Where Christ Meets Us

Delivered by Rev. Audrey Thorne on Sunday, April 27, 2025.

英語のテキストの後に日本語訳があります。こちらはChatGPTによる機械翻訳であり、文法的な誤りが含まれている可能性があります。基本的な正確さを確認しております。

Passages:

Luke 24:13-35

13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles 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; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.

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; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”

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.

28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.

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 34 and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

Psalm 139:7-12

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

Sermon Text (YouTube/ChatGPT Transcription):

Well, friends, let us join our hearts in prayer—a prayer of illumination before the second scripture reading. Let us pray:

Lord, speak to us as only you can. Let us truly hear your voice. Encounter us today, meet us here, that we might take your hand and follow you.

Amen.

Our second scripture reading is Psalm 139:7-12. Hear the word of the Lord:

"Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?

If I ascend to heaven, you are there;

If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.

If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the furthest limits of the sea,

Even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast.

If I say, 'Surely darkness shall cover me, and the night wrap itself around me,'

Even the darkness is not dark to you;

The night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you."

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

The thread of hospitality runs thick through scripture. God invites humanity again and again to be God's friends, to have fellowship with God, to sit at his table. God fills Eden's garden with good food and provides water and manna for the people in their desert wanderings. The Lord prepares a table for the psalmist in his darkest days. In scripture, God is the host, and God's kingdom is his wedding feast. The goal and aim of scripture—the goal and aim of God's plan for humanity—is to invite us home to a meal where everyone is fed.

Jesus makes this vision clear in his ministry, especially in the Gospel of Luke. Table fellowship is a central theme in this gospel. Again and again, Jesus sits at table with all kinds of people: Pharisees—he'll eat with them; tax collectors—no problem; all kinds of sinners, women, the socially marginalized—all kinds of people. Jesus welcomes the crowd and feeds thousands. In his final meal with his disciples—the one we remember and reenact in the Lord's Supper—we learn something new: a table will be the sign of Jesus' perpetual presence with his people.

On that night, Jesus set a table where all were welcome: lovers, sinners, doubters, betrayers, and deniers—all of them. And this table has been handed down to us. It persists as the primary sign of Christ's presence with us. It represents God's radical hospitality, God's determination to welcome us—we who were once strangers—into God's family.

So we journey between that meal instituted by Jesus and the feast that is to come in God's kingdom. In this way, we're not so different from the disciples Lou read about today in our gospel. They also journey between the Last Supper with Jesus and another feast with him. And in this moment, we find them doubting, like we sometimes do, if this feast will ever come at all.

We find them here on the road to Emmaus, feeling despondent. Although they've heard the testimony of the women that Jesus is alive, they can't believe it. As far as they can see, Jesus is dead. Imagine their shock and distress, having seen their beloved rabbi killed. They've lost their friend to brutal violence—and they've lost all hope too.

And in this moment of incredible darkness, they meet a stranger. Now, I don't know about you, but if I was one of these disciples, I would have told this stranger to get lost. This is not the emotional state I want to be in when I'm making new friends. But they welcome this stranger. They let him walk and talk with them. They share with him. They let him see their authentic selves—their sadness and their fear. This is itself a profound act of hospitality.

Now, I don't know why they don't recognize him either. Is his resurrection body so different that it's hard to tell who he is? Or is this simply a lack of recognition, like when you see someone you've known in one context someplace new, and you can't quite figure out where you know them from?

Well, if seeing Jesus didn't spark their recognition, you'd think the next part would, because Jesus opens the word to them. Who else could tell them these things? He reveals himself to them through scripture, telling them all of the ways the scripture speaks to his life, death, and resurrection. How I would have loved to be in that conversation! I wonder what Jesus told them, what scriptures he pointed to. It's like being in a Bible study with Jesus as your teacher.

But Luke doesn't recount those details, because it's not the point. It seems like all of the information in the world—all of the right ideas, all of the best theology—is not what makes us meet Jesus. Information doesn't save us. A person does. And what we need is to meet him. We need to encounter Jesus, to really know him.

And it should be no surprise at this point that they meet Jesus at a table. After walking with this stranger for the better part of a day, they encourage him to come and stay with them. They make it home. They set the table. They host the risen Lord without knowing it. And this moment is important not just because of what happens next, but because of how faithful these disciples have been to Jesus' own mission.

In their welcome of this stranger, they act as faithful stewards of Christ's welcome. They pass on what was given to them by Christ. Having been welcomed and fed by Jesus, they turn to a stranger and welcome him too—even at this most inopportune time, when they're grieving.

Joshua Jipp, in his book *Saved by Faith and Hospitality*, says, "Jesus' kingdom has been made manifest through shared hospitality, and the disciples are sent to continue his ministry through the stewardship of food." We see this here: the disciples carry out Jesus' commission. They continue his ministry through sharing food and table fellowship with a stranger.

And at this table—this table they thought they set—Jesus takes the role of host. He takes the bread, he blesses it, and breaks it, and he gives it to them. It is Jesus' presence as divine host that finally triggers their recognition of him. In being fed by him, they encounter him.

