Sermon: Stay with Us!

May 8, 2011

Luke 24:13-35

The Rev. Shelby Ochs Owen

Trinity Church, Staunton

“Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.”

The disciples in today’s Gospel reading from Luke do not know it is Jesus with whom they are walking. For some reason which is not clear to us, the disciples do not recognize Jesus, much in the same way that in John’s gospel Mary Magdalene does not recognize Jesus in the garden when he appears to her at the Resurrection. This lack of recognition sparks a host of questions from the listener, “Why don’t they know it is Jesus, what is different about him that makes them fail to see who he is?” We may be asking the wrong questions and find that if we stay with the story perhaps we will find a more compelling answer to a different question.

Jesus and the disciples walk along the road to Emmaus, where the troubled disciples are heading and they strike up a conversation. They share with this stranger all the events of the past few days, including the death of their Lord and friend and they cannot believe this stranger has not heard all about it before! Then Jesus speaks to them and opens up the Scriptures for them, that touches them in a profound way. The disciples are conflicted by his presence; they seem to maybe know who he is and yet… they don’t know. They are eager to be with this stranger, “Stay with us!” So he goes in to stay with them and when he is at the table with them, he takes bread, blesses it, breaks it and gives it to them. Their eyes are opened and they recognize him; and he vanishes from their sight!

You can almost hear them saying to one another, “I KNEW it was Jesus!” Looking back they remembered that their hearts were indeed burning within them as Jesus opened the Scriptures to them. One might wonder if when Jesus vanished they didn’t look at each other and burst out laughing! We do know they were excited. Luke tells us they got up within the hour and must have been excited enough to walk the seven miles back to Jerusalem to tell the other disciples that Jesus had appeared to them.

Let’s back up though and see what is happening as his identity unfolds before them. Jesus is at the table with them. He takes bread, blesses it, breaks it and gives it to them! Where have the disciples seen that pattern before? They witnessed it at the feeding of the 5000, they witnessed it at the Last Supper the night before Jesus died, which would have been just three days earlier and they are witnessing it now. It is the pattern, the four fold action of taking, blessing, breaking and giving bread that has become Jesus’ signature.

We recognize those we know in all kinds of ways. Some of us learned in the news this week that American Navy Seals train so intensively as a team, spend so much time together, that they actually learn to recognize one another’s footsteps. Some of you who live with others probably know who it is who would actually fold your laundry and leave it on your bed without that person having said a word; if someone left a beautiful geranium at your front door, or who left you a good joke on your desk you probably would have a pretty good idea of who did it. Back in my younger days, if I received a Christian tract in the mail, I knew it must have come from my dear Aunt Lane! (Of course any police detective or teacher will tell you that bad behavior often points back to certain individuals as well!) Sometimes we recognize someone not by their face but by their action, something we have witnessed or experienced many times before and now we just know their signature!

In just a little while, we will ask Jesus to “stay with us” as we celebrate the Eucharist together. As your priest I will take bread and bless it, break it and give it to you. In the Eastern Orthodox ancient liturgy, at the moment the priest elevates the bread and the wine after the consecration, he says, “Holy things for Holy People.” We recognize these gifts of bread and wine as holy because they are the body and blood of Christ. We are able to see ourselves as holy because in God’s outpouring of love through Jesus’ gift of life on the cross, we have received his holiness. Writer Vincent Donovan says, “To be holy means to be open. If God is present to you, all things are possible.” It is prayer that opens us to the presence of God. God is present whether we are open to him or not but prayer opens space within us to be present to and recognize Jesus .

And the Eucharist is not only about Jesus, it is about us. If we are the body of Christ, then we are the bread of heaven here on earth. As we partake of the Eucharist this morning can we consider this fourfold action as our model for making Jesus’ presence known in the world? We take bread, meaning we take ourselves, that precious gift of life; we bless the bread, we give thanks to God for the gifts he has given in us; we break the bread, meaning we risk opening up ourselves to God’s creative and redemptive work in the world, risk allowing God to use us as God will, and then we give it away, the bread of ourselves. We give away what God has given us at this table; we share our resources, we break bread with others as we share our food, our time, our money, our listening ear, our words of comfort and encouragement, our prayers, our forgiveness, our love. And this is how we follow that four-fold pattern: Take, bless, break and give.

Just as Jesus made himself known to the disciples in Emmaus through the breaking of bread, we can be assured that Jesus is present to us through our prayerful hearing of Scripture and at the altar table as we take bread, bless it, break it and give it to one another. And as we go back to our pews, as we go out to breakfast or lunch, as we go home, as we go to our jobs, what will be our signature action? Will our actions point to the one who stays with us? Will our actions reflect the love of Jesus? Will we be quick to give to the world what God has so generously given to us? Perhaps we can work on our own signatures, actions that include prayer, giving of resources-food, money, other material goods to those in need, a listening and non-judgmental ear to a teenager, a word of comfort to someone going through a divorce, a word of forgiveness to a brother, a note to your mother or perhaps a prayer for your mother, thanking her for helping you become who you are?

Stay with us Jesus and help us to know you so well that we can’t help but recognize your action, can’t help but recognize your signature. Stay with us.