The Rev. Robert Lundquist Easter IIIA 4/10/05 St Paul’s, Ft Collins

“Risen Lord, be know to us in the breaking of the bread.”

Today’s Gospel story recounts the experience of 2 disciples, Cleopas and his wife [I am persuaded by the argument that 2 men would not share a home in Emmaus, with the note that women were often left unnamed in the Gospels]. The story is familiar to all of us who are fed at God’s table in the Eucharistic meal. It contains the elements of memory, hope and re-enactment.

Put yourself in the shoes of Cleopas and spouse: they are fleeing Jerusalem in confusion. Jesus their Lord and teacher had been arrested, killed and buried. Yet the tomb was empty that morning. What did it mean? What was happening? Perhaps the best thing to do was to go back home, to walk the 7 miles to Emmaus. And Emmaus is “anywhere but here.” They are escaping a troubling, disturbing reality. A stranger joins them, falling into step with them. They share with him their tale of disappointment and bewilderment. But he bids them to remember. “Remember the scriptures, remember what the prophets have said, remember everything you know about God.” And they somehow found their hope renewed.

As dusk falls and they come to their home, they urge the stranger to stay with them. “Come, be our guest.” And at the meal their guest takes the role of host, blessing and breaking the bread. He has re-enacted Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000, he has re-enacted the Last Supper of the week before. He took, blessed, broke and gave the bread to them, and their eyes were opened.

Do you recall the miraculous feeding of the 5,000? A crowd had gathered to hear Jesus preach, a crowd described by scripture as being several thousand, not including women and children! As mealtime drew near, the disciples said to Jesus, “Master, send them away. The caterer never showed up, so we can’t possible feed them all.” But Jesus told them, “You give them something to eat.” Don’t you hate it when Jesus does that? Oh well, let’s gather up whatever lunches are here… Jesus takes the offering, asks God’s blessing upon it, breaks the bread and gives it back to the disciples to give it away. Everyone was fed, and there were leftovers that day on the hillside. Certainly Cleopas and his wife would remember that miracle in the instant that the bread was broken at their table.

Look at what we do in our celebration of the Holy Eucharist: we bring our gifts to God – bread and wine, money, canned goods for the hungry, all representing our hearts. “Lift up your hearts – we lift them up to the Lord!” Our gifts are taken, blessed, broken and given. Our gifts to God become God’s gifts to us. Our tithes, our food for the poor, the bread and the wine, our very hearts become God’s gifts to us. What an interesting transformation! What we give is blessed and returned so that we may do likewise – bless and return, bless and return.

Memory, hope, re-enactment… We recall the Passover Feast, we find our hope rekindled, and the re-enact the feast – exactly what Cleopas and his wife experienced. The Bread becomes the symbol for Christ’s Body, which we call the host. The Body of Christ. Paul, writing to the Christians in Corinth, says that you are the Body of Christ, and individually members thereof. So when we gaze upon the Eucharistic Bread, we are invited to see there the body of Christ, the Bread of the World. And when the bread is broken… we are at the foot of the Cross on Good Friday, where Jesus’ body was first broken. “Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us.” The sadness of crucifixion is always a part of our communion meal. “Therefore let us keep the feast.” Remember, bread cannot be shared until it is broken. From Good Friday to Easter Resurrection in the breaking of the bread. “Risen Lord, be know to us…”

In some Orthodox traditions the celebrant of the Eucharistic meal holds aloft the host for all to see, and says, “Behold what you are, become what you see.” We are bidden to behold the Body of Christ even as we become the Body of Christ. Our faith is an “Already, and not yet” proposition. We are redeemed and loved even as we grow into that which God has created us to be. As Rabbi Moishe put it, “When I at last meet God my Creator, He will not ask me, ‘Why were you not more like Moses or Abraham?’ Instead He will ask me, ‘Why were you not more like Moishe?’” We are constantly in the state of becoming – not something different, but more and more what we are called to be. The Body of Christ.

Risen Lord, be know to us in the breaking of the bread. We strive to behold what we are and become what we see when we look toward you. Open our eyes, O Lord, to see your hand at work in the world about us. Sisters and brothers, may you have your eyes opened, as were the eyes of Cleopas and spouse, to Christ in your midst – Christ suffering, Christ victorious, and Christ on the road with you.

Memory, Hope, Re-enactment.

Alleluia, Christ is Risen!

A Parish For All People!