Faith notes

April 18, 2008 09:47 am

— Pastor Joan Ervin
Cincinnati and Unionville United Methodist Church

The event described in Luke 24:13-35 is best known as the story “The Walk to Emmaus.” It happened on the evening of the day Jesus rose from the dead. Some of Jesus’ followers were walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus, when suddenly Jesus was walking along with them; but they didn’t know it was Jesus. You might be saying, “but it they were his followers, how could they not know it was him?” The scripture says that God didn’t allow them to recognize him. It says “their eyes were kept from recognizing him.”
If we think about it, it is pretty understandable that they didn’t recognize him. They were feeling very low in spirit, their friend had just been crucified and now, if you remember, they thought his body had been stolen; so they were not expecting to see him walking on the road with them. They were lost in their own depression and not paying much attention to what was around them. You might say they were “lost in a fog.”
We can all relate to this statement (lost in a fog) these days. We have had a few days of real fog, and believe me, you don’t see much of what is around you, when it is foggy. You just kind of keep your eyes on what is right in front of you and that is all you see.

These men were not in a real “weather” fog, they were in a “mental” fog. Their mind was just focusing on what was right in front of them.
We all walk a lonely road from time to time, the problem with us is, most of the time, we don’t know we are on a lonely road. We fill our days with all kinds of stuff, so we don’t have to think about what is really in our minds. We make a mental fog, so we don’t have to see the things around us that might cause us discomfort or conflict. We push our loneliness and our unhappiness to the back of our minds and pretend it isn’t there.
The church should be a place where we can find comfort, and recognize Jesus walking beside us. But is it? Do we go to church to find Jesus, or do we go to church because it makes us look good to the community? And if we do go to church to find Jesus, do we find him, or do we just find another social club?
Consider this for a moment; suppose going to church is your road to Emmaus. What are you carrying down that road? Is it heavy? Is it weighing you down? Is it making you sad? If that is the case, it’s alright, the church is the place to bring these things. The room, in the church where we worship, is called the sanctuary, a safe place.
Now ask yourself these questions: Would you recognize Jesus if he came in and sat down beside you? He does you know. Does your burden get lighter after being in worship? If you answered no, then why? Was what you needed not there or did you just not recognize it? Did the preacher say something to offend you, or did the preacher say something you needed to hear, but didn’t want to hear?
We all walk that road every day, and every day, Jesus walks right beside us; and a lot of the time we don’t recognize him. Sometimes when we are sitting in worship our minds are in a fog, we are not paying attention, we are not allowing the Spirit to get in.
Next Sunday be sure to bring your burdens, your loneliness, your problems with you to church, and do your best to see Jesus when He sits down beside you. You won’t see a man with long hair, wearing a long robe; but you will see him in your friends, you will feel him in the songs and the prayers, and you will hear him in the sermons if you will just open your heart and listen, feel and experience. It is all there for the taking.
All you have to do is open your life and let Him in.