Summary: They were going the wrong way! Leaving Jerusalem headed for Emmaus. The more often and the more deeply I reach into this episode of Luke’s Gospel, the more I am becoming aware of the fact that these two were on the run. They were getting out of town! Actually, I think Luke drops us into the middle of a big pitty-party. Those two were so sad, so disappointed, so discouraged. We understand that don’t we? Luke knew we would. We’ve all been there - that wasn’t the first nor the last pitty-party. “Oh how I had hoped for that promotion.” “I had hoped my children would grow up to be perfect in every way: beautiful, loving, generous, faithful, successful, rich, prosperous.” “I had hoped I would be the pastor of the pefect parish with people standing, coming an hour early to get seat, with no debt, no one leaving early, and four assistants to do everything so I could play golf.” “I had hoped I would get better grades.” “I had hoped that one I’ve been watching would just text me one time so I would know they see me.” “I had hoped we would win that game and be number one.” “I had hoped my marriage would be better than it is.” “I had hoped those tests would come out negative.” “I had hoped we would have had more time togther.” Silly or serious, deep or shallow, we know what’s going on with these two headed to Emmaus or getting out of Jerusalem. What is Emmaus anyway, and where is it? You could walk seven miles out of Jerusalem, and you’re not going to come to the city limits of Emmaus. Maybe it isn’t a geographical place. Maybe it’s just that state of mind, or that hide-out, or that escape place that we run to when Jerusalem is too hard. Maybe it’s the Mall, a long nap, a another hour in front of the TV, another three hours in front of a screen “surfing” the internet or chatting or texting just to avoid Jerusalem, just to run away, escape, deny, or pretent. All because Jerusalem is too hard. I can’t even imagine how many people I have met in my 43 years as a priest who have left this church because it was too hard; how many have walked out of relationships because it was too demanding and asked too much sacrifice. I think of so many who have walked away from us because that had hoped this human community called church would be perfect, sinless, and without fault or blemish. Off to Emmaus they go. It’s like going to Las Vegas! But this episode of Luke’s Gospel is not about them, and it’s not about Cleopas and a compaion without a name unless we are that companion. There is nothing in Emmaus. Going there is the wrong direction. Sadness, self-pity, disappointment, discouragement are not going to go away in Emmaus. The fulfillment of all our hopes is not going to found in any Emmaus, nor is it going to be found as long as we are alone. Until we say to God: STAY WITH US. Until we remember what he asks of us, and then do it, we’re going to be pitiful. What this story proposes to us is that Jerusalem is where we must go: not a place, but a reality, a memory, an experience. There is no running from sacrifice and service. There is no running from breaking bread and pouring wine. That detail of this story is about breaking our lives to share, pouring out our lives for the sake of others. When we live like that, life like Christ, we will turn around and head back to Jerusalem. What happened there can make sense, can give life, and can sustain every hope in the face of every disappointment. I think the trouble with Cleopas and his companion whoever that is lies in confusing hoping and wishing. They “wished” for a mighty warrior king. They “wished” to be on the winning side and victorious in every way, and it didn’t turn out that way. But God in Jesus Christ has little interest in our wishes. On the other hand, our hopes when they are rooted in Jerusalem are God’s concern. That is what Peter speaks of in Jerusalem. The first president of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Havel offered these reflections on hope. Too bad Cleopas and his companion lived too soon to hear them. “Hope is a state of mind, not of the world....Either we have hope or don’t it is a dimension of the soul, an orientation of the spriit;...it is not the same thing as joy that things are going well...but rather an ability to work for something because it is good, not just bcause it stands a chance to succeed...Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that soemthing makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.” There is no hope in Emmaus or any of the hiding places we imagine. There is only hope in making sense of the cross, of a life lived in love, of compassion, forgiveness, of feeing the hungry, healing the sick, and comforting the grieving. There is hope in Jerusalem; hope in an upper room, hope in an assembly that gathers on the first day of the week to begin making sense of it all. How it turns out is in God’s hands. We know how it turned out for Jesus of Nazareth. Why would it be different for us?
