Round Trip                                              Luke 24:13-35

Today’s reading has two people walking between Jerusalem and the town of Emmaus. It’s a distance of about seven miles one way and since we walk at approximately three miles an hour, this trip took a little over two hours; not a long walk but not ten minutes down the road either.

These two cities; Jerusalem and Emmaus are actual geographical places, but as I studied this I came to see these two cities can also be looked at as two different places in our lives.

Let’s look at Jerusalem. Christ had recently entered the city with a crowd surrounding him and praising him. Shortly thereafter they turned on him; Jesus was crucified and buried in a stone tomb. Then just a few days later his body disappeared from that tomb. Many thought Jesus disciples removed his body and hid it, and this caused the Roman government to react.

The Romans thought the disciples did this to start an uprising against them. The Romans were now on high alert, watching the populace closely, ready to shut down and problems or rebellion the Jews may start, and they were ready to do it violently. Jerusalem was a place you would want to get away from.

Have you ever felt that life has given you almost more than you can handle? Have you ever been disappointed, have unmet expectations, felt lost? Have you ever worked hard for something just to see it always just beyond your fingertips?

Have you ever felt like you just want to get away? If you have then you can relate to what Cleopas and his companion must have been feeling. It’s Sunday morning and these two are leaving Jerusalem, and I don’t think we can blame them for it.          Jerusalem went from a place of happiness and celebration to a place of sorrow, loss, unmet expectations and disappointment.

These men didn’t want to stay there, I probably wouldn’t either. I bet they felt as though a part of them died when Jesus did. So now they start off for Emmaus. Why Emmaus? I don’t know, it doesn’t say. More than likely it’s just because Emmaus isn’t Jerusalem.

I’ve had times like this in my life, times where anyplace had to be better than where I was. Emmaus was their escape from the troubles in their lives. We’ve all had an Emmaus in our lives at some time. Places where we want o go just to get away. To these men Emmaus was their escape, at least that’s what they thought.

These men thought they were getting away from something but they were really going toward something. It really wasn’t escape or brokenness that drove these men to Emmaus but rather a hunger for wholeness and restoration. Isn’t this what we feel when we want to get away? We don’t necessarily want a total escape from our lives, we simply want to feel restored and whole again.

We see in their need, in their hunger; Jesus fed them. Jesus feeds them, restores them through scripture. Jesus tells them what the prophets foretold, how God’s plan for the restoration of mankind all came together through him. He showed them who he is, why he was sent by God and what he accomplished.

Jesus taught them that through him they have been redeemed with God, their lives are full, and they are whole and restored. Jesus shows them that he has wholly given himself for them; that he gave his body, his life, his love, his compassion, his strength, his forgiveness, and his hope. He gave them and us all that his is and all that he has.

Verses 30-32 describe how the two sat down and ate with Jesus and s they did they recognized who he was. I went over this several times until something started to make sense to me. Eating is something we all need to do to stay alive; it is a common thread between all of us. The reality is it’s hard to hate someone you’re eating with.

When we seek out help from family or friends  we usually talk over a meal or perhaps a cup of coffee. When you share a meal with someone you open yourself up, you share  and you accept from who you are with.

Over a meal people share their desires, their fears and their plans, but you also listen. You show compassion, camaraderie, support and comfort.

These two men opened themselves up, they invited and accepted their new companion into their lives. In essence, they invited and accepted Jesus into their lives. And it changed them. These men stopped running away to find their restoration, they realized restoration was found in Jesus. And once they knew this they went back to Jerusalem, back to what they were running away from.

These men now had the strength to see Jerusalem not only as a place of death but also as a place of life. They now see Jerusalem not only a place of sorrow but a place of joy; not only a place of shattering but a place of restoration.

We can all want to escape at times; leave our hurt, our loss and our problems behind. These geographic places; Jerusalem and Emmaus, and the round trip taken by these men show us a pattern in our lives. If we see these places not just as a couple of towns but as places in our emotional and spiritual lives we can see the pattern. Jerusalem, Emmaus, Jerusalem; our shattered lives, our faith and trust in Jesus, our restored lives.

I try not to look at the world with rose colored glasses so I recognize living this pattern out can be harder than it sounds. To live this pattern requires us to fully trust that God will take the broken shards of our pain and make them the puzzle pieces that create a new life. To live this pattern we need to fully trust that God will take the pain of our old life and use it to build the joy in our new life.

It is our faith in Jesus that allows us to leave our Jerusalem so that we can return to it. It is our faith in Jesus that allows us to face the death of loved ones, to face our losses and pain; and in so doing, it is our faith in Jesus that lets us see life is waiting for us and we have the strength to return to it and to reclaim it.

When these men returned to Jerusalem things hadn’t changed, it was still a city under Roman rule; it was still a place sorrow and seemingly unmet expectations. But they returned and they told the disciples what they experienced. They saw Jerusalem in a different light.

This is the lesson of this fourteen mile round trip. When we finish our journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus and back again; we find God didn’t change Jerusalem, God changed us.

Amen.