Stay With Me!

If you are walking through a season of confusion or disappointment, if the world seems full of threats and bluster, violence and confrontation, if life has not turned out the way you hoped - - - you are not alone on the road.

Christ DOES walk beside you. Even if you do not recognise Him. Even if your eyes are clouded by grief or doubt.

He is there !!!

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:35

Welcome, sisters and brothers, and peace be with you. May the words on my lips and the meditations in our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. Amen. It is Easter Sunday. The tomb is empty. However, in Luke chapter twenty four, verses thirteen to thirty five, we meet two disciples who, instead of joy, are filled with confusion, disappointment, and grief. They had hoped that Jesus was the one to redeem Israel. But now, as far as they can tell, everything has fallen apart. So they do what many of us might do in moments like that. They walk away. They leave Jerusalem, the place of hope, the place of promise, and they head towards the small town of Emmaus, carrying their broken expectations with them. And then something extraordinary happens. Jesus comes alongside them and walks with them. Ah, but they do not recognize him. Isn't that so striking? The risen Christ is right there, walking beside them, listening to their pain, engaging in their conversation, and yet they do not know that it is him. Why? Because sometimes grief blinds us. Sometimes disappointment clouds our vision. Sometimes when life just doesn't turn out the way we expected, we assume that God is absent when in fact he's closer than ever. As they walk, Jesus listens patiently. He lets them tell their story. He hears their sadness. He doesn't interrupt or correct them right away. And then gently he begins to speak. He opens the scriptures to them. He helps them see that their story is not over, their suffering is not meaningless, that God's plan is bigger than they had imagined. That's the first movement of this story. Jesus meets us on our road, even when we don't recognize him. He comes into our confusion, into our doubt, into our disappointment. He doesn't wait for us to have perfect faith. He meets us exactly where we are. But the story doesn't end there. When they reach Emmaeus, the disciples invite Jesus to stay with them, and at the table something familiar happens. Jesus takes bread, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it to them, and in that moment their eyes are opened. They recognize him. It is in the breaking of the bread that they finally see. What they could not see on the road they now see at the table. What was hidden becomes revealed. Then the moment they recognize him, he disappears from their sight. Because now they no longer need to see him, not with their eyes. They know him in their hearts. This is the second movement of the story. Jesus is revealed in relationship, in hospitality, in the breaking of bread. And there is something very powerful here for us to remember. How often do we miss Christ because we are looking for him in dramatic, extraordinary flashpoint ways when he is present in the ordinary, in a conversation, in scripture, in a shared meal, in a quiet moment of grace. Then comes the final movement. These two disciples who had been walking away from Jerusalem now turn around immediately and go back. Even though it is late, even though the journey is long, they go back because everything has changed. They came to Emmaus weighed down with sorrow, but now they leave filled with joy. They came feeling lost, but now they have purpose again. They came walking away from hope, but now hope is alive and within them. And this is what encountering the risen Christ does. It doesn't just comfort us, it transforms us, it turns us around, it sends us back into the world with a story to tell. So what does this mean for us today? It means that if you are walking through a season of confusion or disappointment, if the world seems full of threats and bluster, violence and confrontation, if life has not turned out the way you had hoped, you are not alone on the road. Christ does walk beside you, even if you do not recognize him, even if your eyes are clouded by grief or doubt. He is there in the conversation, in the word, in the quiet stirring of your heart. Perhaps just perhaps Christ is waiting for an invitation from you. Just like that invitation from those two disciples. And the words of invitation that we need to say to the risen Christ are stay with me. When we invite Christ into our homes, into our lives, into our struggles, our eyes begin to open. We begin to see things differently, we begin to recognise his presence where we hadn't noticed it before. And then slowly, quietly, our concerns are calmed, our fears are stilled, and hope returns. When that happens, we simply cannot stay the same. We turn around, we go back, we share the good news. So today, whatever road you are walking, but especially if it feels like a road of loss or uncertainty or searching, remember this. You are not walking alone. The risen Christ walks beside you. The risen Christ speaks into your story, and the risen Christ reveals himself in unexpected ways. And the risen Christ leads you step by step back to hope. And it is my prayer that you ask the Lord Jesus Christ to stay with me on this day and forevermore. Ironga Itengoa Uteatuate Matua Tetama Mete Warua Tapu Amine.