A few weeks ago, Bishop Ahrens shared an African proverb:
“If you want to go fast, go alone.
If you want to go far, go together.”
When the two disciples traveled to Emmaus, they didn’t know what was happening. They couldn’t make sense of al that they had seen. They didn’t know what would become of them. The great gift of the story is how they traveled from a place of fear and confusion and found a place of joy. Even though they returned to Jerusalem, they had traveled a great distance. With the help of Jesus, they got there together. They got there by telling their story.
Over the past few months we have been telling stories to each other. We have been engaged from time to time in the practice of public narrative. Remember that there are three parts to a good story. There is a challenge, there is a choice and there is an outcome. By forming the episodes of our lives into stories, we begin to discern how we act; we can discern why we act and what is important to us. Stories cannot be told alone. By speaking and listening together, we learn from each other. We begin to recognize the things that are important to our whole community.
The two disciples told their story to Jesus. Ironically, they recounted the story of Jesus to Jesus without recognizing him. They told how Jesus had a challenge – he was arrested and condemned to death. He had a choice – he could have gotten out of it by bowing to the authorities. The outcome? – they were a little confused about that. The telling of this story is also wrapped in their own story. The disciples have a challenge – to tell their story to a mysterious traveler. They have a choice – to keep up the conversation and invite him to eat with them. Their story has an outcome. They see Jesus as he breaks the bread. They discern the meaning of their own story in their conversation with Jesus. They are changed. They return to Jerusalem and the cycle continues, right up to this present moment as we hear and respond to the Easter story.
What is our challenge? What are our choices? What will be the outcome? We are walking on that road to Emmaus today. As we hear the good news our hearts burn within us. We see Jesus in the broken bread we share. We have our own story to share as we travel. We need to discover our own story and tell it in this place at this moment.
We might say that our challenge is a broken boiler and a broken organ. Our choice is whether or not we are willing to pay to fix these things. Maybe the outcome is a happy and contented church with everything beautiful again and in order. There’s nothing wrong with that story. We might very well live to see that story told. But I think we have another story.
The world we knew and the church we knew will never be the same again. God’s love for us, and the story of the resurrection will always remain the same, but we have to continually rediscover how to proclaim this story in our time. Whenever we start to complain about how people aren’t like they used to be, it’s a sign that we have to tell the story again in a new way.
Jesus is walking beside us, asking us what’s on our mind. Maybe we can tell Jesus about how we have followed faithfully, but the world around us has changed. People don’t seem to treasure our traditions the way that they used to. People don’t seem as reliable. We can’t seem to find enough money or hands or interest to keep up all the things we love. Maybe we’ll find the outcome as we have conversation with Jesus. Maybe he will open our minds to the truth in scripture and show how the resurrection is still going on. Maybe when we come to the table and take the broken bread we will recognize Jesus and find the strength to travel to a new place and see ourselves in a new way.
We will gather resources to fix our old broken building. We know that it’s not enough. We need to transform this community into something that reaches the world around us. We need to find a way to tell good news to people who need to hear it, but don’t think to come inside our door. We need to discern the traditions that sustain us, and to find the courage to let go of the things that hold us back. We need to learn to share our stories – both by speaking and listening so that we can see the presence of God among us.
Finally, we need to give up the idea that church is all about us. True, God will comfort us in our pain and heal us in our brokenness. God wants to restore us to go back into the world to do our work. The church is not about our comfort and ease and nothing else. The church exists to proclaim God’s good news. God gives it to us freely, and we are to share it and spend all of God’s gifts with generosity. In following God we may have to give away some things that are dear to us. But as we open ourselves and listen to the story that God tells, we will find new purpose and new strength for that journey.
I invite us all to the practice of speaking and listening – to one another and to God, as God reveals to us the way that we should go.
“If you want to go fast, go alone.
If you want to go far, go together.”
When the two disciples traveled to Emmaus, they didn’t know what was happening. They couldn’t make sense of al that they had seen. They didn’t know what would become of them. The great gift of the story is how they traveled from a place of fear and confusion and found a place of joy. Even though they returned to Jerusalem, they had traveled a great distance. With the help of Jesus, they got there together. They got there by telling their story.
Over the past few months we have been telling stories to each other. We have been engaged from time to time in the practice of public narrative. Remember that there are three parts to a good story. There is a challenge, there is a choice and there is an outcome. By forming the episodes of our lives into stories, we begin to discern how we act; we can discern why we act and what is important to us. Stories cannot be told alone. By speaking and listening together, we learn from each other. We begin to recognize the things that are important to our whole community.
The two disciples told their story to Jesus. Ironically, they recounted the story of Jesus to Jesus without recognizing him. They told how Jesus had a challenge – he was arrested and condemned to death. He had a choice – he could have gotten out of it by bowing to the authorities. The outcome? – they were a little confused about that. The telling of this story is also wrapped in their own story. The disciples have a challenge – to tell their story to a mysterious traveler. They have a choice – to keep up the conversation and invite him to eat with them. Their story has an outcome. They see Jesus as he breaks the bread. They discern the meaning of their own story in their conversation with Jesus. They are changed. They return to Jerusalem and the cycle continues, right up to this present moment as we hear and respond to the Easter story.
What is our challenge? What are our choices? What will be the outcome? We are walking on that road to Emmaus today. As we hear the good news our hearts burn within us. We see Jesus in the broken bread we share. We have our own story to share as we travel. We need to discover our own story and tell it in this place at this moment.
We might say that our challenge is a broken boiler and a broken organ. Our choice is whether or not we are willing to pay to fix these things. Maybe the outcome is a happy and contented church with everything beautiful again and in order. There’s nothing wrong with that story. We might very well live to see that story told. But I think we have another story.
The world we knew and the church we knew will never be the same again. God’s love for us, and the story of the resurrection will always remain the same, but we have to continually rediscover how to proclaim this story in our time. Whenever we start to complain about how people aren’t like they used to be, it’s a sign that we have to tell the story again in a new way.
Jesus is walking beside us, asking us what’s on our mind. Maybe we can tell Jesus about how we have followed faithfully, but the world around us has changed. People don’t seem to treasure our traditions the way that they used to. People don’t seem as reliable. We can’t seem to find enough money or hands or interest to keep up all the things we love. Maybe we’ll find the outcome as we have conversation with Jesus. Maybe he will open our minds to the truth in scripture and show how the resurrection is still going on. Maybe when we come to the table and take the broken bread we will recognize Jesus and find the strength to travel to a new place and see ourselves in a new way.
We will gather resources to fix our old broken building. We know that it’s not enough. We need to transform this community into something that reaches the world around us. We need to find a way to tell good news to people who need to hear it, but don’t think to come inside our door. We need to discern the traditions that sustain us, and to find the courage to let go of the things that hold us back. We need to learn to share our stories – both by speaking and listening so that we can see the presence of God among us.
Finally, we need to give up the idea that church is all about us. True, God will comfort us in our pain and heal us in our brokenness. God wants to restore us to go back into the world to do our work. The church is not about our comfort and ease and nothing else. The church exists to proclaim God’s good news. God gives it to us freely, and we are to share it and spend all of God’s gifts with generosity. In following God we may have to give away some things that are dear to us. But as we open ourselves and listen to the story that God tells, we will find new purpose and new strength for that journey.
I invite us all to the practice of speaking and listening – to one another and to God, as God reveals to us the way that we should go.
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