Four Distinctive Hallmarks of Christ’s Church
(Luke 24:13-36)
A sermon preached at Grace Episcopal Church, Colorado Springs
25th April 2004
the Revd Dr Peter Walker
(NT Tutor, Wycliffe Hall, Oxford University, UK)
IN the light of the many large and controversial issues that we have being addressing this last week at the conference hosted by the Anglican Communion Institute, I would like this morning to return to a passage what takes us to the heart of Christ’s will for us in his Church—the well-known words in our gospel reading of the Risen Christ on that first Easter Day as he talks with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Let’s look at something more joyful and positive, and turn our attention from the muddy waters of Anglicanism to refresh ourselves again at the fresh spring of Luke chapter 24.
Luke 24 is a favorite passage for many, but I hope it will be opened up to you this morning in a fresh way. For, as we ponder this famous passage carefully, and as we drink at this fountain of fresh mountain spring water, we will have opportunity to hear again “Jesus speaking in accents clear and still”, reminding us of himself and what is on his heart for us.
It’s a foundational and seminal text, giving us a blueprint for the New Testament Church. When Anglicanism is in such disarray, how good it is to go back again to the Master and learn again what it is all about. On Friday, I was longing to the see the Rockies, but they were all clouded over, but then on Saturday the clouds blew away, giving us a brilliant clear view. And that’s something we sometimes need in our spiritual life—isn’t it?—for the fog to clear, and to receive a simple fresh teaching which helps us to see what’s so important. So I invite you today, to join me on a journey, which we could entitle, “With Jesus on the Road.”
For Jesus meets Cleopas and his companion (who may have been his wife for all we know) on the road. Their hearts, their faces, are downcast. They think their world has just ended. Our hearts too may be in deep despair for different reasons—family concerns, health reasons, things to do with the church or the world. But to all of us, wherever we are, Jesus wants to come and join us exactly where we are on that journey—to lift our hearts, and cause our “hearts to burn within us, as he opens up the scriptures” and lifts up our minds and our hearts. So, what would the risen Jesus say to us today?
I’d like to focus on 4 things that are on Jesus’ agenda for the church. Some may be concerned that as a church we are rather ‘stuck’. Well, Scripture is a great thing to get ‘stuck into’. Let’s get stuck into Jesus and this passage.
First off: the resurrection of Jesus. Here we have Jesus telling the disciples that the resurrection will be the cornerstone of their faith. In fact, Luke in this chapter 24 has 3 different episodes, each one designed to take home this point—that Jesus is truly raised from the dead. First, the empty tomb, then the Emmaus road, and thirdly Jesus’ appearance to the disciples gathered together in the upper room. Each of these teach us this truth about the resurrection. So back in verse 3 the body of Jesus is not in the tomb; in verse 6 the angels say, “He is not here, for he is risen. The Son of Man had to die and on the third day be raised again.” At the end of the chapter Jesus will eat some fish to show that he is not a ghost, to demonstrate that the resurrection is not merely a spiritual event, but a deeply physical one. And here in this Emmaus episode, Jesus not only speaks about the Messiah “entering into his glory”, but of course by actively being there alongside them—as a living, knowable person—is teaching them this truth of the resurrection: “I am alive!” “It is true,” the disciples say, “the Lord has arisen.” Halleluiah!
I trust this reality of the resurrection is one you deeply believe, and is the centre of what you do in this place. It is of first importance: the Christian message stands or falls on the reality of the resurrection. St. Paul writes, “If Christ is not raised, then our faith is futile.” In the first century Christians were defined by their insistent belief in Jesus’ resurrection. The very word ‘resurrection’ (ana-stasis) means for a body to rise up, and stand upright. It’s not something spiritual. It’s a physical resurrection of Jesus that they speak of. There never was a version of Christianity which did not teach this, for the simple reason that without the resurrection, the story of Jesus makes no sense—and indeed, becomes totally irrelevant. Totally irrelevant! What good is a failed, crucified messiah?
Four weeks ago I had the privilege to be in Uganda, with some students from Wycliffe Hall. This is something we’re trying to develop, taking a dozen students out to another part of the Anglican Communion, and we were there to teach the clergy and do some evangelistic work. One evening we were sitting out in a field with 5-600 Ugandans, under the stars, watching the Jesus film. For the Ugandans in these villages this was probably the first film they had ever seen—so they gave great cheers as Jesus did his great miracles. But the projector broke down when the story got to the Cross. So we had to give our concluding talk on the importance of Jesus, but without them being able to see the punch-line of the story. Of course, the cross is so important, but it’s the resurrection which is the key thing and makes it so powerful.
