from the past and projections of the future as in temporal dimension. For the rational person, the ‘there and then’ informs, and merges with, the here and now.”
I would simply conclude that what happened on the Road to Emmaus 2,000 years ago and how it was reported has made a difference in our world and lives now. Whatever happened back then keeps Christ’s spirit alive in our hearts and minds today and to me that is real psychological maturity. Amen.
Rev. Dr. Gregg R. Anderson
Aspen Chapel
0077 Meadowood Drive
Aspen, Colorado 81611
http://www.aspenchapel.org