St George's Cathedral, Cape Town

A sermon preached by the Very Reverend Rowan Smith in the Cathedral Church of St George the Martyr at Evensong on Easter Day, 12 April 2009

“ then their eyes where opened, and they recognised him “Luke 24 v 31

Many scholars believe that the Gospel of St Luke and the Acts of the Apostles are from the same writer and the Gospel reading for tonight, Easter day shows strong signs of that.

But first we have to acknowledge that this detailed account of the walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus is peculiar to St Luke because it is the only post-resurrection experience outside of Jerusalem. Given that St Luke is writing, as he indicates both here in the Gospel and the opening of Acts to one outside of the Jewish Community it would almost seem to be a way of indicating that the proclamation of the Gospel is “to all the nations beginning from Jerusalem ...” 47

So Jesus appears on Easter day to those on a journey away from Jerusalem. In fact the concluding verses of the Gospel mirror this particular incident as Jesus:

“… beginning with Moses and all the prophets interpreted to then the things about himself in all the scriptures” v 27

St Luke then is writing to an established community to whom the Jewish scriptures need to be interpreted and Jesus himself is the interpreter. But the other phrase used here and in Acts, which points to an established custom is the account in the home of the two disciples that

“ … he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognised him…”

The term “breaking of bread” was used by the early Church as a designation of the Eucharist. Here we, therefore, have a community for whom the resurrection of Our Lord is a present experience, no longer because they see him but because they experience him in the Eucharist where the scriptures are interpreted in the light of Christ. “…he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures…” but also when the bread is taken, blessed, broken and given to them. And this helps us understand why it is said that every Sunday is a celebration of Easter, every Eucharist is an encounter with the Risen Christ. But this Emmaus story has found rich echoes in the lives of generations of Christians and today in particular is both a mirror of our individual experiences as well as pointing ourselves beyond the personal to the Christ who is always going ahead of us into the world. First, we are Gentile Christians, claiming the scriptures of another faith community and very often we fail to understand or misinterpret what we read. The present situation in our Anglican Communion is a case in point, where certain texts are turned into shackles and do not have the power to set people free. One can almost hear Our Lord say about our Lambeth conferences and diocesan Synods

“Oh, how foolish you are and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets declared…” v 25

Moses is also mentioned because he is the great deliver of God's people and in our Church today we see the opposite as Gay and Lesbian Anglicans are being led into bondage. Jesus calls us to look at the Scriptures with his eyes as the one who touched the leper, forgave the adulterer, commended the faith of the pagan soldier and brought back Lazarus to life. And that is why they crucified him. To celebrate Easter is to commit ourselves to that boundless love that not even death can destroy. So today, wherever men and women work to bring healing, restore hope, overcome prejudice and break boundaries through love, there the Risen Christ is present. Just think of that picture of the fire-fighter in Australia, offering a badly burned Koala bear, water from his fireman's helmet. There is the risen Christ. Just look around you and let us not forget to look at our own lives, our experiences this past Lent: “Then their eyes were opened, and they recognised him…”

But perhaps the greatest power of this particular Easter gospel is that it reminds us that we are a pilgrim people and in the course of our own pilgrimage we too need to learn how to deal with our disappointments and unfulfilled hopes. Is this not true of us also saying “but we had hoped…” v 21

Sometimes our hopes are unrealistic or it is too much to expect of any one person; sometimes it is about a child, who shows promise or a situation with great expectation. It does help to talk things over and sometimes too, as the two disciples did, return to Jerusalem, to the place of pain and broken dreams. The risen Christ leads us through the cross to new life; our opening ourselves to his touch enlarges our capacity to embrace our wounds. Timothy Radcliffe, in “Why go to Church”, the Archbishop of Canterbury's Lent book this year, reminds us that we are a Eucharistic people, which is why we go to Church. These holy places, he says, remind us that our ultimate home is God. Then he writes:

“In the Middle Ages, many churches had labyrinth set in the stone floors, often called 'Jerusalems'… one could make one's pilgrimage by going to Church to walk the path of the labyrinth.” p. 11

The cathedral evokes such a reaction, it serves to point beyond itself to our true home in God. Whatever life may bring, the Risen Christ is there walking beside us and when we gather as a Eucharistic Community for the breaking of the bread then too our eyes are opened and we also can say, “The Lord has risen indeed…” v 34

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