Luke 24:13-35
Introduction
We all know the benefits of physical exercise—even exercise as simple as walking can have incredible health benefits.
Dr. Thomas Frieden, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in Harvard Health Publishing of Harvard Medical School, said, “This simple activity you’ve been doing since you were about a year old is now the closest thing we have to a wonder drug.”
Benefits include: increased cardiovascular and pulmonary fitness; reduced risk of heart disease and stroke; improved management of conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, joint and muscular pain or stiffness, and diabetes; stronger bones and improved balance, burn calories, lower your blood sugar; boost energy; improve your mood—just walking will extend your life.
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Jesus was an epic walker— walking mind-boggling distances to those of us who are used to moving while seated.
Researchers have found if we take the Gospels at face value we can estimate how far he walked. For instance, Jesus, when returning from Egypt to Nazareth with his parents as a young boy, would have walked about 400 miles.
As a devout Jew in Galilee, every male would travel to Jerusalem three times a year for religious festivals, a 240-mile round trip from Nazareth. Do this every year between the ages of 5 and 30, he would have walked 18,000 miles in trips to Jerusalem alone (3 x 240 x 25).
Based on the Gospel accounts, Jesus traveled over 3,100 miles in his ministry.
That means a conservative estimate of the distance Jesus walked during his lifetime was over 21,000 miles. As a point of reference, the United States is 2,800 miles wide.
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Jesus’ lifetime of walking no doubt kept him healthy. But it also brought about the health, help and wellness of countless others.
The Disciples lives were changed for the better by walking with Jesus.
The people who walked to Jesus, and the people Jesus walked to—all changed for the better.
Walking to Jesus, walking with Jesus, always has, and always will lead us to places of healing, wholeness, faithfulness, and peace.
Yes, it will require us to walk through some dim valleys and some roads less traveled wrought with challenges and dangers—but we are assured we never walk them alone
That is the journey all of us put ourselves on when we made the life changing decision to walk with Jesus.
And today, four from our church family: Ben, Ethan, Jackson, William, are starting, in a new way, their walk with Jesus.
Move 1
Though Jesus walked thousands of miles, the seven miles he walks in our text today ranks amongst the most transformative.
Two disciples of Jesus, Cleopas and an unnamed other, are walking away from the terror of Good Friday and the puzzling “to-good-to-be-true” miracle of Easter.
Luke doesn’t tell us why Emmaus is their destination. Were they fleeing? Returning home? Who knows?
Most of the other disciples were hiding in Jerusalem, but these two hit the bricks. And of course, it’s during this walk that Jesus comes to them and asks, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?”
It’s just they don’t realize its Jesus. Even though they certainly had walked with him for at least some of those 3,100 miles, being told and shown they were moving toward a promised destination, they were now walking lost and confused.
Cleopas answers the strangers question—while wondering if this guy has been living in a cave for the last week—telling him about their hope in “the one to redeem Israel”, to his soul crushing crucifixion, and finally the bewilderment of the empty tomb.
It’s then the stranger begins to tell them about a longer journey, walking them through God’s plan for God’s people that led to the Messiah’s death and resurrection. From the liberation in Egypt to the prophets to the signs and ministry of the Messiah, this recounting is made as they walk to Emmaus—Jesus telling them all of it is both a destination and a new beginning.
Move 2
If there’s anything the Emmaus Road story teaches us, it’s that the Disciples are at their best when they make the long walk with Jesus.
Because discipleship is never a flash in the pan process that looks for, or even expects, instant results.
Discipleship recognizes our lives are a journey of following Jesus, learning from him, emulating his ways, but also looking for him in the faces of who we cross paths with.
Discipleship is an unwavering commitment to follow Jesus despite the inhospitable people encountered along the way, while offering hospitality and compassion and forgiveness to others who don’t yet recognize him.
Discipleship is knowing we can’t walk this long journey alone.
Discipleship always has been, and always will be, the long game where we are called to see all faces as children of God; to hear all stories as part of the Creation story; to experience hospitality and extend hospitality; to love everyone, even our enemies, just as we are loved by God through Jesus.
That is our role as those who claim to walk with Jesus.
Move 3
Upon arriving in Emmaus, the two disciples invite this stranger to stay with them, which he does, which eventually leads them to recognizing who they had been walking with. And that prompted them to walk back to Jerusalem.
Emmaus wasn’t their finish line.
Going back to Jerusalem that night to tell the disciples what happened was not their destination either.
Both were just more stops on the journey of walking with Jesus, because the truth about walking with Jesus is the walk never ends.
Conclusion
We begin our walk with Jesus when we confess He is the Messiah, Son of the living God, and then step into and out of the waters of baptism.
We need nourishment along the way, which is given to us in the bread of life and the cup of salvation.
And as we make this walk we are to remember it is Jesus who invites us, renews us, provides for us, and walks beside us—whether we know it or not.
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It is a great and glorious walk all of us are on, a walk that will one day continue on into eternity.
And what a great and glorious time it is to see four from our church family, begin their walk with Jesus in a new way.
So may we celebrate today Ben, Ethan, Jackson, and William.
For today they, like all of us did one day before, have arrived at a destination that reveals Christ to them in a new way—through their confession of faith, their baptism, their first communion.
But this is not their final destination—just as it isn’t for any of us.
Today is a new beginning—a new beginning within the body of Christ, as those who walk with Jesus. Amen.
Pastoral Prayer: May 22, 2022, Baptism Sunday
Loving God, we praise you for including us in your gracious covenants and for reminding us we are part of the body of Christ, and forever walk with you.
In the sacrament of baptism, which we are about to celebrate, we thankfully acknowledge our covenant relationship with you.
We thank you for the water of baptism, the symbol of cleansing and forgiveness—of lying down in death, but then being raised to newness of life, just as you raised your son Jesus.
So as we gather on this day of baptism, we pray for your blessings of grace, love, and new life in the body of Christ to be poured out upon Ben, Ethan, Jackson, and William.
Grant them the understanding that they are forever in your embrace; and that because of the confession and commitment they make this day, you place a special calling upon them, to go forth and live as those who have taken Jesus into teir heart.
We pray Ben, Ethan, Jackson, and William will continue to grow in your love for them, while responding with love in all they say and do.
And in the joy we all share with these families today, we pray you help us all to remember how you call us to walk with you always; to be faithful disciples who know that faith in you is not a sometimes effort, but a way of life.
Implore us always to remember our baptisms, and what discipleship means. Make us remember these baptisms today, and what our role within them is. And then help us to continue to walk with your Son, wherever He would have us go. For that is how your Good News brings forth healing, wholeness, and renewal, and it is how we change the world.
We ask now, O God, that you would listen to the prayers we now offer from our hearts, through this time of Holy Silence.
These prayers we offer in the name of him who said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs”, Jesus the Christ, who also taught us to pray saying, “Our…”