Luke 24:13-35                             Easter 2010              April 4, 2010

      On Feb. 27, 1991, at the height of Desert Storm,  Ruth Dillow received a very sad message from the Pentagon. It stated that her son, Clayton Carpenter, Private 1st Class, had stepped on a mine in Kuwait & was dead.   Ruth Dillow later wrote, "I can’t begin to describe my grief & shock. It was almost more than I could bear. For days I wept. For  days I expressed anger & loss. People tried to comfort me, to no avail because the loss was too great."  But a few days after she received that message, the telephone rang. The voice on the other end said, "Mom, it’s me. I’m alive." Ruth Dillow said, "I couldn’t believe it at first. But then I recognized his voice, & he really was alive."  He had been missing during a battle but he was not dead.  He was alive.  Ms. Dillow later  said, "I laughed, I cried, I felt like turning cartwheels, because my son whom I had thought was dead, was really alive."

        Something like that is what happened on Easter morning.  But this Jesus, he was dead.  Really dead.  The disciples knew that because some of them watched him die.  They took down his body.  His mother held him in her arms.  They buried him in a tomb.  There was no mistaken message.  Jesus was dead.  But then a few days later, he was alive.   What could it all mean?  The disciples were so confused.   They did not understand.  They did not even recognize him when they first met him on the road.   So Jesus had to explain it all.  He had to break the bread with them again.  And then their eyes were opened and they could see.  They understood.  They knew that Jesus was alive.  Today I want to help all of us understand better what Easter means.  And I hope your eyes will be opened to see Jesus. 

      In our scripture, these two disciples were walking on Sunday morning on the road to a town called Emmaus.   I imagine it was a beautiful spring morning like we have had this past week.  It’s the kind of morning when all could seem right with the world.  The birds are singing like it’s the first morning of creation.   You know, God created our world and our lives for that kind of beauty.  In the beginning, God created the world and God said that everything was good.  Very good.   God created each of us for that kind of goodness in life. God loves each of you.  God has plans and purposes for your life that are beautiful, strong, and full of purpose.   I went out early to walk a couple of mornings this past week.  The day was fresh, just getting started.  The sun was shining already and held the promise of a warm day.  It was the kind of day when you feel like you can do anything.   Our lives were made by God to be that way.  We were made to get up in the morning with the strong feeling like it is the first day of life and we can do great things.   God made this world to be that kind of good place.

         However, these disciples as they walked on that beautiful spring Sunday morning did not feel any of this joy and strength.  They were heartbroken.  Their friend Jesus was dead.   They said that they had hoped that Jesus was the Messiah to redeem Israel.  But all they had hoped for had been dashed to pieces on a Roman cross on Friday.   The world had killed him.  You see, here is our big problem.  God made this world to be a very good place.  God loves you and has wonderful plans for your life.  But here is the snag.  This world has killed God’s plans.  This world has walked away from God.  We thought we could do a better job on our own.  And we have made a mess of the world.  And sadly, this bad news is not just what the world has done.  It involves each one of us.  The Bible says that “all have sinned and come short of the way of God.”  The Bible says that we are each like sheep who have wandered off on our own way.   And our own way has made a mess of things.   How about you today?  It is a beautiful spring morning made by God.  There is a sense that everything should be so great.  And yet, when we look at ourselves, we know we have wandered off on some false path.  And we have made a mess of our lives when we walk by ourselves.  Like those brokenhearted disciples, we too are broken.  And we cannot fix ourselves. 

       But just then, a stranger began to walk beside them.  The two disciples did not recognize him.  Maybe he had his hood pulled low to protect him from the sun.  Maybe their tears clouded their eyes.  Maybe Jesus’ resurrected appearance made him more than he was before.  Whatever the reason, they did not know who this was.  But it was Jesus.  He asked them what was wrong.  Now they were astounded.  They asked him sarcastically if he were the only one in town not to know the bad news.  Jesus was dead.  Killed by a messed up world.  Their whole life was a mess.  I guess we all feel that way at times.  Those disciples certainly felt that way on that Easter morning.  But vs 26 says that this stranger began to explain to them that it was necessary that the Christ would suffer these things and then enter into glory. 

