Rediscovering Jesus
Luke 24:13-35
by Jim Westmoreland
Some of you may remember Grady Nutt as the humorist and storyteller on the television show HeeHaw. I first met Grady Nutt as the speaker/entertainment for my seminary graduation banquet. A seminary graduate himself, he was a devoted Christian, sought-after speaker, and a storyteller with real insight into human nature. On this third Sunday of the Easter season I want to share one of his comments about marriage that also provides insight for us into the way we live our lives as followers of Jesus, the risen Christ. He writes:
"Openness is essentially the willingness to grow, a distaste for ruts, eagerly standing on tip-toe for a better view of what tomorrow brings. A man once bought a new radio, brought it home, placed it on the refrigerator, plugged it in, turned it to WSM in Nashville (home of the Grand Ole Opry), and then pulled all the knobs off! He had already tuned in all he ever wanted or expected to hear. Some marriages are "rutted" and rather dreary because either or both partners have yielded to the tyranny of the inevitable, "what has been will still be." Stay open to newness. Stay open to change."(1)
Our Christian lives can also become rutted and dreary because we quit growing. We say, "what has been will still be." How can we say to Almighty God, "You're done! I've got all the religion I want. I've grown and learned all I want about you." Tragically, there are those who seek the Lord up until they get baptized and then act as if that is all they need. We say to God that we've had all we need or that now isn't a good time for religion or church, come back later. And so, we go to college, get married, start families, build careers, keep up with all the children's activities, do our own social and recreational activities and on and on and on. -- If God is not first in our lives, He probably isn't going to "place or show" either!
This story from Luke is so about us. Two followers of Jesus are trudging along the dusty road seven miles from Jerusalem to Emmaus when suddenly the risen Christ joins them, "but their eyes were kept from recognizing Him." Why couldn't they recognize Him? That is the question for us all. Even with the rumors of Jesus' resurrection, most were just going back home to resume their lives. They still talked about Jesus. They remembered Him. And, they felt sad and alone. So, maybe they didn't see Him because they were sad and depressed. We are not our most perceptive when we are in the bondage of depression.
Or maybe they couldn't see Him because they were going back home to resume their lives. Things had been different for a while with Jesus, but now the past was where they were comfortable and they were going back.
Somehow, they, like us, had got into a rut, and the rut was so deep they couldn't see over the sides. Somehow, they, like us had become so preoccupied that everything else demanded their attention and Jesus was just an interesting conversation on the way back home. The risen Christ is to them a stranger.
But, by the time they reach the end of their journey, they have moved from discouragement and despair to hope and faith. That's the road that each of us gets to walk. And, when we do, our eyes are opened, and we begin to grow in our faith and in our life with Jesus.
Jesus comes to them as one unknown. He comes to them on "the first day of the week," which for Jewish people was the first day of the work week, because they worshiped on the last day of the week, the Sabbath. And so he comes to them, not while they are at worship, but while they are on the road. He comes to them, not while studying the Bible, but on their way back from work, as the light of day is fading, at supper.(2)
In this story it is not the usual ways we think of finding God, at worship or studying the Bible, but it is in the everyday routine that Jesus appears to them, and they didn't recognize Him. How often does Jesus come to us in our everyday routines, and we don't recognize Him either.
When we close our ears to His voice, our eyes to His presence and our hearts to His calling us to grow in our faith and in our service to others, we will surely miss Him. It is not because He isn't revealing Himself to us, but, perhaps, it is because our ruts have become too deep.
Tim Hansel, a Christian writer, tells the following story that gives us some insight into choices we make in our lives. "A close friend of mine was asked back to his forty-year high school reunion. For months he saved to take his wife back to the place and the people he'd left four decades before. The closer the time came for the reunion, the more excited he became, thinking of all the wonderful stories he would hear about the changes and the accomplishments these old friends would tell him.
One night before he left he even pulled out his old yearbooks, read the silly statements and the good wishes for the future that students write to each other. He wondered what ol' Number 86 from his football team had done. He wondered if any others had encountered this Christ who had changed him so profoundly. He even tried to guess what some of his friends would look like, and what kind of jobs and families some of these special friends had. The day came to leave and I drove them to the airport.
Their energy was almost contagious. "I'll pick you up on Sunday evening, and you can tell me all about it," I said. "Have a great time."
Sunday evening arrived. As I watched them get off the plane, my friend seemed almost despondent. I almost didn't want to ask, but finally I said, "Well, how was the reunion?"
"Tim," the man said, "it was one of the saddest experiences of my life."
"Good grief," I said, more than a little surprised. "What happened?"
"It wasn't what happened but what didn't happen. It has been forty years, forty years -- and they haven't changed. They had simply gained weight, changed clothes, gotten jobs...but they hadn't really changed. And what I experienced was maybe one of the most tragic things I could ever imagine about life. For reasons I can't fully understand, it seems as though some people choose not to change."
There was a long silence as we walked back to the car.
On the drive home, he turned to me and said, 'I never, never want that to be said of me, Tim. Life is too precious, too sacred, too important. If you ever see me go stagnant like that, I hope you give me a quick, swift kick where I need it -- for Christ's sake. I hope you'll love me enough to challenge me to keep growing.'"(3)
Pablo Casals was a great cellist. When Pablo Casals reached 95, a young reporter threw him a question: "Mr. Casals, you are 95 and the greatest cellist that ever lived. Why do you still practice six hours a day?" And Mr. Casals answered, "Because I think I'm making progress."(4)
How do we rediscover Jesus? We meet Him at the Table in the breaking of bread. We rediscover Him each time we draw closer and renew our commitment to follow Him. We rediscover Him as our hearts have the enthusiasm of Pablo Casals in our willingness to grow in our spiritual walk and to grow in giving ourselves in ministry to others.
Amen.
Century Christian Church, April 10, 2005 - Sermon by Jim Westmoreland
1. Grady Nutt, Homemade, July, 1990.
2. William H. Willimon, "Why Didn't They Know Him?" Pulpit Resource, Vol.33 , No. 2, Year A, April-June, 2005, p. 11.
3. Tim Hansel, Holy Sweat, Waco, TX: Word Books Publisher,1987, pp. 54-55.
4. Dr. Maxwell Maltz, quoted in Bits & Pieces, June 24, 1993, Page 12.