WEBVTT 00:00:04.679 --> 00:00:06.980 Hello and welcome to this week's episode of Trinity 00:00:06.980 --> 00:00:09.699 Sermons. This week we are continuing our teaching 00:00:09.699 --> 00:00:12.839 series called What Remains. 1 Corinthians 13 00:00:12.839 --> 00:00:15.460 .13 says, And these three things remain, faith, 00:00:15.580 --> 00:00:17.879 hope, and love. Last week we looked at faith, 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:19.920 next week we're looking at love, but today we're 00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:22.600 talking all about hope. And hope is really important, 00:00:22.780 --> 00:00:25.039 but it's also really hard to find in some of 00:00:25.039 --> 00:00:27.280 the challenging moments of our life. Which is 00:00:27.280 --> 00:00:29.940 why today, Sandra Seaborn is going to be talking 00:00:29.940 --> 00:00:43.719 to us about how we find hope. Today's reading 00:00:43.719 --> 00:00:48.380 is from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 24, verses 00:00:48.380 --> 00:00:53.880 13 to 35. Now that same day, two of them were 00:00:53.880 --> 00:00:57.219 going to a village called Emmaus, about seven 00:00:57.219 --> 00:01:00.799 miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with 00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:03.340 each other about everything that had happened. 00:01:04.230 --> 00:01:07.170 As they talked and discussed these things with 00:01:07.170 --> 00:01:12.010 each other, Jesus himself came up and walked 00:01:12.010 --> 00:01:16.150 along with them, but they were kept from recognizing 00:01:16.150 --> 00:01:21.030 him. He asked them, What are you discussing together 00:01:21.030 --> 00:01:25.629 as you walk along? They stood still, their faces 00:01:25.629 --> 00:01:30.549 downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, 00:01:31.400 --> 00:01:35.459 Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does 00:01:35.459 --> 00:01:37.980 not know the things that have happened here in 00:01:37.980 --> 00:01:43.500 these days? What things, he asked. About Jesus 00:01:43.500 --> 00:01:48.079 of Nazareth, they replied. He was a prophet, 00:01:48.159 --> 00:01:51.019 powerful in word and deed before God and all 00:01:51.019 --> 00:01:54.659 the people. The chief priests and our rulers 00:01:54.659 --> 00:01:58.280 handed him over to be sentenced to death, and 00:01:58.280 --> 00:02:02.200 they crucified him. But we had hoped that he 00:02:02.200 --> 00:02:06.180 was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And 00:02:06.180 --> 00:02:10.120 what is more, it is the third day since all this 00:02:10.120 --> 00:02:14.139 took place. In addition, some of our women amazed 00:02:14.139 --> 00:02:17.699 us. They went to the tomb early this morning 00:02:17.699 --> 00:02:21.419 but didn't find his body. They came and told 00:02:21.419 --> 00:02:25.180 us that they had seen a vision of angels who 00:02:25.180 --> 00:02:29.419 said he was alive. Then some of our companions 00:02:29.419 --> 00:02:33.060 went to the tomb and found it just as the women 00:02:33.060 --> 00:02:38.180 had said, but they did not see Jesus. He said 00:02:38.180 --> 00:02:42.060 to them, How foolish you are and how slow to 00:02:42.060 --> 00:02:46.240 believe all that the prophets have spoken. Did 00:02:46.240 --> 00:02:49.439 not the Messiah have to suffer these things and 00:02:49.439 --> 00:02:55.000 then enter his glory? And beginning with Moses 00:02:55.000 --> 00:02:58.080 and all the prophets, he explained to them what 00:02:58.080 --> 00:03:01.199 was said in the scriptures concerning himself. 00:03:02.780 --> 00:03:05.039 As they approached the village to which they 00:03:05.039 --> 00:03:09.259 were going, Jesus continued on as if he was going 00:03:09.259 --> 00:03:13.460 farther. But they urged him strongly, Stay with 00:03:13.460 --> 00:03:17.560 us, for it is nearly evening, and the day is 00:03:17.560 --> 00:03:22.159 almost over. So he went in to stay with them. 00:03:22.889 --> 00:03:26.330 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, 00:03:26.569 --> 00:03:30.969 gave thanks, broke it, and began to give it to 00:03:30.969 --> 00:03:34.810 them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized 00:03:34.810 --> 00:03:40.009 him, and he disappeared from their sight. They 00:03:40.009 --> 00:03:43.310 asked each other, Were not our hearts burning 00:03:43.310 --> 00:03:45.750 within us while he talked with us on the road 00:03:45.750 --> 00:03:49.789 and opened the scriptures to us? They got up 00:03:49.789 --> 00:03:53.830 and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they 00:03:53.830 --> 00:03:56.889 found the eleven and those with them assembled 00:03:56.889 --> 00:04:00.430 together and saying, It is true, the Lord has 00:04:00.430 --> 00:04:04.870 risen and has appeared to Simon. Then the two 00:04:04.870 --> 00:04:08.229 told what had happened on the way and how Jesus 00:04:08.229 --> 00:04:12.110 was recognized by them when he broke the bread. 