This simple meal turns into a place of deep connection, real meeting. This supper becomes sacramental. Christ is present. In fact, he was present all along.

And what strikes me about this story is that the disciples would have missed this encounter with the risen Christ if they hadn't first walked seven miles with a stranger, if they hadn't opened their hearts to this man they didn't know, if they hadn't welcomed him into their home, if they hadn't cared to feed him. They would have missed this chance to see Jesus—to meet Christ in the flesh. Their hospitality put them in the position to encounter Christ when they least expected it, even when they weren't looking for him.

The scriptures are very serious about the fact that when we show hospitality to strangers, we are literally entertaining angels, Hebrews says. In the book of Genesis, Abraham and Sarah unknowingly welcome God when they show hospitality to three strangers that come to their camp. And in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says:

"I was hungry and you gave me something to eat.

I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.

I was a stranger and you welcomed me in.

I needed clothes and you clothed me.

I was sick and you looked after me.

I was in prison and you came to visit me."

And, of course, the disciples say, "When did we see you in all of these situations?" And he says, "Whenever you did it to the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."

So the stranger that we welcome is literally Christ. We ought not to overspiritualize this point. When we welcome and feed someone, we welcome and feed Jesus. That is what he's telling us here. And when we don't, we turn Jesus away.

I think we often don't see Jesus because we don't expect to see him. But his presence is not the issue. The problem is the way we look. It's easy to journey through this life with closed eyes—eyes that cannot see the Christ, even though he's all around us. We look around and all we see are strangers. But Christ is in the stranger.

Perhaps if we let ourselves truly believe this, it would be too heartbreaking to bear. It would mean that Christ is in the homeless person that I see, that Christ is in the person who is hungry, that Jesus is a refugee who has no place to go and no one to welcome him.

In his 2016 address on the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, the late Pope Francis said, "Each migrant has a name, a face, and a story. Each of them is an invitation to encounter Jesus Christ."

And in his Easter address, written the day before he died, he wrote, "The light of Easter impels us to break down the barriers that create divisions. It impels us to care for one another."

Jesus Christ has extended us radical hospitality. In the sacrament of communion, he invites us to his table. He promises that he will be with us. He feeds us and welcomes us. He says that we are no longer strangers but friends of God.

When we extend hospitality to those we don't know, to those who are different from us—when we welcome the stranger—we put ourselves in God's path. When we do, we can be sure that we will see Jesus. In breaking bread, our eyes will be opened. In sharing a meal, we will see that Christ, our divine host, was there all along.

Feed a stranger and you'll see him.

Is Christ invited to your table?

Amen.

日本語の翻訳:

皆さん、それでは心を合わせてお祈りしましょう。聖書朗読の前に、照らしの祈りをささげます。お祈りします。

主よ、どうかあなたにしかできない方法で、私たちに語りかけてください。あなたの声を本当に聞かせてください。今日、私たちに出会ってください。ここで、私たちの手を取り、導いてください。

アーメン。

二つ目の聖書朗読は、詩編139編7〜12節です。主の言葉を聞きましょう。

「あなたの霊から離れて、どこに行けるでしょうか。

あなたの御前から逃れて、どこに行けるでしょうか。

天に上っても、あなたはそこにおられます。

陰府に床を設けても、あなたはそこにおられます。

暁の翼をかって海の果てに住んでも、

あなたの御手は私を導き、

あなたの右の手が私をしっかり支えてくださいます。

たとえ『闇が私を覆い、夜が私を包む』と言っても、

あなたにとっては、闇も暗くはありません。

夜も昼のように輝きます。

闇も光も、あなたには同じです。」

これは主の言葉です。主に感謝します。

聖書には、「もてなし（ホスピタリティ）」の話がたくさん出てきます。神さまは何度も何度も、人間を友だちとして招き、神の食卓に招いてくださいます。エデンの園には良い食べ物をたくさん用意し、荒れ野では人々のために水やマナを与えてくださいました。詩編では、苦しい時にも主が食卓を整えてくださると歌われています。

聖書では、神さまは「もてなす人」、そして神の国は「結婚の祝宴」として描かれます。聖書の目的、神さまの人間に対する計画の目的は、私たちを「みんなで一緒に食事をする家」に招くことです。

イエス様も、このことをはっきり示してくださいました。特にルカの福音書では、食事の場面がとても大切なテーマになっています。イエス様は、何度も何度も、色々な人たちと一緒に食事をしました。パリサイ人、取税人、罪人、女性、社会から孤立していた人たち……イエス様は誰とでも食卓を囲みました。そして大勢の人たちに食べ物を与えたこともありました。

最後の晩餐で、イエス様は弟子たちに新しいことを教えます。それは、食卓が「イエス様がずっと共にいてくださるしるし」になるということです。

その晩、イエス様は、愛する人も、罪を犯した人も、疑った人も、裏切った人も、みんなを食卓に迎えました。そしてこの食卓は、今の私たちにも受け継がれています。教会の聖餐式も、その続きなのです。

