The scene here is SURREALISTIC, DREAMLIKE.  It’s as if the two aren’t fully AWAKE, indeed, SLEEP-WALKING!.  Soon a STRANGER appears behind them, walking at a FASTER GAIT than they.  And the stranger OVERTAKES them and falls into step beside them.  “What’s this you’re TALKING to each other about?” he asks them.


    These two travelers on their way to the village of Emmaus are SPEECHLESS for a moment, groping for WORDS. But what words can you possibly FIND to tell a STRANGER about the MASTER whom you’ve followed for years -- only to see him ARRESTED as a CRIMINAL? -- Only to see him SPAT UPON, BEATEN, and, finally, CRUCIFIED?

    Yes, what words can you find to describe to a STRANGER your SHOCK, your SENSE OF OUTRAGE over the EMPTY TOMB discovered by some women this morning, apparently having been invaded by grave-robbers?

    Eventually, however, ONE of the travelers (one of the SLEEPWALKERS) rouses himself to TRY to answer the stranger’s question.  And afterwards, to their AMAZEMENT, the stranger begins to speak to them about the SCRIPTURES, about the THINGS OF GOD.

    Soon the travelers reach Emmaus, their destination, their home.  By now the sun reflected on their faces is BLOOD RED and beginning to SINK over the HORIZON.   So enthralled with the stranger’s words are they that they INSIST that he SPEND THE NIGHT in their home.  And awhile later as they sit down at the dinner table, it HAPPENS!  The stranger takes a piece of bread and, according to the ancient Jewish ceremonial, BREAKS it to begin the meal.  He says the ritual words, “Baruch atta Adonai Elohenu Melech ha-olam ha-motzi lechem min-ha-aretz . . .!” -- “Blessed are You, O Lord, Master of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth!”

    And, friends, our Gospel tells us it’s AT THIS VERY MOMENT-- that is, in the act of BREAKING THE BREAD--that “their eyes” are “OPENED, and they” RECOGNIZE “him!”  Yes, it’s THE ACT OF Jesus’ BREAKING OF THE BREAD this first Easter evening, that awakens these whom we may call, sleepwalkers.  THAT is what causes them, FINALLY, to REALIZE that the stranger is JESUS, THE CHRIST -- TRULY RISEN FROM THE DEAD!

    Now, friends, isn’t there a sense in which YOU AND I are LIKE these dazed travelers on the road to Emmaus?  Aren’t WE, so much of the time, sleepwalkers, TOO?  Don’t YOU AND I, far too often, stumble dreamlike down the path of life OBLIVIOUS to much to the SPIRITUAL REALITY around us?

    The somnambulism that so easily afflicts YOU AND ME is perhaps due to LAZINESS -- our unwillingness to stay ALERT and AWAKE.  But OTHER things, TOO, can turn us into sleepwalkers.  For example, look again at the two travelers in our Gospel.  Perhaps they’re not so much SLEEPWALKING as SHELL-SHOCKED.  The AGONY of the past three days -- the PAIN of seeing their Lord EXECUTED -- it’s TOO MUCH for them!  It’s HYPNOTIZED them!  They’re no longer fully aware of their surroundings because their GRIEF is so profound!

    TELL me, are YOU perhaps THIS type of sleepwalker?  Has life dealt you such cruel blows that you’re now PUNCH-DRUNK, REELING?  Has PAIN so numbed your senses that life is PASSING YOU BY?

    Or perhaps our travelers to Emmaus are sleepwalkers because the GOOD NEWS that Christ may be risen has left them in a STATE OF SHOCK.  The women’s report of the empty tomb simply OVERWHELMS them.  They can’t GRASP it, can’t COMPREHEND it, can’t BELIEVE it!

    TELL me, are YOU, perhaps THIS kind of sleepwalker?  The news that God is ALIVE and WELL and that God LOVES you seems like a DREAM?  It’s too good to be TRUE?  The fact that, by the Cross, Christ has REDEEMED you DESPITE your unworthiness and failings is TOO MUCH TO GRASP?   And so you continue to STUMBLE ALONG IN THE FOG, OBLIVIOUS to the good news?