00:04:13.069 --> 00:04:20.519 This is the word of the Lord. Good morning. Well, 00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:24.680 I wonder if you have been on any walks this summer. 00:04:25.560 --> 00:04:29.000 With the recent weather, I have found it a nice 00:04:29.000 --> 00:04:33.959 time to be outside. Perhaps you have a dog. Any 00:04:33.959 --> 00:04:36.920 dog lovers in here? Yeah, got a few dog lovers. 00:04:36.980 --> 00:04:39.100 So if you have a dog, you probably walk in your 00:04:39.100 --> 00:04:41.939 neighborhood every day, maybe several times a 00:04:41.939 --> 00:04:45.300 day. But your speed is based on the dog, right? 00:04:45.379 --> 00:04:47.860 Like it could be really fast chasing the squirrel 00:04:47.860 --> 00:04:50.689 or really slow. when they just want to smell 00:04:50.689 --> 00:04:54.589 everything. So that's one kind of walk. Maybe, 00:04:54.670 --> 00:04:56.970 maybe this summer you've been able to go on a 00:04:56.970 --> 00:05:00.389 walk in an area that's forested. This area has 00:05:00.389 --> 00:05:03.209 so many beautiful trails. Maybe you've been able 00:05:03.209 --> 00:05:06.750 to be on one of them in the midst of trees, rustling 00:05:06.750 --> 00:05:12.490 leaves, maybe the occasional bird song, or maybe 00:05:12.490 --> 00:05:16.649 water, right? Aren't we blessed in this province 00:05:16.649 --> 00:05:26.079 with so many lakes? including Lake Ontario. We 00:05:26.079 --> 00:05:32.199 have beaches and soft sand. Your feet can sink 00:05:32.199 --> 00:05:34.519 in. We've got that driftwood and logs. Either 00:05:34.519 --> 00:05:39.300 way, walking by water is a gift as well. Well, 00:05:39.399 --> 00:05:44.819 in today's sermon and today's scripture, we are 00:05:44.819 --> 00:05:49.540 meeting people who are walking. They were traveling 00:05:49.540 --> 00:05:52.620 by foot, and they weren't traveling because they 00:05:52.620 --> 00:05:55.439 had to with their dog or for exercise or just 00:05:55.439 --> 00:05:58.500 the beauty of a lake. They were traveling about 00:05:58.500 --> 00:06:00.720 11 kilometers, which is about two and a half 00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:03.920 hours at walking pace, and they were likely traveling 00:06:03.920 --> 00:06:08.079 to go home. And those two people, when they were 00:06:08.079 --> 00:06:10.379 walking and talking together, they were trying 00:06:10.379 --> 00:06:13.060 to sort out what had happened in the city of 00:06:13.060 --> 00:06:16.779 Jerusalem. They were trying to understand and 00:06:16.779 --> 00:06:20.639 process grief and deal with shock and grapple 00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:25.680 with this new reality. They were in a moment 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:31.019 that felt terrible. They were in the moment at 00:06:31.019 --> 00:06:33.339 the beginning of that walk where they had not 00:06:33.339 --> 00:06:38.459 yet experienced hope. That moment where it describes 00:06:38.459 --> 00:06:43.439 them feeling despondent and walking. reminds 00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:46.819 me of the many walks that we took as a family 00:06:46.819 --> 00:06:50.620 in COVID. Remember way back then? That's when 00:06:50.620 --> 00:06:53.060 you walked because that was one of the few things 00:06:53.060 --> 00:06:55.860 that you could do when everything else was shut 00:06:55.860 --> 00:06:59.740 down. We walked at that time and we tried to 00:06:59.740 --> 00:07:02.819 process the news, the things happening in the 00:07:02.819 --> 00:07:06.779 world, and it was a bad time. There was grief 00:07:06.779 --> 00:07:09.959 and there was shock and there was a new reality. 