Well-Known Christians

Well-Known Christians Luke 24:13-35 There were a number of post-resurrection appearances by Jesus to a variety of people, known and unknown. Today we have an occasion of Jesus meeting both; that is, one is named and the other is not. The point is, though, it’s not so much knowing Jesus, as being known by Him. To put in another way, it’s not who you know, but who knows you. Who’s the best-known Christian in the world today? Not so many years ago, a whole lot of us would have answered, “Billy Graham.” Well, at least, the Protestants would have. But Billy’s gone now, and no single successor has emerged to claim the title. No doubt Roman Catholics would say it’s Pope Francis, but they’d probably say that of any pope. Yet, there’s another sense of the phrase “well-known.” A person may know a lot about another person, but not know that person in depth, not know their thinking, feelings, their soul. I know a goodly measure about Einstein, but I obviously didn’t know him personally. You may know a lot about a person, having been around them for a while; but do you really know them? How often do we hear of a neighbor who goes berserk and are surprised about them going off on a shooting spree? Tragic. Being well-known is not limited to religious celebrities, like the pope or some infamous shooter. It’s available to any honest seekers who open their hearts to a living relationship with Jesus Christ. It’s not about the number of people who know us, but how deeply we are known by our Lord. Luke tells us how, as Jesus broke bread in the presence of two hungry travelers, “their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him.” That word “recognized” can be translated “well-known.” Literally, it means that once their eyes are opened, they know Him well. But, in fact, the risen Lord knows those weary wanderers on the Emmaus road before they know Him. He knows them through and through. What a dramatic moment it is, that instant when their eyes are opened, and they recognize Him! Then, just as quickly, He vanishes out of their sight. Who are these two people, these two travelers, and how did they get there? We only know the name of one of them, he was called Cleopas. The second one is anonymous, and some have speculated this other disciple may have been Cleopas’ wife, although no one can say for certain. Luke says the two of them are walking to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. What happens in their village is an encounter between the risen Jesus and two disciples, people who love Him deeply, 2 but who have reluctantly given up on ever seeing Him again. Yet, even with all that strong emotion swirling about, the details of their meeting are hardly spectacular. Just compare the road to Emmaus with the road to Damascus; that place where Paul has his conversion experience. Acts 9 tells the story about Paul, then named Saul, traveling to Damascus, hoping to round up and arrest local Christian leaders, to haul them before the religious authorities. Suddenly, there’s a flash of lightning and a voice from heaven: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?” Saul falls to the ground, blinded. His traveling companions are so bewildered they can’t even speak. The voice commands Saul to go to the city and await instructions. He does just that. What choice does he have? Eventually, a Christian named Ananias shows up, lays hands on him, and miraculously heals him. Now compare that road trip to the Emmaus excursion. The Emmaus road is nothing like the Damascus road. There’s no lightning in this story, no voice from the sky, no miracle cure, just a couple ordinary Joes, or a Joe and a Jane, walking down the road. A stranger catches up with them. They walk on for a bit, and eventually small talk becomes big talk. They discuss Jesus, who died, and - some say - has been raised from the dead. Funny how this stranger teaches them from the Hebrew Scriptures, in much the same way their teacher did, but they still don’t recognize Him. They finally come to Emmaus. Cleopas and his companion ask their new friend to stay on and join them for dinner. He seems to be intent to go someplace else. But then, abruptly, He agrees, and goes home with them. Just as the stranger is breaking bread, it suddenly dawns on the two of them who He is. But before they know it, He’s gone. It’s only then that Cleopas and his companion remember how they’d felt along the road, as the stranger was teaching them … “Like our hearts were on fire!” They rush back to Jerusalem, only to discover that, through some inexplicable resurrection power, the stranger has just been there, too. The dramatic heart of this story is, of course, the moment of recognition: “and their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him.” In that single moment in time, as He stands there, with two halves of a broken loaf balanced on His upturned palms, He becomes well-known to them. They recognized Him, they know Him well. Well-known. There’s another place in the New Testament where that word occurs. It’s in 1st Corinthians 13, the famous “hymn to love” passage so many brides and 3 grooms choose for their weddings. 