I love long walks, but seven miles feels like a lot!  It would be like walking from here down to Hwy 61 and then a bit farther.  Most of us would be too impatient, or perhaps too out of shape, to walk that far.  It would take not only most of a day, but all of our energy for that day.  And what would we do while we expended that time and energy?  If we were walking alone, we might get caught up in noticing the weather, the clouds, the birds and nature all around us.  We might notice how we feel physically as our feet tire and we get warm or thirsty.  We might find ourselves having an inner dialogue with God…or with ourselves, pondering, worrying, planning…  If we were walking with others, our experience would probably be much different.  It would be hard for human beings, whether they are friends or neighbors, or strangers, to avoid talking with one another as we walked along.  And seven miles creates a lot of time and space for conversation.  What topics might come to the surface after you get past casual conversation and move into sharing more honest and deep reflections?

I wonder what those four astronauts on Artemis II must have shared during those 10 days and hundreds of thousands of miles as they traveled together around the moon and back?  Certainly they had tasks and experiments to keep them focused, but what about those moments when they were just four human beings, floating together in space, sleeping, eating and taking in a view with a perspective on earthly existence that took their breath away every time they looked out the window.  Can you imagine what that experience was like for them?  Did their hearts burn within them as their eyes were opened to see something no other human on earth had ever seen?

The Road to Emmaus, found in the gospel of Luke, is one of the most beautiful and meaningful post Resurrection stories in the gospels.  Luke was known to be a physician, and his take on the story of Jesus’ post resurrection appearance captures an amazing image of healing at a time when all seems lost.  When every hope dashed, sadness and grief makes each step forward an unbearable reality.  Yet, in moments like that life goes on, doesn’t it? 

 My father died unexpectedly 29 years ago in a routine angioplasty procedure, but that moment is still fresh in my mind.  I felt a sadness and a loss I couldn’t quite fathom.  As we left the hospital that day, I couldn’t imagine going forward without my dad in my life.  And yet…the day moved on.  Plans had to be made.  My mother needed support. My siblings were all coming home.  I knew dad was with his Lord and I trusted the promise of resurrection…but the road ahead?  The road ahead seemed impossibly long.  In some ways, it still does at times.  Resurrection promise doesn’t immediately solve our human walk through the valleys of death; grief; pain…we still must face them as mortals.  Likewise, belief in the resurrection doesn’t happen for most of us in a “moment” but on long walks through life, where we are walking with others…and where, to our great surprise, Jesus shows up.

Look closely at Luke’s story.  This story happens on the same day.  What SAME day?  Well, the day that the women, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary, the mother of James and some others, went to the tomb after Passover.  It was time to move forward….prepare Jesus’ body with spices and say goodbye, but…. They could not find Jesus’ body.  Instead, they saw a dazzling, out of this world vision of 2 angels reminding them that just as Jesus said, he was raised from the dead.  What did they do?  They ran with terrified hearts to report this surreal experience to the disciples.  Luke tells us the disciples thought it was an idle tale, and refused to even consider such a thing.  But Peter got up and ran to the tomb to see for himself…and left in amazement.  We don’t know what happens with Peter and the 11 disciples yet for Luke suddenly shifts the story and puts us on a 7 mile road to Emmaus where some OTHER unnamed disciples are also moving on.  Like that day after my father’s death….perhaps they had things to do, people to see, problems to solve…so they began that long 7 mile walk back to life in Emmaus.  

Notice HOW they are moving on.  They are talking, discussing, and sharing what had happened in Jerusalem…risky political conversation to be sure.  Luke tells us they were SAD.  traumatically sad.  Actually, everyone in Luke’s story to this point is in trauma.  The women are terrified; the disciples disbelieving, Peter amazed…and these men, devastated at the outcome they had witnessed when the one THEY HAD HOPED was the Messiah turned out to be just as vulnerable to Roman oppression as everyone else.  Perhaps the saddest verse in all of scripture is vs 21:  “but we had hoped.”   

I remember thinking that same thing right after my dad died.  Our first grandchild, HIS FIRST GREAT GRANDCHILD, Rosalie, was due to be born that same spring… I had hoped my father would be there to share our joy.  But death had nailed the coffin of my hope definitively shut.  We would move on and welcome her into the world without him.

The death of HOPE is almost as heavy as death itself.  That’s why RESURRECTION is such an amazing thing. Resurrection isn’t something to be UNDERSTOOD, but to be ENCOUNTERED.  IT’S A FIRST PERSON WITNESS….”I HAVE SEEN THE LORD!”  

What does this story in Luke tell us about the resurrection?  I think there are some things here we need to see.  First is that when the hope of resurrection hangs in the balance…Jesus shows up!  What does trauma do?  It makes us doubt…it freezes us in our feelings of sadness, powerlessness and hopelessness.  If there is EVER a time we need God to intervene, isn’t it in a time of trauma…when all seems lost…when there is nothing anchoring our faith?  The good news is…it is right in and when we are walking through this valley that Jesus shows up.  And often, we don’t recognize His presence right away.  Jesus came NEAR to them in their trauma and grief and began to ask questions.  He entered into the moment and the journey they were experiencing and brought his presence without fanfare, or grandiosity… Jesus was just THERE…in the midst of their doubt and grief.

I’ve heard it said that doubt is like ants in the pants of our faith, they keep us awake and moving!  Doubt reminds us that REAL faith is a journey…a road we must walk, not just a one time experience.  Perhaps we all wish we could go to a tomb and discover bright angels telling us not to be afraid.  But for the majority of us, Resurrection hope is revealed along the way.    

Secondly, do you notice HOW Jesus meets us on that road of faith building?  Jesus came NEAR, and walked with them…joining them in conversation, slowly unpacking the insights they needed to fully begin to understand and see.  This is a scene of great TENDERNESS within a relationship.  Resurrection shows up in people’s lives in small, tender moments when others care, walk with them, encourage and love them right where they ARE,, rather than where they SHOULD BE.  Resurrection showed up for Mary in John’s gospel at the tomb when Jesus simply said her name, “Mary.”   Resurrection showed up for Thomas last week when Jesus stood beside him and offered his wounds be touched.  And in our story, resurrection shows up when hearts begin burning with a longing.  An invitation is extended, a meal shared where human bodies literally lounged around a table together in an intimate meal.  And in the blessing, breaking and giving of the bread, Jesus is KNOWN as alive and present.  Not just in the past…but in the present and in the future.   

This is why we share the Eucharist each week together.  We offer our friendship through relationships longing to claim the tender love of God in Christ  by reaching out and offering THE PEACE OF OUR LORD to those who walk with us on our shared Roads to Emmaus.  We hear the words…blessed, broken and given for you, and trust that Jesus IS truly present in the bread and the wine, intimately loving us along the walk of this life.

That IS what makes us  NEW CREATION, and a SPIRIT LED COMMUNITY of faith and hope…and promise.  

My prayer for all of us today is that we cling together to this promise of the resurrection, knowing that truly, Jesus IS there to walk with us and show us the way.  Amen.