Message Aim: World Communion Sunday
Sermon Title: “Looking in the Wrong Places”
Scripture: Luke 24:13-15, 17-20, 25-27, 30-33, 35
13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles[a] from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; … 17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19 “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. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; … 25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself….
30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 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?” 33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together….
35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
Message Synopsis:
Today is World Communion Sunday. All over the world, Christians of various nationalities and traditions are focusing on the Lord’s Supper as a central distinctive of our faith. I like that! This morning, we are going to see how Jesus Christ does something that absolutely defines who we are as Christians. The Lord’s Supper makes us a unique and particular community of believers.
What I want to do is share with you several stories (parables) and let them help us understand who Jesus is and what He is doing through Communion, and then for us to partake in the Bead and Cup communion experience.
First story. First parable. An incident occurred which has happened to me more than once. I walk up to the door, reach in my pocket for my key – but it is not there. Then suddenly I remembered a zipper pocket in the front of my briefcase, I open it –there is a back up key. This story illustrates that we often look for things in the wrong place and the reason we don’t find what we are looking for is not that the keys are not there, but we are looking for them in the wrong places. And Jesus said, “He or she who has ears to hear, let them hear the riddles, the parables, about the kingdom of God.”
Second story. If you are a good fisherman, chances are that you are a “charter.” That is, many good fishermen chart their fishing habits. They chart the water temperature, the weather conditions, the depth, the bait the fish are bitting. For example, I could go out fishing for several days and not catch any fish. I would probably conclude that there are no fish here at this time. But the problem is that the fisherman is looking in the wrong place. If you are looking in the wrong place, you will not find what you are looking for. And Jesus concluded the parable with the statement, “He or she who has ears to hear, let him or her understand about the riddles of the kingdom of God.”
Very often in life, we don’t find what we are looking for because we are looking in the wrong places. For example, for every man and woman who is married, all of them are looking for a deep, intimate, loving, caring, long term relationship with their spouse. But sometimes this quality of relationship is not found? Why? Often because the man and woman are looking in the wrong place.
If a couple is searching for a deep, intimate, loving, caring, long term relationship, they often can look in the wrong places and not find it. The same kind of logic applies to our relationship with God and Christ. We, too, want a deep, intimate, loving, caring and long term relationship with God in God. But sometimes we do not find that relationship with Christ because we look in the wrong places.
Where is the wrong place to look for a deep relationship with God? Many people become immersed in the programs of a congregation, so much so that they lose their focus on Jesus Christ. Another wrong place to look is in the leaders of the church. The gospel story for today is a clue to where to find Christ. The gospel story is this. Jesus opened up their eyes when he broke the bread and gave it to them, he made himself known to them in the breaking of the bread. You find the Risen Christ, in the Word. In Holy Communion. In the conversation between friends with Jesus.
Let us find Christ again, anew, as we immerse in the word, and as we break bread together.
0 Comments