Hello and welcome to this week's episode of Trinity
Sermons. This week we are continuing our teaching
series called What Remains. 1 Corinthians 13
.13 says, And these three things remain, faith,
hope, and love. Last week we looked at faith,
next week we're looking at love, but today we're
talking all about hope. And hope is really important,
but it's also really hard to find in some of
the challenging moments of our life. Which is
why today, Sandra Seaborn is going to be talking
to us about how we find hope. Today's reading
is from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 24, verses
13 to 35. Now that same day, two of them were
going to a village called Emmaus, about seven
miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with
each other about everything that had happened.
As they talked and discussed these things with
each other, Jesus himself came up and walked
along with them, but they were kept from recognizing
him. He asked them, What are you discussing together
as you walk along? They stood still, their faces
downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him,
Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does
not know the things that have happened here in
these days? What things, he asked. About Jesus
of Nazareth, they replied. He was a prophet,
powerful in word and deed before God and all
the people. The chief priests and our rulers
handed him over to be sentenced to death, and
they crucified him. But we had hoped that he
was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And
what is more, it is the third day since all this
took place. In addition, some of our women amazed
us. They went to the tomb early this morning
but didn't find his body. They came and told
us that they had seen a vision of angels who
said he was alive. Then some of our companions
went to the tomb and found it just as the women
had said, but they did not see Jesus. He said
to them, How foolish you are and how slow to
believe all that the prophets have spoken. Did
not the Messiah have to suffer these things and
then enter his glory? And beginning with Moses
and all the prophets, he explained to them what
was said in the scriptures concerning himself.
As they approached the village to which they
were going, Jesus continued on as if he was going
farther. But they urged him strongly, Stay with
us, for it is nearly evening, and the day is
almost over. So he went in to stay with them.
When he was at the table with them, he took bread,
gave thanks, broke it, and began to give it to
them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized
him, and he disappeared from their sight. They
asked each other, Were not our hearts burning
within us while he talked with us on the road
and opened the scriptures to us? They got up
and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they
found the eleven and those with them assembled
together and saying, It is true, the Lord has
risen and has appeared to Simon. Then the two
told what had happened on the way and how Jesus
was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
This is the word of the Lord. Good morning. Well,
I wonder if you have been on any walks this summer.
With the recent weather, I have found it a nice
time to be outside. Perhaps you have a dog. Any
dog lovers in here? Yeah, got a few dog lovers.
So if you have a dog, you probably walk in your
neighborhood every day, maybe several times a
day. But your speed is based on the dog, right?
Like it could be really fast chasing the squirrel
or really slow. when they just want to smell
everything. So that's one kind of walk. Maybe,
maybe this summer you've been able to go on a
walk in an area that's forested. This area has
so many beautiful trails. Maybe you've been able
to be on one of them in the midst of trees, rustling
leaves, maybe the occasional bird song, or maybe
water, right? Aren't we blessed in this province
with so many lakes? including Lake Ontario. We
have beaches and soft sand. Your feet can sink
in. We've got that driftwood and logs. Either
way, walking by water is a gift as well. Well,
in today's sermon and today's scripture, we are
meeting people who are walking. They were traveling
by foot, and they weren't traveling because they
had to with their dog or for exercise or just
the beauty of a lake. They were traveling about
11 kilometers, which is about two and a half
hours at walking pace, and they were likely traveling
to go home. And those two people, when they were
walking and talking together, they were trying
to sort out what had happened in the city of
Jerusalem. They were trying to understand and
process grief and deal with shock and grapple
with this new reality. They were in a moment
that felt terrible. They were in the moment at
the beginning of that walk where they had not
yet experienced hope. That moment where it describes
them feeling despondent and walking. reminds
me of the many walks that we took as a family
in COVID. Remember way back then? That's when
you walked because that was one of the few things
that you could do when everything else was shut
down. We walked at that time and we tried to
process the news, the things happening in the
world, and it was a bad time. There was grief
and there was shock and there was a new reality.
And so we walked. and we talked with whoever
was in our bubble. And I remember hoping that
the shutdown was going to be short and that it
would all go back to normal somehow. We'd find
a cause or figure out a solution. We'd hug those
loved ones. But the world had changed, and we
did a lot of walking and talking. And so, friends,
this story of two people walking and talking
to me, feels as current as the latest news feed.
