Emmaus Road: Christ Revealed Through Word and Bread

So when confusion comes, and it will come, don't look inward. You will not like what you find. Look instead to Christ. Listen again. Hear his word and find what you truly need. Because his word is still doing what it did on that road to Emmaus, what it did through Peter's message on Pentecost, doing what Peter still says, enduring forever and giving new birth. [00:39:21] (32 seconds)  #LookToChrist

But it doesn't stop there. Because then he sends you. He sends you back, right where you're perfectly positioned, just like those disciples, just like that crowd into a world that is full of confused, searching, hurting people. People who are walking down their own roads asking the question, what is going on? And you don't go with the answers to all the questions. You go with something better. You go with Christ crucified and risen. [00:39:53] (39 seconds)  #SentWithChrist

Because now they know where to find him. Not in their understanding, not in their ability to hold on to him, but they can find Jesus in his word. They can find Jesus in the gift of himself, in the breaking of bread, at communion with his body and blood. He is he's here. And everything changes for these disciples. They go from being confused to being convicted to being sent. They run back to Jerusalem. They can't keep it in. [00:37:38] (34 seconds)  #FindJesusInTheWord

No. When they ask the question, Peter responds in Acts two thirty eight, and he says, repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Repent. Admit what you know to be true about yourself. You are, I am, a poor miserable sinner. [00:35:49] (33 seconds)  #RepentAndBeBaptized

Do you see the connection? On the road to Emmaus, their hearts were burning. At Pentecost, this sermon preaches preached by Peter, their hearts are pierced, and in both places, the word of Christ is doing something. It's not just informing. It's not just offering advice. It is acting. It is creating. It is doing because that's what God's word does. [00:33:19] (27 seconds)  #GodsWordActs

And that's the turning point. The turning point wasn't when they saw him. It wasn't when they felt better. It wasn't when their circumstances changed. The the turning point was when he spoke and then when he broke bread. And that fast forwards us to acts two that Raul read for us. Peter stands up and taught a sermon to preach. The same Peter who denied Jesus three times, the same Peter who ran away now speaks, and and what does he do? He preaches Christ. [00:32:18] (34 seconds)  #WordAndBreadReveal

Yet they don't recognize him. And that's important because it it tells us a little bit about how Jesus works many times, how he's present even when he's not recognized, how he's near, even when it feels like he's hidden, and he begins to speak. And he doesn't give them a pep talk. He doesn't tell them to just try harder. He doesn't shame them for their confusion. He just opens the scripture. [00:29:44] (34 seconds)  #JesusRevealedInScripture

Right there, friends. Right in that confusion that Jesus shows up. Just like he did last week to the disciples, as John told us, who were locked in an upper room that we looked at last week, Jesus shows up to these two as well. And he shows up not after they've figured it out. He shows up not after they've gotten their theology straight. He shows up not after they've gotten their faith strong again and their lives are in order. No. He just shows up in the midst of the confusion, and he walks with them. [00:29:06] (38 seconds)  #JesusWalksWithUs

And like the crowd in Acts chapter two, we are cut to the heart, and we ask the same question, what shall we do? Here's the danger. Because in our pull ourselves up by our bootstrap culture, in our try harder, do better thing, we expect the same thing when it comes to faith. Fix yourself. Try harder. Do better, but that's not what Peter says. [00:35:20] (28 seconds)  #FaithIsNotSelfHelp

You go with his word. You go with his message that Jesus is lord. Jesus is risen. Jesus forgives, and through that word, his word will do what it always does, turn confusion into conviction and turning conviction into life. In the name of Jesus. Amen. [00:40:32] (25 seconds)  #WordTransformsLives

Look at how Peter will later write it in the epistle we heard this day when he says, you were born again, not of perishable seed, but of the imperishable through the living and enduring word of God. A word that he will say later in that same section, that word of God which will which will stand forever. Not by your effort, not by your understanding, not by your ability to figure it out, but by by the word. [00:33:46] (30 seconds)  #BornOfTheWord

Because we like clarity, don't we? And we like things to make sense. We want to understand before we believe. We want to resolve the confusion before we trust, but that's not how it works. Instead, we often we often sit in confusion. Confusion about God, confusion about suffering, confusion about our own lives, confusion about what to do. [00:34:18] (28 seconds)  #ConfusionIsPartOfFaith

We had a a longer confession this morning, and now that you were wondering, how much longer is this going to go? Because if it goes any longer, I'm gonna start actually thinking about all the things I need to repent of. Because the more we think of ourselves, the more we realize how far are we short fall short. So Peter says, repent and receive. [00:36:22] (24 seconds)  #ConfessAndReceive

So they walk, talking, processing, trying to make sense of it all. And if we're honest, it's really no different for us Because there are moments in life where where things just don't add up, where god doesn't seem to make sense, where where we where we thought what would happen didn't, where what we hoped for fell apart. And we're left walking down our road asking, what's going on? Where is God in this? And it's right there. [00:28:21] (45 seconds)  #GodInTheHardPlaces

and you desire to forgive us and to assure us who we are as your beloved sons and chosen daughters, perfectly positioned to bring that hope and that word into a world in desperate need of us. So use it, Jesus. Use that word in our mouths and through our hands to help a world in desperate need of that peace you've come to bring. And may that peace that you've come to bring, that passes all understanding, guard our hearts and our minds in you, Christ Jesus, our lord. [00:41:33] (37 seconds)  #UseUsToShareHope

And as his word goes forth from his mouth, something begins to happen. They don't get it right away until they get to their destination, and they sit down, and they share a meal, and Jesus breaks bread with them, and their eyes are open. And all of a sudden, by faith, they they realize it's Jesus. And and and they'll say in Luke twenty four thirty two, weren't our hearts burning within us [00:31:35] (24 seconds)  #EyesOpenedAtTheTable

And so often, when we look to what to do, we look to ourselves. We try to figure it out on our own. We replay conversations. We overthink decisions. We search inward for answers. But the more we look inward, the more stuck we feel. And sometimes it's not just confusion. Sometimes we sit in guilt because deep down deep down we know [00:34:46] (25 seconds)  #StopSearchingInward

``But why does he vanish in this moment? Because now they know where to find him. Not in their understanding, not in their ability to hold on to him, but they can find Jesus in his word. They can find Jesus in the gift of himself, in the breaking of bread, at communion with his body and blood. He is he's here. And everything changes for these disciples. They go from being confused to being convicted to being sent. They run back to Jerusalem. They can't keep it in. [00:37:33] (39 seconds)

We want to understand before we believe. We want to resolve the confusion before we trust, but that's not how it works. Instead, we often we often sit in confusion. Confusion about God, confusion about suffering, confusion about our own lives, confusion about what to do. And so often, when we look to what to do, we look to ourselves. We try to figure it out on our own. We replay conversations. We overthink decisions. We search inward for answers. But the more we look inward, the more stuck we feel. [00:34:24] (37 seconds)

Fix yourself. Try harder. Do better, but that's not what Peter says. No. When they ask the question, Peter responds in Acts two thirty eight, and he says, repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Repent. Admit what you know to be true about yourself. You are, I am, a poor miserable sinner. [00:35:44] (37 seconds)