Today begins our Fall spiritual adventure officially.
We're talking during these weeks about welcoming Jesus Christ into our homes and making him
feel comfortable there.
I read a letter this last week written by an acquaintance, Pastor Roger Thompson of
the Trinity Baptist Church in Wheatridge, Colorado, suburb of Denver.
He writes, Dear Jesus, while you are in Denver this fall, I believe it would be most strategic
use of your time to stay awhile in many different homes.
Since we have invited you to be our resident teacher for a season, would it be possible
to start with the church family here at Trinity?
The benefits from this approach would be many.
Our people would profit from knowing you better.
Young and old would soon appreciate that you make all of life more vibrant.
People would have someone to talk about their work day, school experiences, or problems
with.
With you, meals would become an event that wouldn't be missed.
Spouses might seek you out for advice in relating to each other with greater harmony.
Everyone would anticipate Sundays on tiptoe because of what they had learned and felt
from you.
I can just imagine how privileged each person on the list might feel to have you as a guest.
I am certain our people would go out of their way to serve you and place everything they
have at your disposal.
One difficulty in this that I am not sure which of our homes should be picked.
Would you be open to staying with some senior members at the retirement home?
What about rooming with a college student at the dorm?
Many young families have cramped quarters and disrupted sleep.
Would you be able to adapt to a mobile home, a condominium, a bachelor flat?
Of course, there are many in our congregation who have large homes with furnished guest
rooms.
As you can see, our choices are nearly limitless.
I hope you won't mind if we scheduled you as broadly as possible.
You are a person of dignity, honor, and wealth.
We are just a regular vanilla congregation.
But we don't want your 50-day visit to leave you at a distance.
We would be honored to have you as a guest in our homes, and your presence would make
a difference never to be forgotten.
We want to know you for who you really are.
Thank you for allowing us to presume upon your schedule and convenience.
Yours truly, Roger Thompson.
P.S.
It just struck me.
Perhaps the best way to determine which homes you will stay in is to ask the congregation.
We will publicize this opportunity for the fall and let each home decide for itself.
We could call it 50 days to open our homes to Christ.
What an adventure that would be.
Just as the Lord Jesus Christ is going to be staying in some homes in Wheat Ridge, Colorado,
he is going to be staying in some homes right here in the northern part of the Twin Cities.
The opportunity is open for all of us, and many of you have made that decision already,
to set aside these next 50 days to welcome Jesus into your homes.
I hope that you are going to use these days for that purpose, to make him feel comfortable
in your home.
I am not suggesting that he must leave when the 50 days are over, by the way.
I am simply suggesting that if we concentrate on making him feel at home for these 50 days,
it will change our homes forever.
Have you ever wondered what it might be like to have Jesus live with you, to have him come
to your home?
We know intellectually that he is there, because he is with us wherever we are as his believers,
his children.
But have you ever stopped to think what it would be like to see him there, to establish
a chair for him at the dining room table, to make room for him in conversations, or
to have a guest room where he would stay?
It puts it in a little different perspective, doesn't it?
We have a text to look at this morning in the book of Luke that records such a personal
visit of Jesus to a home.
I would like you to turn with me to Luke 24.
For those of you who got started yesterday in your adventure journal, you will recognize
this as being a scripture reading for preparation day.
Luke 24, beginning in verse 13,
And, behold, two of them, the disciples, were going that very day to a village named Emmaus,
which was about seven miles from Jerusalem.
They were conversing with each other about all these things which had taken place.
It came about that while they were conversing and discussing, Jesus himself approached and
began traveling with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.
He said to them, What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you
are walking?
They stood still, looking sad.
One of them named Cleopas answered and said to him, Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem
and unaware of the things that have happened here these days?
He said to them, What things?
They said to him the things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet, mighty in deed
and word, in the sight of God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our
rulers delivered him up to the sentence of death and crucified him.
But we were hoping that it was he who was going to redeem Israel.
Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened.
But also some women among us amazed us.
When they were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body, they came saying
that they had also seen a vision of angels who said he was alive.
And some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the
women also had said, but him they did not see.
And he said to them, O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all the prophets have
spoken, was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into his
glory?
And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, he explained to them the things
concerning himself in all the scriptures.
And they approached the village where they were going, and he acted as though he would
go farther.
And they urged him, saying, Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening.
And the day is now nearly over, and he went in to stay with them.
And it came about that when he had reclined at the table with them, he took the bread
and blessed it, and breaking it, he began giving it to them.
