The gift of Emmaus a reflection for Easter 3
Today’s gospel is about seeing God as he truly is.
It is what we all long for – “To see God as he is”. Here on this earth we never reach full maturity, but we can certainly give it a 'good innings!'
The story of the disciples’ journey to Emmaus reveals something of Christ who is with us. When we are willing to welcome Christ to walk alongside us on our journey of life, when we are willing to listen and learn – even from a stranger, especially a stranger, then through word and sacrament the risen Christ can reveal himself. Christ’s presence brings both strangeness and familiarity to our hearts. Seeking Christ is at the heart of our life.
St Benedict at the beginning of his writing, would bid us to simply … listen. At the end of the rule Benedict makes clear it is listening that helps us to see; to see God, which is the end of all our exploring. Between listening and seeing, the spiritual life is one of love.
A response to love is first given by God, then a lifelong balance of being loved and of loving others, even with all their quirks and weaknesses. Together we journey with and to Christ.
Sometimes we will find ourselves like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. We are bereaved, experiencing the pain of the death of one we have loved. We feel the emptiness of loss and the uncertainties of a different future. Like those disciples, we can take comfort that our Lord is in fact walking with us. We are called to walk like the two disciples on the road, through a long and
faithful life. Our two disciples with their still unknown but friendly stranger, “came near to where they were going”. The stranger, we are told, “walked ahead as if he were going on”. Christ always has so much more to lead us onto in this life and the next. We are to always give the impression of reaching out to Christ whom we love, and know to be just ahead, but also alongside. Our exuberance must be balanced by our contemplative side. The Eucharist and prayer should be paramount in our life.
As the disciples’ day draws in, they invite the stranger to stay with them. Being with this man on the dusty road to Emmas gave them joy and it also brought out the best in them. So they take the next logical step and invite Our Lord in for some hospitality.
And it is when they sit down together to table and break bread, that they realise who it is that has been with them all this time.
At one level then we are the disciples. The stranger has much to teach us for they see things from the ‘outside’ looking in. We are used to seeing our church and our ministry from the inside and looking out. The stranger can perceive things and teach us things just because of where they stand. They walk alongside us, listen to us, and teach us. They are both one step ahead and alongside us. That makes them valuable resources and good friends. Strangers are important to us, they are good to us and they are good for us.
But did you see what happens when the disciples invite the stranger in to share bread, drink wine and engage in hospitality?
The scales fall from their eyes and they discover that the stranger who has been walking with them is actually the friend they thought they had lost. Has actually been with them all this time...
And there is a vital lesson here when we care for the stranger in our midst. It is one thing to walk with them sharing stories but the next dimension opens up when we ask them to eat and drink with us when we want to offer them hospitality and let them know in no uncertain terms that we would love to have them at our table. They must stay with us!
But there is one more way to open up this story. What if you are not just the disciples but you are in fact The Master himself? You and I know the gospel story of death and resurrection and most of us have lived in it in some way, shape or format. All of us at some point have felt denied, betrayed, ignored and forgotten. And all of us have known something of the joy of the resurrection and new life, delightful, unexpected surprises. It may not look like it and often it may not feel like it, but you do have oodles of wisdom and experience to offer those who are walking with you and to those who you meet in the marketplace of your everyday life.
The golden trophy of a church bursting with young people is only one part of what God desires. Everyone, young and old, is important to God and all have a role to play in the building up of his kingdom. Worldly experience is just as important as youthful energy.
When we walk the road to Emmaus with open ears and open hearts, with the imperative to welcome absolutely everyone, friend and stranger, the squawking baby and the ageing frail soul, then we will see God as He truly is. Then we will see ourselves as we truly are. This is the gift of Emmaus.