What Things?

Luke 24:13–35 ESV

That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Pray

[pic of emmaus road]

Where are we in life? Figuratively of course. That is at the heart of our Gospel lesson today. And for us, as it is for these disciples, where we are greatly depends on where we started and where we are going.

But for them, and for all believers, even though the point where we started is less important than where we are going, it does inform our perspective, and in so doing, helps us to better understand those things we need to move beyond in order to obtain Christ. Or at the very least, to make our way toward where He needs us to be.

And that idea is important to us coming off of Easter. You see, it turns out that we all start there at that tomb - most of us at some point every day. And there in that past, in those disappointments, or in our despair, or even in our excitement, it can be easy to miss the message. To miss the whole point of this whole thing, by thinking about things that just don’t matter.

Luke 24:18–19 ESV

Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people,

Luke 24:18-24

Now why do I say that? Well lets just turn to the text...[walk through it early stuff]

13-14

[talking about what had happened implies that they were actively thinking things through, but something was getting in the way...important to hold on to that idea]

...so there in the middle of them remembering everything that had happened, all that they had seen, all they had heard, all that they could ever understand about Jesus - Christ Himself appears essentially out of nowhere and draws near to them!

But they just couldn’t recognize Him. They just couldn’t see who He really was because of their own desires to see something else.

[kids getting upset...don’t mention Olivia or Daisy]

And so like little children - or like us a lot of the time - they essentially ask, “don’t you get it?” Are you the only person in all Jerusalem - are you the only one in the world who doesn’t know the things that have happened?

To which Jesus poignantly replies - “What things?”

I want to pause there for a minute. Now we know where this story is going, but still, I feel the need to remind us all that these men, just like us sometimes, understand the truth, but just don’t want to see it.

And Jesus, with that simple question, reveals our hearts to ourselves, if only we would let Him! If we would only be honest about our situation.

What things? Sure life seems horrible. Everything you thought should be isn’t. Everything you didn’t want you got. To steal Paul’s language, the things you want to do you do not, but the things you hate, you do!

Up is down, black is white, cats and dogs are living together - Mass Hysteria!

It isn’t unlike a cartoon that was sent to me, which mirrored a famous preacher story that we all tell at some point. In this cartoon a man is shouting about how God will protect him, and how he doesn’t need to do anything about it. Given our time, the cartoon was about the covid situation, so he was talking about how he didn’t need a mask or sanitizer, because he trusted God!

Of course, when inevitably he gets ill, he questions God. Wondering why his God didn’t protect Him. To which God replies - well I gave you masks, sanitizer, social distancing, staying at home, but you didn’t listen.

Sometimes we would rather rely on our things - our ideas, our comforts, our freedoms as we like to call them, rather than our God. And when we do that, we get stuck in our own thoughts and become trapped by them.

Psalm 37:7 ESV

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!

Ps 37:7

Read…Just be still! You know the score, you know God is in charge, so why are you kicking against the goads? Just let God be God and walk with Him!

Church, these two men in our text, they had the entire story - the same as you and me! They saw the miracles. They confessed that Jesus was the Messiah! They no doubt waived the palms and evangelized for Christ!

They are us! But something was getting in the way of them seeing. Something that took their mind away from all that they saw, away from the cross, away from even the empty tomb!

They had everything - all the evidence needed - but some things took it away.

So Jesus asks them for the story - and He does that because He wants them to flesh things out, just as He asks us to do. But in the question, there is a double meaning at work. “What things?” What things did you see that convinced you to be so sad? What things do you know or think about the Christ that would lead you to be so defeated? What things do you believe about Jesus makes you want to forget all that you saw, all that you know to be true, all that logic and reason would lead you to understand, and instead walk around thinking that God wasn’t there?

[pic of emotions]

The answer buried in the subtext of this interaction is actually quite simple. The answer is our emotions.

Both then, and now - probably now more than ever to be honest - far too many believers rely purely on emotion for faith and for life. They have to get a “fix” we sometimes say. We have an almost biological need to be moved by songs, or carefully crafted words, or pictures, or even just the emotions of others, in order to make a connection.

Even more than that, our faith, it seems, is so tightly tied to our emotions that when we don’t like someone - maybe at work, or in our neighborhood, or at church maybe it is another congregant, maybe a pastor, maybe we don’t like the songs, or the readings, or the “feeling” of worship - when we don’t like it, we say we can’t find Jesus there. Or we don’t feel Jesus there.

