Called To Community

Sermon given at University Church, April 30, 2017 
He is risen! Just a reminder that even though we celebrated Resurrection Sunday two weeks ago, we are still in the Easter season.  Narratively, we remain with that core group of Jesus’s followers as they try to make sense of this new reality.  For three years they had divinity in their midst, they had walked and talked with God in human form.  Without Jesus directly in front of them, who would answer their questions?  Who would give them comfort and strength?  Would they ever be able to feel that holiness again?  So let us turn to today’s text, found in the Gospel according to Luke, chapter 24, verses 13 – 35. 

¹³ On that same day, two disciples were traveling to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. ¹⁴ They were talking to each other about everything that had happened. ¹⁵ While they were discussing these things, Jesus himself arrived and joined them on their journey. ¹⁶ They were prevented from recognizing him.

¹⁷ He said to them, “What are y’all talking about as y’all walk along?” They stopped, their faces downcast.

¹⁸ The one named Cleopas replied, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who is unaware of the things that have taken place there over the last few days?”

¹⁹ He said to them, “What things?”

They said to him, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth. Because of his powerful deeds and words, he was recognized by God and all the people as a prophet.²⁰ But our chief priests and our leaders handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him. ²¹ We had hoped he was the one who would redeem Israel. All these things happened three days ago. ²² But there’s more: Some women from our group have left us stunned. They went to the tomb early this morning ²³ and didn’t find his body. They came to us saying that they had even seen a vision of angels who told them he is alive. ²⁴ Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women said. They didn’t see him.”

²⁵ Then Jesus said to them, “You foolish people! Your dull minds keep you from believing all that the prophets talked about. ²⁶  Wasn’t it necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” ²⁷ Then he interpreted for them the things written about himself in all the scriptures, starting with Moses and going through all the Prophets.

²⁸ When they came to Emmaus, he acted as if he was going on ahead. ²⁹ But they urged him, saying, “Stay with us. It’s nearly evening, and the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. ³⁰ After he took his seat at the table with them, he took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. ³¹ Their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he disappeared from their sight. ³² They said to each other, “Weren’t our hearts on fire when he spoke to us along the road and when he explained the scriptures for us?”

³³ They got up right then and returned to Jerusalem. They found the eleven and their companions gathered together. ³⁴ They were saying to each other, “The Lord really has risen! He appeared to Simon!” ³⁵ Then the two disciples described what had happened along the road and how Jesus was made known to them as he broke the bread.

The story begins with two of Jesus’s followers as they make their way out of Jerusalem, on that very same day that the women found the empty tomb. Instead of huddling in the Upper room with the Eleven – trying to make sense of this preposterous news – these two are getting the heck out of Dodge.  And really, what reason is there to stay? Their leader has suffered an excruciating death, his followers are in chaos, and quite possibly going mad with grief.  Things were never going to be the same without Jesus, and the situation just keeps getting worse.  Better to leave now.  And it is to these two that Jesus chooses to come, not the gathered disciples who are still in Jerusalem. And he chooses to come to them in an odd way – hiding his true identity. 

This appearance story is unique in the Gospels -- it’s only in Luke that we go on a walk to Emmaus. This leads us, or at least me, to wonder:   Why did the author choose to spend time with these two travelers – who are never identified outside of this story – instead of the Eleven?  What does it tell us that the other appearance stories don’t? 

In most of the other stories, Jesus only sticks around long enough to deliver a brief message, and then poof! He’s gone again.  His entrance in this story is not quite so dramatic. Jesus “came near” the disciples, like he was just wandering the streets of Jerusalem and noticed Cleopas and friend where they shouldn’t be – on their way out.  He literally stops them in their tracks and joins their conversation. He interjects by asking the disciples to tell him the Good news – what has happened in Jerusalem?  This is the first opportunity that anyone has to proclaim the Jesus story – he’s giving them an evangelism pop quiz.  And they totally flunk.  Let’s give them some credit – They manage to give a full summary of the week’s events, but without the deeper knowledge of what all of it means.  They hit all the major plot points: Jesus was a great prophet, many people hoped he was the messiah, the Jewish leaders betrayed him to the Empire, the Empire crucified him, he was buried, this morning the tomb was empty and the women said they had seen angels. Even though they are able to tell the news of the empty tomb, and even the angels’ declaration that Jesus is alive, they cannot connect the events of the past few days to the larger story – it doesn’t “click” yet.  It takes a day of discussing these events with a stranger before the two disciples are even close to understanding.  As they walk towards Emmaus, their companion “opens up” the scriptures to them and offers a new interpretation of what they have seen, an interpretation that is very different than the one they had just shared.

Emmaus by Emmanuel Garibay

Now, every one of us is a very smart person, but we are each limited in our understanding of God and the world.  However much I study and observe on my own, I will always be constrained by my particular knowledge and experience.  Capital-T Truth is only revealed when my narrow vision is expanded by others.  I spent four years—and an obscene amount of money—at the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration and McCormick Theological Seminary.  And I worked hard for my degrees.  But my education and preparation for social work and ministry did not come from writing papers and spending hundreds of hours in lectures – it came from my companions.  I’m sure Lauren, Lois, and David will back me up on this, that as great as some of McCormick’s classes, are, it’s the late night conversations with friends that really transform our theology.  My understanding of structures that both preserve and combat poverty came from my clients, not my professors.  Members in this church will attest that their view of Guatemala changed after accompanying the Vicente family, after spending hours in intimate conversation. 