Without the resurrection, history probably never would even have recorded the name of Jesus of Nazareth. So we read Cleopas’ depressed words in verse 19: “he was a prophet powerful in word and deed before God.” But you can sense Cleopas’ despair. It’s as though he says: “But now he’s dead. He clearly failed the task of redeeming Israel, as he promised. We might as well get on back to Emmaus. Get home, forget about it—a nine day wonder”. And the same is true today: no resurrection, no Christianity. If no resurrection, then Jesus is totally irrelevant. No resurrection, no church. And where there is a denial of the resurrection, there you have someone—however nice they may be—who is not a Christian. This is the bedrock. This is New Testament Christianity.
The new bishop of Durham, Tom Wright, has written extensively on the Resurrection—big, fat, weighty books to argue for the physical nature of the resurrection. Six years ago this week we were together at Emmaus. He was once accused of being an ‘Evangelical’—a smear word in that particular context—because of his belief in the Resurrection. To which he replied, rather sternly, “The Resurrection is not a distinctly evangelical belief. It is just basic Christianity and belongs to the whole church.”
If some of you are interested in looking at the resurrection in more detail, then I have written a book called The Weekend that Changed the World (WJK 2000). Perhaps the best thing about the book is the title! For the resurrection is the thing that changes lives and can change your life and mine. It takes us from despair to incredible joy. Sometimes I take funeral services, and I think, how sad not be a Christian…where is the hope? We can almost laugh at death. And Jesus’ resurrection gives us just that hope. It gives us confidence in the reality of God’s power, his purposes to transform this broken world and to recreate it with his beauty.
But it does these things by presenting each one of us with a challenge—n not just the truth of the resurrection as an idea, but the risen Lord himself ! The risen Lord is alive today, and you and I can, and indeed must, meet with him. He is alive. He is knowable. He is here. The resurrection involves the risen Lord. I want you to be those who invite him on the journey of your life, and be those who are changed forever by this encounter with the loving Lord Jesus Christ. Join Jesus on the road. Jesus is alive. Christ is alive today. Let’s have that center stage of our life today.
But balancing this, there’s another key thing. Jesus wants people to focus on his cross: the cross of Jesus. Jesus responds to Cleopas, and chides him, “did not the Christ have to suffer?” And you see this elsewhere in the chapter: the angels remind the women that Jesus had said, “The son of man must be crucified.” And at the end of the chapter, Jesus plainly tells his disciples that the “Christ had to suffer”. So, in the very time with they are becoming aware of the resurrection, Jesus is instead teaching them about his cross and the crucifixion. He is telling them in effect: “It wasn’t an accident. It was predicted in the Old Testament. It was necessary, and has achieved something quite remarkable.” So he says, “Repentance and forgiveness of sins can now be preached to all the world.” Forgiveness of sins!—they have it right away. And right away there is that powerful link between Jesus’ death and our sins. The cross is evidently the means of our forgiveness.
The New Testament writers use different ways to explain the cross, but underneath them all it is clear that Jesus doesn’t die for his own sins, but for the sins of others in order to bring us forgiveness. So as for the resurrection, so here. There is no New Testament Christianity without this obstinate stark truth of the cross of Jesus as the place where sins are dealt with. We are sinners, and we need this forgiveness, and God has graciously given us this place where we can be forgiven. Are we people who need this message? Yes! We can never outgrow this truth. We all need to be reminded—though for some of us perhaps it may be the first time—of the reality of Jesus’ death for us.
It’s so easy on the one hand, isn’t it, to play down the need for forgiveness—“we’re quite nice people, really”. On the other hand, it’s easy to despair—“If you knew the real me, you’d be horrified! If God takes sin seriously, I have no chance”. But to both the presumptuous and the despairing, the risen Christ stands amongst us and says, “My cross is your lifeline. You need it far more than you know, and I desire to forgive far more than you dare to ask.”
Last weekend I was at the end of leading a tour party in northern Spain on the ancient pilgrimage route to St. James de Compostela. When we reached the highest point, 4000 feet (which seemed quite high at the time before I came to Colorado Springs!), there’s this mammoth cross about 7 meters high. The tradition is for pilgrims to leave a stone at the foot of the cross. The pile is now some 3 or 4 meters deep. Its such a powerful picture; for, of course, what the stones represent are the pilgrims bringing their sins to the foot of the cross‑‑some are very small stones and some are very large stones. But isn’t that a picture of what each of us needs to do? However large, however small, we need to bring those stones to the foot of the cross. And Jesus can take them from us. I wonder if some of us still have stones in our backpacks? But we need to lay them down and find the liberty and freedom that comes from the cross of Jesus. Jesus’ Cross can bring us full forgiveness. Where else can we get it? Only here.
So you get the picture? The resurrection of Jesus is the heart of the New Testament. So too, the cross of Jesus, the place of forgiveness.
But now, notice a third thing, if you will: Jesus’ emphasis on the Bible. Did you notice the emphasis which Jesus gives to the scriptures? ‘ “How foolish,” he says, “not to believe everything the prophets had written.” Beginning with Moses he taught them throughout all the scriptures things concerning himself.’ And we see this again later in the upper room, when he tells the disciples: “This is what is written.”
