Known in Breaking

Luke 24:13-35 (NRSV)

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, "What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?"

They stood still, looking sad. Then 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?"

He 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, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But 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.

Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and 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. Some 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." Then he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?" Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

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. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight.

They 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?" That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, "The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!" Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

[Orange, banana, loaf of bread, cracked clay pot, on table]

We like things to be unbroken. When things are unbroken, they are prettier. They seem more put together; more likely to last, greater value.

We like our apples unbruised, our bread loaves with beautiful crusts, our oranges to be unpeeled, with shiny, unblemished skin.

We like our bananas to be that perfect shade of yellow; not green, and not too many of those brown spots. Even our clay pots. Even though they have holes in the bottom to let them drain, we want those holes to be the perfect ones, right? Any other chips or cracks or holes and we know that the pot is damaged goods, not as good as the ones that look like they “should”, the ones that are like all the others.

When we think about something being broken, we consider it to be hurt or damaged in some way. It may have come apart, and we can see inside it. We think of sin as brokenness. We are not as we ought to be, when we sin. We are not perfect. Perfect is good, broken is bad.

There are scripture passages about being perfect that can get confusing sometimes. When Jesus says, “be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect”, we can easily conclude that God is expecting perfection from us. Seems impossible. But it’s more a translation problem than an expectation problem. The Greek word used here is teleos – which means complete, entire, full-grown.

The poet Kathleen Norris, in her book “Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith” says “perfection, in a Christian sense, means becoming mature enough to give ourselves to others. Whatever we have, no matter how little it seems, is something that can be shared with those who are poorer. This sort of perfection demands that we become fully ourselves as God would have us: mature, ripe, full, ready for what befalls us, for whatever is to come.”

When we are ripe and ready to break open and share our selves, our lives, all that we have with others, then we are complete; we are perfect.

When Cleopas and the other disciple encountered that person they did not recognize, while walking the seven mile journey on the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus that day, they expressed to him their discouragement, their utter disappointment, how they had once hoped that Jesus of Nazareth would be the one to redeem Israel. The Savior, the Messiah. And so he opened up the scriptures to them, interpreting all that was said about him.

Still they did not recognize him. But something made them decide to invite him to dinner, to keep him from walking ahead on the road and leaving them.

And at dinner, he took bread, blessed it, and broke it open. And as the bread was broken open, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. Jesus the Christ was revealed to them, was made known to them in the breaking of the bread. The salvation they had hoped for became accessible to them, became real. And even as Jesus vanished from their site, they ran out the door, all the way back to Jerusalem, to tell the others.

When New Life PC was born three years ago, I suspect you had hoped that this would be the way to save the churches from which you were formed, didn’t you? And I would imagine that you have all had your moments of discouragement and disappointment in the three years since then.

But if we are mature enough, ripe, ready for whatever befalls us, in the words of Kathleen Norris – if we are perfectly ready to be broken open, then, just like the seeds and the buds that break forth in this spring season of rebirth, we can be changed, we can embrace the New Life that God has in store for us.

If we are willing for our eyes to be opened, then we can recognize Christ in our midst, just as the disciples recognized him in the breaking of the bread.

In order for God’s will to be revealed, we must be ready to be broken open, so that God’s glory can be accessible and useful for our new mission in the world.

It is not about keeping ourselves pretty, and unbroken, and well put together, looking just as we always did. It is about breaking ourselves open so that through our collective resources, through ourselves, the love of God can be shared with others, so that we can help bring forth the kingdom of God.

CS Lewis wrote about what it takes to keep one’s heart from being broken. He said, “To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”  [from The Four Loves]

I think these words fit well in thinking about the church, too. If we protect ourselves from getting broken open, we will become unbreakable, and therefore unusable for the will of God. To love is to let ourselves be vulnerable.

Heather Kopp is a recovering alcoholic who wrote a book called “Sober Mercies”. She has heard from many people who read the book and tell her that they experience community more in AA and other 12 step recovery groups than they do in church.

In response to this, she writes:

“Let's agree that many churches do work hard to provide the kind of openness and safety that invite intimate fellowship. And of course, beliefs and brokenness aren't mutually exclusive; you can embrace both, and most Christians I know try to do this. That said, I do think the church could learn something from recovery groups about how to create safe places where intimate community can happen.

Too often, it seems like we Christians care more about what people believe than we do about loving them. And when "right beliefs" become the basis for inclusion in our fellowships, some of the most broken among us don't feel welcome. But inviting that person into our heart space where we may feel broken open ourselves takes courage.

Lately a friend of mine who recently lost her husband came to stay in our guest room for a week. As much as she was tempted to isolate at home, she had the bravery to finally admit she needs to be around people right now, and let them into her grief.

And here's the beautiful part. My husband and I needed this, too. Since all our kids are long gone, her presence in our home felt like such a gift.

Having her join us for dinner or watching TV – she in her pajamas – gave us a dose of that family feeling we keenly miss.

Today, I find myself thinking about how all this relates to the gospel. How the Old Testament Law failed to bring mankind close enough to God. How God sent his Son to die – beaten and broken on the cross – so He could make his home in our very soul. Maybe God understood that we bond more deeply over shared brokenness than we do over shared beliefs – not just with each other, but with God, too.”  [From Bonding Over Brokenness - Huffington Post]

Inside the orange or banana, once we break it open, we find the fruit that nourishes us, and that we can share with others. When we break open the beautiful, crusty loaf of bread, we find inside the nourishment in the soft loaf of bread.

As we travel the journey as a congregation toward full merger and community, we must recognize – open our eyes - to the brokenness that is part of this journey – the grief associated with changing familiar identities and comfortable communities, the fear associated with moving in together, the loss of familiarity – and we must treat this as a brokenness that we share, a mutual breaking open of ourselves, so that we can all respond with the love of Christ to one another.

We must all break ourselves open, to be fully accessible to one another and to the world, to create new bonds of community, and to seek to discover together God’s will for us. And we do this, knowing that it is Christ’s broken body that brings us our salvation, and giving thanks to God for that, now and always.