Breaking Bread & Building Up!

Sermon Notes: April 6, 2008

Rev. Jim O’Neal, Senior Pastor

Sun Lakes United Methodist Church, 9248 E. Riggs Road, Sun Lakes, Arizona 85248 - (480) 895-8766

Luke 24:13-35 NRSV

¹³Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, ¹⁴and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. ¹⁵While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, ¹⁶but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. ¹⁷And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. ¹⁸Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” ¹⁹He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, ²⁰and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. ²¹But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. ²²Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, ²³and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. ²⁴Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” ²⁵Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! ²⁶Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” ²⁷Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. ²⁸As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. ²⁹But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. ³⁰When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. ³¹Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. ³²They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” ³³That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. ³⁴They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” ³⁵Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

A. Introduction

1. Poling Family gets together!

a. One day the Reverend Dan Poling was trying to inform and entertain his children by telling them their “family story.” He said to them, “Geographically we Polings are very diverse. Your mother was born in the Midwest. I was born in Oregon. Some of you were born in Ohio, one in Massachusetts, and one in New York.” Little Jane who had been listening intently spoke up: “Isn’t it wonderful how we all got together!”

b. God wants us to get together and build each other up. This is true for families, Churches, communities, countries, and indeed all God’s people in our world.

2. Today’s Scripture: Luke 24:13-35

a. Today’s Scripture lesson is one of the resurrection accounts of Jesus Christ. Luke 24 reminds us of the importance of reading the Bible and taking part in Holy Communion. Both of these are means by which we encounter the risen Jesus today! And Pastors often preach on theses topics using Luke 24:13-35 as their text.

b. However, this text has a number of other lessons for us. One of these has to do with our relating to each other as human beings. From these pages of Holy Scripture, Jesus is calling us to build people up and to be in loving fellowship with others.

B. Jesus calls us to use words that build others up.

1. Today’s Scripture: Luke 24:32

a. In the Contemporary English Version of the Bible, Luke 24:32 reads: “They said to each other, ‘When he talked with us along the road and explained the Scriptures to us, didn’t it warm our hearts?’” (Luke 24:32 CEV)

b. Words can give a person “heart blessings” or “heart burn.” Words can build up or break down.

2. Peanuts Comic Strip

a. One day in the Peanuts Comic Strip, Charlie Brown is walking down the street. Violet and a friend are standing in front of a house. They say, “Well, if it isn’t Charlie Brown! Good ol’ wishy-washy Charlie Brown!” And then they laugh: “HA HA HA HA!” Charlie Brown grimaces with frustration. Then Lucy crosses his path on the sidewalk. She says, “Hi Charlie Brown. Is that your head or are you hiding behind a balloon?” And she laughs: “HA HA HA HA HA!” Charlie Brown goes home and listens to the radio. The announcer says: “And what in all this world is more delightful than the happy wonderful laughter of little children?” Charlie Brown then kicks the radio! In another Peanuts Comic Strip, Charlie Brown is walking down the street and Violet and a friend are standing on the sidewalk. They say, “Well, what are you doing here? Go home! We don’t want you around here! Who asked you to come by in the first place? Nobody! Go on home!” Charlie Brown leaves dejected. Violet then says, “You know, it’s a strange thing about Charlie Brown. You almost never see him laugh!”

b. Poor Charlie Brown. Words can hurt. Words can put others down. Words can destroy self-esteem. Words can obliterate relationships. Words can be very negative.

3. Warden Clinton Duffy & Prisoner Bill Sands

a. On the other hand, words can be very positive. Bill Sands is the son of a California judge. His mother and father had both taught him good values. But Bill got involved with drugs and committed robbery. He ended up an inmate of San Quentin Prison. While there Bill Sands took part in a senseless prison riot. As a result of that he was put in solitary confinement in a part of the prison grimly called the “Shelf.” Lying on his bare cot, Bill was filled with hostility and resentment. Then he heard the click of his cell door and a voice saying, “Bill Sands.” Hearing his name jolted him! Since his imprisonment he had always been addressed by a number. Bill lashed out, “No one is interested in me!” “Bill I care,” the voice said firmly yet lovingly. Bill looked up and there was Clinton Duffy the Warden. They then began to talk. And this marked the beginning of Bill Sands rehabilitation. In time he would return to society and live a decent law abiding life.

b. Some years later a friend would ask, “When Clinton Duffy uttered those words, ‘Bill, I care’, how did you feel?” Bill responded with quiet firmness, “With those three words Clinton Duffy gave me back my life.” Words do matter. Words do make a difference. What kind of words are you using when you speak to others? Jesus calls us to build people up.

C. Jesus calls us to be in loving fellowship with others.

1. Today’s Scripture: Luke 24:28-30

a. Luke 24:28-30 says: “As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.’ So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.” (Luke 24:28-30 NRSV)

b. We humans need fellowship. We need others. Our gatherings with others have great potential for good or evil. Our gatherings can be sacred or satanic. They can be positive as in this encounter with Jesus, or very negative in an environment where self-centeredness prevails.

