It's Saturday evening and all is calm, then it flashes up on the telly the winning numbers of the lottery. All of a sudden you realise that life will never be the same again All your 6 numbers have come up and you are now loaded with money. What would you change? Would you move house, or get someone in to it makeover? . Would you go for an extreme makeover yourself? For us ladies would it be a case of a little nip here and a little tuck there. How about implants, liposuction? If you wanted to how would you change your appearance? Gentlemen you are just the same nowadays you can have abdominal implants to give you an instant 6 pack and many men go for plastic surgery, some take it to extremes like the pop star Michael Jackson. It is now possible to become unrecognisable to others. Even on telly there are so many shows of extreme makeover taking ordinary people who are deeply unhappy and change them into today's idea of what beauty is. There is a saying that "beauty is only skin deep" what really matters is goodness, kindness love; what matters is heart and soul. The personality matters - and I say "thank goodness for that". These people who change so dramatically on the outside they remain the same people inside but more often than not it is the inside that needs the most work. It is the inside; our personality, our actions and the way we are with people are the things that define us, and not weather we have the perfect body with the perfect smile. If it is the soul, spirit and personality that is broken and scarred those are the parts of us that need the most care in restoring.Copyright St Elisabeths.
When we look back through the scriptures there have been occasions when Jesus' appearance has changed dramatically. The Transfiguration showed Christ in Glory shining with divine light. In contrast, Christ's passion showed him unrecognisable, his body distorted and twisted through torture and excruciating pain. A body contorted by suffering both inward and outwardly, a body experiencing both physical and spiritual agony. This vision is a far cry from the image of the divine Christ bathed in heavenly splendour and glory on Mount Tabor.Copyright St Elisabeths.
Yet throughout all this bodily change he remained the same inside, his very being was unchanged; he remained the same Jesus no matter if he was being glorified on a mountaintop or dying on a tree outside of Jerusalem.
How was he able to do this?
Jesus Christ was obedient to his fathers will, nothing; no amount of torture could change that. The prophets had written in the scriptures that it would be so and Christ disciples tried hard to believe it. Unfortunately they had very selective memories they were human and they may have just forgotten. The events of Good Friday scared them and shattered their faith. They could not remember, they could not dare to hold on to what Jesus himself had said. Trust and hope had gone and deserted them.
That was evident on the road to Emmaus. Two men, two disciples found themselves walking on the Road, despairing, hopes dashed and faces downcast. They had followed Christ hoping and thinking that he was the Messiah, the saviour of the world but he was dead, crucified and even worse - gone. It was finished; no hope, no faith and the promise of victory broken.
They met with the risen Christ not knowing who is was, had Christ gone through another bodily transformation or was it God himself that had stopped the eyes of these two disciples from seeing in order for a fuller revelation to take place within the travellers? Whatever happened that day, they did not recognise him. There where no clues to who this stranger was. Christ wasn't wearing a T shirt emblazoned with the slogan "Stop staring; it is me" Or "I conquered death - what have you done today?"
Somehow Jesus had changed outwardly but it wasn't until he went through the whole of the scriptures (the longest bible study in history) and finally broke bread with them that they knew that they were in the presence of the Messiah. His actions and his words where the revelation. They finally knew him through the simplest of acts. Despair turns to hope, sadness into joy and death turns to life.Copyright St Elisabeths.
We today are not just in a building called S. Elisabeth's. This place is the road to Emmaus. We read and listen to the scriptures we break bread, we are acting out our faith. We meet the risen Christ in the sacraments but does it have a profound effect on us the way that it did on those days after the first Easter? More importantly - Does the road to Emmaus stop at the doors of the south Aisle?Copyright St Elisabeths.
No
The road goes on, it becomes the flagstones in the churchyard, and it becomes the pavements and roads of Reddish. It carries down the motorways of Britain more and more people will join us carrying that Emmaus joy. The Emmaus experience travels overseas on boats and planes stretching throughout the world. It enters our homes and enters our souls. Emmaus becomes part of us and we begin to change into better people because of it.
This inward change has to start somewhere.Copyright St Elisabeths.
Let it start here in the breaking of bread. As an Easter people full of the resurrection life we have an obligation not to keep quiet about this, that is part of the Easter experience.
May be our spiritual transformation will transform us. The light of Christ can radiate from us, it can happen within people I have seen it. As the Emmaus experience starts to show, maybe we don't need the surgeons knifes; maybe we need to have a clearer understanding of the love of God.Copyright St Elisabeths.
I leave you with this to think about - When our service here has ended, our worshipping through the transforming love of the resurrected Christ has begun .The road to Emmaus is out there let us walk it together.Copyright St Elisabeths.
Amen
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