What are you discussing together as you walk along

In the sermon yesterday at our church, Bart read from Luke 24 — the story of the walk to Emmaus.  Now, thanks to modern technology, you can hear it … and I can hear your service, and we can all go to church all over the country all week long on Facebook without leaving our recliners.  But I digress.

You remember the story — a couple of the followers of Jesus are leaving Jerusalem.  They are distraught.  Jesus is dead …. So what now?  Even though he had predicted his resurrection, they weren’t remembering that … instead they were fleeing from the city probably wondering if they would be killed next.

Then Jesus shows up and they don’t even recognize him.  Whether Jesus intentionally kept them from realizing it was him, we don’t know, but my guess is that they were so wrapped up in their current crisis that they didn’t even pay attention to the fact that he was among them.

He asks them, "What are you discussing together as you walk along?”  They respond shocked that  this guy hasn’t heard that Jesus was put to death.

Of course, you know the end of the story.  Jesus reveals himself to them as they have dinner later, and even though it was a long way back to Jerusalem we see that they left and headed back to the place they had run away from.

Three observations and a question:

1.  Sometimes we are so caught up in our current crisis of the day that we forget the promises of Jesus.  The several times that Jesus had told the disciples that he would only be dead for three days completely left their minds.   It’s time for all of us to remember the things Jesus taught us and hold on to those promises.

2.  We often neglect to recognize that Jesus is right there with us.   We are so focused on our struggles, that we forget that he is right there…. He is among us walking with us.

3.  When we finally realize that Jesus is here with us, we can turn around and run back into the hard stuff, instead of running away from it.  

?.  What are you discussing together as you walk along?  During these weeks as we journey together through unprecedented trials, what are you talking about?  What are you posting on social media?  What are you saying as you talk with friends and family?  You may not be in a place where you can speak words of faith and hope, but if you aren’t, I encourage you to find people to talk with who are.  If you are struggling with anxiety or depression, think of people in your life who you know will provide you with a balance and seek them out.   Because what we discuss as we walk along will have an effect on how we think and feel during this journey.

This song is an all time favorite that has gotten me through many a tough time...