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Seeing the Unseen Christ" Sermon Transcript for June 3, 2001By Reverend Mike Beck
Scripture Reading: Luke 24:13-25
I’d like to begin our 50-Day Spiritual Adventure by teaching you a simple little chorus. We’ll use it as our Call to Worship each week. And it’s a chorus that reminds us that Jesus is indeed among us, right now here in this very room, if only we have spiritual eyes to see. The words are on the screen. It’s a little chorus entitled, "He is Here". Sarai’s going to sing it through once and then join as a congregation singing it twice through following her time of singing.
Chorus: "He is Here"
He is here ... Hallelujah. He is here ... Amen.
He is here ... Holy, Holy;
I will bless His name again.
He is here ... listen closely. Hear Him calling out your name.
He is here ... you can touch Him;
You will never be the same.
And isn’t that the message of Pentecost? Do you remember when the resurrected Christ gathered with His disciples? He said, "Boys, the time is coming now when I will go back to heaven to be with my Father." And they said, "Oh no, Lord. You can’t go from our midst." But then He said, "No, it’s good that I go." Because when Christ was here in the flesh, He could only be in one place at one time. But with the coming of the Holy Spirit, we believe that Christ is here through the Spirit with us even now. And that’s what we’re going to try to get in closer touch with during the 50-Day Adventure as we seek to "See the Unseen Christ" with us now.
In Luke’s gospel, there is a wonderful story of two disciples on the road to Emmaus who were unaware at first that the risen Christ was with them. It’s found in Luke 24:13-35. Listen now for the Word of God to us as Reverend Dan reads.
You may remain seated as we hear from God’s Word. "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 only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there 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 that 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 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 said. But him they did not see." He said to them, "How foolish you are and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Did not the Christ 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 all the scriptures concerning himself. As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, "Stay with us for it is almost evening; 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." And this is the Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.
There are three reflections as we begin the adventure that I want to make from this wonderful Emmaus road story. The first is found in verse 15. It says, "As they talked and discussed these things with each other..." It was in that context that Jesus came up and walked along with them. The minds and the hearts of these two men were centered and focused in that moment on the events that had taken place in recent days in Jerusalem. And it was in that context that Jesus came up and walked with them. I want to ask us, "What about our focus and our attention? Did you come to worship this morning anticipating that you would encounter God in this time of worship? Or is your mind this morning in a hundred and one different places thinking about the events of this afternoon, or the coming week, or your cares and concerns? What are the distractions that we allow into our lives that prevent us from being aware of the presence of God?
I don’t know where this quote came from but it stuck in my mind because I think it’s filled with such truth. It simply goes like this, "What ever gets our attention, ultimately gets us." Now think about that. What is it that you are giving your attention? Because whatever it is that you give your attention, ultimately its you. And we’re going to look in some very practical ways in the weeks ahead, at some things we can do to shift our focus to allow us to see Christ more clearly and in doing so to have our lives transformed.
The second thing I want us to see in this story is found in Verse 32 where it says the men reply, "Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked to us on the road?" Anybody’s heart here on fire this morning with things with God? The United Methodist Church in our symbol has a cross, but it also has a flame signifying the Holy Spirit which is to be a presence of power and joy in our lives. Might I ask you to look deep within this morning to see how brightly that flame of Christ’s Spirit is burning in your heart today? Is it possible that the spiritual embers in your life have grown cold? And I want to make that very personal. Friends, I am praying as your pastor, for a personal revival in my life these next two months during the Spiritual Adventure. For you see, we as pastors who get busy doing the work of ministry ourselves, can become stale in terms of our own walk with the Lord. I need my heart to be strangely warmed again. And I hope that is your prayer as well.
And then, thirdly, the third point is found in Verses 33 and 35 and it has to do with their response once they realized they were in the presence of Christ. It says, "They got up and they returned..." Not in the morning, but they returned "...at once to Jerusalem and told what had happened on the way." No doubt, friends, they were tired from the day’s travel. But that was now of little concern because the news was too good to wait till morning. They left the food on the table. Why? Because they had encountered the living Lord. And, friends, if we encounter the living Lord it ought to be too good a news to keep to ourselves.
Let me ask you to ponder this question. In the last few months if you’ve seen a good movie, if you’ve eaten at a good restaurant, if you’ve traveled to a special destination, my guess is that you didn’t keep that to yourself. My guess is that it was only a short time before you shared that experience with others. But why is it that we in the church who have the best good news of all, keep it to ourselves? Could I challenge you? Next Sunday, first of all in the morning service, the 50-Day Spiritual Adventure is a wonderful time for you to invite unchurched friends and neighbors to come and worship with you. Next Sunday evening as we fellowship together over food, as we have the joy of having the Heartland Boys Quartet with us again in the evening, I want you to come; but I don’t want you to come by yourself. Reach out and bring someone with you.
I ask as we close if you are ready to "See the Unseen Christ"? To have Him transform your life? We’ll examine how we can see the unseen Christ as we...
Week 1: Worship Him with genuine enthusiasm.
Week 2: Lavish His love on others
Week 3: Embrace righteousness and renounce evil.
Week 4: Serve God with gratitude and eagerness
Week 5: Surrender to the truth of God’s Word.
Week 6: Experience the power or prayer
Week 7: Delight in introducing Him to others
Week 8: Celebrate the abundant life that Christ came to bring.
My prayer is, and I hope it’s yours as well, that there will be no summer slump at Grace. But rather that the months of June and July would be a time in which we see the unseen Christ in our worship, in our personal devotions, and that as Dan prayed this morning, a genuine revival will come in our midst. Friends, there are signs all around us that God is ready to do a marvelous thing in the life of Grace church. Are you ready to see Him in fresh and new ways. For He is hear. Listen closely. He’s calling out your name. He is here. You can touch Him. But if you do, you will never be the same.
E-mail Comments to: Reverend Dan Sinkhorn