00:07:11.079 --> 00:07:14.240 And so we walked. and we talked with whoever 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:18.399 was in our bubble. And I remember hoping that 00:07:18.399 --> 00:07:21.220 the shutdown was going to be short and that it 00:07:21.220 --> 00:07:23.779 would all go back to normal somehow. We'd find 00:07:23.779 --> 00:07:26.819 a cause or figure out a solution. We'd hug those 00:07:26.819 --> 00:07:31.000 loved ones. But the world had changed, and we 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:37.339 did a lot of walking and talking. And so, friends, 00:07:37.360 --> 00:07:40.240 this story of two people walking and talking 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:44.620 to me, feels as current as the latest news feed. 00:07:45.160 --> 00:07:47.920 Because we live in a world where the world seems 00:07:47.920 --> 00:07:51.779 to continually be shifting. But as we look at 00:07:51.779 --> 00:07:56.480 the story this morning, we're looking at it reflecting 00:07:56.480 --> 00:08:01.839 on how does hope remain when we find ourselves 00:08:01.839 --> 00:08:07.579 in these difficult moments. Maybe, maybe you've 00:08:07.579 --> 00:08:09.420 been hoping in the last couple of weeks that 00:08:09.709 --> 00:08:12.389 our country's leader would find some way to land 00:08:12.389 --> 00:08:13.649 this trade agreement, or maybe you're really 00:08:13.649 --> 00:08:15.410 happy he didn't. I mean, we've got people on 00:08:15.410 --> 00:08:17.750 all sides here. Maybe you're hoping that our 00:08:17.750 --> 00:08:21.129 neighboring country's leader would continue on 00:08:21.129 --> 00:08:24.990 this strange imperialist trajectory. Maybe you're 00:08:24.990 --> 00:08:29.269 hoping that a loved one would experience healing 00:08:29.269 --> 00:08:33.529 and not suffering. Maybe you are hoping your 00:08:33.529 --> 00:08:36.409 friends or colleagues would change their mind 00:08:36.409 --> 00:08:40.950 or reconsider an opinion. All of those hopes 00:08:40.950 --> 00:08:44.649 were with those people walking as well on the 00:08:44.649 --> 00:08:48.590 road to Emmaus. They were walking with leaders 00:08:48.590 --> 00:08:51.129 who had disappointed them, people who were their 00:08:51.129 --> 00:08:54.350 people who took on some strange, unfounded, and 00:08:54.350 --> 00:08:57.269 potentially dangerous opinions that those women's 00:08:57.269 --> 00:09:00.649 opinions that morning were dangerous and felt 00:09:00.649 --> 00:09:03.990 at that time to the people walking on the road 00:09:03.990 --> 00:09:09.110 unfounded. And surely they knew people who were 00:09:09.110 --> 00:09:15.029 sick. And these moments, they can shake us. They 00:09:15.029 --> 00:09:19.409 can shake us. But we're here this morning to 00:09:19.409 --> 00:09:27.169 reflect on hope and hope remaining. And the events 00:09:27.169 --> 00:09:29.669 that we re -witnessed in that beautiful reading 00:09:29.669 --> 00:09:33.570 from Rita this morning remind us that hope is 00:09:33.570 --> 00:09:40.470 possible. does remain when we live into more 00:09:40.470 --> 00:09:46.529 than this moment. When we live into more than 00:09:46.529 --> 00:09:53.490 this moment. See, when it was all too much, Cleopas 00:09:53.490 --> 00:09:55.850 and their companion, and some commentators actually 00:09:55.850 --> 00:09:58.210 believe that's his wife, they were a couple as 00:09:58.210 --> 00:10:01.129 they were taking this walk home, they walked 00:10:01.129 --> 00:10:04.700 full of grief and they wrestled. That's kind 00:10:04.700 --> 00:10:06.460 of the impression you get when you sort of dig 00:10:06.460 --> 00:10:09.220 into the words. It's not like the other Bible 00:10:09.220 --> 00:10:11.360 story of Jacob, right, where there's a physical 00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:14.740 wrestling with an angel. But the way this is 00:10:14.740 --> 00:10:17.940 described, they are intellectually wrestling 00:10:17.940 --> 00:10:20.919 with their understanding of how the world should 00:10:20.919 --> 00:10:24.299 and would be because their expectations had been 00:10:24.299 --> 00:10:27.039 shattered. They had a God who had promised certain 00:10:27.039 --> 00:10:30.360 things in the holy writings and their experience 00:10:30.360 --> 00:10:33.980 of Jesus and these promises were not matching 00:10:33.980 --> 00:10:40.440 up. Jesus was dead and it did not make sense. 00:10:42.600 --> 00:10:45.740 So to emphasize this thought wrestling, this 00:10:45.740 --> 00:10:49.059 biblical author in telling this story uses actually 00:10:49.059 --> 00:10:52.740 not so common words that you sort of get lost 00:10:52.740 --> 00:10:55.379 in the English translation. It looks like they're 00:10:55.379 --> 00:10:57.580 just kind of talking, like kind of casual talking, 00:10:57.779 --> 00:11:00.259 but the words for talking and discussing there 00:11:00.259 --> 00:11:03.799 are not so common, and they have weight. So the 00:11:03.799 --> 00:11:06.580 word for talking that's repeated in 14 and 15. 