Emaus and the Fellowship.

This is the first sermon I preached for my Foundations of Biblical Preaching course at Luther Seminary this past year.  It is rough and a little shoddy, but hey, we all start from somewhere eh?

Luke 24:13-35

Two weeks ago Christ rose triumphantly from the dead.  Prior to that Christ entered “triumphantly” into Jerusalem.

We have explored this triumphal entry, journey even, and explored what it is to be Christ-like.  We have seen what it is to journey with Christ.  That is, what it is we are called to, what a life of faith looks like.  We then suffered with Christ during Holy Week, questioning like the disciples what has happened to this one who we thought, we hoped, was the LORD.

Then despair came upon us on Good Friday,   The one we thought to be the messiah was hung upon the cross and died, along with our hopes of the return of the Davidic kingship. 

Then Sunday, Easter, the women had gone to the tomb to prepare the body of Jesus.   When they arrived they found the stone rolled away, the body was gone.  Mary then saw Jesus there in our reading on Easter.  Last week in our reading, Jesus appeared to the disciples.

This text though is different than that.  The sightings we read about the last two weeks were in Matthew, not recorded in Luke.  This reading is still Easter Sunday, and these two disciples are confused.  What has happened to the body?  Why had the tomb been opened and the body taken away? How could the body be prepared properly?

This is where we meet the two disciples today.  These two are not part of the twelve who were sent out earlier in Luke’s gospel.  These two are disciples of Jesus, who would have seen him on a regular basis, perhaps even having journeying with him into Jerusalem.

The prophet they had chosen to follow was dead.  He had been entrapped by their religious leaders and given over to the Roman authorities to be killed.

These two had journeyed to Jerusalem full of hope for the Passover feast.  Things would be different now they thought.  All the hope was gone, and also the body in the grave.  This was not the different they thought it would be.  They are leaving the city dejected, journeying to Emmaus.  Questioning their faith, and the faith of the people, I am sure.

Then they meet this stranger on the road and they need to explain everything to him.  The death of Jesus must have been one heck of an event in Jerusalem for them to assume that this stranger knew of it.  I find it very curious that they were unable to identify Jesus when they saw him.  They were actually prevented from it.

In another story we have a similar situation.  The book “The Fellowship of the Ring” by JRR Tolkien is part of a grand story.  It tells of the joining of many peoples together into a fellowship which is tasked with bringing the One Ring to Mordor, the heart of evil in the world and to destroy this ring there, in the fires of the Crack of Doom where it was forged.   In this group are humans, hobbits, an elf, a dwarf, and a wizard. 

This fellowship is formed at the council of Elrond in Rivendell.  Our intrepid Hobbits, Frodo, Sam, Pippin and Merry have brought the One Ring from their home in the Shire to Rivendell. 

They were to journey to Bree and meet the wizard Gandalf there.  He had been delayed and instead sent the ranger Strider to follow and keep watch over them, keep them safe, and lead them on the journey to Rivendell.

Strider is a special type of person.  He is a ranger from the North.  A mysterious lot who keep to themselves and don’t mix well with others according to the bar keep at the Prancing Pony in Bree where the Hobbits end up.

The Hobbits know to trust Gandalf.  But Strider is an unknown to them.  They think he is a misfit of a human.  And when he steals Frodo away after Frodo puts on the One Ring, the other three Hobbits, typically a shy unassuming lot, charge into Striders room ready to die for their friend Frodo.

Strider tells them that he will lead them to Rivendell to meet Gandalf.  And he does just that.  Along this journey he leads them through swamps, protects them from the vile ring wraiths and prevents Frodo from dying when he was stabbed by the sword of one of the ring wraiths.

Frodo ends up being rushed to Rivendell where elvish medicine is able to heal his wound.  Upon recovery he is reacquainted with Gandalf and his uncle Bilbo whom he has not seen for over three decades.  Rivendell is truly a place of peace upon the earth.  It is a bulwark against the evil that is encroaching upon the world.

Frodo thinks that this is the end of his journey.  He brought the One Ring to Rivendell and had done what Gandalf had asked of him.  This was it; everything was going to be well now.  His friends could go back to the Shire to live out the rest of their lives.  He could do the same or journey with his uncle Bilbo, as both of them had a bit of the Wanderlust.  His final task is to present the One Ring at the council of Elrond.

Elrond the leader of the elves of Rivendell has called a council to decide the fate of the heinous evil, the One Ring.  Humans, Dwarves, Elves are there along with Gandalf the Wizard, Strider, Frodo and Sam.  At this council it is finally revealed who this dirty ranger Strider truly is.  He is the Heir of Elindil, the one who was prophesied to sit again upon the throne at Gondor.  He is the One King.

Strider is the one people have been waiting for.  He is the one who can bring unity to the human people of the West, though some see his appearance as a threat to their way of life.  They benefit from the status quo and do not desire to allow strider to claim his rightful place upon the throne in Gondor.

The Hobbits had no idea who they were journeying with!  The One King, Aragorn, had lead them though swamps, protected them from wraiths, and delivered them mostly safe to Rivendell, to peace on Earth.

Our travelers have Jesus beside them, along the road to Emmaus.  They tell him all of what happened to Jesus, not knowing to whom they spoke.

Jesus tells them of all the prophecies for the messiah.  How he had to suffer to enter into glory.  And he opened the history of the people of Israel and their journey with God to them.   And in all of this the two travelers were kept from seeing that it truly was Jesus whom they journeyed with.

So a final question for you.  How often in your journey do you not allow yourself to see the Redeemer, that is Christ, active?  Are you like Frodo and the Hobbits in The Lord of the Rings?  Totally unaware of whom this person is you journey with?  Jesus is there beside you on your journey.  We may not always recognize his presence, and we may be kept from recognizing it.  As you journey through this next week, keep your eyes open for God presence.