And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished from their sight.
And they said to one another, Were not our hearts burning within us while he was speaking
to us on the road, while he was explaining scriptures to us?
And they arose that very hour and returned to Jerusalem.
Because it is our Lord's pleasure to stay with us, let's discover today something of
the wonder of his closeness.
Note with me some of the details in the text that we have just read.
These two followers or disciples of our Lord were returning from a traumatic sequence of
events in Jerusalem.
The name of one of them is given to us.
It is Cleopas.
The other one is unnamed.
Perhaps the other one was his wife.
If indeed this is the same Cleopas as mentioned in John 19.25, his wife's name was Mary.
The conversation as they were traveling mounted in its tension.
The language indicates they were becoming more and more animated, and it was just at
that moment that Jesus fell into step with them.
Is it not interesting that we observe two believers here sharing together, and the focus
of what they were sharing was the Lord Jesus Christ?
What a great example they give to all of us that when we meet one another, whether it
be on a social occasion, or out there in a store somewhere, or in the hallway of the
church, that we share together about what the Lord is doing in our lives, and let him
be the focus of our conversation.
We need to follow the example of these two.
Christ himself came to them, but they did not recognize his presence, according to verse
16.
And, of course, we ask the question, why didn't they recognize him?
We note that the verb is passive.
It says their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.
What was it then that caused them not to recognize Jesus?
There are several possible answers to that.
One might be their emotional and mental condition at this point.
For these disciples were returning from Jerusalem bewildered, disheartened, sad, and confused.
They knew of the crucifixion.
They apparently had seen it.
They knew of the questioning and the gloom and the fear that followed his crucifixion.
Then they heard the report of the empty tomb and the fact that some women claimed to have
a vision of angels that said he was alive, but they didn't really see Jesus.
After that first Easter Sunday, they were returning home with that kind of mental and
emotional trauma.
Perhaps that was the reason that they did not see him and recognize him.
It may well have been that it was their spiritual condition.
In verse 25, Jesus suggests that they were slow of heart to believe.
It could be that they simply did not recognize him because they did not believe that he was
going to rise from the dead.
They had seen him die.
They knew that he was buried.
It may have been that their unbelief precluded any possibility of this being Jesus, so it
never entered their minds once.
But it seems to me that more likely that the cause of their eyes being prevented from seeing
him was divine.
That seems to be suggested in what is said in this verse, and then again in verse 31
when it says their eyes were opened.
The Lord, for his own purpose, at this time it would seem at least, caused their eyes
to be shut so they could not perceive who he was.
Perhaps it was to expose the unbelief of their own hearts, which indeed is exposed.
Perhaps it was also to provide the Lord Jesus an opportunity to give the exposition that
followed the exposure of their unbelief.
But whatever, it seems as though the Lord caused their eyes for this time to be prevented
from seeing and recognizing him.
Even the expounding of scripture from our Lord himself did not give them the awareness
that it was he who was present with them.
How often we, too, have walked that same pathway.
When our Lord was with us and spoke with us and we did not see his hand, nor did we hear
his voice, even when he was dealing directly in our circumstances, our eyes failed to perceive
that it was Jesus who was doing it.
So we cannot condemn Cleopas and his companion too heartily.
Jesus then provided an opportunity to be invited into their home.
They did invite him in.
There are those who accuse our Lord of being deceitful here because it says that he pretended
to desire to go further.
He acted as though he was going to go on.
Was Jesus being deceitful here?
Far be it from our Lord to be deceitful.
I think what we really see here is simply an oriental mannerism.
Orientals are much unlike we Westerners.
We would probably have suggested that perhaps we could stay the night, but not an oriental.
That would be too presuming.
And so in the simply an oriental manner, he acted as though he was going to go on.
And yet he opened the door.
He gave them the opportunity to invite him in in doing that, and that's exactly what
they did.
I would suggest to you that Jesus has given us a wonderful opportunity to conscientiously,
purposefully invite him into our homes during these days.
And I hope that you've taken him up on that opportunity.
It says that after the food had been prepared and as they were reclined and prepared to
eat in the typical fashion of that day, that Jesus took the place of the host.
That's very unusual.
Normally, Cleopas would have done this, but Jesus assumed that responsibility.
He took the bread, he blessed it, and then he broke it and began giving it out.
And what would have happened, of course, as he did that?
Well, they would have reached out to his hands, and they would have immediately seen the scars
that were in his hands.