Sometimes we say it doesn’t feel like home. Maybe we can’t feel the Holy Spirit there, or it just doesn’t feel right. For us today, maybe we complain that we can’t truly worship at home - as if God is only at church! It doesn’t feel right. It isn’t the way it is supposed to be! All these feelings! All important to some extent, but church, they are nothing more than things that get in the way of us seeing Christ if we rely on them and not Him!

Just like these men! They understood it all, BUT they were upset. They were sad. They were disappointed. And there in those feelings, in those emotions, they lose moments understanding and seeing Christ!

And I pray that hits home for us all! We do that! We have moment after moment we have been given to experience Him! We have the whole story! We know the truth! But still we allow ourselves to be blinded by emotions, by feelings, rather than enlightened by the Christ who surrounds us every moment!

Luke 24:25–27 ESV

And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

Luke 24:25-27

How foolish we are!

And how selfish sometimes. Church, in our efforts to get things our own way, we need to understand that we lose Jesus. He alone is Lord! So the more you manipulate situations, the more you protest when you don’t get your way, the more you move the goalposts and establish your best arguments, the less you can experience Christ - if at all.

But there is always a way out. Christ tells that to these men, as He does to us as well. We all let things get in the way. But the difference between a person of faith, and one without faith, is that the person of faith will ultimately move beyond emotion and feelings and move toward an understanding of the entire world - and especially their own lives - in light of Christ!

So beginning with scripture - with God’s word - Jesus explains everything to us! When we see every text we read in the Bible through the life and teachings of Christ, we get God’s full picture. In fact, it is only then, if this story is to be understood correctly, that we can ever see Him!

Church, that is the truth if only because to see life through our own eyes, and ESPECIALLY through only our emotions, is to make ourselves lord of all things.

We end up with a picture painted by our experiences, our hurts, our wants, our ideological leanings; OUR THINGS!

But Christ takes all that away! WHAT THINGS? FROM THE BEGINNING OF TIME UNTIL THE END OF TIME, CHRIST IS THERE! IN EVERY STORY, IN EVERY QUARANTINE, IN EVERY STAY AT HOME ORDER, IN EVERY VACATION, IN EVERY NEW LIFE, IN EVERY DEATH, IN EVERY HEART ACHE! IN EVERY. SINGLE. MOMENT. WE ARE BLESSED WITH THE CHANCE TO UNDERSTAND OUR REALITY BASED ON OUR OWN ASSUMPTIONS AND FEELINGS, OR TO ALLOW CHRIST TO INTERPRET NOT ONLY SCRIPTURE, BUT CHURCH, TO INTERPRET EVERY PART OF THIS EXISTENCE AND EVERY PART OF OUR LIVES!

And when we do that, we find the truth that is just waiting for us all. We find the reality that God wants us to see. And finding that, we find ourselves. WE FIND LIFE! AND WHEN WE FIND LIFE WE SEE CHRIST! WE SEE HIM IN THOSE WE DISAGREE WITH! WE SEE HIM IN THOSE WITH MORE THAN US AND IN THOSE WITH LESS! WE SEE HIM IN EVERY MOMENT AND EVERY PERSON!

And when you see Him, church, all those other things just don’t matter.

Luke 24:32 ESV

They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”

Luke 24:32

Your heart will then burn within you. Your life is on fire for Him! Not emotionally so much, but spiritually! You will want nothing more than to be with Him in every moment! You don’t want to live in a rat race - you want to run the race of life with Him! Naked ambition, constant struggle for more, the so called “american dream,” all distract from the reality that is God and the life He offers!

In those hard moments with your kids, or coworkers. In the lonely moments, or in the moments surrounded by friends and family! In your dreams for life, and your goals for all that you do. You will be on fire for Him, and will seek Him in all those moments - regardless of how you feel.

That is what faith really is, church. An endless pursuit of the giver of life. A constant longing for the only truth that matters to this world.

The truth that is always there, if we just look for it. Don’t let those other things get in the way of life, church. Take this time when life is so different to move away from those things - from emotion and selfish wants - and towards the truth that defines all that is or ever will be. Our Savior and our God. The author and perfecter of our faith, and all things that will ever be.

[pray]