00:11:07.580 --> 00:11:10.480 That portrays an earnest personal exchange of 00:11:10.480 --> 00:11:15.440 words that occur over time when people walk together, 00:11:15.799 --> 00:11:20.299 linger over a meal, or seek counsel. It's always 00:11:20.299 --> 00:11:24.039 conversational, but it's about a sustained discourse, 00:11:24.440 --> 00:11:27.519 shaping hearts and minds through shared reflection 00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:30.279 on the works of God. That's the kind of talking 00:11:30.279 --> 00:11:33.080 they were doing. And so it's not this kind of 00:11:33.080 --> 00:11:36.299 everyday quick exchange, you know. It's the heart 00:11:36.299 --> 00:11:40.080 -to -heart talks, the kind that can be particularly 00:11:40.080 --> 00:11:43.679 elusive for us in our notification -driven culture, 00:11:43.860 --> 00:11:46.279 the like, what's on the next thing on my calendar 00:11:46.279 --> 00:11:47.899 kind of culture, where it's like, okay, I got 00:11:47.899 --> 00:11:50.559 two minutes. What did you want to tell me? That 00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:54.000 is not the kind of talking here. And then when 00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:56.419 it repeats it, it says they're talking, talking, 00:11:56.480 --> 00:11:59.399 and discussing. That discussing or reasoning, 00:11:59.559 --> 00:12:02.779 it's like a verbal interaction that... Sometimes 00:12:02.779 --> 00:12:04.879 it's courteous questioning, but sometimes reflects 00:12:04.879 --> 00:12:08.940 vigorous debate. So every time the New Testament 00:12:08.940 --> 00:12:11.779 occurrence of that word, it's linked with a moment 00:12:11.779 --> 00:12:16.059 when truth, truth is being weighed, contested, 00:12:16.059 --> 00:12:20.500 and clarified. In other words, what we have happening 00:12:20.500 --> 00:12:23.700 here is people who've experienced a trauma, trying 00:12:23.700 --> 00:12:25.779 to figure out what they don't understand, wondering 00:12:25.779 --> 00:12:28.039 if they've misplaced their hope, and they are 00:12:28.039 --> 00:12:31.100 not walking away from the problem. They are taking 00:12:31.100 --> 00:12:36.639 the time and space they need to process it. They 00:12:36.639 --> 00:12:42.480 were trying to see more than that moment. And 00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:45.360 so that's the first... Learning from this text 00:12:45.360 --> 00:12:48.620 this morning is that if we want to find hope 00:12:48.620 --> 00:12:53.899 or remember what hope feels like, it takes time. 00:12:57.820 --> 00:13:01.620 So I remember back in high school when I had 00:13:01.620 --> 00:13:04.100 sort of recently decided to follow Jesus, and 00:13:04.100 --> 00:13:07.230 I was super keen. And I was trying to read everything 00:13:07.230 --> 00:13:10.350 and do everything right. So I went away to this 00:13:10.350 --> 00:13:12.669 little retreat at a caper and re -youth center. 00:13:12.830 --> 00:13:14.629 And I was like, okay. I went to the leader all 00:13:14.629 --> 00:13:16.570 super keen. I was like, what do I need to do? 00:13:17.730 --> 00:13:20.169 What do I need to do to become more like Jesus? 00:13:20.269 --> 00:13:22.289 I must have sounded really earnest and hungry. 00:13:22.389 --> 00:13:25.269 I just wanted more. And I received at the time 00:13:25.269 --> 00:13:28.309 what I thought was the most unsatisfying answer 00:13:28.309 --> 00:13:32.009 ever on how to grow in my faith. I don't even 00:13:32.009 --> 00:13:34.210 remember the leader's name, but I'm grateful 00:13:34.210 --> 00:13:39.490 for them. they said, Sandra, it takes time. And 00:13:39.490 --> 00:13:43.769 my 16, 17 -year -old brain was like, what is 00:13:43.769 --> 00:13:48.389 that? What is that? But the person was right, 00:13:48.490 --> 00:13:53.149 because time brings space and perspective and 00:13:53.149 --> 00:13:55.929 relationship with the world, and it brings time 00:13:55.929 --> 00:13:58.830 for relationship with God and understanding of 00:13:58.830 --> 00:14:05.389 self, and hope takes time. I wanted to grow fast, 00:14:05.610 --> 00:14:08.029 get to the end line. I wanted to be like, we 00:14:08.029 --> 00:14:10.470 describe, you know, the sped up videos you can 00:14:10.470 --> 00:14:13.669 find on YouTube now, like where you bake sourdough 00:14:13.669 --> 00:14:17.070 and it's like finished in 90 seconds. Okay. That 00:14:17.070 --> 00:14:19.190 just like, we are learning to do that because 00:14:19.190 --> 00:14:21.250 our daughter bakes sourdough. So my husband's 00:14:21.250 --> 00:14:24.070 taking this on. It does not take 90 seconds. 