Wake Up to Recognition and Mission

CONSECRATION Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.  Jesus, I belong to you. I lift up my heart to you. I set my mind on you. I fix my eyes on you. I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice. Jesus, we belong to you.  Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.  THE WORD OF THE LORD Luke 24:13–35 NIV Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him. He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” They stood still, their faces downcast. 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?” “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. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 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. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.” He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 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. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 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?” They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread. CONSIDER THIS It’s New Year’s Eve. And whether you love this day or feel a quiet heaviness in it, most of us can relate to those two disciples on the road—walking, talking, remembering, trying to make sense of what has happened. They are not celebrating. They are processing. “We trusted” they say. That phrase gets me every time. We trusted—past tense. Their hopes have taken a hit. Their expectations are bruised. Their faith feels like it’s slipping through their fingers. And then this: “Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.” He comes close, but they don’t recognize him. Isn’t that often the way? Jesus is nearer than we realize. He is present in the conversation, present in the confusion, present in the long walk between what we hoped for and what we are living. Jesus asks questions. He listens. He lets them tell the truth—sadness, disappointment, uncertainty, and all. And then he opens the Scriptures. He reframes their story inside God’s story. He turns their pain into a passageway, not a dead end. But the moment that changes everything is surprisingly ordinary: a table, bread, blessing, breaking. “Their eyes were opened.” Some awakenings don’t happen in fireworks. They happen in the faithful practices—Word and table, prayer and presence, the quiet miracle of Jesus meeting us in the everyday. And then notice what they do. They don’t stay seated. “They rose up the same hour, and returned.” The awakened life moves. It speaks. It bears witness. As 2025 closes and 2026 approaches, here’s the invitation: don’t race past recognition. Ask Jesus to walk with you. Invite him to “abide with us.” Let him open the Scriptures. Let him meet you at the table. And when your heart begins to burn again—when hope stirs, when courage returns—get up and go. Awakening is not just seeing Jesus. It’s rising to share him. PRAYER Risen Jesus, draw near to us as we walk into a new year. Meet us in our honest conversations—our grief, our gratitude, our questions, our hopes. Open the Scriptures to us and open our eyes to recognize your presence. Set our hearts burning again with love for you. And send us out—joyful, courageous, and ready to sow love today. In your name we pray, amen.