Because we live in a world where the world seems
to continually be shifting. But as we look at
the story this morning, we're looking at it reflecting
on how does hope remain when we find ourselves
in these difficult moments. Maybe, maybe you've
been hoping in the last couple of weeks that
our country's leader would find some way to land
this trade agreement, or maybe you're really
happy he didn't. I mean, we've got people on
all sides here. Maybe you're hoping that our
neighboring country's leader would continue on
this strange imperialist trajectory. Maybe you're
hoping that a loved one would experience healing
and not suffering. Maybe you are hoping your
friends or colleagues would change their mind
or reconsider an opinion. All of those hopes
were with those people walking as well on the
road to Emmaus. They were walking with leaders
who had disappointed them, people who were their
people who took on some strange, unfounded, and
potentially dangerous opinions that those women's
opinions that morning were dangerous and felt
at that time to the people walking on the road
unfounded. And surely they knew people who were
sick. And these moments, they can shake us. They
can shake us. But we're here this morning to
reflect on hope and hope remaining. And the events
that we re -witnessed in that beautiful reading
from Rita this morning remind us that hope is
possible. does remain when we live into more
than this moment. When we live into more than
this moment. See, when it was all too much, Cleopas
and their companion, and some commentators actually
believe that's his wife, they were a couple as
they were taking this walk home, they walked
full of grief and they wrestled. That's kind
of the impression you get when you sort of dig
into the words. It's not like the other Bible
story of Jacob, right, where there's a physical
wrestling with an angel. But the way this is
described, they are intellectually wrestling
with their understanding of how the world should
and would be because their expectations had been
shattered. They had a God who had promised certain
things in the holy writings and their experience
of Jesus and these promises were not matching
up. Jesus was dead and it did not make sense.
So to emphasize this thought wrestling, this
biblical author in telling this story uses actually
not so common words that you sort of get lost
in the English translation. It looks like they're
just kind of talking, like kind of casual talking,
but the words for talking and discussing there
are not so common, and they have weight. So the
word for talking that's repeated in 14 and 15.
That portrays an earnest personal exchange of
words that occur over time when people walk together,
linger over a meal, or seek counsel. It's always
conversational, but it's about a sustained discourse,
shaping hearts and minds through shared reflection
on the works of God. That's the kind of talking
they were doing. And so it's not this kind of
everyday quick exchange, you know. It's the heart
-to -heart talks, the kind that can be particularly
elusive for us in our notification -driven culture,
the like, what's on the next thing on my calendar
kind of culture, where it's like, okay, I got
two minutes. What did you want to tell me? That
is not the kind of talking here. And then when
it repeats it, it says they're talking, talking,
and discussing. That discussing or reasoning,
it's like a verbal interaction that... Sometimes
it's courteous questioning, but sometimes reflects
vigorous debate. So every time the New Testament
occurrence of that word, it's linked with a moment
when truth, truth is being weighed, contested,
and clarified. In other words, what we have happening
here is people who've experienced a trauma, trying
to figure out what they don't understand, wondering
if they've misplaced their hope, and they are
not walking away from the problem. They are taking
the time and space they need to process it. They
were trying to see more than that moment. And
so that's the first... Learning from this text
this morning is that if we want to find hope
or remember what hope feels like, it takes time.
So I remember back in high school when I had
sort of recently decided to follow Jesus, and
I was super keen. And I was trying to read everything
and do everything right. So I went away to this
little retreat at a caper and re -youth center.
And I was like, okay. I went to the leader all
super keen. I was like, what do I need to do?
What do I need to do to become more like Jesus?
I must have sounded really earnest and hungry.
I just wanted more. And I received at the time
what I thought was the most unsatisfying answer
ever on how to grow in my faith. I don't even
remember the leader's name, but I'm grateful
for them. they said, Sandra, it takes time. And
my 16, 17 -year -old brain was like, what is
that? What is that? But the person was right,
because time brings space and perspective and
relationship with the world, and it brings time
for relationship with God and understanding of
self, and hope takes time. I wanted to grow fast,
get to the end line. I wanted to be like, we
describe, you know, the sped up videos you can
find on YouTube now, like where you bake sourdough
and it's like finished in 90 seconds. Okay. That
just like, we are learning to do that because
our daughter bakes sourdough. So my husband's
taking this on. It does not take 90 seconds.
It takes like two days of feeding the starter,
watching the starter, checking, separating it.
