FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, ATLANTA, GEORGIA

Communion Meditation by Dr. George Bryant Wirth

Summer Communion

August 12, 2007

IN THE BREAKING OF THE BREAD

Scripture: Luke 24:13-35

INTRODUCTION

Back in 1996, when a group from Atlanta and Princeton Seminary traveled to Israel on a Holy Land tour, I remember while we were in Jerusalem, asking one of our guides, who was an Israeli, “Where is modern day Emmaus and how do you get there?”

Knowing that I was a Presbyterian preacher from a big city in the United States, he thought a moment, then smiled and replied “Reverend, you can’t get there from here,” which was actually true. Because the town of Emmaus described in our text from the 24^th chapter of Luke, doesn’t actually exist anymore, at least not by that name.

There are now three villages which some Biblical scholars and a few local citizens claim could be ancient Emmaus, all west of the city of Jerusalem. But there is no town today called Emmaus, which was disappointing to me, especially when we read in the Bible what happened there on that first Easter Day.

I

Luke tells us:

On that same day two of them (followers of the Christ) were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were (walking and) talking, Jesus Himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing Him (Luke 24:13-16)

I find it strange and somewhat surprising that those travelers on the road did not know Jesus when they saw Him. His face might have been partially concealed with a covering of some kind as a protection from the dust and wind and hot sun. Or those disciples may have been so distracted by their conversation concerning reports about Jesus’ resurrection that they really didn’t pay any attention to this Holy Companion who had joined them on their journey.

And we know from other Easter accounts in the gospels that the body of the risen Christ was somehow different than it had been before – meeting Mary Magdalene nearby the empty tomb as she mistook Him for the gardener (John 20:11-18), and appearing to the apostles in the Upper Room by coming through a closed door, then suddenly disappearing again (John 20:19-29).

Whatever the explanation, those two travelers on the road to Emmaus did not recognize Jesus as they were walking and talking together…until they stopped to share a meal with one another, and at that moment, something happened! Listen again to the way Luke describes the revelation:

When Jesus was at the table with them, He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight…that same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem…and they told the eleven and their companions what had happened on the road, and how He – Jesus – had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread (Luke 24:30-35).

What a surprise! And I think we can all agree, as the story unfolds before our eyes, that those first century followers of Jesus Christ found their despair was turning into hope, their sadness was changing to joy, and their fears were being transformed by faith as they began to believe and bear witness to that ancient creed: “The Lord is risen! He is risen indeed!” (Luke 24:34)

II

You say, “Well preacher, Easter was in April, more than four months ago. We covered that ground on the road to Emmaus back then, when we celebrated the resurrection. These are the “dog days of August” and it’s 100 degrees in the shade. What’s the point?”

My friends, the point is that we are all on the road to Emmaus every day – not the first century road leading out of Jerusalem, but the twenty-first century road which is taking us to some destination. And more often than we know, like those two disciples long ago, we are so caught up in conversation, so concerned with our fears and frustrations, so distracted by the relentless flow of places to go, people to meet and things to do – that we are not prepared to recognize the risen Lord when He comes alongside us.

So it just might be that what we really need is to stop – look – and listen, as those two disciples did when they sat down to share a meal with Jesus, and finally recognized who He was in the Breaking of the Bread.

That’s one of the reasons why I went to Haiti last December. Surrounded by the Christmas rush here, a group of us traveled down there to spend time with our partners in mission on the island of LaGonave. By the time we arrived on the beachfront airstrip and were embraced with open arms by a joyful group of Haitian Christians, I could already feel the weight of the world lifting off of my shoulders.

And that evening, gathered together in the home of Pere Soner, his wife Yolanda, their little boy Osni and the wonderful cooks in the kitchen, we sat down to a candlelight dinner – and in the breaking of the bread, we felt the presence and peace of Jesus Christ in that place. Which is one of the gifts that all of our mission partners have to share with us as we travel to Haiti, Honduras, Kenya, Brazil and Jamaica – a slower pace, a simpler way of living, and in the midst of poverty, the richness of giving and receiving the love and grace of our risen Lord and Savior. Jesus said, In as much as you have done it unto one of my brothers or sisters, you have done it unto Me (Matthew 25:40). And that is where we can find and recognize Him.