    What is it that AWAKENS a sleepwalker?  Somnambulism is DANGEROUS, you know.  One must be CAREFUL with those who are sleepwalking, whether it be PHYSICAL somnambulism or SPIRITUAL.

    Look again at how the sleepwalkers in our GOSPEL finally awaken.  NOTE WELL that it’s NOT while these two travelers are in the HOLY CITY, Jerusalem itself, that they encounter the Christ and realize his identity.  It isn’t even when the stranger, their fellow pedestrian, begins to QUOTE THE BIBLE and explain its TEACHINGS to them.  NO!  To be sure, as our Gospel says, that WARMED THEIR HEARTS.  But it STILL didn’t show them who the STRANGER was.

    It’s only in the common, everyday act of GATHERING AROUND THE TABLE -- it’s only when the stranger takes BREAD and BREAKS it, that the travelers RECOGNIZE the stranger:  THE LIVING, RISEN CHRIST IN THEIR VERY MIDST!

    And, friends, the SAME is GLORIOUSLY true for sleepwalkers like YOU and ME! In our Reformed tradition, Word and Sacrament go HAND-IN-HAND!  Unfortunately, at times in our history, we’ve ACTED as if the WORD ALONE (i.e. the reading of Scripture and the sermon) were all that we needed.  BUT GOD KNOWS BETTER!  God knows that you and I need MORE than words, to awaken us to FAITH, to LOVE, to THANKSGIVING! That’s why Jesus instituted this HOLY SACRAMENT that you and I celebrate today -- and told us FREQUENTLY to observe it.  God has PROVIDED the Eucharist to AWAKEN sleepwalkers like you and me.   God has given us Holy Communion so that IN THE BREAKING OF THE BREAD we may encounter our LIVING SAVIOR!                    

    That master artist of 17th-century Holland, Rembrandt van Rijn, has captured that MAGIC moment when the two travelers in our lesson encounter Jesus in the breaking of the bread.  The house where Jesus and the two travelers are eating is a simple, Dutch peasant cottage.  Jesus and the men are all BAREFOOT -- doubtless because, to Rembrandt, their FEET would be TIRED and HURTING from the long walk from Jerusalem.  -- But, you know, I like to think they’re barefoot, too, because they are sitting on HOLY GROUND.

    In Rembrandt’s painting a peasant woman is holding out a plate of simple food towards Jesus and the travelers.  Our Lord at this moment is IN THE MIDST of breaking the bread. And the two men, for the first time, RECOGNIZE him; one has his hand to his mouth in AMAZEMENT; the OTHER is just about to LEAP TO HIS FEET.

    Friends, I pray that, today, as you and I share the bread and wine of this Sacrament, WE TOO will experience such a shock of recognition --  Yes, that YOU AND I, TOO, will again SEE the RISEN CHRIST, our great HOST at the Table.

    For HERE, as nowhere else, God AWAKENS us sleepwalkers.

Prayers:
    Almighty God, in mercy your Son, the risen, living Christ, draws near to us at ALL times, even when we’re WALKING AWAY from him.  Yet we STUMBLE through life, half asleep, UNAWARE of your gracious presence and love.
    ROUSE us, by your Holy Spirit, that we may not miss the MARVELOUS BLESSINGS you bestow on those who watch with you.  Deliver us from SLEEPWALKING, whatever the form it may take.  Make your living presence known to us in the breaking of the bread. AWAKEN YOUR CHURCH--and especially this congregation of your people and those congregations and parishes represented here on this greatest of days.  Grant unto your worldwide Church such a clear vision of the living Christ, that we all may boldly proclaim HOPE to the HOPELESS, HEALING to a sick humanity, FORGIVENESS to the guilt-ridden, and CHEER to the cheerless.
    Bring freedom, justice, and PEACE to the whole earth - -and especially to Israel. occupied Palestine, and the troubled Middle East.
     O God, your will for each of your children is health and wholeness.  So bless your sons and daughters who SUFFER in any way, particularly those who now bow in this place of worship today.
    Finally, keep us in fellowship with all who have walked with Christ on the way before us, and who now break bread with  you in heaven, in your full presence.  For we make these and each of our prayers in the name of your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ.  Amen.