00:14:24.129 --> 00:14:26.509 It takes like two days of feeding the starter, 00:14:26.669 --> 00:14:29.549 watching the starter, checking, separating it. 00:14:29.570 --> 00:14:35.019 Like I wanted it done in 90 seconds. But hope 00:14:35.019 --> 00:14:37.340 is more like baking sourdough than the YouTube 00:14:37.340 --> 00:14:41.860 video, right? Like it takes time. So friends, 00:14:41.899 --> 00:14:46.279 by being here this morning or by watching today, 00:14:46.399 --> 00:14:49.759 you are already starting that process of making 00:14:49.759 --> 00:14:54.779 and taking time. But I wonder when else in your 00:14:54.779 --> 00:14:59.340 week does space happen for that kind of talking 00:14:59.340 --> 00:15:03.700 and discussing about the things of Jesus? in 00:15:03.700 --> 00:15:08.519 an undistracted way? Do you have people like 00:15:08.519 --> 00:15:12.059 Cleopas that you could talk to in those sort 00:15:12.059 --> 00:15:15.139 of deep ways in your life to talk about those 00:15:15.139 --> 00:15:19.440 innermost questions and fears and process whatever 00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:23.879 the events are that are in your own life? Whether 00:15:23.879 --> 00:15:26.879 it's five minutes over bath time or a cup of 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:31.200 coffee or extended silence that is found when 00:15:31.200 --> 00:15:36.000 you live on your own. We need to find space and 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:40.740 make time if we want hope to be in our lives. 00:15:43.639 --> 00:15:45.480 Now, back in high school, I learned a different 00:15:45.480 --> 00:15:49.440 truth than just time. And it's a truth that continues 00:15:49.440 --> 00:15:53.139 to challenge me because of my personality and 00:15:53.139 --> 00:15:59.580 the way I was raised. And that is, see, I'm a 00:15:59.580 --> 00:16:04.080 doer, a fairly driven person. I am driven to 00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:08.139 learn and change myself and the world even before 00:16:08.139 --> 00:16:11.659 I knew Jesus or conscious knowledge of Jesus. 00:16:11.779 --> 00:16:15.100 I'll give you an example to quantify this. When 00:16:15.100 --> 00:16:17.940 I looked at my old school pictures, there I am 00:16:17.940 --> 00:16:22.320 in a brown suede dress in my grade two school 00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:26.740 picture, and I have an anti -nukes button. I 00:16:26.740 --> 00:16:30.360 must have been a handful to race. How did my 00:16:30.360 --> 00:16:32.379 mother let me have that in the school picture? 00:16:32.600 --> 00:16:37.820 I do not know. But one of the dangers I fall 00:16:37.820 --> 00:16:43.000 into is that I think that I can affect my own 00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:46.379 spiritual change. Because I'm a doer, I want 00:16:46.379 --> 00:16:50.620 to do, and I want to do it now. So don't get 00:16:50.620 --> 00:16:55.080 me wrong, we do have agency in our faith formation. 00:16:56.029 --> 00:16:59.370 That's why we are growing in our faith. Absolutely. 00:16:59.389 --> 00:17:02.210 And there are wonderful resources. And that's, 00:17:02.210 --> 00:17:04.470 you know, we talk about those in church all the 00:17:04.470 --> 00:17:11.730 time. However, the beginning of our relationship 00:17:11.730 --> 00:17:16.589 with God, the core of our relationship with Jesus 00:17:16.589 --> 00:17:26.250 is not our action. It is gift. It is gift. So 00:17:26.250 --> 00:17:30.170 let me take you back to this Bible story. I'm 00:17:30.170 --> 00:17:32.109 now trained as a social worker and a pastor, 00:17:32.210 --> 00:17:34.569 and I read this story. My professional training 00:17:34.569 --> 00:17:38.410 kicks in, and my posture is to prioritize and 00:17:38.410 --> 00:17:40.990 to validate all the feelings that are in that 00:17:40.990 --> 00:17:46.349 story. The shock, the sadness, the anger. Talk 00:17:46.349 --> 00:17:48.349 about all the feelings. Look, the scripture talks 00:17:48.349 --> 00:17:53.450 about feelings. It's relevant. Find yourself 00:17:53.450 --> 00:17:58.650 in the story. But that is not the author's focus 00:17:58.650 --> 00:18:02.569 of this story. Luke acknowledges those emotions. 