Sermons of Rev. Timothy J. Kennedy

					Open Our Eyes!
Third Sunday of Easter
Luke 24:13-35

Sunday, May 08, 2011
				

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, "What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?" They stood still, looking sad. 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?" 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, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. 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. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, 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. 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." Then he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?" Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. 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. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?" That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, "The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!" Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

I was in Israel when the shooting broke out. Every time I leave for the Middle East my children tell me they are so concerned for my safety - they see Israel as existing on the thin edge of violence; there is truth to this observation. And there I was, in the heart of Jerusalem, when the shooting broke out. To be sure, Jerusalem knows violence. When the shooting broke out, I was only a couple hundred yards from the hill of crucifixion, some 2000 years after the nailing broke out. Nails and a cross kill just as brutally as anything modern man can devise - the process just a bit slower.

The news of the shootings spread quickly - but my children were not concerned for my safety. You see, the scene of the shooting - a shopping center. The city of the shooting - Tucson The target of the shooting - a vivacious Congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords. We all know the result. Several persons died; miraculously, the Congresswomen survived - she beat the odds.

In the days leading to the carnage, many of Ms. Giffords' staff were almost holding their breath with fear something bad might happen; something violent. The Congresswoman liked to be out and about - meeting with her constituents. She loved the back-and-forth conversations with those she served. But these are frightening times and it seems that violence is always a distinct possibility. And the shooting broke out. I heard the news a couple hundred yards from Golgotha. It was there a young man had been crucified. Alas, he did die and was buried. Alleluia! He did survive. Miraculously, Christ our Savior survived. He beat the odds, the longest odds of them all! Christ is risen. He is Risen indeed!

A week following the Tucson shooting, there was a memorial service for the victims. Our president was invited to speak. As he addressed the thousands who had gathered the president gave an update. He reported that for the first time since the shooting Gabrielle Giffords had opened her eyes. After days of grief, the crowd cheered this bit of good news. While the cheers went on and on, the president repeated the refrain three times: "Gabby opened her eyes for the first time," he said. "Gabby opened her eyes. Gabby opened her eyes."

A pastor from North Carolina, Lee Moses writes, "The crowd went crazy with the news that Ms. Giffords was awake to the world around her. Even though the road to recovery lay long and rocky before her - she had stepped out of the darkness that had surrounded her for so many days and had blinked her eyes in the light. She had been hovering there in that dark place between death and life, and here was this very visible, very tangible sign that life had won. No wonder the cheers went on so long." Gabby had opened her eyes!

We'd like to see her. To see how far she has come, the progress she has made. Just as some - for a variety of reasons - want to see pictures of bin Laden, so we want to see pictures of Ms. Giffords. The postponed launch of her husband's space shuttle, Endeavour, is now set for Tuesday. Maybe then we'll catch a glimpse of Ms. Giffords - and we can cheer for her and pray for a complete recovery.

I'm looking at our Gospel text from this eyes-wide-open perspective. Two people walk sadly toward Emmaus. They are going home. Sometimes, in the midst of life's most horrific moments, home is where you want to be. I've read reports that most of all Gabby Giffords wants to return to her office. I understand that - but surely home is where she wants to be.

Two people walk sadly toward Emmaus. It's only seven miles from Jerusalem ... but the trek seems endless. It is the afternoon of the very first Easter, but these two are in a Good Friday frame of mind. Chances are they had been almost holding their breath the previous week, as opposition to Jesus grew increasingly stronger. In this distressed world of ours, violence seems always just around the corner and Jesus is a marked man. Both synagogue and state want him out of the picture. Leaders of both take measures to make it happen. Two people walk sadly ... with only their memories. Well, their memories and a tattered obituary: "Jesus of Nazareth died Friday on Golgotha, at the age of thirty-three."

We know little, if anything, about either person. As we read through the story, we do learn they were in the upper room that Sunday morning, with some of the less anonymous, more famous followers of Jesus. With that in mind, my characterization of these two on the road to Emmaus is they seemed to have been out to lunch. Yet, not to worry - supper time is fast approaching. Let me say it again, because it is so vital to the story: they may have been out to lunch, but supper time is fast approaching. Two people, ordinary folk, walk to Emmaus. And suddenly, stride-for-stride, step-for-step, Jesus walks with them. They did not invite him. They did not recognize him. Suddenly, he is there. They share with this stranger, "some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, 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. 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." They did not see the body - either dead or alive.

How simply amazing on the road to Emmaus! And for you and me, this is the most striking part of the story to this point: Jesus chooses to accompany ordinary people on their journey of grief. Jesus appears, it was to folks like you and me. Even now, even you, even me - Jesus strides with us step-by-step through life ... all the way to eternity.

Two travelers and the stranger reach Emmaus; the two urge the third to stay with them. Even in their own grief at the loss of Jesus, they still have the wherewithal to offer hospitality to the stranger. And we know how the story ends: the guest takes upon himself the role of the host. And as Jesus lifts his arms with the bread held high in blessing - the wounds of this marked man are revealed. At least some scholars explain in this way the sudden recognition of Jesus. The wounds are revealed, in the breaking of bread. And Jesus opened their eyes. And Jesus opened their eyes. And Jesus opened their eyes.

That noted preacher, Barbara Brown Taylor, concludes from this text, "Jesus comes to the disappointed, the doubtful, the disconsolate. He comes to those who do not know their Bibles. He comes to those who do not recognize him even when they are walking beside him. He comes to those who have given up and are headed back home."

In this uneasy world, living on the thin edge of violence, may God continue to give us the grace to recognize Jesus, this marked man, in the breaking of the bread. Come to us Lord Jesus - we who live on the thin edge of violence. Come to us - and open our eyes! Open our eyes! Open our eyes!