Third Sunday of Easter April 26th 2020 Pastor Ryan Heiman What does Despair look like? Alice’s family had owned a small neighborhood bakery for over 4 generations. She had the difficult task of closing the doors for the last time, never to make a baked good again. Not only did she lose the family business, but she had used up her savings and credit trying to keep it open. Gordon was a 40 year-old father to three great children and had a loving wife. His diagnoses of stage 4 pancreatic cancer came just 4 months ago. After intense Chemo treatments he lost the battle to the disease leaving behind a grieving family and many friends in the community. Jared and Betty had been married for 2 years and were expecting their first child. Their whole family was filled with joy and excitement as the first grandchild was on the way for both sides. At the 20 week ultrasound, the doctor couldn’t find a heartbeat. After a complete examination, it became clear that she had suffered a miscarriage of their first child. Ralph works as an ICU doctor. He has been working 14 hour shifts regularly only to watch patients die alone while struggling to breath even with a ventilator. He has been struggling with an incredible amount of guilt as there is simply nothing he can do to help. These people are all dealing with despair. Let’s be honest, this might be the most common emotion right now. It is a hopeless and helpless feeling we have when we don’t have control and feel that all is lost. If your life story sounds like one those I previously mentioned or even if your life seems just fine right now, despair is something we might all be struggling with. Jesus meets some of His disciples today on the road to Emmaus and meets us with words of Victory to change our despair to hope, comfort and joy for eternity. Luke 24:13-35 -- 13 Now, on that same day, two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles[a] from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about all of these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing this, Jesus himself approached and began to walk along with them. 16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 He said to them, “What are you talking about as you walk along?” Saddened, they stopped. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19 “What things?” he asked them. They replied, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet, mighty in deed and word before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be condemned to death. And they crucified him. 21 But we were hoping that he was going to redeem Israel. Not only that, but besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. 22 Also some women of our group amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning. 23 When they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb. They found it just as the women had said, but they did not see him.”
25 He said to them, “How foolish you are and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and to enter his glory?” 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. 28 As they approached the village where they were going, he acted as if he were going to travel farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, since it is almost evening, and the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he reclined at the table with them, he took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and began giving it to them. 31 Suddenly their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. Then he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was speaking to us along the road and while he was explaining the Scriptures to us?” 33 They got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem. They found the Eleven and those who were with them assembled together. 34 They were saying, “The Lord really has been raised! He has appeared to Simon.” 35 They themselves described what had happened along the road, and how they recognized him when he broke the bread. Victory over Despair We meet 2 disciples walking back home after a busy weekend. It was supposed to be the highlight of the year. The Passover weekend should have been as good as it gets. While not part of the 12, these 2 seemed to have a close relationship with the inner circle. Remember there were many others not just the 12 that were close with Jesus. While many have described these as 2 men, it seems fairly likely it was a husband and wife. Cleopas and possibly his wife Mary were walking and talking on their way home. Their conversation was sad and hopeless. It wasn’t the weekend they had hoped for. They thought maybe Jesus was going to do even more than just be the “teacher”. Maybe they were part of Palm Sunday and saw the potential, only to have it snatched from their hands by the religious leaders and Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem. As they are walking along and talking, they encounter Jesus, even though at this point they can’t recognize him. He jumps into the conversation wondering what they were talking about. In their mind it should have been obvious, what else was there to talk about, Jesus’ death. Was there anyone in Jerusalem not talking about this? Then they go on to talk about their hopes and dreams and now their confusion. You can probably imagine, they were just confused by what had been going on. They watched Him die, but now 3 days later women are telling them He is alive. Like the other disciples, they weren’t ready to believe this. This might even be why they were heading home. Enough already! He is dead and we have no hope. How foolish you are and slow to believe. No matter how you slice that, Jesus is calling them out with some strong words. He probably said it in a nice way, but still being called foolish and slow isn’t a compliment at any point in history. He went on to explain the details they had missed, the prophesies and Jesus’ own words that should have clearly explained to them what was going to happen and how they should have believed that Jesus died according to God’s plan and was now alive just as He had said and just as the women had said. Today I think we feel a lot like those Emmaus disciples. We are so confused by what is going on and what is God doing. We have our opinion of what He should be doing and how things should go in our lives. The same despair they were feeling is the same despair we
feel today. So much hope, so much promise, so many going things, all dashed by a virus. The things we enjoyed as a community, as a family, as a church have been restricted so much that we feel isolated, alone and hopeless. Sin clouded their minds, and sin clouds our minds. Sin is the reason we tend to focus so much on the temporal, the physical, and the stuff of this world more than on the spiritual. Redemption won’t come in the form of a vaccine or medicine. Salvation doesn’t get direct deposited in our bank account. Forgiveness of sins doesn’t come from lifted restrictions. These things only come from Christ. His death was the key to hope. His victory on the cross over sin, death and hell is what changes our despair to comfort. We get to see Jesus and His victory in the pages of Scripture. These disciples had to wait until He came into their home and broke bread with them. What a moment that must have been. Like a light switch flipping and their eyes were opened to see Him for who He was. Also just like that their hearts were open to believe all those words He had spoken to them. Their joy was so complete and so urgent that they had to rush back to Jerusalem to tell the other disciples. Is your joy about Jesus’ victory that life changing? Do you alter your plans so that you can tell someone else about the resurrected Lord? There are 7 billion or more people in the World right now that don’t have the joy of victory. They live in despair, even if they don’t know it. Now more than ever there might be open door for conversation to be had about Jesus. I know maybe a typical face to face conversation can’t be had, but the technological ways that we communicate are being used more than ever, why not use these ways to tell others about Jesus. We also don’t have to look too far to find someone, mission fields sound exciting somewhere else in the world, but you might not even need to leave your own houseor go outside of your circle of friends to find someone to tell about Jesus. Jesus shared His victory with two of h=His disciples. This victory is over despair. Sin and suffering might be the cause of our despair, but Jesus gives us the joy of salvation and everlasting life. Don’t be foolish or slow to believe, but trust His word and believe that He has saved you, that He is alive and you will live with him forever. Amen.