Sermons

“When We Lift the Cup of Salvation”

Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19; Luke 24:13-35 – Rev. Rebecca Littlejohn

Vista La Mesa Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), La Mesa, California – April 30, 2017

Holy God, bless the speaking and the hearing of these words, that all may truly see your Christ when the bread is broken here. In the name of the Risen Christ, we pray, Amen.

So once again, we’ve got this mysterious, hard-to-recognize resurrection Jesus showing up. Last week, the story from John’s gospel had disciples in a locked room who didn’t realize it was Jesus who had just walked through the walls. This week, our story from Luke takes place on the open road, and it takes even longer for these two disciples to recognize Jesus. But the story is nicely summed up in that last verse, when Cleopas and his friend have returned to Jerusalem and told the other disciples how Jesus “had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.”

Now, as you know, as Disciples – big-D Disciples, that is, members of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) – we are really into communion. Unlike some Christian traditions, we celebrate the Lord’s Supper every week. We consider it to be the center of our worship service. I’m sure some of you, who have been Disciples most of your lives, have occasionally visited with friends from another denomination on a day when their church wasn’t having communion. There is a strange feeling of not-doneness at the end of a service that doesn’t include the bread and the cup, isn’t there? So as Disciples, we’re quite happy to consider the story of the Walk to Emmaus, as it’s called, a communion story. As in the stories of the miraculous feedings, we note the four-fold pattern in which Jesus took the bread, he blessed the bread, he broke the bread, and he gave the bread to his companions. We know what those actions signal. We are not surprised that this is how Jesus was made known to grieving Cleopas and his friend, because this is one of the most important ways we have come to know Jesus ourselves.

And yet—before we rush to categorize the Walk to Emmaus passage as simply a communion story, let’s slow things down a little bit and notice what comes before that part. When is the last time you walked somewhere that was seven miles away? One way of telling this story implies there was an instantaneous moment of recognition. Another way of looking at it suggests that moment required at least 2 to3 hours of preparation. How long did it take for Jesus to interpret all the scriptures about himself, beginning with Moses and all the prophets? The story doesn’t say that Cleopas and his friend met Jesus when he broke the bread; it says they recognized him. What is required in order to recognize someone? You have to know who you’re looking for.

So how is it that those two disciples were prepared to recognize Jesus when he was revealed in the breaking of the bread? Presumably the many months they’d spent following Jesus around Galilee and the Judean countryside had something to do with it. They’d seen him take, bless, break and give before. They’d also seen him heal and teach and rebuke and feed and pray. They’d seen him calm the sea and cast out the unclean spirits. They’d seen him consort with all manner of unsavory characters, perhaps including themselves. Heavens, they’d seen him talk to women! They’d seen him respond to scripture in the synagogue with an authority no one else possessed. They’d seen how he reacted when Judas kissed him in the Garden of Gethsemane. If they were brave enough, they might have glimpsed him from a ways away as he promised the thief on the cross that they would enter into Paradise together.

All of these months of intense experience probably had something to do with it. But that wasn’t all. Then they had that 2-3 hour journey that doubled as a Bible study master class. “Beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.” By the time they got to that table, they were as ready to recognize the Messiah as anyone has ever been!

Let’s be honest: Just being at a table together does not make Christ present. There are plenty of tables that are not communion tables: Tables for “whites only”, tables where children are constantly reprimanded for being children, tables from which half the family is missing because of broken relationships, tables with sumptuous feasts that do not include the poor. If we’re looking to sit at the Table of Christ, we need to know what we’re looking for, and what doesn’t qualify. If we want to know Jesus, or even to follow Jesus, we can’t just show up for the meals. We need to search for him in scripture as well. We need to watch for Christ’s presence in our daily lives, through prayer and watchful reflection. If we want the tables around which we gather to be Christ’s table, we need to make sure we’re feeding everyone Jesus invited.

How do you know a table is the Table of the Lord? How have you learned to recognize the presence of Christ? There are so many words we attach to this table: grace, thanksgiving, redemption, love, healing, acceptance, feeding the hungry, wholeness, reconciliation, inclusion, sacrifice, welcome. Different ones of them are significant for different ones of us. I wonder, if you were asked to write a communion hymn, what theme would you choose? If could be any of those words I just mentioned, or something else entirely. What theme is central for you when you come to this table? What is the thing that makes you recognize Jesus?

There is a reason we don’t sing the same song for communion every week. There’s simply too much to fit into one song. It takes a lifetime of singing communion hymns to begin to understand and appreciate what we’re doing here. You may have a favorite. In fact, the first time we sang “In Remembrance of Me” (#403) at my first church, I had a woman tell me after worship that she wished we could sing that one every week. While I was glad she was so enthusiastic about a song, especially one we’d just introduced, I had to let her down. There is just so much more to learn about here than one song can contain. If we’re going to recognize Jesus at this Table, we need to have a good idea of what we’re looking for.

In the coming months, we will be launching a baptism class for our middle school kids, and hopefully some of our adults as well. Baptism is something we take seriously in our tradition. It is not something we do lightly. It’s not that we require people to be able to write theological treatises on baptism before they go under, but unless we have spent time considering what baptism means, what it enters us into, what it means to publicly declare that we’re going to follow Jesus, we’re probably not ready.

If we want to be a people that are inviting others to feast at the Table of the Lord, we need to make sure Jesus is still the host of this table. That means we need to understand the standards Jesus has for this table. It means we do our level best to make sure everyone is included. It means we remove whatever barriers may exist, whether it’s gluten or difficulty walking. It means that we recognize that every one of the folding tables in the other room is an extension of this beautiful wooden one here, every one of them a table where we feed hungry people or welcome the lonely. It means that we embrace the idea that this Table stretches all the way to Lesotho, where our brothers and sisters also studied the story of the Walk to Emmaus this morning.

If we want to see and follow the Risen Christ, we need to live like Easter people. We need to join with God in bringing new life into the places that have grown stale with the smell of death. We need to open up the doors and windows to the wind of the Holy Spirit that brings a new spirit of abundance and excitement. We need to be willing to stand up to the forces of death and hatred and proclaim a gospel of justice and peace and love. We need to write our songs of redemption and wholeness and thanksgiving, and sing them together at the top of our lungs.

Jesus is ready to reveal himself to us in the breaking of the bread. Are we ready to recognize him? Let us pray that we are, for the Risen Christ is here to feed us and lead us forward. Alleluia and Amen.