Like I wanted it done in 90 seconds. But hope
is more like baking sourdough than the YouTube
video, right? Like it takes time. So friends,
by being here this morning or by watching today,
you are already starting that process of making
and taking time. But I wonder when else in your
week does space happen for that kind of talking
and discussing about the things of Jesus? in
an undistracted way? Do you have people like
Cleopas that you could talk to in those sort
of deep ways in your life to talk about those
innermost questions and fears and process whatever
the events are that are in your own life? Whether
it's five minutes over bath time or a cup of
coffee or extended silence that is found when
you live on your own. We need to find space and
make time if we want hope to be in our lives.
Now, back in high school, I learned a different
truth than just time. And it's a truth that continues
to challenge me because of my personality and
the way I was raised. And that is, see, I'm a
doer, a fairly driven person. I am driven to
learn and change myself and the world even before
I knew Jesus or conscious knowledge of Jesus.
I'll give you an example to quantify this. When
I looked at my old school pictures, there I am
in a brown suede dress in my grade two school
picture, and I have an anti -nukes button. I
must have been a handful to race. How did my
mother let me have that in the school picture?
I do not know. But one of the dangers I fall
into is that I think that I can affect my own
spiritual change. Because I'm a doer, I want
to do, and I want to do it now. So don't get
me wrong, we do have agency in our faith formation.
That's why we are growing in our faith. Absolutely.
And there are wonderful resources. And that's,
you know, we talk about those in church all the
time. However, the beginning of our relationship
with God, the core of our relationship with Jesus
is not our action. It is gift. It is gift. So
let me take you back to this Bible story. I'm
now trained as a social worker and a pastor,
and I read this story. My professional training
kicks in, and my posture is to prioritize and
to validate all the feelings that are in that
story. The shock, the sadness, the anger. Talk
about all the feelings. Look, the scripture talks
about feelings. It's relevant. Find yourself
in the story. But that is not the author's focus
of this story. Luke acknowledges those emotions.
He puts them out there for us to see them. But
his central theme in this story on the road to
Emmaus is not about the feelings of the people
walking. Rather, Luke's recounting of the walk
to Emmaus directs our focus to the limits of
our human reason and the gift of revelation and
redemption. Verse 16 is what gives us the clue
here, because in the divine passive voice, what
did we hear? We heard they were kept from recognizing
Jesus. This man joins them on the road, they
don't recognize him. John Calvin, a Protestant
reformer from the 1500s, might have said this
passage is an example of how human senses are
entirely dependent on God's active power to perceive
truth. Or another way of putting it is that God
controls how and when revelation happens, and
that without God's help, we can't recognize Christ.
Others people would say God must lift the veil
for our eyes to see. Or as my systematic theology
professor liked to say back in seminary, God
is the first mover and we respond. Or in more
simple terms, gift. Gift. Cleopas and his companion
were trying. They were using the fullness of
their natural intellect to thought wrestle and
they came up short. It just did not make sense.
Because without divine intervention, a dead person
does not become undead. That's a truth we know
if you've been to church a long time, but this
was them trying to reconcile that, figure it
out, and receive that for the first time. They
could not recognize Jesus without the gift of
revelation. Now this is pretty heavy. So to lighten
the story, the writer actually throws in a little
humor. So you also don't catch that when you're
reading it. But when Jesus comes up to them,
thank you AI generated image, when Jesus comes
up to them, and Jesus is also known as the Logos
or the Word in our scripture readings, and he
first shows up with a couple on the road, his
question to them could colloquially be translated
like this. Hey, what words are you guys volleying
back and forth to each other? Like, in other
words, what words are you tossing back and forth
to each other? That is so ironic and we just
don't even see it. Oblivious that the word incarnate
was with them, they're like, who is this foreigner?
I don't recognize this person, this word. And
so their story spills out. The leader's betrayal,
the strange behaviors of some of their female
friends, the unmet expectations of Jesus, and
their angst centers on verse 21. We had hoped.
We had hoped Jesus was the one to redeem Israel.
Now, Jesus doesn't let them walk in disappointment
and disorientation and mis... Placed expectations
for too long. He takes the posture of a rabbi
and he teaches. And he reinterprets for them
the sacred writings. He pulls the threads and
reveals a different pattern in scriptures than
they had seen before. He reveals an image in
the tapestry of scripture that was always there
but had just never been visible to them. And
what is the pattern that he shows them? He shows
them the pattern of a suffering Messiah leading
to triumph over the power of sin. A suffering
Messiah. It's really too bad there wasn't a live
stream. Scripture is as close as we get to it.
But later, when the two describe the time of
teaching they had on that road, they talk about
it as their hearts burning within them, as if
the divine fire was lit from the inside and out.
