H. Michael Brewer
Crescent Springs Presbyterian Church
18 April 2004
HOW TO WALK WITH JESUS
Luke 24:13-35
To hear the voice of Jesus, to see his face, to eat bread from his hand… This is what we long
for, to have the same experience as those disciples on the road to Emmaus. And we can! But listen
carefully to the story. Notice that the meeting with the Risen Lord, the face-to-face encounter in the
breaking of bread, that didn’t happen in a vacuum. There were other things going on that made that
meeting possible.
For one thing, as Cleopas and his companion walk down the Emmaus road, they are engaged
in spiritual conversation. They are a community, the two of them, trying to make sense of their faith,
trying to figure out together what God is doing in their world.
Christianity is a little like electricity. It works best when it’s moving from Point A to Point B.
Did you ever notice that? Electricity doesn’t stand still. It’s always moving from here to there. And if
you try to keep it in one place—stored up in a battery—without letting it out, then after a while it dies.
Christian faith can’t be bottled up inside you or me. It needs to get out, to move from you to
me and back to you and then to somebody else. This is why we have youth groups and covenant
groups and support groups, so we can pass our faith back and forth, and figure out together what we
believe and what we’re called to do.
That’s why we worship together on Sunday morning rather than everyone going into a closet
somewhere for private time with God. Preaching is a spiritual conversation between believers. Every
week I hear from you in visits and meetings and counseling sessions and phone calls, and then in the
pulpit I try to apply the Scriptures to what I’ve heard you say.
And if in the car on the way home after church or at the lunch table, you raise questions about
the sermon, or voice your disagreements or your amens, then the conversation continues. When we
Christians are honestly talking to each other about Jesus Christ and what it means to follow Jesus
Christ, then we shouldn’t be surprised if Jesus comes along and joins in the conversation. In fact, it
would be surprising if he didn’t.
When Jesus joins the conversation, then we have entered into prayer. That’s what prayer is,
isn’t it? Talking with God in Jesus Christ? Notice I didn’t say talking TO God; I said talking WITH
God. Prayer is essential for anyone who wants to meet Jesus face-to-face. But there are ways of
praying that make that more likely to happen.
I know a woman who can talk the pain off a picket fence. She has enthusiasm, vitality, and the
gift of gab, but she doesn’t leave many openings for the other partner in the conversation. She’ll ask a
question, but if you’re not quick, if you pause to think about your answer, she moves on and you’ve
lost your turn.
Some of us pray that way. We talk and talk and talk to God, and then we say Amen. That’s
not a dialogue, that’s a monologue. On the Emmaus Road, the disciples have their say. They pour out
their hearts and ask their questions, and then Jesus takes over. And from that point on, Jesus does
most of the talking and they do the listening. If we truly want to hear from Jesus, then we’d better be
people of prayer, not just talking prayers but also listening prayers.
And that brings us to the Bible, because the Bible is one the most important ways we listen to
God. I can hardly say it as well as Luke said it. Here are two Christians--heart broken, confused,
grieving, struggling with doubts--and what does Jesus do for them? He leads them in a Bible study!
Robert Fulghum wrote a popular piece a few years ago, “Everything I Really Need To Know,
I Learned In Kindergarten.” It was cute and thoughtful. And then came the imitators. And now you
can find posters proclaiming that everything you really need to know can be learned from playing golf
or watching Star Trek or planting a garden.
Well, it may not have much poster potential, but everything a Christian really needs to know
about salvation, and living a worthwhile life, and understanding ourselves, and relating to others, and
relating to God can be learned from the Bible with the help of the Holy Spirit. Should it surprise us
that the One who made us is the One who can truly speak to our needs, our hurts, our questions? We
are not likely to meet Jesus on the streets of our neighborhood, if we have not spent time with Jesus
on the roads of Galilee in the Bible.
So by the time these two disciples get to the Table, they are primed for an eye-opening
experience. They’ve been practicing Christian fellowship and spiritual conversation. They’ve been in
prayer, both talking and listening. They’re immersed in the Bible. No wonder they discover the
presence of Jesus when the bread is broken. When we come to the Lord’s Table with lives prepared
and hearts ready, something is bound to happen.
When the door is open, Christ will keep his promise to come in and eat with us. When the
door is open… Notice that when the two disciples reach their home at Emmaus, Jesus walks on past
as if he’s going on down the road. “But they urged him strongly” to come into their home and stay
with them. Christ seeks us out, but where there is no true welcome, Christ will not come in.
Janet has students that she tutors in our home in the afternoons, and Bethany has piano
students. Within the family, we all use the side door of the house, but the students and their parents
come to the front door. So we try to make them welcome. When it snows, we shovel the front walk.
In nice weather, we leave the front door open. Not a big deal, just a way of saying, “Come on in. We’
re expecting you. You’re welcome here.”
Over the centuries we Christians have learned that it’s helpful to leave the door open for Jesus,
to shovel the walk and lay out the welcome mat. We do that today the same way the disciples did it
on the road to Emmaus, the same way the church has always done it.
Notice how Luke describes the early church in Acts. “They devoted themselves to the
apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”
Nowadays, the apostles’ teaching is contained in the New Testament. In other words, those
first Christians devoted themselves to Bible study.
And fellowship. They met in one another’s homes for worship and food and to talk about their
faith.
And they devoted themselves to prayer—several times a day.
And they broke bread together.
Sound familiar? We’re not discovering anything new today, nothing that hasn’t been practiced
by every generation of Christians. And that’s the point. This has been tested and proven. The burning
heart, the assurance of Jesus beside us on the journey, the sound of his voice, the taste of bread eaten
from his hand, these are not hopeless day-dreams.
These are the gifts of Christ to the people of Christ, to all those who make themselves ready
for his coming. This can be your experience, too. Christ is seeking you even at this moment. If you’re
not ready now, then get ready. Be assured, our Lord will never pass by your open door nor your
open heart.
Soli Deo Gloria!