Remember to see

Led by: Rev. Magdalena Marais

Scripture: Psalm 121, Luke 24: 13-35 and Isaiah 43: 1-7

A few years ago, I realised something about myself.  When I’m driving, I sometimes find myself looking at the people in the cars around me—especially when I’m sitting at one of those traffic lights that seems to stay red forever.  Perhaps I shouldn’t admit that—it probably doesn’t make me the world’s best driver!  But I have always been fascinated by the stories hidden behind the windshields.  Some people are smiling.  Some are singing along with the radio.  But many faces look tired.  Worried.  Lost in thought.  One of the saddest things I notice is the empty look in people’s eyes as they stare back at the world.  I have to admit that my own face probably doesn’t always reflect joy and peace either.

Life has a way of doing that.  Too much pressure.  Too many responsibilities.  Too many things demanding our attention.  Sometimes we become so busy with life that we forget how to live it.  I wonder if that is what the two disciples on the road to Emmaus looked like.  If someone had passed them that afternoon, they probably would not have seen hope.  I think they would have seen confusion.  Disappointment.  Sadness. Because they believed everything they had hoped for had come to an end.

1. Sometimes disappointment blinds us

These disciples had loved Jesus.  They believed He was the promised Messiah. They had dreamed about what He would do.  He was the One who calmed the storm, performed miracles, and spoke about God in a way that warmed their hearts.  Then came the cross.  Everything fell apart.  Listen carefully to what they say: “We had hoped…”  Perhaps those are three of the saddest words in all of Scripture.  “We had hoped.”

Throughout our two-year journey to Canada, we hoped.  More than once I questioned God’s leading.  More than once I asked Him for a sign.  More than once I prayed for the peace of knowing that He really was leading us, and that we were not simply following our own hearts.  I think all of us have spoken those words at some point in our lives.  “I had hoped…”  I had hoped the relationship would be restored, I would get the job, life would turn out differently.  Every one of us has, at one time or another, hoped for a different outcome—just like these two men walking the road to Emmaus.

Disappointment has a way of narrowing our vision.  We begin to see only what has been lost.  The two disciples knew the facts.  They knew about the empty tomb.  They had even heard the testimony of the women.  But sorrow kept them from seeing what God was doing.  “We had hoped.”  Hope has moved into the past.  It is no longer alive and no longer believes that tomorrow could be different.  That is where these disciples find themselves.  And perhaps, from time to time, that is where we find ourselves as well.

2. Christ comes before we recognise Him

But in the middle of this journey—this journey of two discouraged disciples—we see something wonderful happen.  Jesus comes alongside them.  And here is the remarkable part of the story.  They do not find Him.  He finds them.  They do not invite Him first.  He simply joins them.  Then the beauty of this passage begins to unfold.  Jesus listens.  He asks a few questions.  But mostly, He allows them to tell their story.  He lets them put words to the disappointment that is already written across their faces.  He already knows exactly what has happened.  Yet He still invites them to speak. He walks at their pace.  He meets them in their confusion.  He does not abandon them because their faith is weak. 

And here we discover our saving grace.  Their saving grace.  Everyone’s saving grace.  Jesus patiently opens the Scriptures.  He gently leads them to see that God’s plan had always been far greater than they had imagined. Jesus comes near first – that is grace.  Grace always takes the first step.  Grace comes looking for us before we even realise how much we need it.  And that grace carries us from “We had hoped…”  to “We still have hope.” Notice the difference.  “We had hoped” belongs to the past.  It is a hope that has died and no longer expects anything new.

But Christian hope is different.  Our hope is alive because Christ is alive.  We hope today because Christ is present today.  And tomorrow we will still have hope, because He has already gone before us into tomorrow.

3. Their eyes were opened

Everything changes around the table.  As Jesus breaks the bread, their eyes are opened.  Suddenly they realise. He has been walking with them all along.  I wonder how often that happens in our own lives.  Looking back over our two-year journey to Canada, I can remember many days when I was sulking—rather like any good teenager!  Simply because something I had hoped for didn’t happen.  My eyes were so fixed on what God hadn’t done, that I failed to see what He was already doing.  Perhaps you’ve experienced that too.  When we thought we were walking alone He was beside us.  When we thought He was silent He was patiently leading us.  When we thought our prayers were unanswered, He was preparing us for something we could not yet see.

Faith often understands life backwards.  We recognise God’s faithfulness by looking back just as much as by looking ahead.  Sometimes we only see the fingerprints of God when we pause and look behind us.  Only then do we realise that He never left us.  Not for one moment.

4. Remember Who Walks With You

The story ends in a surprising way.  The disciples do not stay in Emmaus.  They immediately return to Jerusalem.  Think about that for a moment.  The road has not changed.  Jerusalem is still dangerous.  The future is still uncertain.  Nothing around them has really changed.  But they have changed.  Because they have met the risen Christ.  Jesus did not answer every question.  He did not explain every detail of their future.  He did not remove every uncertainty.  He opened their eyes.  He helped them to see that He had been with them all along.  And that changed everything.  As followers of Christ, we never have to say, “We had hoped,” as though hope belongs only to the past.

Because Christ gives us a living hope.  A hope that is alive because He is alive.

A hope that looks beyond today’s disappointments and believes God is still at work, even when we cannot yet see it.  That is why the Christian life is always a life of hope.  Not because every problem disappears, every prayer is answered or life suddenly becomes easy.  But because Christ is our hope.  He gives us hope.  And He teaches us to live every day with that living hope.

Conclusion

Three weeks ago, we began with David’s beautiful prayer:  “Show me Your ways, Lord. Teach me Your paths.”  We prayed that prayer because we wanted to trust the God who leads us.  Last week we discovered that following God’s path does not mean life will always be easy.  Sometimes His path leads through storms.  Sometimes we become so focused on the waves that we forget who is in the boat with us.  Today we discover something even more beautiful.  Sometimes we only realise afterwards that Christ has been walking beside us all along.  Looking back over our own two-year journey, there were many moments when I was blind to Christ’s presence.  There were days when I felt as though hope was disappearing in my rear-view mirror.

But not for one moment not for one single day did Jesus leave our side, stop leading us or stopped giving us hope.  And I suspect many of you could tell similar stories from your own lives.  Perhaps tomorrow morning, as you sit at another traffic light, you will once again find yourself looking at the faces in the cars around you.  Perhaps you will see people who look worried, discouraged and tired.  Perhaps some of them feel as though they are walking their own Emmaus Road.  And perhaps they have forgotten what we so easily forget.  Jesus still fills our hearts with hope and still walks besides us.  So, wherever this coming week takes you remember who walks with you.  Therefore, walk in hope because Christ is nearer than you think.  Amen.