Message: The Meaning of Seeing / Luke 24:13-35

Recently, humanity reached another remarkable milestone. We set a new record for the farthest distance humans have ever travelled. On April 11, Artemis II completed its mission of about ten days and returned safely. The spacecraft reached 406,771 kilometres, or 252,756 miles, from Earth. This broke the record set by Apollo 13 in 1970. As they flew around the moon, the four astronauts saw the far side of the moon with their own eyes, a side most people have never seen that way. One of them was the Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

Human efforts to explore and discover new things have brought many good results. They have helped us understand the world better. They have reduced the time and labour once needed to grow food and care for a household, opening an age of comfort and abundance. Because of progress in medicine, illnesses that would have led to death only a century ago can now often be treated. Developments in transportation and communication allow us to keep and expand our relationships, no matter the distance.

However, despite these blessings, we still face serious challenges. In the 1930s, the philosopher Edmund Husserl spoke about a crisis in Western society. He said this crisis came from looking at the world only through a scientific and objectivist lens. When we treat the world like a machine and think every problem can be solved with numbers and laws, we miss something important in our lives, such as beauty, love, hope, courage, and goodness.

Human beings do not live only in a material world. We also live in a world shaped by meaning and relationships. Husserl called this the “lifeworld” (Lebenswelt). Because of this, we need eyes that can see the things that make our lives truly alive.

Husserl did not say that science itself caused the crisis. What he warned against was the attitude that scientific explanation alone can fully account for human life. When we stop asking, pondering, and searching for the meaning of life, we miss what truly matters. Then technology can be misused as a tool of injustice and oppression. History has confirmed his insight through the World Wars and the Holocaust in the twentieth century. Today, we can still hear his warning in the crisis of climate change and in the wars being waged by countries such as the United States, Israel, Russia, and others.

If so, what should we do? What does it really mean to see? Why do we so often fail to notice what matters most? How can we learn to see what we need to see? Today’s Gospel invites us to reflect on these questions.

After Jesus died on the cross, two disciples were walking away from Jerusalem toward Emmaus. It was not a simple journey. It was a retreat and an escape. Their hopes had collapsed. They were heartbroken and sad. The one they had believed to be the Messiah had been executed. They had trusted that Jesus would free their people from Roman oppression, but that hope had been shattered. Carrying disappointment and despair, they were heading back to where they had come from.

However, even while they were walking away in disappointment, Jesus did not leave them. Even while they were walking in sorrow and anger, Jesus was walking with them in love and care. The risen Christ came near to them in the middle of their loss, discouragement, and helplessness. Jesus waited for them, listened to them, and spoke with them on the road.

Although Jesus came to them, the two disciples did not recognize him. They could see everything around them, but they did not see the one thing that mattered most. Then Jesus explained to them the meaning of the cross through the Scriptures. He showed them that the cross was not the end of God’s love. In the suffering of Jesus, God did not turn away from the world. Even there, God’s mercy and love were still at work.

As they listened, their hearts slowly began to burn. Something within them was waking up. And then they invited Jesus to stay with them. They urged him not to walk alone in the dark. So, they sat at the table together. When Jesus took the bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to them, their eyes were opened. Finally, they saw.

In the hospitality they offered to a stranger, in gratitude for a piece of bread, and in the blessing shared at the table, a true meeting took place. In that moment, they were able to see the Christ who had never left them, even in their sorrow and despair.

As soon as they recognized Jesus, he vanished from their sight. But they understood something important. Though he was no longer visible before them, he had never left them.

That same evening, they returned to Jerusalem. They no longer saw the world in the same way. They went to the other disciples and shared what they had experienced. As they did this, the risen Christ came among all the disciples. 

This story shows us that gathering at the table is an important way to open our eyes. For this reason, as a community of faith, we celebrate communion. When we gather at the table of the Lord, we are not simply remembering something that happened long ago. We are meeting the living Christ here and now. Communion is an encounter. When the bread is broken and the cup is shared, the table at Emmaus is opened again.

But we should not miss the true purpose of communion. It did not begin as a ritual. It was the meal table that the earliest followers shared when they gathered. They did not have church buildings like ours. They met in homes and shared meals. They broke bread, drank wine, listened to one another’s stories, and prayed together. They saw one another. They shared both sorrow and joy. They came to know each other’s burdens. They held hope together.

The meal table was not only a place to fill the stomach. It was a place where eyes were opened. Communion grew out of a shared meal of love and fellowship.

What about our tables today? Our food is far richer than it was two thousand years ago. But do our tables still remain places of true encounter? Do we gladly invite strangers to our table? Do we give thanks for a meal and speak words of blessing to those who share it with us? Do we take time for real conversation, sharing what is truly in our hearts, or do our phones and televisions take over our attention?

We are called to be a church that sets a table where our eyes are opened. As we gather, share gratitude and blessings, sing, pray, and reflect on the Word, our sight begins to clear. Through ministries such as Cup of Soul Café and the Monthly Soup Lunch, we meet our neighbours in fellowship and experience God’s love. Through Bible study and other small groups, we share our experiences and insights, and our vision grows wider.

A few days ago, the Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen on Artemis II sent this message: 

“From the cabin of Integrity here, as we surpass the furthest distance humans have ever traveled from planet Earth, we do so in honouring the extraordinary efforts and feats of our predecessors in human space exploration. We will continue our journey even further into space before Mother Earth succeeds in pulling us back to everything that we hold dear. But we most importantly choose this moment to challenge this generation and the next to make sure this record is not long-lived.”

It is truly moving. Human longing continues to open new chapters of the universe that no one has ever seen before. Such passion and ability are a remarkable gift for humanity.

At the same time, we also need eyes to see what truly matters in our lives. And that kind of seeing is not far away. It comes when we share a meal, when we worship together, when we serve our neighbours and communities, when we are willing to learn and listen, and when we build deeper relationships.

When our eyes are opened, we stop making quick judgments. We pause. We pray. We take time to reflect. We listen to the voices of others. We do not rush to conclusions based only on what is right in front of us. Before we judge, we take time to understand. This is the way of faith that sees the meaning and relationships that sustain our lives and make them more beautiful.

May we open our eyes to the risen Christ who meets us here, at the table, on the road, and in one another, so that we may see more clearly, love more truly, and walk in the way of life and peace.

Thanks be to God. 

Rev. Min Hwang