00:18:02.650 --> 00:18:05.269 He puts them out there for us to see them. But 00:18:05.269 --> 00:18:09.450 his central theme in this story on the road to 00:18:09.450 --> 00:18:12.390 Emmaus is not about the feelings of the people 00:18:12.390 --> 00:18:17.019 walking. Rather, Luke's recounting of the walk 00:18:17.019 --> 00:18:20.480 to Emmaus directs our focus to the limits of 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:24.519 our human reason and the gift of revelation and 00:18:24.519 --> 00:18:30.619 redemption. Verse 16 is what gives us the clue 00:18:30.619 --> 00:18:34.440 here, because in the divine passive voice, what 00:18:34.440 --> 00:18:38.440 did we hear? We heard they were kept from recognizing 00:18:38.440 --> 00:18:41.980 Jesus. This man joins them on the road, they 00:18:41.980 --> 00:18:46.180 don't recognize him. John Calvin, a Protestant 00:18:46.180 --> 00:18:48.619 reformer from the 1500s, might have said this 00:18:48.619 --> 00:18:52.279 passage is an example of how human senses are 00:18:52.279 --> 00:18:56.099 entirely dependent on God's active power to perceive 00:18:56.099 --> 00:18:59.220 truth. Or another way of putting it is that God 00:18:59.220 --> 00:19:02.839 controls how and when revelation happens, and 00:19:02.839 --> 00:19:05.359 that without God's help, we can't recognize Christ. 00:19:07.200 --> 00:19:10.119 Others people would say God must lift the veil 00:19:10.119 --> 00:19:13.990 for our eyes to see. Or as my systematic theology 00:19:13.990 --> 00:19:17.190 professor liked to say back in seminary, God 00:19:17.190 --> 00:19:23.029 is the first mover and we respond. Or in more 00:19:23.029 --> 00:19:30.990 simple terms, gift. Gift. Cleopas and his companion 00:19:30.990 --> 00:19:33.490 were trying. They were using the fullness of 00:19:33.490 --> 00:19:36.109 their natural intellect to thought wrestle and 00:19:36.109 --> 00:19:38.970 they came up short. It just did not make sense. 00:19:40.109 --> 00:19:43.450 Because without divine intervention, a dead person 00:19:43.450 --> 00:19:49.049 does not become undead. That's a truth we know 00:19:49.049 --> 00:19:51.190 if you've been to church a long time, but this 00:19:51.190 --> 00:19:54.150 was them trying to reconcile that, figure it 00:19:54.150 --> 00:19:57.650 out, and receive that for the first time. They 00:19:57.650 --> 00:20:02.329 could not recognize Jesus without the gift of 00:20:02.329 --> 00:20:10.910 revelation. Now this is pretty heavy. So to lighten 00:20:10.910 --> 00:20:13.509 the story, the writer actually throws in a little 00:20:13.509 --> 00:20:16.289 humor. So you also don't catch that when you're 00:20:16.289 --> 00:20:18.450 reading it. But when Jesus comes up to them, 00:20:18.509 --> 00:20:21.730 thank you AI generated image, when Jesus comes 00:20:21.730 --> 00:20:24.309 up to them, and Jesus is also known as the Logos 00:20:24.309 --> 00:20:27.569 or the Word in our scripture readings, and he 00:20:27.569 --> 00:20:30.190 first shows up with a couple on the road, his 00:20:30.190 --> 00:20:33.029 question to them could colloquially be translated 00:20:33.029 --> 00:20:36.210 like this. Hey, what words are you guys volleying 00:20:36.210 --> 00:20:38.289 back and forth to each other? Like, in other 00:20:38.289 --> 00:20:40.589 words, what words are you tossing back and forth 00:20:40.589 --> 00:20:44.849 to each other? That is so ironic and we just 00:20:44.849 --> 00:20:49.069 don't even see it. Oblivious that the word incarnate 00:20:49.069 --> 00:20:51.769 was with them, they're like, who is this foreigner? 00:20:52.269 --> 00:20:56.720 I don't recognize this person, this word. And 00:20:56.720 --> 00:20:59.619 so their story spills out. The leader's betrayal, 00:20:59.920 --> 00:21:02.539 the strange behaviors of some of their female 00:21:02.539 --> 00:21:06.240 friends, the unmet expectations of Jesus, and 00:21:06.240 --> 00:21:11.039 their angst centers on verse 21. We had hoped. 00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:16.420 We had hoped Jesus was the one to redeem Israel. 00:21:18.299 --> 00:21:20.579 Now, Jesus doesn't let them walk in disappointment 00:21:20.579 --> 00:21:25.049 and disorientation and mis... Placed expectations 00:21:25.049 --> 00:21:28.269 for too long. He takes the posture of a rabbi 00:21:28.269 --> 00:21:31.049 and he teaches. And he reinterprets for them 00:21:31.049 --> 00:21:34.730 the sacred writings. He pulls the threads and 00:21:34.730 --> 00:21:37.869 reveals a different pattern in scriptures than 00:21:37.869 --> 00:21:41.509 they had seen before. He reveals an image in 00:21:41.509 --> 00:21:44.009 the tapestry of scripture that was always there 00:21:44.009 --> 00:21:48.089 but had just never been visible to them. And 00:21:48.089 --> 00:21:50.390 what is the pattern that he shows them? He shows 00:21:50.390 --> 00:21:55.190 them the pattern of a suffering Messiah leading 00:21:55.190 --> 00:21:59.829 to triumph over the power of sin. A suffering 00:21:59.829 --> 00:22:05.549 Messiah. It's really too bad there wasn't a live 00:22:05.549 --> 00:22:08.529 stream. Scripture is as close as we get to it. 00:22:09.579 --> 00:22:12.420 But later, when the two describe the time of 00:22:12.420 --> 00:22:15.000 teaching they had on that road, they talk about 00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:18.440 it as their hearts burning within them, as if 00:22:18.440 --> 00:22:23.200 the divine fire was lit from the inside and out. 00:22:26.559 --> 00:22:29.740 So for hope to remain and bring us to this place 00:22:29.740 --> 00:22:33.940 of being more than in this moment, it takes time, 00:22:34.079 --> 00:22:40.220 it takes gift, and it takes connection. Arriving 00:22:40.220 --> 00:22:42.660 in Emmaus, the pilgrims extend hospitality to 00:22:42.660 --> 00:22:44.700 this stranger. They still don't know it's Jesus. 