Easter 3

Text: Luke 24:13-35

What a strange story this is coming to us from Luke the Physician. We trust that physicians are people who get things right! Nevertheless he tells us about the two very close followers of Jesus who, after the resurrection, and walking to a village called Emmaus do not even recognize Jesus walking with them. We can almost assume that their destination is not all that important to them – they were just walking away from their own very bitter disappointment. And then, without any fanfare, the One in whom they had trusted is with them, and they can only see him as one of the many strangers who had been in Jerusalem during that first Paschal time.

Now, can you imagine yourself in their place? Jesus along side of you in your life, and you are not at all aware of Him? I certainly can, and that brings up the question for me, and really for all of us. How do we recognize Jesus in our midst? I can only answer that from my own experience, and so would like to share with you as to how I have been aware, and can be aware of Jesus with me, and with us.

I BECOME AWARE BECAUSE OF THE STORIES: The two were sharing the stories of what had just happened. That is a key. The McLean family of Lynn Valley was not by any stretch a church, or even a religious family. Really, my Father was a very cynical person. He did tolerate a yearly visit from Canon Hinchcliffe the local Anglican Vicar, and from Mr. Donahue, the United Church Minister. But never did they succeed in their great efforts to have the McLean children Baptized. On many occasions other more evangelistic groups would set up things such as Kids Clubs on weekdays after school, and we would attend to listen to and to watch the old bible stories being presented on that now almost antique medium known as “flannel graph”. How many of you remember that? From time to time I attended Church parade with Cubs, or Scouts or Army Cadets. I found that indeed I knew many of the stories, and found it all very interesting. The two on the road were talking about the stories of Easter, and it was as they did that that Jesus came along side them.

At age 18 I joined the Royal Canadian Navy as a Medical Assistant and was off to HMCS Cornwallis for basic training. Now, when it came to Sunday Church parades, the Navy was very democratic. Attendance was voluntary. However for those not volunteering, the alternative was the drill square, so as you can imagine every Sunday saw a revival of religion on board HMCS Cornwallis. But this struck me. The Chapel choir was made up of young men from the various training divisions (The young ladies did their basic training at a base at Shelburne Nova Scotia, as it would not do to have young men and ladies training together). And still fresh in my mind are words which the choir sang each Sunday as an introit. You all know them I am sure: “Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me, Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me Melt me, mould me, fill me, use me. Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.” And the words spoke to me, but they spoke very clearly partly because of the singers. They were young men with whom I was spending every day. We lived in close quarters in the huts, we ate together, and we shared stories together. At times we were well behaved, and at time not so well behaved. But above all we were all human and I could see something at those services and in those young men. The stories of Jesus which had been with me for years were alive and well and just as was the case on the road to Emmaus they were being told again. The Easter celebrations were wonderful to me, and that is because the old stories were told again, and to our generation, and Jesus is with us now. Tell the stories of Jesus; listen to them again and again. Jesus is with us through them.

I BECOME AWARE THROUGH CREATION: I became part of a small Christian Group called United Naval Christian Fellowship in Halifax; in fact it was through the group that Beverley and I met. We, as a group, were also members of Youth for Christ, and so every Friday Night for wholesome entertainment we all went off to a local Church, and usually watched a Billy Graham sermon on film accompanied by George Beverley Shae singing “How Great Thou Art” and the worlds “O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds thy hand hath made, I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, thy power throughout the universe displayed. Then sings my soul my Saviour God to thee, how great thou art, how great thou art”. Perhaps the two were also awed by the world itself on that road so long ago. It was no doubt a beautiful area. But there is something else to the story. They were not alone. They were two human beings, and then they were joined by a third human being, Jesus. And now for another story from my time in the RCN. After basic medical training which included a very intensive anatomy course taught by a Doctor by the name of Woodall it was off to the Naval Hospital in Halifax. By the way our training in anatomy was so thorough that I could name pretty well every part of the human body, and also explain what it did. And that amazed me. It became so apparent that this was nothing other than the work of God. In Halifax we did training in every department of the Hospital, one of my favourite places being the lab. It also happened that if you were on lab duty, you were expected to attend any Post Mortems. These were quite rare, as most Navy Personnel were rather young. However during my lab time a Chief Petty Officer on one of the Destroyer Escorts died. (He was rather elderly, 42 which was elderly by Navy standards). So I had to attend. The preparations were done by the lab Chief (who later became a part of Cousteau’s crew). He was assisted by the rest of the lab staff. This meant opening the body and laying out the parts for examination by the Chief Surgeon (Commander MacIver, then known as Mac the Knife!). Of course I was rather nervous about all of this, as was the Med A from his ship and others who were assisting. But the atmosphere was one of dignity and of reverence and even of awe. I will not forget it because this is what is still in my mind. This is what came to me in that rather small room. We human beings are all the same. We are God’s creation, loved by Jesus. And the person lying there was a human and all of the parts beneath that thin layer of skin were the same as to be found in any human anywhere on the earth. Of course some of the bits that mark male and female are different, but other than that we are all the same. That is and would have been the case no matter who the human was. He could have been white or black or some shade in between. He could have been straight or gay or Trans, or whatever. And God’s creation was there to see, and the presence of Jesus our maker is found in all of us. I am walking the streets of Victoria, or Hong Kong, or Soweto or Caracas or Havana and every human being I see is my sister or my brother and it is up to me to look, and to remember the stories and to see Jesus in that person, and through that, Jesus will speak to me and I will know that He is with me. The two on the road were joined by Jesus who is God the human one, and through the Human One God was with them, and is with us through each other and all human beings. As we walk crowded streets, let us make the effort to see the imprint of God in every person we see.

I BECOME AWARE THROUGH THE BREAKING OF THE BREAD: The simply but profound act of breaking bread and sharing the fruit of the vine has become known under so many names that it can become a bit confusing, and even some of the questions that come from it are not always helpful. Is Jesus really present? Is there a change in the bread and the wine? Who may partake? But it is really about this. The people of God gather, and people of God just means human beings, and as they gather Jesus is known in our presence. “Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there, I am there”. And that assures me that there is something very special about our gathering in this place for communion, and for any other type of worship.

Jesus was with Cleopas and his friend on that road to Emmaus. Jesus is with us now. Let us then put into action the privilege that is ours as humans of discovering Jesus afresh as Christ is with us now.

Amen