        You see, while each of us like lost sheep has wandered away down our own paths, God did not leave us there to die.  God so loved the world that God sent his son that whoever has faith in Him would not die but have eternal life.  It was necessary that Jesus suffer to show us the way home.  Each of us was stuck on cliff overhanging certain death but Jesus made a bridge whereby we could cross over to safety.  That bridge was his own body.  His body back to God. 

       Many people struggle with why Jesus had to suffer.  Why the cross of Easter?  Many people do not understand why this extreme solution was necessary because they do not fully understand the extreme problem of the world.   Many of us in America live such comfortable, insulated lives that we cannot grasp how cruel much of human history and life today is. But when we see really that all have sinned and fallen short of God then we grasp that an extreme solution was necessary.  When I truly see that I have sinned and fallen short, when I see that I too am a drowning man, then I will know that Christ came to save me. 

        God made the world a very good place.  God loves you and has plans for you.  But each of us has fallen away from that love and those plans.  What to do?  God has provided a solution.  A necessary solution.  Jesus would show us the extreme answer by giving himself away for us.   When people say that Jesus died for you, this is what they mean.  Jesus stretched out his arms and gave himself to be the bridge back to God.

       Well, these disciples finally reached their destination at the town of Emmaus.  They stood at the front door of the house and the stranger stood there also as if he would keep walking on.  There was a moment of awkward silence.  And then, one of the disciples asked, “Would you like to come in and stay with us?  Have dinner with us?”  And this stranger, Jesus, went in with them.

       Jesus said, “Listen.  I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone will open the door, I will come and be with him.”   Jesus Christ has offered us a great gift.  He offers us himself as the way back to God, back to life, back to good plans.  It is the great gift.  But each man or woman, boy or girl, must receive the gift.  Jesus will stand there in the front yard until you invite him into your life.  You must open the door or Jesus will not come in. 

      Now maybe you think—But I do not understand all this.  That is okay.  These disciples were not sure who this stranger was.  They had not figured it all out yet.  In fact, their eyes were only fully opened after they invited him in. That is how it is with a step of faith.  You do not have to know all kinds of Biblical scholarship.  You may have doubts.  You do not know all the answers.  But you just need to take a step.

       In the third Indiana Jones movie—The Last Crusade—Indiana has to pass three tests to reach the Holy Grail and save his father’s life.  For the third test, Indiana comes to the edge of a large chasm, a hundred feet across and a thousand feet down.  The map says, “Only in a leap will a man prove his worth.”  Indiana whispers, “It’s impossible.  Nobody can jump that far.”  Then he whispers, “It is a leap of faith.”  He hears his dad’s voice in his mind, “You must believe, boy.”  Now Indiana is filled with doubts.  The sweat on his forehead shows he is not a pillar of certainty.  But that is okay.  Indiana can have doubts, a whole cavern full of doubts.  All that matters is that he lifts his leg and steps out into the air.  And he is held up.   You see, faith does not mean being absolutely sure with no doubts.  Faith means to step out.  Faith means to open the door.  Faith just means to say yes to Jesus Christ today.  And Christ will come into your life.

       In our scripture, the story reaches its climax as the disciples break bread with this stranger.  It is in the breaking of the bread that they remember Jesus words that his body would be broken.  It is in this moment that their eyes are open and they see.  It is Jesus.  They understand.  And their hearts are warmed within them.  Listen, we do not understand faith before we have it.  We only see after we have asked Jesus to come inside.  It is only in time, as we live in faith for weeks, months, even years, that we understand more and more of who this stranger is.  He is Jesus the Christ, risen from the dead, who lives forever and will be with us forever.  If we will open the door and invite him in. 

       I pray that this day will be your day.  Invite him in to your heart and life.  Make that step of faith.  Perhaps renew your faith and the invitation that you made many years ago.  Where ever you are on your road to Emmaus, Easter is a great day to step out again and invite Jesus to spend some time with you.   Amen.