00:22:45.119 --> 00:22:47.380 Having engaged in this conversation, they invite 00:22:47.380 --> 00:22:50.240 him over for dinner. Now, custom would have dictated 00:22:50.240 --> 00:22:53.500 making such an offer, but that meal was anything 00:22:53.500 --> 00:22:58.220 but customary. After the pause for preparation 00:22:58.220 --> 00:23:02.640 and washing up, the three sit down. But instead 00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:05.519 of remaining as a guest, Jesus takes the role 00:23:05.519 --> 00:23:09.700 of host. He picks up the bread. He offers a blessing. 00:23:09.759 --> 00:23:12.740 He breaks the bread and shares it with his walking 00:23:12.740 --> 00:23:16.059 companions. And the breaking bread was the moment 00:23:16.059 --> 00:23:20.240 of revelation. Suddenly it all made sense. Recognition 00:23:20.240 --> 00:23:24.559 dawned. The veil was lifted. Jesus, the gift 00:23:24.559 --> 00:23:27.859 of redemption. now visible to them in the scriptures 00:23:27.859 --> 00:23:31.019 that he has unpacked for them, visible to them 00:23:31.019 --> 00:23:34.059 in the breaking of the bread, made known to them 00:23:34.059 --> 00:23:36.859 in the breaking of the bread, disappears from 00:23:36.859 --> 00:23:43.089 their sight. Their hope... being reoriented the 00:23:43.089 --> 00:23:45.990 pair return at once to jerusalem retracing that 00:23:45.990 --> 00:23:48.930 two and a half hour walk to share their experience 00:23:48.930 --> 00:23:51.210 their newfound understanding with their friends 00:23:51.210 --> 00:23:56.130 to connect with them and to connect them with 00:23:56.130 --> 00:24:01.269 this news this hope now when we experience something 00:24:01.269 --> 00:24:03.529 special as relational beings there's this natural 00:24:03.529 --> 00:24:08.029 urge even for the introverted ones in us to share 00:24:08.029 --> 00:24:11.250 it right But I know there's people in here who 00:24:11.250 --> 00:24:13.890 are more or less comfortable in being such witnesses. 00:24:14.769 --> 00:24:18.329 You might hold your hope pretty privately. And 00:24:18.329 --> 00:24:20.450 I've never had to walk 10 kilometers to share 00:24:20.450 --> 00:24:23.450 news of anything amazing with someone. I drove 00:24:23.450 --> 00:24:27.069 here. I mean, I've called, I've texted, I've 00:24:27.069 --> 00:24:30.049 posted, I've video chatted. But two and a half 00:24:30.049 --> 00:24:40.980 hours walking? This... we hear today, this historic 00:24:40.980 --> 00:24:48.720 retelling of events helps us to remember the 00:24:48.720 --> 00:24:55.940 importance of connection in hope. Hope that is 00:24:55.940 --> 00:25:00.680 rooted in more than this moment has a power to 00:25:00.680 --> 00:25:05.019 speak to us when our everyday moments seem overwhelming. 00:25:06.920 --> 00:25:09.539 So let me cycle back a moment to my comments 00:25:09.539 --> 00:25:14.640 at the beginning about grief and loss. Jesus 00:25:14.640 --> 00:25:19.000 stood with them because they literally stood 00:25:19.000 --> 00:25:20.880 still. Then they started walking. But he stood 00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:24.099 with them in that sadness. And he listens and 00:25:24.099 --> 00:25:27.279 is present as they tell their story before the 00:25:27.279 --> 00:25:30.700 revelation. And so there's a moment in this story 00:25:30.700 --> 00:25:33.140 before that revelation where we see the beautiful 00:25:33.140 --> 00:25:37.099 and ongoing incarnational presence. of jesus 00:25:37.099 --> 00:25:39.859 and i want to sit with that just for a moment 00:25:39.859 --> 00:25:43.720 and reflect on it using a bit of poetry from 00:25:43.720 --> 00:25:47.440 the author and songwriter john mark mcmillan 00:25:47.440 --> 00:25:49.920 and he writes this in his song called the road 00:25:49.920 --> 00:25:58.039 the rocks and the weeds he writes this come down 00:25:58.039 --> 00:26:00.480 from your mountain your high -rise apartment 00:26:00.480 --> 00:26:06.200 and tell me of the god you know who bleeds And 00:26:06.200 --> 00:26:08.740 