Many years ago before I was a pastor, I worked as a radio salesperson.  Not that I sold radios, rather I sold advertising on a radio station.  It was a pretty good job for the most part as I got access to concert and movie tickets as well as loads of free music.  Like I said, it was a good job, but it was a job nevertheless.  And what do they want salespeople doing, after all?  Selling, of course.  But, early on, things were difficult.  You see, we couldn’t point advertisers towards any ratings, they were essentially flying blind when purchasing time on our station.  That made them very reluctant to buy.  So, here we were, the hottest radio station in Charlotte but we had very few advertisers save some bars and automobile dealers.  That’s not enough to run a station on, we needed more advertisers.  So, an idea was hatched – a sales contest.  And it wasn’t just an individual sales contest, it was a group contest.  If we could all get to a certain dollar amount, then we’d all be given hefty bonuses.  Sounds like a good deal, right?  And it was.  But things were still a grind.  Every morning we’d have a sales meeting where we’d tally what we’d sold together.  On days where we were making good progress it was interesting to note the good feelings and cooperation of the entire group.  On other days, when little or no progress was being made, we were quick to bicker and blame each other for not working hard enough.

I read a story this week about something similar, only it was with mountain climbers.  On days where they could see the peak, energy was high and teamwork was prevalent.  On days where the peak was obscured by clouds, however, the mood was quite different.  It just goes to show that, when you can see the goal coming into focus, things become easier.  The load becomes lighter.  Light at the end of the tunnel always lifts spirits, doesn’t it?

But that’s not where we initially encounter these two travelers in this morning’s Gospel reading, is it?  At the moment, there is no light at the end of their tunnel, at least not any that they were yet aware of.  No, you can just feel from the conversation how downtrodden these two men were.  And it all makes sense – in a number of days, they’d seen their hopes for a bright future quashed on a Roman cross.  And it makes sense, after all.  We don’t know tons about these men but we do know they were disciples of Jesus Christ that had been with Him until the end.  That meant that they would’ve seen amazing things as Jesus’ earthly ministry unfolded.  They’d have seen water turned into wine, a few loaves of bread multiplied to feed 5000 people.  They would’ve seen Lazarus emerge from his tomb.  They would’ve seen amazing things and it would’ve changed the course of their lives.

But now, everything had changed again, only this time for the worse.  Perhaps these two men were there when Jesus was arrested.  Given they know about what happened afterwards, it’s altogether likely that they watched as He was beaten, scourged, mocked and crucified, a spear poked into His side.  Perhaps these men were even there as Jesus uttered the words, “It is finished,” and then died.  Regardless of what they’d actually seen, what they knew was depressing enough.  The hope that they’d had fostered throughout this season had disappeared.  They were now like all of the disciples and apostles – wondering how to make meaning now that their leader was gone.

It’s a depressing time when hope disappears.  When progress isn’t made toward reaching a goal, when you can’t see the peak from the earlier example.  It’s easy to become depressed, hopeless and feel life slowly ebb away.  Have any of you experienced hopelessness?  I have, at points in my younger life, and it is no fun, believe me.  Hopelessness has a way of swallowing you up like a wet blanket, putting a literal damper on anything good that may come into your life.  We feel that hopelessness on these two men as they walk, but it wasn’t to be the case that hopelessness was going to be their way from now on from the Lord our God had ordained something else for them.  An encounter.  But not just like running into a buddy at the Harris-Teeter, no I mean something far more profound happened on the Road to Emmaus.  An encounter with Jesus, the newly Risen Lord of all.  This is the type of meeting which alters the course of a person’s life.  We know it did for these two.  Can’t you just imagine their fervor at spreading the news about Jesus after having encountered Him on the road to Emmaus?

Speaking of, Emmaus is about seven miles as the crow flies from Jerusalem.  There’s no given reason given why these travelers are on this particular journey but I think, given their conversation, they were returning home after having followed Jesus to His unfortunate demise.  It makes sense, after all.  Now that Jesus was gone, it was only right to return to kith and kin.  The words would be hard to swallow but you’d have to admit you were wrong.  Wrong to have gone off and followed this Prophet and Healer.  Now, with Jesus dead and buried, there is only the routine and ordinary life to return to.  But, you see, we know something, don’t we?  Jesus, He isn’t really dead.  He is alive, risen.