Bamford Chapel and Norden URC – Sunday 30th April 20117, 10.30am
Sermon: “Journeys” – Luke 24:13-35
When embarking on a journey do you have a preference for what guide you use?
*Put your hand up if you are a Sat Nav person and prefer to use a Sat Nav when going on a journey?
*Put your hand up if you prefer to print of a route from an AA or RAC Route planner website?
*Put your hand up if you prefer the good old way of using a map?
*Or put your hand up if you just set off and hope for the best?
The Bible reading we heard a few minutes ago told us of a journey 2 people were making on the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Jerusalem was the place where everyone was talking about the crucifixion of Jesus and the rumours of his resurrection. A small number of those close to Jesus had said they had seen the resurrected Jesus and that he had spoken to them. Can you just imagine the conversations that must have been going on!
Some may have been exciting…..others, like the 2 people on the Emmaus Road, whose faces we are told were “downcast”. They did not have a clue what had happened and they were unhappy. They thought the story ended with the cross – with death, a hopeless end to what had gone one.
They left Jerusalem downcast heading home to Emmaus with:
**More questions than they had answers!
**More confusion than they had clarity.
**And more fear than they had joy!
The road these 2 people travelled was one that was no doubt familiar to them. They would have made the journey from Emmaus to Jerusalem most years for the Jewish Festival of Passover. They wouldn’t need the equivalent of Sat Nav/Map/Route finder. They knew their way and knew the road.
ILL: I wonder if you have ever had the experience of driving down a road a road perhaps you have travelled many, many times but this time you travel it as a passenger. We sometimes see things we have never spotted before! Even roads we are very familiar with. That’s because we are so focused on the road when we drive that we aren’t looking all around us. Only when we are a passenger do we have that luxury of having a good look around!
The same things happens I find with using Sat Navs more. I remember pre-sat nav that I was more observant about land marks than I am today. I rely so heavily on my Sat Nav that I do not feel the need to look at landmarks and “remember” the route for I know next time I travel it I will simply use the Sat Nav again!
I think something like this happens in our spiritual lives as well. We think we know the Bible story (stories) so well that we ignore the true message of what God is trying to say to us.
We, in many ways, do the opposite of the Sat Nav/Map and Route finder.
We rely too much on our own strength and not enough on God’s strength.
In other words spiritually speaking the Bible is like a Sat Nav/Map/Route finder. Reading the Bible and knowing the stories and the narrative is important so that we can apply it to our own lives.
Again spiritually speaking prayer is like the Sat Nav/Map/Route finder. Spending time in prayer helps us to speak with God and to listen for His voice.
And worship – coming together to offer our worship and praise to God for all He has done for us (today giving thanks and seeking God’s special blessing on Isabella-Rose) is also important for us as God’s children.
Nothing can really beat our memory of places we have been to. To remember directions is better, really, than relying on sat navs/maps or routes off the internet.
Sat Nav:
*The battery can drain and then the sat nav is of no use.
*The sat nav sometimes takes us down roads we do not really want to go down.
*The incorrect destination (address or postcode) could be put into it this and thus you set off in the wrong direction.
The Route off the internet
*Means you cannot stray from that route if there is a hold up or break down.
*The route may not take account of road changes/closures/roadworks etc.
*It restricts you in many ways to just one journey.
The map
*Can be out of date – road changes and additions of new roads not included.
*Some maps show large areas but only the main roads.
*Some maps show more detail but show it in a smaller overall geographical area (street map for example this limiting distance of travel)
Not so when it comes to the spiritual maps etc. Reading the Bible, praying to God and worshipping with like-minded Christians are all ways of God speaking to us and directing us on our journeys of faith.
These two people walking down the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus had their eyes opened to the truth of the situation….may be their thoughts were limited. They could not see the bigger picture of what happened to Jesus in Jerusalem.
Jesus had to die and Jesus had to rise again! That was God’s plan for His Son’s life. That is the same plan God had for you and for me. We are to die to our old sinful lives and be raised to new life in Christ. (Not a physical dying like Jesus did, but a dying/turning our backs on our old life) and giving ourselves to God.
May we be like the two people on the road to Emmaus as they returned to Jerusalem….not downcast but full of joy as Jesus has shown them the bigger picture and explained it all to them. May we, too, have the eyes of faith to believe that Jesus comes to us in our situations and leads us forward.
To His praise and glory!
Amen.