Easter Three - Walking the Way

The mysterious and powerful story of the encounter on the Emmaus road captivates our imaginations, comforts us in times of uncertainty and struggle, and challenges us how to live a faithful life. (Easter Three. Luke 24:13-35.)

Sentence:

They said to each other: “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” Luke 24:32

Collect:

Loving Creator,

Your beloved son returned to us and fell in step beside us that he might make himself known more fully

And our hearts burned within us then as they do now.

Help us to see, to hear, and to step out on the way so that others too may know his revelation of love.

This we ask in the name of the Trinity of Love:

Creator, Redeemer, and Renewing Spirit. Amen.

You may wish to read what I have previously written on this text.

The Emmaus Road

I want to suggest a threefold way in which this story may relate to us. Firstly, in the comforting and exciting way of Jesus being our companion on the way of life, of falling in step with us as we go about the glorious and difficult aspects of life. Who among us does not thrill to that line: “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road?” It is the moment, the sentiment, that much art has sought to capture. The engagement, the deep recognition of truth being spoken into our situation, and the slowly dawning realisation of being in the presence of the holy one, of not being alone. Jesus the risen Christ is our saviour and redeemer and also our friend and companion on this journey of life.

Secondly, we are invited to come to know that Jesus is himself the Way. Not in the sense of some exclusive tribe in which particular belief in Jesus rules one in or out so much as his life and teachings are the Way of living. This is much more demanding. We who feel called to be followers of Jesus the Christ are called to do just that: follow, walk the walk, grow, change, develop, to be transformed by the renewal of our minds and the emptying of our hearts. Too often in the contemporary church we become consumed with questions of what we believe and of the correctness, or orthodoxy, of what we think about Jesus. As a perennial student of theology (and preacher) and a priest I am often concerned with matters of belief. I also can’t help noticing in myself and others that correct, or good, theology doesn’t always lead to loving wise behaviour and relationships that love and honour our neighbours particularly well.

The image of the life of faith, for the individual and for the community, as one of travelling through life on a way or path, of journeying, is ancient and widespread and occurs in many different spiritual traditions. And the early Christians were known as people of the Way. I particularly resonate with the image and metaphor of becoming a Companion on the Way.

When I refer to our spiritual life as being on the Way I am acknowledging that the path has purpose as well as those things, events and people whom I seem to randomly encounter. There is also some sense in which the Way is a choice to seek God’s wisdom and love rather than follow what passes for worldly – intellectual and cultural – wisdom only. It is not that I find the world without wisdom just that I need to give priority and preference to the wisdom of the spiritual tradition as I have experienced it. I have come to believe that Jesus the Christ is not only my Companion on the Way but IS the Way, that in some sense I travel not just with him as a guide (which I most assuredly do) but that he is the Way itself – the one in whom I live and move and have my being – that I am never outside of him or beyond his presence. This Companionship is experienced through the sense of presence in spirit, his presence in others, and through the teachings of Jesus as left to us in Scripture and as reflected upon by the spiritual greats.

And thirdly we are also companions to others – this is a shared journey. I experience journeying on the Way as travelling where others also have, since ancient times and to this very day, and seeking to gain guidance and momentum from their experience and wisdom. I experience their company in Scripture and other wisdom texts, the stories of the saints, and those who I have met along the Way. And I find that I too become a companion of others as they seek to walk the way.

Recognising that others are on the same Way is both a delight and sometimes a challenge. Part of what we do in worship and shared ministry is to enjoy the benefits of others gifts and energy. It is also that the intimacy of the journey makes sure we do not imagine ourselves further ahead than we actually are because being connected to others confronts us with human needs, idiosyncrasies and competing world views and aspirations! The arguments among the disciples about who is the greatest is an example. So let us be patient with and grateful for one another as those we share the journey with, those with whom we break bread, those who are our fellow students, our teachers, and those who need to share in our wisdom.

Even so, come Lord Jesus the risen Christ, come lead us on the Way that is yours and ours to walk. Amen.

Intercessions:

Come Creator God, who has made all things good,

You embedded all your earth, peoples and creatures with gifts,

help us to live in respect of all living beings and our planet spinning in space.

We particularly pray for those places and peoples suffering from natural disasters and human made degradation and violence …

We pray for those who companion the broken and vulnerable, agencies of care, reporters of hard truths, and courageous negotiators of peace …

Creator God,

Hear our prayer.

Risen Christ, Redeemer and Companion on the Way,

open our eyes and ears that we perceive you when you fall instep beside us.

Turn our hearts to our fellow companions and those by the wayside who do not see a path to follow.

We particularly pray for the lonely, the lost, the distracted and overfed, the hungry and left behind …

We pray for all in the church and of other faiths who express their discipline in acts of love and service …

Risen Christ our companion,

Hear our prayer.

Holy Spirit for whose renewing energy we wait,

Come stir our hearts and imaginations with visions of heaven on earth, of possibilities of peace and good will, of ways of being expressions of love in our world near and far.

We particularly pray for those who struggle at this time in this parish, community remembering in your holy presence those we care for …

Renewing Spirit,

Hear our prayers.

Living God,

Creator, Companion, and Renewing Spirit,

We pray in the name of the Risen Christ, who bids us to step out on the Way of life and love. Amen. 

This is my work informed by all that I have heard, read and experienced. I am indebted to the wisdom of others.