1 Corinthians 13:12 says: “then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.” There’s that word again! The whole line could be translated literally, “then I will know well, even as I have been well-known.” It’s not about fame. It’s about recognition, that moment of looking into the eyes of another and seeing not just a reflection of ourselves, but of our loved one’s immortal soul. “I see you!!” As our years progress, one of the most dreaded fears in life is the prospect of no longer being wellknown. We’re not talking about fame, but ordinary human knowing, the way we know our family and friends. Those who live to advanced years often see their circle of friends diminish in size until almost none are left. There are always the younger generations, of course, and those who truly age well learn how to befriend them; but it’s not the same. If there’s truly no one left who can nod with recognition at knowing you, knowing the same life stories, sharing the same friends, who can hum along with the same popular tunes way back when, then indeed there is a loss of knowing. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul reassures us that because God’s love in Christ is eternal, we will continue, in life or in death, to be beloved of God, to be well-known in that deepest sense. So how knowable are we? How can we be certain, at the last, that Christ will recognize us? Another passage of Scripture provides the answer. It’s not an easy answer, but an answer it is. It’s a passage that leads us to take a long, hard look at the type of life we’ve been living. In Matthew 25, Jesus’ parable of the last judgment, of the eternal Judge separating the sheep from the goats, the disciples ask Him, “Lord, when was it that we saw You hungry and gave You food, or thirsty and gave You something to drink?” Jesus replies, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of My family, you did it to Me.” Jesus promises to recognize us, to treat us as belonging to Him, if we have first given recognition and aid to the needy in our midst. If you know them well, Jesus is saying, then I promise to know you well. So, how is it these two disciples come to know Jesus? Two ways, according to Luke. The first is as the three of them are walking down the road together, discussing the Scriptures. The recognition is still not total at that point, but evidently something’s beginning to stir within them as they talk with this stranger about God’s word. “Did not our hearts burn within us …?” The second way the disciples come to know Jesus is as He breaks the bread after they’ve arrived in the village. Two things — Word and sacrament — must be present for Cleopas and his companion to know Jesus, and for Him to deeply know them in return. They’re the two 4 essential “marks of the church” or proof of the church’s true existence. Wherever you have the Word truly proclaimed and the sacraments rightly administered, there you have the true church of Jesus Christ. As it is true today, it was also true in that tiny, flyspeck village called Emmaus. Whenever we open the Word together and study it, and whenever we gather around the Lord’s Table to break bread, Christ can be counted upon to be present with us. There’s one other aspect of this story to consider. As Jesus and the two disciples complete their walk to Emmaus, Jesus makes as if to travel on. Verse 29 says, “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.” “Stay with us” is the prayer of those two disciples who, at that point, don’t fully recognize their traveling companion, although perhaps a subconscious awareness is growing. “Stay with us” is so often the prayer we want to pray to Jesus. We want Him to stay, here, with us, on familiar turf, where we can domesticate Him. But that’s not the prayer we ought to be praying because Jesus never stays for long. Yes, He’s ever present in our lives in the broader sense, but He’s always on the move. How much of our desire is to experience church only in a familiar building? How often do we echo those disciples’ plea, “Stay with us”? Maybe the Lord’s message to us is that He refuses to dwell in the sanctuary permanently, any more than He accepted the invitation of the good residents of Emmaus to stay with them. Our Lord has other roads to walk, other places He has to be. If Matthew 25 is any guide, those other places are wherever human grief and hunger are most evident. When we gather as God’s people, there’s great value in remembering how “our hearts burned within us” when we realized Jesus was by our side and how, as He broke bread, our eyes were opened, and we recognized Him. So here’s the message for the day. To be loved, but not known, is comforting but superficial. To be known, and not loved, is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, being loved by Jesus. It is what we need more than anything else in the world, knowing we are well - known and fully loved by Jesus. It liberates us from false pretense; it humbles us out of our self-righteousness; and it fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.