It was at that point that their eyes were opened by the Lord himself so that they perceived
the wonder of his closeness.
Isn't it interesting to note that it was in the intimate atmosphere of their home as
they fellowshiped together that their eyes were opened?
And the thing that they realized belatedly was that he was present with them all along
the way.
They said a little bit later, our hearts were burning within us when we were walking on
the road, but we didn't recognize him.
Jesus is with us whether we recognize it or not.
But how wonderful it is when we begin to open our eyes to see the wonder of his closeness.
And although Jesus disappeared on that day from their sight, he vanished as he was capable
of doing in his resurrection body.
He didn't go away.
Jesus was still there present with them, and so it is today.
Whom, having not seen, we love, says Peter.
We have not seen him with our physical eyes.
We have not beheld him, but we have experienced him spiritually.
And we can have our eyes open to see the wonder of his work in our lives every day that we
live.
Like these early disciples, we need our eyes opened to the presence of the living, resurrected
King, Jesus Christ.
Beloved, when that happens, we will begin to treat each other for the good.
The way we treat each other now is not always what it ought to be.
Is it in our homes, in our personal relationships?
But, oh, if we could see that the King is present with us, it would change the way that
we treat each other for the good.
If our eyes were opened to Jesus' presence, the crises of life would be faced with his
counsel.
We would not dare ignore such a one as he.
We would want to know what he had to say regarding the situation we were facing if only our eyes
were open to perceive him present.
When we see Jesus as with us, the possessions we have will be given to him to be used as
he sees fit.
Indeed, we will see them as resources to be used for his kingdom's sake and not for our
work.
When our eyes are opened to the presence of the living King, the Lord's Day will take
on a new meaning and importance.
Furthermore, our bodies will be respected as his personal temple when we understand and
our eyes are opened to the fact that he dwells within these bodies of ours.
And when we perceive that the living King is present, our church services will be different.
We will carefully prepare ourselves in coming.
We will be here on time.
We will come with careful thought, focusing to see what he has to say to us personally.
You see, if our eyes are opened to the presence of this living one, this sovereign Jesus Christ,
it will change everything about us.
The disciplines that we are undertaking in this fall adventure will help open our eyes.
Which one of these disciplines will be most meaningful to you?
Of course, I cannot say.
We are beginning all of them, or at least the ones that we have chosen to do, today.
But I do believe that the wonder and the delight, the joy and the excitement of these Emmaus
disciples will be yours as your eyes are opened to behold the wonder of his presence.
Today we are going to talk about the God hunt.
Some of you have seen a film which has explained what this particular exercise is all about.
Let me quote A.W.
Tozer, a prophet of God in our day who went to be with the Lord in the early sixties.
In his classic work entitled The Pursuit of God, he writes these words,
The impulse to pursue God originates with God.
But the outworking of that impulse is our following hard after him.
And all the time we are pursuing him, we are already in his hand.
Thy right hand upholdeth me.
In this divine upholding and human following there is no contradiction.
All is of God, for as Von Hegel teaches, God is always previous.
In practice, however, man must pursue God.
I think that that's a good statement to precede the explanation of the God hunt.
For in the God hunt we are following hard after God.
We are pursuing him, desiring him to open our eyes that we might behold his activity
in our lives every day.
This is a spiritual exercise which none of us can play passively.
We must go on a hunt.
We must enter it actively and take part.
When the hunter, the pursuer sees God, he can shout, I spy.
This week I've already heard that term several times around here and it will be picked up
even more as we all get involved in the God hunt.
For when we see God involved in our lives, at that moment those two words should come
to our mind.
I spy.
I see God working in this in my life.
Now there are four specific areas which will help us to distinguish as we consider the
activity of God.
God of course can convey himself to us in our world by any means that he desires.
He is not limited.
But these four categories that I'm going to mention may be of some help to you as you
think about, well how do I identify God working in my life?
How do I have an eye spy?
As I pursue God during these days, what am I looking for?
Let me suggest four specific areas.
Number one, any obvious answer to prayer.
I hope that you write down your prayer requests.
It not only helps you to remember what you've asked for, but it gives you an opportunity
to later go back and see how God answered in the way that you ask or in some other way.
Any obvious answer to prayer is an eye spy.
I see God working here.
A second area is any unexpected evidence of God's care.
It may be that you are short for a particular payment that you have to make.
And suddenly there comes to you a gift that you did not know was coming, or you get a
refund from here or a rebate from there.
And the money is provided in some unexpected way.