2. Polly the Parrot’s lesson

a. A farmer was angry that some crows were eating his corn. So the farmer loaded his shotgun and crept undetected up to the fence adjoining the field. Now this farmer had a very sociable pet parrot that he often let perch on his back porch. This parrot sometimes flew to various spots on the farm, and socialized with other birds. That morning the parrot was curious about the noisy crows and had flown over to check them out. The farmer did not know this as he took aim at the crows. “Bang, bang” he unloaded both barrels. When he went over the fence to see how many birds he had shot, he found his parrot there on the ground. Polly was ruffled up a bit, but fortunately only slightly wounded, and would recover. When the farmer’s children got home from school they asked, “What happened to Polly?” And the bird cackled, “Bad company! Bad company!”

b. We all need friendship. We need people to socialize or hang out with. But some groups are negative. And all of us have seen sad cases where someone has chosen bad company. And their “so called” friends lead them into drugs or crime. And such cases are easy to label as bad. For those of us in the Church we have to, also, honestly examine our gatherings. And sadly sometimes even in Church groups we lose our focus, and are not kind to one another.

3. Today’s Scripture: Luke 24:30-31

a. Luke 24:30-31 says: “When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight.” (Luke 24:30-31 NRSV)

b. This Scripture reminds us that without the presence of Jesus all groups become negative. However, with the presence of the Lord there is always the possibility of the sacred when we fellowship together! This is, of course, true concerning Communion, our Holy Fellowship Meal with Jesus. However, whenever we gather to share fellowship or a meal together, the Lord is eager to come and sanctify our gathering. Indeed Jesus likes for people to get together to support and love each other.

C. Jesus calls us to be in loving fellowship with others… continued

4. A Cup of Coffee & a Danish Roll

a. The Reverend Bob Carson discovered the importance of Jesus’ Spirit for the individual Christian and within our fellowship. There was a time when Rev. Bob was struggling. Things were not going well at the Church, and this was causing tension at home. Then a terrible tragedy occurred. Bob and his wife’s only child, a little red headed boy, was killed in a car accident. Bob was broken by grief over the death of his son and cried for an answer he could not find. Nothing in his religious upbringing or that he learned at Seminary seemed to be of help. He sought other pastors for help walking through this “valley of the shadow of death.” All he got were platitudes: “You’ll just have to pray your way through it.” “This is one of those mysteries we don’t understand.” Then Bob made a call on his Church’s oldest member. She was a 96-year-old woman living in a local Care Center. Though nearly blind, she could sense his agony. She gently nudged him to share and soon the pain just poured out of Bob. She did not have a nicely bundled “theological” answer for him. However, she asked Rev. Bob to think about this: “What would you say to Jesus, if the Lord was to visit you at your home, and he sat across from you with a cup of coffee and a Danish roll?”

b. Bob was fascinated and afraid of this idea, because he had always pictured the Lord as somewhere “up there” when he prayed. Now this old saint was inviting him to open his heart to Jesus’ presence at a kitchen table over a cup of coffee and a Danish roll. Pastor Bob did not act on this idea right away. It seemed too simple and silly. Then one night after a long day and a late night hospital call, Bob stopped at a 24 hour Truck Stop on the interstate. He felt the need for a cup of coffee and some light snack. The waitress informed him that the grill was closed, but they had coffee and one Danish left. He took the coffee and the roll and sat in a back booth. Then he remembered the words of the 96-year-old saint. Bob began to pray right there as if Jesus was sitting across the table from him. Suddenly his eyes were opened and he knew he was in the presence of the living Lord. It was at this moment the healing began.

c. Bob began to use this “Coffee and a Danish” approach for the meetings and fellowship gatherings at Church. At each gathering Bob always sat a place for Jesus. It was to be a reminder to the people that the Lord was there and that Jesus calls them to love one another. This simple act transformed that Church and community. They became known as the Church that truly cared, and people wanted to be a part of their fellowship. And this is the kind of loving fellowship to which Jesus calls all Churches.

D. Conclusion: Recap

1. Jesus calls us to use words that build others up.

2. Jesus calls us to be in loving fellowship with others.

Luke 24:13-35 NRSV

¹³Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, ¹⁴and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. ¹⁵While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, ¹⁶but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. ¹⁷And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. ¹⁸Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” ¹⁹He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, ²⁰and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. ²¹But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. ²²Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, ²³and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. ²⁴Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” ²⁵Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! ²⁶Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” ²⁷Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

²⁸As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. ²⁹But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. ³⁰When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. ³¹Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. ³²They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” ³³That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. ³⁴They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” ³⁵Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Building up & Breaking Bread!

1. Jesus calls us to use words that build others up.

2. Jesus calls us to be in loving fellowship with others.