Westminster Podcast
Westminster Podcast
"Directionally Challenged" | Donovan Drake preaching | 04.19.26
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Luke is a gospel for the directionally challenged. The lost make u-turns. Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. Rejoice with me. There's more joy in heaven over the one who repents than over the ninety-nine who need no repentance. The U-turn. So listen for a U-turn in this gospel. Luke 24, 13 through 35. Hear the word of God. Now on that same day, two of Jesus' disciples were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem and talking with each other about all the 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? And they stood still, looking sad. And then one of them, whose name was Cleopus, 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 indeed 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 woman 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 his glory? Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things that would about himself and all the scriptures, and 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, and when he was at the table with him, them he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them, and 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. And then they told what had happened on the road and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread. The word of the Lord. Well, I don't I don't think of myself as directionally challenged, except when I'm in the church, this church. You see, the first time I looked at this facility was on Google Maps many, many years ago. I was back in Durham and I looked at Google Maps, and somehow as I was zooming down, I must have turned the map upside down to get to the street view. You see, I have the church on the other side of the road. And so when I stand in this pulpit, even to this day, I have to think twice to say downtown is this way, right? This we can agree East, West, North, South. We get our directions in the church. If we were in an Eastern Orthodox Church, a sense of direction would be easier, for the altar would face the rising sun. Here we await the rising sun from on high. Ultimately, the cardinal points of the compass don't give us the directions in the church. We get our directions from God, and our lives should follow. Right? I suspect there are times when you feel close to God and times when God seems distant.
SPEAKER_00So where is your proximity to God right now? Which direction would you like to go?
SPEAKER_01Closer or farther away? You're here for a reason. What's the step in the right direction? There are a lot of directions in the church. There's a lot of directions in our theology. There's the horizontal. We live life with Christ on a horizontal plane. We go out into the world to preach the gospel. This Saturday, Faith Works. If you've never been to Faith Works, join us. We need people. We need people badly this year. It's been a hard spring. Ice storms, we've hardly gotten together. Spring breaks. We need people for faith works. It's a great way to meet people. It's a great way to learn about the missions of the church. It's a great way to live out the word. Feeding 10,000 people or making towels for homeless people or going to habitat. We go out, our cross on the floor says we go out in four directions to the four corners of the earth. We do this life on the horizontal plane, this life with Jesus. But the theology also has a vertical direction as well. We lift our prayers up. And the Holy Spirit descends upon us like a dove and drives us to march off the map and discover a powerful God that is at work transforming and reconciling all things. And it's not of our doing. And amazing things happen. And we have seen the risen Lord, right? But Scripture tells us that the resurrection doesn't dawn on all people at the same time. Some folks need to hear their names, Mary. Some people need to look at the wounds, Thomas. Some people need a net full of fish, Peter. Some folks need a change in direction. In today's scripture, we have two people walking to Emmaus. And if you want directions to Emmaus, good luck. Scholars, historians, they can't figure out where Emmaus ever was. There are nine possible locations for Emmaus. Don't ask for directions to Emmaus, you'll never get there. There are places that are on the map that are of no significance at all. Emmaus is one of those. The prodigal son is famous for thinking that that's the way to go. That that is what life is about. And when he gets there, it's nowhere to be. Find themselves heading to nowhere in particular. And if you know someone who is heading to nowhere, getting them to change directions is darn near impossible. Getting an alcoholic to change directions, oof. That's tough. Getting a workaholic to change directions. Hmm. Good luck. Sports a holic to quit. The money a holic to stop. Turning a church around that's going in the wrong direction.
SPEAKER_02Ah, that's hard too.
SPEAKER_01Some people just prefer to fight. Some people just prefer to decay.
SPEAKER_02A church with no purpose. Well that's not a church.
SPEAKER_01Two disciples heading for nowhere, all about the news. The bad news. The sad news. And then they're joined by a stranger who doesn't know the bad news, doesn't know the sad news. Where are you from? Are you the only alien who doesn't know the news about Jesus? He was a prophet, I guess. He sure wasn't a Messiah because we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. And he was handed over and he was crucified. It's been three days. Some women said they saw angels. The story that those two disciples tell the stranger sounds so familiar. Why, I would say I heard it back in Luke 9, verse 21. Jesus said to his disciples, Don't tell anybody this, but the Son of Man must suffer and be rejected, must be killed, and then on the third day, I heard it back in Luke 9, verse 43, Jesus said to his disciples, Now listen carefully. Son of man is going to be handed over, he's going to be crucified, and then on the third day, I heard it back in Luke 18. Jesus said to the 12, the Son of Man will be delivered, they will mock him, they'll flock him, they'll kill him, and then on the third day he will rise from the dead. You can hear things over and over and over and over again and never get it at all. It's what I call preaching. We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. You fools.
SPEAKER_02Wow. You fools.
SPEAKER_01What happened to Jesus? That Jesus isn't from around here, is he? That's a Yankee Jesus. You fools. Southern Jesus would say, Bless your heart. Now I wouldn't mind preaching a Yankee Jesus from time to time, getting up in the pulpit and saying, You fools, what are you doing here? How long must I put up with this perverse generation? Do you believe this stuff or not? If you believe it, live it. If you don't, you're wasting my time, you're wasting God's time. Woo! Yankee Jesus sounds pretty good sometimes. But I need to collect a paycheck. The resurrected Lord is an alien. And the word of the Lord can be like nothing we've ever heard. Even though we've heard it. Even though we've heard it. Even though we've heard him say that the Spirit of the Lord is upon me to bring good news to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim release to the captives who are behind bars because there was no justice. Proclaim relief to those who are stuck in prison of unforgiving bitterness. Release of those who are consumed by all consuming hate. I'm here to restore the sight to those who've never seen a living hope. And I'm gonna tell you, it's gonna be the best year ever.
SPEAKER_00This is what our risen Lord tells us.
SPEAKER_01And we hear it over and over and over and over.
SPEAKER_02And does it give us any direction? Does it dispel our worries? Does it stop the bigotry? Does it fill our hearts with a desire for peace? Does it work? What direction are we heading?
SPEAKER_01In a moment, you will hold body and blood. See what love that the Lord has for us. On the night in which he was betrayed, on the night when everyone distanced themselves, on the night when everyone feared for their own life, on the night when we would sell our soul to the devil to preserve whatever's left, on the night before the cock crowed, and Peter cut himself shaving and looked in the mirror at the blood trickling down his cheek, and he knew and he knew and he knew at that moment that there are things in life that are worse than dying, and that's selling your soul.
SPEAKER_00Where are you heading? On the night in which he was betrayed, he broke bread, and their eyes were opened, and they turned around and went somewhere.
SPEAKER_01Back to church, back to worship, back to joy, back to believing there's nothing, nothing in this world that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Nothing. Maybe it'll happen to us.