Where are you in the story? Usually used for parables in particular but easily applied to other tales as well, it’s a scholar’s technique to discern the proper interpretation and meaning behind a story in the Gospels. Where are you in the story? Are you one of the two disciples, wandering the road? Are you Jesus, hidden yet bringing understanding in the midst of confusion? Where are you?

The answer may depend on where you are in your own spiritual journey, what you are dealing with, what successes and failures you have had of late. Maybe you’re on the road. Maybe you’re Cleopas. Here is a man who has had his whole world turned on its head. He had placed all his hopes upon Jesus Christ and now had all those same hopes dashed by a mockery of a trial and an unexpected execution. And then these reports of an empty tomb and visions of angels. Nothing makes sense anymore.

I’ll confess I’m kind of there now myself. This week was tough. Tommy was someone I regarded as a friend and someone I admired. His passing hurts. Seeing the grief in others, people who I also care about, also hurts.

But that’s not all. Those of you who have known me for a while have recognized that wedding anxiety is really getting to me at this point. I’m worried about paying for it. Worried about whether I will be a good husband, good father, all that. It’s really kind of silly. This should be something to celebrate and rejoice over, but the sleepless nights and everything else is starting to wear on me.

I’m sure I’m not alone. My suspicion is that Tommy’s family is struggling to balance and make sense of the peace that comes from knowing his long battle is over and also the sorrow of saying good bye to a beloved father and husband. But even among the rest of you I’m sure there have been moments when you’ve been on that road. Like these examples, it’s funny how a mix of good and bad, celebration and struggle can bring about such confusion. But that’s where Cleopas is: witness to the crucifixion and now hearing rumors of resurrection. It’s where I am. It’s where many of us are or have been.

The road to Emmaus story is Luke’s version of the Upper Room story we heard last week, only here we have doubting Cleopas instead of Thomas. But like Thomas, Jesus comes. Here unexpectedly in the form of a man they do not recognize. He comes and opens their eyes and their minds about himself, going through the Scriptures to explain why things are the way they are. And then at the last, when they reach their destination and sit down to dine, their eyes are fully opened and they see Jesus in the breaking of the bread.

In the midst of doubt, Christ comes. He gives answer to our deepest questions. He brings peace in the midst of turmoil, and clarity in the midst of confusion. He does this for Thomas, for Cleopas, and ultimately for us. But how he comes, and where he appears, is not always obvious. Jesus is walking beside Cleopas, talking to him, and he doesn’t even know it until the very end.

Christ comes unexpectedly. He comes hidden. But come he does.

Where are we in the story? One option is Cleopas, but the other choice is Christ himself. And perhaps that is the most unexpected place of all. To discover that Christ comes to us in each other. That he comes to others in us.

He was here in this long week. He was here as said good bye to our beloved friend. We saw him in the compassion that we showed one another. I saw him as member after member of this church community walked through that door to offer words of condolence, friendship, and comfort to the family at the visitation and at the funeral itself. I saw him in the generosity of the whole community. The spread at the meal after the graveside service could truly have fed an army. I have never seen so much food. I hope and pray that you saw him in my ministry as pastor. And I remember hearing and seeing him in the playful giggle and warm smile of little Andrew.

Christ was here in our midst, hidden, but here nonetheless. Christ was here in you. He was here in me. He is here in times of sorrow and struggle. He is here in times of celebration and happiness. He is here when everything is going perfectly and he is here when nothing makes sense anymore. This is his promise to us. “I am with you always, even unto the end of the age.” A promise Christ fulfills time and time again. He fulfilled it to Thomas, coming into that Upper Room and stretched out his hands to give to Thomas what he needed to believe. He comes to Cleopas on the road and opens his mind to the Scriptures and makes sense of all that has happened.

And he comes to us and is present with us no matter where we go or what we do. Whether doubt plagues our minds or clarity rules our hearts, he is here. He is here in the fellowship of this community, in the words of Scripture and preaching, and in the breaking of bread. What are these? What is a smile shared between friends? What are these words in this book written 2000 years ago? Bread is bread. Wine is wine. But within all of them there is Christ.

Nonsense an unbeliever might say. Far from it. It is our hope, it is our strength, and it is our joy. Like Cleopas, Christ is right next to us, hidden perhaps, but always there and always saying and doing what we need to hear, what we need to see to believe. He is here, just like he promised. Amen.