So for hope to remain and bring us to this place
of being more than in this moment, it takes time,
it takes gift, and it takes connection. Arriving
in Emmaus, the pilgrims extend hospitality to
this stranger. They still don't know it's Jesus.
Having engaged in this conversation, they invite
him over for dinner. Now, custom would have dictated
making such an offer, but that meal was anything
but customary. After the pause for preparation
and washing up, the three sit down. But instead
of remaining as a guest, Jesus takes the role
of host. He picks up the bread. He offers a blessing.
He breaks the bread and shares it with his walking
companions. And the breaking bread was the moment
of revelation. Suddenly it all made sense. Recognition
dawned. The veil was lifted. Jesus, the gift
of redemption. now visible to them in the scriptures
that he has unpacked for them, visible to them
in the breaking of the bread, made known to them
in the breaking of the bread, disappears from
their sight. Their hope... being reoriented the
pair return at once to jerusalem retracing that
two and a half hour walk to share their experience
their newfound understanding with their friends
to connect with them and to connect them with
this news this hope now when we experience something
special as relational beings there's this natural
urge even for the introverted ones in us to share
it right But I know there's people in here who
are more or less comfortable in being such witnesses.
You might hold your hope pretty privately. And
I've never had to walk 10 kilometers to share
news of anything amazing with someone. I drove
here. I mean, I've called, I've texted, I've
posted, I've video chatted. But two and a half
hours walking? This... we hear today, this historic
retelling of events helps us to remember the
importance of connection in hope. Hope that is
rooted in more than this moment has a power to
speak to us when our everyday moments seem overwhelming.
So let me cycle back a moment to my comments
at the beginning about grief and loss. Jesus
stood with them because they literally stood
still. Then they started walking. But he stood
with them in that sadness. And he listens and
is present as they tell their story before the
revelation. And so there's a moment in this story
before that revelation where we see the beautiful
and ongoing incarnational presence. of jesus
and i want to sit with that just for a moment
and reflect on it using a bit of poetry from
the author and songwriter john mark mcmillan
and he writes this in his song called the road
the rocks and the weeds he writes this come down
from your mountain your high -rise apartment
and tell me of the god you know who bleeds And
what to tell my daughter when she asks so many
questions and I fail to fill her heaviness with
peace. When I've got no answers for hurt knees
or cancers. But a savior. Make sure this is on
the slide. There you go. But a savior who suffers
them with me. Singing goodbye Olympus. the heart
of my maker is spread out on the road, the rocks,
and the weeds. Isn't that a poetically lovely
way of expressing hope? That the heart of our
maker is spread out on the road, the rocks, and
the weeds for us. Friends, biblical hope does
not lead us in sadness and despair. Jesus is
present, and that presence brings a change in
perspective, it brings the peace of redemption,
and it brings the power of connection. And right
after the story of the road, When they say in
Jerusalem, the resurrected Jesus shows up a couple
more times, doesn't he? And in those times when
he shows up again, he offers peace. But you know
what? Those disciples who were wrestling on the
road, they come back to that same question that
was on the road. They're like, so are you going
to restore Israel now that you've conquered death?
Is that the next step of this plan? When does
this imperial oppression end? When do we get
free? In other words, their misplaced hope in
this Messiah warrior, it still plagued early
followers even after this moment on the road.
And I think even in our day and age, we find
ourselves with misplaced hopes. We don't necessarily
buy into the Messiah warrior motif, but we have
different biases and expectations based on our
current. culture, geopolitics, and your intersectionalities.
Maybe you have hope in Christian nationalism
or technological utopianism. We have our own
misplaced hopes that we still need to find redemption
from. That we still need to find new perspective
on. Because to really grapple, to really sink
into hope. It takes time. It takes time because
the culture around us is telling us so many other
things that really sitting with the forgiveness
of sins is the Messiah's redemptive calling.
That's something every generation has to learn
again. And we get that gift of revelation, and
we get every week the connection and the breaking
of the bread to keep hope alive. You know, I
think if we had not inherited 2 ,000 years of
the telling of these stories, of the creeds,
the generations of interpretation, we'd probably
be as confused as the disciples walking their
road. And if we look in our own hearts, there
may be moments in our own lives when we have
been those disciples walking on the road. But
thankfully, today we are here, here with the
own roads that are in front of us. And in this
moment, and in this moment, we remember that
there is always in Jesus more than this moment.
Thanks be to God. Amen. Thanks for tuning in
to this week's episode of Trinity Sermons. This
sermon was recorded at Trinity Church Streetsville
in Mississauga, Ontario on August 30, 2026.