Conversations on the road
21/08/14 05:33
In the first few days after the resurrection of Jesus, our people struggled to understand the meaning of resurrection. That is still an intellectual challenge for us and we often don’t fully grasp its meaning. From those days emerged the story of two disciples walking along the road to Emmaus when they are approached by a stranger who walks with them. Their conversation begins with the stranger asking them about their lives and their journey. Amazed that the stranger doesn’t seem to know their story of grief and loss, they tell it one more time. After listening carefully to their story, the stranger begins to discuss the sacred words of scripture with them. When they reach their destination, the urge the stranger to stay with them and they eat a meal. As the meal is shared they are finally able to recognize who had been with them for the entire journey. It was the resurrected Christ. After Christ departed the two discussed what had happened to them and one raised this question of the other: “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?”
The deepest mysteries of life and death and resurrection are still a bit beyond our comprehension. We catch glimpses of the deepest meanings and we experience moments of connection with the resurrected one, but there is still much that we don’t understand.
But I have experienced part of the Emmaus journey: “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?”
Yesterday was a long day for this aging pastor. I was in the office very early, working on the liturgy and worship notes for Sunday. Later I went to a regular Bible Study where the other pastors have become my friends. The warm feeling of seeing each other after a brief absence was evident as we discussed the scriptures and explored directions for the task of leading worship in our community. Then it was back to the church to catch up on e-mail, make telephone calls, speak with volunteers hard at work in the church, and meet with a wedding party to go over a service. I grabbed a quick sandwich at noon and was able to stop by a local shop for a few minutes to greet our guests from Australia. In the afternoon I officiated at the wedding, attended the wedding reception and returned to the church for a meeting of the Department of Stewardship and Budget. When I locked up the church for the evening it was a little more than 13 hours since I arrived. I came home, hung up my jacket and removed my tie. Soon the conversation was flowing freely. We and our Australian friends seem to always be able to pick up where we left off and there were many stories to share and our conversation flowed freely. One by one the others headed off to bed until there were just two of us. Tony was telling me a little bit about his recent travels in China, his visit to the Nanjing Theological Seminary, and his sessions with members of the Chinese Christian Council. The dynamic Christian church that has emerged in post cultural-revolution China is nothing short of amazing. A new congregation every three days, people who literally walk all night to attend a worship service and then turn around and walk into the next night to get home for work the next day, congregations that burst at the seams with thousands at worship, and a vibrant, life-transforming faith emerging from a post-denominational, post-missionary church with powerful leaders arising from its midst.
“Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?”
As I lay in bed waiting for sleep which came quickly I couldn’t help but revel in the joy of the excitement of our conversation.
In the terms of Luke’s report of the disciples’ journey to Emmaus, I had experienced the resurrected Christ multiple times in one day. In my conversations with my colleagues as we met for our weekly Bible study and in my late night conversations with our Australian guest, I experienced that burning heart sensation of knowing that our conversations are a part of something much bigger than ourselves. And maybe, just maybe, as I reached out to the congregation assembled for the wedding, as I tried to make connections between the sacred words of our scriptures and the family and friends gathered for the wedding, I was able to be like the stranger on the road and help others to see the resurrected Christ in our midst.
Our experiences of resurrection come to us in the midst of our everyday lives. In the real pain and struggle of grief and loss, in the telling of our stories and finding ways to see the connections between our stories and the great stories of our people, in the sharing of simple refreshment and food, we come face-to-face with the amazing and powerful truth that death is not the end. Life triumphs even when it seems that death has caused the ultimate separation. Love transcends that vast distances that sometimes seem to separate us.
Four decades ago we were drawn to Chicago in part because of a truly great teacher. Together we studied with that teacher and together we were inspired and challenged by our lessons. Our lives led us to very different lives on different continents and our families unfolded in different ways. But last evening as we talked it was as if our teacher, Ross Snyder, was a part of our conversations. We still use a particular poetic style when we speak that we learned in our studies with Ross. We know how excited and interested he would have been at the experiences we have had.
“Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?”
The deepest mysteries of life and death and resurrection are still a bit beyond our comprehension. We catch glimpses of the deepest meanings and we experience moments of connection with the resurrected one, but there is still much that we don’t understand.
But I have experienced part of the Emmaus journey: “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?”
Yesterday was a long day for this aging pastor. I was in the office very early, working on the liturgy and worship notes for Sunday. Later I went to a regular Bible Study where the other pastors have become my friends. The warm feeling of seeing each other after a brief absence was evident as we discussed the scriptures and explored directions for the task of leading worship in our community. Then it was back to the church to catch up on e-mail, make telephone calls, speak with volunteers hard at work in the church, and meet with a wedding party to go over a service. I grabbed a quick sandwich at noon and was able to stop by a local shop for a few minutes to greet our guests from Australia. In the afternoon I officiated at the wedding, attended the wedding reception and returned to the church for a meeting of the Department of Stewardship and Budget. When I locked up the church for the evening it was a little more than 13 hours since I arrived. I came home, hung up my jacket and removed my tie. Soon the conversation was flowing freely. We and our Australian friends seem to always be able to pick up where we left off and there were many stories to share and our conversation flowed freely. One by one the others headed off to bed until there were just two of us. Tony was telling me a little bit about his recent travels in China, his visit to the Nanjing Theological Seminary, and his sessions with members of the Chinese Christian Council. The dynamic Christian church that has emerged in post cultural-revolution China is nothing short of amazing. A new congregation every three days, people who literally walk all night to attend a worship service and then turn around and walk into the next night to get home for work the next day, congregations that burst at the seams with thousands at worship, and a vibrant, life-transforming faith emerging from a post-denominational, post-missionary church with powerful leaders arising from its midst.
“Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?”
As I lay in bed waiting for sleep which came quickly I couldn’t help but revel in the joy of the excitement of our conversation.
In the terms of Luke’s report of the disciples’ journey to Emmaus, I had experienced the resurrected Christ multiple times in one day. In my conversations with my colleagues as we met for our weekly Bible study and in my late night conversations with our Australian guest, I experienced that burning heart sensation of knowing that our conversations are a part of something much bigger than ourselves. And maybe, just maybe, as I reached out to the congregation assembled for the wedding, as I tried to make connections between the sacred words of our scriptures and the family and friends gathered for the wedding, I was able to be like the stranger on the road and help others to see the resurrected Christ in our midst.
Our experiences of resurrection come to us in the midst of our everyday lives. In the real pain and struggle of grief and loss, in the telling of our stories and finding ways to see the connections between our stories and the great stories of our people, in the sharing of simple refreshment and food, we come face-to-face with the amazing and powerful truth that death is not the end. Life triumphs even when it seems that death has caused the ultimate separation. Love transcends that vast distances that sometimes seem to separate us.
Four decades ago we were drawn to Chicago in part because of a truly great teacher. Together we studied with that teacher and together we were inspired and challenged by our lessons. Our lives led us to very different lives on different continents and our families unfolded in different ways. But last evening as we talked it was as if our teacher, Ross Snyder, was a part of our conversations. We still use a particular poetic style when we speak that we learned in our studies with Ross. We know how excited and interested he would have been at the experiences we have had.
“Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?”