Now, the road to Emmaus doesn’t have to take us to far away places. We can sense the presence of the Holy One right here, at the corner of 16^th and Peachtree. It happened to me last Sunday morning.

After the worship service was over, I wandered into the fellowship hour and found a little girl eating a chocolate chip cookie. Pretending to be hungry, I bent down, looked her in the eye and said “May I have a bite?” Most other times, when I’ve done that before, the reaction is more often than not “No, this is mine,” which is not a surprise.

But what did surprise me last Sunday was how that beautiful child responded – she looked back at me and said “Yes, you can have a bite. And I have two more in my pocket and they are both for you.” So there we stood, the preacher and that little girl, smiling together. And in case you’re wondering, I told her that I had some extra cookies in my pocket too, and she could keep hers to enjoy. Jesus said, Unless you become like that – like a child – you cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Luke tells us that those disciples recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread as they shared a meal with one another. And it still happens today – in the fellowship hour with a dear little girl eating chocolate chip cookies, in our prayer breakfast for homeless guests every Sunday morning in Fifield Hall, up in the women’s shelter 365 nights a year, as volunteers bring dinner and share table fellowship with our new found friends who are staying there – it’s still happening here at the corner of 16^th and Peachtree in the breaking of the bread as the presence of Jesus fills this sacred place.

But there are others who cannot get here – including members of this church who are in hospitals, or homebound or living in nursing care facilities. So every time we celebrate the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper in this sanctuary, the pastors on our staff take communion out to mostly older people who belong to our congregation who are isolated and often alone.

Yesterday, I shared communion with a man who has suffered from Alzheimers Disease for many years and his caregiver was there too; and with a woman who is 92, surrounded by members of her family; and with two dear ladies at Lenbrook, one who will turn 93 next week, and the other who is 98, and in each case, as we broke the bread and shared the cup together, Jesus Christ was present there with us, just as He promised when He said long ago: Wherever two or three are gathered together in my name, I will be there in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20).

CONCLUSION

It reminded me of a story Fred Craddock once told about being invited to have lunch at the home of an older woman who was a widow and lived alone. As he arrived, she said “Go into the den and read the paper or watch TV. I’ll have it ready in a minute.”

She put on her apron and she busied herself in the dining room. Craddock said, “I went in there and told her ‘Now, don’t fix up all this. We eat in the kitchen at home.’” She pulled out a drawer from the sideboard and removed the linen napkins, and then reached up on the shelves of the corner cupboard for the stemmed glasses and her finest china, and then got out the silver, placing it all on the table. Watching her, I said “You don’t have to go to all of this trouble. It’s just the two of us. At home, we eat in the kitchen.”

Finally, she turned around and with a level gaze, she said to me “Will you please hush up and just sit down?” I said “Well, I suppose I will.” She said, “Do you have any idea what it’s like fixing a meal for one?” And we ate there in the dining room with stemmed glasses and glistening china and the finest linen and candlelight, just the two of us.” (From “Craddock Stories,” by Dr. Fred B. Craddock, Chalice Press, St. Louis, Missouri, 2001, page 55).

Jesus said Wherever two or three are gathered together in my name, I will be there in the midst of them. And that is surely true for all of us here today, as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper in this place.

Wherever our roads to Emmaus may be going, one thing is certain: those roads have brought everyone here to be at this table with Jesus. And if we are willing to stop, to look, and to listen to Him, He has promised to reveal Himself to us “In the Breaking of the Bread.”

For Busy People

Stop rushing so fast, stop worrying so much,

Stop doing so many things, stop going so many places

Look at Jesus Christ, look in the Church,

Look in the New Testament, look in the lives of others.

Look in your own heart, look in the Holy Communion.

Listen for God to speak – Listen in Church services,

Listen in your meditations,

Listen in your inner soul,

Listen in the opportunities life offers you.

Then, with new-found peace,

You can serve Him, others,

and yourself better.

- William Paul Barnds

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.