私たちは、イエス様が始めたこの食卓と、神の国での最後の大きな宴会との間を旅しているのです。

今日の福音書の弟子たちも、同じ旅の途中にいました。最後の晩餐の後、またイエス様と食事をするまでの間、彼らは信じることができず、不安な気持ちでいました。

エマオという村へ向かう道で、弟子たちは落ち込んでいました。女性たちから「イエス様は生きておられる」と聞いても、信じられなかったのです。彼らにとって、イエス様はもう死んでしまった存在でした。

親しい先生であり友人だったイエス様を、残酷な死で失ってしまった弟子たち。その絶望の中で、彼らは一人の見知らぬ人に出会います。

もし自分だったら、こんな時に知らない人と話すなんて無理、と思うかもしれません。でも弟子たちは、その見知らぬ人を受け入れ、一緒に歩き、心を開き、自分たちの悲しみと恐れを正直に打ち明けました。これ自体が、すごい「もてなし」です。

彼らがすぐにイエス様だとわからなかった理由は分かりません。復活したイエス様の姿が違って見えたのかもしれませんし、見慣れた場所でないから気づかなかったのかもしれません。

でも、次の場面ではっきりします。イエス様は聖書を開き、御言葉を教えました。誰がこんな話をできるでしょう？　イエス様は、自分の人生、死、復活について、聖書がどう語っているかを説明してくれたのです。

まるで、イエス様自身が先生になってくれる聖書の勉強会です。どんな話をしたのか、私たちも知りたかったですよね。

でもルカは細かい内容を書きませんでした。それは、情報や知識だけではイエス様に出会えないからです。私たちを救うのは「情報」ではなく「お方（イエス様）」です。私たちに必要なのは、イエス様に「出会うこと」なのです。

そして、やっぱりイエス様に出会ったのは「食卓」でした。一日中一緒に歩いた後、弟子たちはこの見知らぬ人に「うちに泊まってください」と言いました。そして一緒に食卓を囲みました。

そこで、イエス様がパンを取り、祝福して裂き、渡したとき、弟子たちの目が開かれました。イエス様だと、やっと分かったのです。

普通の食事が、神聖な出会いの場になったのです。実は、ずっとイエス様は一緒にいてくださったのに、弟子たちは見えていなかっただけでした。

この話から分かることは、もし弟子たちが、

・見知らぬ人と一緒に歩かなかったら

・心を開かなかったら

・家に招かなかったら

・食事を用意しなかったら

イエス様に出会うチャンスを逃していた、ということです。

聖書は、「見知らぬ人をもてなすとき、実は天使をもてなしている」と言っています（ヘブライ人への手紙）。創世記では、アブラハムとサラが三人の見知らぬ人を迎えた時、それが神さまだったと書かれています。

また、マタイによる福音書では、イエス様がこう言いました。

「私は空腹だったとき、あなたは食べ物をくれました。

喉が渇いたとき、飲み物をくれました。

見知らぬ者だったとき、迎えてくれました。

裸だったとき、服をくれました。

病気のとき、世話をしてくれました。

牢屋にいたとき、訪ねてきてくれました。」

弟子たちは、「そんな時、いつあなたに会ったのですか？」と尋ねますが、イエス様は「これらの小さな人たちにしたことは、私にしたのです」と答えます。

つまり、私たちが迎え入れる「見知らぬ人」は、まさにイエス様ご自身なのです。

私たちは、イエス様を見逃してしまうことがよくあります。それは、イエス様がいないからではなく、私たちの目が閉じているからです。私たちは周りを見ても、ただの「見知らぬ人」しか見えません。でも、その中にイエス様はおられます。

もしかしたら、本当にこれを信じたら、あまりにも心が痛くなってしまうかもしれません。なぜなら、ホームレスの人にも、お腹を空かせた人にも、居場所のない難民にも、イエス様がおられるからです。

2016年の「移民と難民の日」のメッセージで、教皇フランシスコはこう言いました。

「移民一人ひとりに、名前があり、顔があり、物語があります。

彼らは皆、イエス・キリストと出会う機会なのです。」

そして、亡くなる前日に書いたイースターのメッセージでは、こう語っています。

「イースターの光は、私たちを分断する壁を壊し、互いに思いやるように促します。」

イエス様は、聖餐を通して私たちに「驚くほどのもてなし」をしてくれました。ご自分の食卓に招き、私たちを友としてくださったのです。

私たちもまた、知らない人や、自分と違う人たちを迎え入れるとき、神さまの道を歩むことができます。そして、そこで必ずイエス様に出会えるのです。

パンを分け合うとき、私たちの目は開かれます。

一緒に食事をするとき、そこにずっとおられたキリストを見ることができるのです。

見知らぬ人に食べ物を与えれば、そこにキリストがいます。

あなたの食卓には、イエス様を招いていますか？

アーメン。