God has showed you His care, perhaps as you are driving down the freeway and you run into
slow traffic.
And your initial response is to feel frustrated by that because you're going to be late for
the appointment.
Only to discover later on down the expressway that there was a serious accident that had
you been on time, you might have been involved in.
Ways in which God unexpectedly, supernaturally, providentially intervenes and shows His loving
care for us.
A third area is any unusual linkage or timing.
The word that we sometimes use is the word coincidence, but it's of course much more
than that.
We're talking about when things just happen in an unusual sequence or when there's a
linkage between two things that obviously has to be of God.
And a fourth area is any help that God gives you to do His work in the world.
It may be that you have a desire for a certain project, to be involved in that, but you just
don't have the time.
And then God provides the time for you.
Or maybe in some other way that God will enable you, He will free you to be able to be involved
in some aspect of His kingdom work in the world.
Those are four areas.
Don't feel limited to those four, but at least that will get you started as you begin
to see God at work in your life.
When we invite Jesus Christ into our homes, the result is going to be that we will begin
to observe the wonder of His closeness in our family relationships, in our jobs, in
our personal and social relationships, in our personal lives.
We are going to see the wonder of the closeness of Jesus Christ.
We've all heard the poem by now talking about the man who was walking along.
The footsteps were single.
He did not see the presence of the Lord.
And then one day at the judgment, when he asked the Lord why he was alone during that
time, the Lord said, my son, there was only one set of footsteps because that's the
time I was carrying you.
That's the idea.
It's that we might see our eyes, have our eyes open and see that there are times when
we feel God is far away, when in fact He is carrying us in the bosom of His arms.
Oh, listen, my friend, will you observe the wonder of His closeness?
Now, if you have an adventure journal, there's a place for you to record those each day over
these next weeks.
And by the way, those journals are still available if you don't have one and want to pick up
one today.
We'd be delighted to get you one.
We have plenty.
Will you begin looking, even if you're not a part of the adventure, for some reason you
feel you cannot do it right now.
You can't have the journal, you can't go through all of the exercises.
Will you at least this week be looking for the Lord's intervention, for His presence?
You and I live in a secular society.
The supernatural is not considered as relevant in the world in which we live.
It is sad, but true, that such secularistic thinking touches our understanding of life
circumstances.
We easily miss the hand of God.
We explain things away.
We rationalize things and overlook that the Lord Jesus Christ is walking with us down
our pathway.
I don't want you to miss the ongoing miracle of the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I do want you to discover the wonder, the glory of His presence and His working in your
life every day.
And you know what?
You know what, as you see that and as you share what the Lord is doing, that is going
to have a tremendous impact upon people.
For when a society is secular, the result is a vacuum is created.
People get hungry for God.
They get hungry for supernatural results.
Think of the amazement when you begin to share with people, even unsaved people, and may
I even say it this way, especially unregenerate people, when you begin to share with them
your eyespies and they understand that your faith visibly interfaces with the routine
of daily life.
Because you see right now they are convinced that faith and daily life do not meet anywhere.
When they see it meeting, when they see it touching, when they see it interfacing in
your life through your eyespy experiences, that's going to amaze them and attract them
to the reality that is in Jesus Christ.
Oh, may our eyes be opened this week.
And as we invite Him into our homes, as we invite Him into our apartments, into our rooms,
as we invite Him to share with us what He has given to us, as we sit down and as it
were break bread with Him and intimately fellowship with Him and He reaches out to us, may we
at that moment have our eyes opened to recognize that He is here.
And as Schaeffer said, He is not silent.
Let's pray.
Would you sing with me?
Open our eyes, Lord, I want to see Jesus, to reach out and touch Him,
and say that I love Him.
Open my ears, Lord, and help me to listen.
Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus.
With our heads bowed, I wonder if today you would say, yes, I know that Jesus is present
with me, but my eyesight has been poor.
My vision has been clouded with other things and concerns, but I want my eyes to be opened.
I really do.
I want my eyes opened to see Jesus in my life.
Is that your heart's desire?
Would you lift your hand as a testimony if that's your desire?
Lord, I want to see your hand in my life.
Give me good vision.
Give me 20-20 vision.
Amen.
Oh Lord, you see our hands today, you read our hearts, you know our minds are intense.
We acknowledge to you that we are in a society that counteracts all that we've talked about
this morning.
But Lord, open our eyes.
Give us to see your hand working.
And make us unashamed to share what we spy you doing as you work in our daily routines.
In this we pray.