what to tell my daughter when she asks so many 00:26:08.740 --> 00:26:12.920 questions and I fail to fill her heaviness with 00:26:12.920 --> 00:26:18.279 peace. When I've got no answers for hurt knees 00:26:18.279 --> 00:26:24.359 or cancers. But a savior. Make sure this is on 00:26:24.359 --> 00:26:27.960 the slide. There you go. But a savior who suffers 00:26:27.960 --> 00:26:34.900 them with me. Singing goodbye Olympus. the heart 00:26:34.900 --> 00:26:39.559 of my maker is spread out on the road, the rocks, 00:26:39.579 --> 00:26:44.140 and the weeds. Isn't that a poetically lovely 00:26:44.140 --> 00:26:47.740 way of expressing hope? That the heart of our 00:26:47.740 --> 00:26:52.619 maker is spread out on the road, the rocks, and 00:26:52.619 --> 00:27:05.940 the weeds for us. Friends, biblical hope does 00:27:05.940 --> 00:27:11.900 not lead us in sadness and despair. Jesus is 00:27:11.900 --> 00:27:16.099 present, and that presence brings a change in 00:27:16.099 --> 00:27:19.059 perspective, it brings the peace of redemption, 00:27:19.380 --> 00:27:24.200 and it brings the power of connection. And right 00:27:24.200 --> 00:27:29.470 after the story of the road, When they say in 00:27:29.470 --> 00:27:32.069 Jerusalem, the resurrected Jesus shows up a couple 00:27:32.069 --> 00:27:35.390 more times, doesn't he? And in those times when 00:27:35.390 --> 00:27:37.930 he shows up again, he offers peace. But you know 00:27:37.930 --> 00:27:40.569 what? Those disciples who were wrestling on the 00:27:40.569 --> 00:27:43.289 road, they come back to that same question that 00:27:43.289 --> 00:27:46.369 was on the road. They're like, so are you going 00:27:46.369 --> 00:27:48.950 to restore Israel now that you've conquered death? 00:27:49.109 --> 00:27:52.589 Is that the next step of this plan? When does 00:27:52.589 --> 00:27:56.470 this imperial oppression end? When do we get 00:27:56.470 --> 00:28:01.490 free? In other words, their misplaced hope in 00:28:01.490 --> 00:28:04.069 this Messiah warrior, it still plagued early 00:28:04.069 --> 00:28:07.930 followers even after this moment on the road. 00:28:09.309 --> 00:28:12.549 And I think even in our day and age, we find 00:28:12.549 --> 00:28:15.829 ourselves with misplaced hopes. We don't necessarily 00:28:15.829 --> 00:28:21.349 buy into the Messiah warrior motif, but we have 00:28:21.349 --> 00:28:24.289 different biases and expectations based on our 00:28:24.289 --> 00:28:28.099 current. culture, geopolitics, and your intersectionalities. 00:28:28.880 --> 00:28:31.180 Maybe you have hope in Christian nationalism 00:28:31.180 --> 00:28:36.259 or technological utopianism. We have our own 00:28:36.259 --> 00:28:42.119 misplaced hopes that we still need to find redemption 00:28:42.119 --> 00:28:47.940 from. That we still need to find new perspective 00:28:47.940 --> 00:28:54.690 on. Because to really grapple, to really sink 00:28:54.690 --> 00:29:00.250 into hope. It takes time. It takes time because 00:29:00.250 --> 00:29:02.769 the culture around us is telling us so many other 00:29:02.769 --> 00:29:07.670 things that really sitting with the forgiveness 00:29:07.670 --> 00:29:11.410 of sins is the Messiah's redemptive calling. 00:29:12.630 --> 00:29:15.670 That's something every generation has to learn 00:29:15.670 --> 00:29:19.480 again. And we get that gift of revelation, and 00:29:19.480 --> 00:29:22.039 we get every week the connection and the breaking 00:29:22.039 --> 00:29:29.299 of the bread to keep hope alive. You know, I 00:29:29.299 --> 00:29:32.819 think if we had not inherited 2 ,000 years of 00:29:32.819 --> 00:29:35.400 the telling of these stories, of the creeds, 00:29:35.420 --> 00:29:38.380 the generations of interpretation, we'd probably 00:29:38.380 --> 00:29:41.740 be as confused as the disciples walking their 00:29:41.740 --> 00:29:46.579 road. And if we look in our own hearts, there 00:29:46.579 --> 00:29:48.740 may be moments in our own lives when we have 00:29:48.740 --> 00:29:56.220 been those disciples walking on the road. But 00:29:56.220 --> 00:29:59.779 thankfully, today we are here, here with the 00:29:59.779 --> 00:30:02.619 own roads that are in front of us. And in this 00:30:02.619 --> 00:30:09.420 moment, and in this moment, we remember that 00:30:09.420 --> 00:30:13.640 there is always in Jesus more than this moment. 00:30:15.090 --> 00:30:20.329 Thanks be to God. Amen. Thanks for tuning in 00:30:20.329 --> 00:30:22.670 to this week's episode of Trinity Sermons. This 00:30:22.670 --> 00:30:25.190 sermon was recorded at Trinity Church Streetsville 00:30:25.190 --> 00:30:29.589 in Mississauga, Ontario on August 30, 2026.