Of all the stories of Jesus’ appearance after the resurrection, this is the only one in which his true identity remains hidden.  The two disciples proclaim their unbelief, and Instead of shoving his wounded hands and feet in their faces (like he does with Thomas), Jesus starts a conversation. Jesus’s hidden identity made this conversation possible and shows the two disciples that revelation is still possible.  The author of Luke affirms the necessity of communal reading of Scripture and our larger reality – the need for others to challenge and enrich our understanding of God and the world. 

But I want to get back to our travelers and their conversation.  They have seven miles between Jerusalem and Emmaus – the distance between here and Midway Airport.  That talking went on for a while. Like all the best conversations; I’m sure it was lively.  As I imagine the three companions traveling together, I hear a discussion filled with questions, parables, and jokes – the kind of conversation that makes the time fly by and the miles seem like mere city blocks. And though the two disciples began the journey with a stranger, the arrived at Emmaus with a friend. Faced with his departure, they object: “stay with us.”  On this seven-mile journey, the disciples have had their hearts rekindled – they are burning in a familiar way.  And it is when they sit down to share a meal, when the bread has been broken and shared, that they finally recognize their traveling companion.  While the conversation facilitated understanding, it was in fellowship that they found the Divine.

Jesus built his ministry on relationships.  He did not go on a solo sermon circuit in all the synagogues of Judea.  Instead, he called disciples to accompany him on a three-year journey of teaching and healing – and eating and drinking.  You know, fun.  I don’t believe that Jesus ever engaged in relationships because he was obligated to do so, or because it was the only way us humans could get the idea of salvation through our thick skulls.  God has told us time and time again, beginning in the Garden of Eden all the way back in Genesis, that God prefers to walk with us.  In taking on human form, God chose to enter the kind of relationships that define our human experience – son, brother, teacher, companion, friend.  Jesus – and God’s – relational identity means that it is in relationships that we find moments of holiness.  While each of us is created in the image of God – and thus each carry a spark of the divine within each of us – it is in relationship that those sparks are kindled into flames.

This story is often referred to as the “Journey to Emmaus,” but Emmaus isn’t where the two disciples end up. 

³³ They got up right then and returned to Jerusalem. They found the eleven and their companions gathered together. ³⁴ They were saying to each other, “The Lord really has risen! He appeared to Simon!” ³⁵ Then the two disciples described what had happened along the road and how Jesus was made known to them as he broke the bread.

Their response to revelation is to jump up and run back to Jerusalem, back those seven miles, back to their companions. When we first met these characters on their way out of Jerusalem, they were alone and grieving.  At the end, they are right back where they belong, sharing the Good News with their friends – with their community.  That community that Jesus began is still a source of hope and strength, where they can still find revelation and divinity. And we are still a few weeks away from Pentecost – when the Holy Spirit will make itself known among the disciples, when they will receive the call to go out into the world.  Before then, they will spend time in prayer and conversation, in celebration and grieving.  This community that Jesus has called them to will prepare them to change the world.

And the truth is that the work of deepening relationship, of engaging in dialogue, are essential to work of justice.   Think about the ministries that this church holds so dear, and you’ll find they all have their roots in intimacy.  The Covenental Community – which has provided affordable housing on the South Side for over 30 years – was first dreamt of in a Bible study group.  The Guatemala Partnership – our investment in the community of Saq ja’ – has its roots in the bonds that were forged while volunteers were accompanying the Vicente family.  The University Church Black Lives Matter group – dedicated to the cause of advancing racial justice – came about because of a conversation around a dinner table.

If fellowship is our avenue to revelation and transformation, then we – like the disciples – are called to engage and invest in community. Community demands that we engage with people who are different than us, and to learn and grow from each other.  The fellowship that community fosters allows us to experience the divine amongst us.  The earliest forms of Christian worships were focused on two elements: the reading of the Word and the sharing of the Eucharist – conversation and fellowship.  They understood that revelation was not in the story itself, but in the telling and retelling.  Jesus was not present not in the bread and the wine, but in the sharing.  We have to take the time to walk and talk with each other, to share a meal together. 

But y’all, it’s hard to prioritize those things in our lives.  Our Western liberal worldview has convinced us that we are just a collection of autonomous selves, existing independently of each other.  In our society, “communities” have become temporary and voluntary associations.  Our participation and investment in community is not necessary or important.  The work of fellowship becomes unimportant, even trivial.  I’ll spend hours writing emails to the members of my project groups, but taking one of them out for coffee is a waste of my time.  When I think about the time that I have in my week to devote to “ministry,” I don’t even consider hosting coffee hour.  I’m quick to jump at the opportunity to show up for a march or a rally, but taking the time to attend the more intimate organizing meetings?  Somehow those feel inconsequential. But unless we invest in these “insignificant” actions, we run the risk of finding ourselves like the disciples at the beginning of this story: alone, hopeless, ignorant of the Resurrection in our midst. 

I kind of feel like a bad theologian when I pick favorites in the Gospels, but I always love reading this story – it’s the appearance story that I like best.  The author isn’t just telling us that Jesus is risen, but that the divine is still present amongst us.  That revelation can happen at any moment.  That transformation is not only still possible, but inevitable.  All we have to do is know where to look.  In the silence of the next few moments, I invite you to reflect on the holiness that is sitting on either side of you, on the wisdom and possibility that is just waiting to be revealed.