3rd Sunday After Easter - The Road to Hope

3rd Sunday After Easter Sermon 4^th May 2014

Text: Luke 24:13-35 – The Road to Hope

It is the road we have all walked at some time in our life.

It is the road we will all walk again in the future.

The Emmaus Road is a road that is symbolic of hopes that were dashed.

The 2 Disciples are saddened – you can hear it in their voice:

They stood still, their faces downcast.

One of them, named Cleopas, asked Jesus, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

Jesus of Nazareth was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.

We had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. (v18-21)

The road to Emmaus symbolises the road of broken hopes.

How has the Road to Emmaus let you down?

We had hoped in our marriage vows, till death do we part.

We had hoped in our careers that would last till retirement.

We had hoped in our health to enjoy our old age together.

We had hoped in our church.

We are living in a society where institutions and heroes have let us down.

Hey Dad star Robert Hughes a family favourite years ago charged with sexual abuse.

Even Aussie favourite Rolf Harris charged with similar offenses.

Our Aussie sporting heroes, Ian Thorpe, Grant Hackett have falled from glory and then this week Geoff Huegill and his wife were charged with drug possession.

We’re told again this week that Australia is in the grips of an Ice epidemic because this is where people seem to think they find hope.

Even our most trusted institutions have been rocked by accusations letting people down where they had put their hope.

None more prominent than the church that is being investigated by a royal commission for sexual abuse against children.

A church should be a place where our children should be safe and we should feel sure they are safe.

If we can’t put our hope in the church – the body of Christ, where can we put our hope?

What can people put their hope in today?

Real Estate, Banks, Superannuation, all of these have been sources of broken hopes and dreams for many people who have lost their security especially in the recent Global Financial Crisis.

Politician after politician seem to be embroiled in corruption whether it’s a seemingly innocent bottle of wine or an under the table cash deal.

Police caught up in crime.

Doctors charged with infecting patients with Hepatitis.

Who can we put our hope in?

What can we put our hope in?

The road to Emmaus is a road of broken hopes.

But the Road to Emmaus is more than a road of broken hopes and dreams.

It is a road of hopes restored when we walk it with Jesus.

Walking with the 2 downcast disciples is Jesus.

They don’t recognise him, but more importantly, he recognises them.

He recognises their downcast broken hopes so he reaffirms their hopes by redirecting them away from the tragic days of his crucifixion to the promises of God.

He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. (V25,26).

Jesus restores their hopes by pointing them to the Word of God and the glory that awaited him at the resurrection, and therefore the glory that awaits us at our resurrection.

The Road to Emmaus is a long road for us as we journey the road of Good and Evil – the consequence of our disobedience in the Garden of Eden.

But it is a road that is leading to glory as St Peter reminds us:

Through Christ you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God. (1 Peter 1:21)

When we take our eyes of Christ, our eyes refocus on the broken dreams and hopes that the world continuously throws at us.

Like the disciples, we stand still and become downcast.

We need to keep journeying the road because it is leading us to our glory.

Along the way God feeds us, as he fed the 2 disciples with his body and blood, which we are about to do in Holy Communion.

When Jesus was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him.

As we come to his table we too are strengthened for the journey and our eyes are opened to see Christ clearly in our lives.

But, like the transfiguration, we can’t stay here.

We need to keep journeying the Emmaus Road including the broken hopes and dreams it throws at us.

Just like the 2 disciples, as soon as they recognized him, he disappeared from their sight. (v31)

And so too, Jesus will at times seem to disappear from our sight as the hopes of the world are broken time and again.

But remember, even though we can’t see Jesus clearly at times, he sees us.

And so we need to return, again and again, where we can clearly see Jesus for that hope to keep journeying the Emmaus Road.

In God’s word, in our Baptism, in our Worship, in Holy Communion.

In our love of God and our neighbour.

As we forgive as we have been forgiven.

These are where our hearts will burn in our desire for God as we hear again the promises and hope that God gives.

The Road to Emmaus is a difficult journey but the destination is glorious.

May you journey it with hope as Christ, Immanuel, God with us, journeys that road with you.

The peace of God that surpasses our understanding, keep your hearts and minds forever in Christ Jesus. Amen.