Now this must have been a most amazing experience. Can you imagine having a bible study with Jesus himself taking you through the passages? Isn’t it a pity we haven’t got it on tape? Their hearts were just ‘burning’ as he did this. And they realized it must be Jesus because they had that heart-burning experience before. “It must have been Jesus, weren’t our hearts burning? That’s what always happens when Jesus teaches from the Scriptures…” See how Jesus just takes the Scriptures and throws them open with the light of God’s reality. Fortunately the Holy Spirit can do the same for us today.
But there is something quite surprising here. You might have expected the disciples to be thinking something like this: “Hey, we’ve got the risen Christ with us now. Who needs a dusty old book that only a few of us can read anyway? Let’s have an experience, let’s not study.” But Jesus says: “No. When I’m gone, you’re going to need this book more than ever. I’m teaching you to not get rid of it. It’s going to be your lifeline. It’s how you’re going to find out about me, about the story thus far, and what God’s will for the world is. Don’t ignore the Scriptures”, Jesus says. “Don’t think you get rid of it because of the new thing called the resurrection. No, this new thing is the fulfillment of this biblical story thus far.”
This has been the encouragement of Christians ever since, to read the Old Testament in the light of Jesus. And we notice that Jesus’ commitment here to the Scripture inevitably gives us the basis of the New Testament as Scripture. For Jesus would like us likewise to know about him in written form.
But for now our question for the church is, do we have the same love of the Scripture? Jesus himself had it. If Christ followed the Scriptures how much more should we, his followers?
We must, of course, never elevate Scripture above Jesus. Jesus remains number One. But if we love him, we will love that which he loved, the Scriptures. The Christian’s view of the Bible should be similar to Christ’s own view of the Bible. An authentic church of Jesus Christ will have this as one of its hallmarks: reverence for the words of Scripture. The liturgies of the Anglican Church are so steeped in scripture, but will we also give it the place it deserves?
And what kind of preaching do you expect? I hope you have a desire that the preaching you receive will be biblical in its source and its content and not just human ideas. The authority of preaching comes not from the preacher, but from the book. One of the things that we were doing in Uganda was giving each of these pastors their own copy of the bible. There just wasn’t a dry eye in the place as hey first set hands on their own copy! One of the things we said to them was: “Don’t hide behind the bible, and don’t hide the bible behind you. Open the Bible. True preaching goes through the Bible.” I hope that’s a model you come to expect, to love, and pray for. Biblical preaching! This is the authority. Not the preacher. Let us come each Sunday with listening hearts, longing to hear God’s word. And will we pray for the Anglican Church to be true to its biblical heritage?
As we do so, we will find Jesus whenever we open these pages, opening the Scriptures, with our hearts burning within us. I wonder if people have had that heart-burning experience? Its great, and Jesus can give it to us, as we open Scriptures. But, if we don’t open Scriptures, well, he can’t do it.
We must close, for we are preparing to break bread together. So let us look to our fourth and final point in the sermon and the passage. Jesus tells us we shall meet him not just through the opening of the Scriptures, but also through the breaking of bread. Did you notice that? Isn’t that what was hinted at when they only recognize Jesus for who he is when he breaks bread, and their eyes were opened? And later they tell the disciples, “we recognized him when he broke the bread.” No wonder that believers in Acts are so soon breaking bread together, and Christians have ever since done this.
This is one of Jesus’ distinctive acts, with Jesus saying, “do this in remembrance of me.” We might say, “If you want to meet me, this is where you’ll find me.” To break bread together with our Lord—the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper—is an opportunity to meet with Christ. It’s a special kind of place where we meet our beloved.
So how do we gain our knowledge of Christ? We read the Bible, and also share the bread‑‑through the Word and through the Sacrament. Anglicanism, at its best, has always sought to be faithful to this biblical balance. We are a Word-based Church. We are a sacrament based church. And we need both.
So, what a tragedy it would be after nearly 500 hundred years of hard graft and prayer, this great church should fall apart in the next 12 months because it hasn’t got the theological resources or the moral strength to recognize and resist a non-biblical morality which is inimical to its life, as indeed it is, to all life. Do pray for our church, and pray for the Scriptures of Jesus to rule it.
So, what would Jesus say to us in his church today? What are the four marks of a New Testament church? And what can you take away, or what can you bring to communion this morning? I hope you will come to communion today with eyes opened in a new way—to see that Jesus is alive and true—and that you can meet with him. This is what its all about: the resurrection, the cross (the place of forgiveness), the communion table (the place to see Jesus’ forgiveness), the Scriptures.
May some of this help you today, and be deeply within the DNA of this church as it goes forward into the future with God’s blessing: the resurrection, the cross, the Scriptures, and the Sacrament.
Let’s stand, and before we say the Creed, we’ll use the Easter Acclamation, the ancient way Christians always proclaimed the resurrection of Jesus.
Alleluia, Christ is risen.
The Lord is risen indeed, alleluia.
