Preaching text: Luke 24:13-35
Luke Skywalker. Farm boy in a galaxy far far away. He begins a journey that will take him across the stars, rescue a princess, destroy a villainous super-weapon, discover his family origins, and make him come to realize that he is the “chosen one” who will save the galaxy. Quite a road trip, huh?
Frodo Baggins. Simple hobbit in the Shire. He begins a journey that will take him across Middle-Earth, battle orcs, destroy a villainous super-weapon, discover his true friends, and make him come to realize that he too is a “chosen one” who will save the world. Quite a road trip, huh?
Allen Schwarz. Nerdy kid from Charleston, WV. He began a journey at age 17 that would take him across the East Coast, from Blacksburg, VA to Albany, NY. Now I haven’t blown up any super-weapons, and I haven’t quite saved the world yet, but the last 25 or so years have been quite the road trip.
Me at around age 16-17 with my friend Jen.
What’s your road story? You began as something, the child of your parents, growing up where you grew up. But at some point in your life, you headed out on your own. Perhaps it was military service or college or maybe even nothing more complicated that a vacation trip somewhere. But whatever it was, it helped mold you into the person you are today.
The road story is one of the most common stories in human mythology and folklore. It’s all over the place. Popular books, movies, and TV shows are often road stories. The Walking Dead is a road story. Portions of Game of Thrones are road stories. Harry Potter is a road story, especially the last book. Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, Ben-Hur, Dune, Superman, The Lion King, Frozen, The Princess Bride, Narnia, all of them are road stories. A character begins a journey, goes someplace new, and is changed into who they are meant to be by their experience on the road.
It should probably them come as no surprise to discover that many of the stories in our own Bible are road stories. Joseph and his dreamcoat is a road story. Moses and the Exodus is a road story. Elijah is a road story. And the Gospels themselves.
How many of Jesus’ important encounters occur on the road? How many miracles happen on the road? How many parables are told? Even his birth is a road story. And, of course, his death and resurrection.
But the Gospels are not just Jesus’ road story. It’s also the road story of the disciples. Peter, James, John, and all the rest leave everything behind to follow Jesus wherever he goes. And he goes a lot of different places, from one end of Palestine to the other. North to South, East to West. In every encounter Jesus has, the disciples discover something new about themselves. They are becoming something new. They are becoming who they are meant to be. Who God intends them to be.
And so it is with today’s portion of those Gospel stories. On Easter afternoon, two disciples, not coincidentally, find themselves on the road from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus, some 7.5 miles distant. They encounter a stranger who seems at first oblivious to recent events. But as the three converse, the stranger soon reveals a depth of knowledge that surprises the two disciples, explaining in great detail God’s plan in Jesus Christ.
The two disciples, saddened by the news of Jesus’ death and disappearance, are re-energized by this experience. They encourage the stranger to remain with them overnight and as they break bread for supper, the two disciples realize their companion is no stranger at all, but Jesus himself. Ecstatic beyond words, the two men pack up and read back to Jerusalem to bring news to the others.
It’s easy to trace the growth of these two men across the course of the afternoon. They go from despair and sorrow to exuberance and joy as they travel their road. They are renewed, perhaps even remade, into new people by their experience. They thought their story was over, with Jesus dead and gone. Now, they realize it is just beginning.
So what about us? As I implied at the beginning, we too are on our own journey, our own road. Who we once were one, five, ten years ago is not who we are now. Circumstances have changed. We have changed. And maybe we don’t think it’s for the better. We’ve lost. We’ve been hurt. All around us seems dark or at least darker than it once was.
We’d hardly be alone if we believe that. A lot of people have been thinking that. Last year’s election was an effort, right or wrong, to try to steer our nation in a different direction. But the funny thing about road stories is that things are always the darkest just before the hero wins.
Luke Skywalker stands before the Emperor, thinking he’s doomed to die by the hands of his enemies.
Frodo sees the ring snatched from his hand by the devious Gollum at the last minute.
Harry Potter is hit with the killing curse.
Wesley (from the Princess Bride) is “mostly dead.”
Judah Ben-Hur caves into vengeance and becomes the very thing he despises in Messala.
And Jesus is dead on a cross.
But then the hero wins. Seemingly out of nowhere. The Emperor is defeated and Darth Vader redeemed.
Gollum falls into the lava and destroys the ring.
Harry Potter survives the curse yet again and goes on to defeat Voldemort.
Wesley comes back thanks to Miracle Max.
Judah remembers himself.
And Jesus rises from the dead.
And these two disciples witness it in the breaking of the bread. Good has triumphed. All is set right. All is made new.
Nothing is the same anymore and that’s a good thing.
So it is in our lives. We encounter Jesus on our road all the time. We meet him in the Word, in the sacraments. We meet him in each other, in beauty of nature, the melody of a song. We meet him in times of triumph, and most keenly, in times of trial. And when we encounter him on our roads, we are changed. The world is not the same anymore. It’s not meant to be. Because Good has triumphed. Death and evil are defeated. Life has the last word. Who we were is no longer who we are. We are something new. Something better. We are children of God. We have won. Amen.
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