Setting the Table for Communion (part one): A Worthy Walk

Today I begin a series of posts based on Luke 24:13-34, the “Road to Emmaus”. The goal of these writings is to ponder Christ’s presence in the midst of a difficult pilgrimage and the eventual table of communion that was shared between Jesus and two of his followers. Perhaps somewhere in our pondering, we will glean some understanding as to how we, too, can taste communion with our Savior in similar measure. As I will with each post, I ask you take some time and read this portion of Scripture aloud, if you can. Feel free to leave comments along the way. May God bless the reading of his Word as only he can.

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“Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.” (Luke 24:13).

I’m a bath girl. Always have been. I love the warmth of the water and the promise of soothing seclusion contained within its wet. Today is no different. In fact, perhaps more than any other day in my recent history, I need a bath—a gentle cleansing for the ache I carry within my soul. And while a bath may only salve at the temporal level, it is place of contemplation—of going deeper with God in order to receive an eternal communion that always salves lasting.

An Emmaus walk. Emmaus. A destination meaning “hot baths.”[i]

We’re headed there today and in the days to come. It is journey worth making because of what awaits us on the other side of our stepped obedience—a communion that pulses with the heat of a burning heart and with the stretching of the mind that receives the truth of Scripture’s reveal.

Jesus invites us to the table of his lavish grace each and every day. Our tendency is to pass; not because our desire isn’t present, but simply because our wills remain fixed on the immediate. The quick and easy. The five minute packaging of glory crammed into three because three is all we can afford.

Much to do. Deadlines to meet. Frazzled and furiously confined to a schedule that allows for little reflection beyond our choice of beverage at the local drive thru. We bustle about, burdened with our big agendas, and baths, quite frankly, don’t fit into our busy. Showers, perhaps, but the deep cleansing of a heated wet will have to wait for another day. For an unhurried season that allows for such a luxury.

Problem is…that day never seems to arrive. And therein lies our first point of reflection as we begin to set our tables for a sacred communion with Christ.

If deep communion with Jesus is to be tasted, then a deliberate walk to the table must be made.

We know very little about these two who were walking to Emmaus that day. We know that they were seekers of the Messiah and that one was named Cleopas. We know that they were privy to the teachings of Jesus, to the facts surrounding his death and to the discrepancies surrounding his resurrection. Perhaps they were only visitors to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast. Perhaps Emmaus was their home. But for all of the known things and the speculations therein, we do know this one thing to be true.

They were walking forward. Not backwards. Not cloistered in an upper room or locked in fear behind a closed door. No amount of weeping and sadness of heart would keep them stymied and stuck in Jerusalem. Their feet pointed toward Emmaus. They pilgrimed a deliberate journey with an unnamed purpose in mind. They couldn’t have known Who awaited them as they walked or the table that had been set on their behalf. They simply did the one thing that they knew to do.

They walked.

And so must we if we are to join our Father at his table of amazing grace and sacred communion.

Today walks differently for all of us. Some of us fully grasp the obedience of a forward walk and are enjoying the bounty of heaven’s bread and wine. Some us remain stuck behind closed doors, longing for a tabled communion but lacking the cooperation of our feet. Some of us are on the road…halfway between our fear and God’s full. Sadly, some of us still linger at the tomb…hoping for a resurrection but still waiting for truth to appear.

Truth has appeared and did appear to his followers that day, but not before they moved beyond the grave. Perhaps this is why Jesus chose to reveal himself to them before revealing himself to those locked behind a closed door. Jesus is faithful to reveal himself, especially to those who are deliberately seeking his presence.

Faith walks forward, my friends. Even a little faith. Even if questions remain and hearts tear with confusion. Faith moves toward the table of grace.

I want a burning heart and a deeper understanding of all things eternal. I need it today and in the days that calendar beyond this one. I want to sit at the table with Jesus and to partake of his bread. I want to bathe in the heated, cleansing waters of Calvary’s stream because the waters of this world cleanse at the surface, and I am in need of a deep cleaning. I think that your desire levels the same.

Sacred communion with Christ will never happen by accident. It happens through deliberate intention and through a faith that isn’t afraid to walk the unknowns of an Emmaus road because faith believes that a table awaits—a table set by God on our behalf. For our good gain. For his good purposes, and for heaven’s great and final glory.

Faith walks, and I am so thankful to be walking it with my Father and with you this day. Thus I pray…

Keep us to the road, Lord. To your Emmaus road that leads us to springs eternal and to baths that cleanse with the hot and purifying waters of your love. Let us not shrink back in our fear or in our busy, but rather give us the strength and the good sense to walk forward to the table set on our behalf. Let our hearts burn with the blessing from our sacred obedience and open up our minds to understand the truth of who you are. Humbly and with confidence, we fix our eyes toward Emmaus. Toward You. Toward home. Amen.

[i] Holman Bible Dictionary, “Emmaus” (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 1991), 417.

Copyright © September 2008 – Elaine Olsen. All rights reserved.

~elaine

23 Responses to Setting the Table for Communion (part one): A Worthy Walk

  1. Oh, the bath. The cleansing, the centering, the hydrating. The quiet, the solitude, the healing.

    Emmaus.

    Christ.

    I’m ready to walk the forward road.

  2. Hi Elaine, I have seen your comments from time to time on several of the blogs that I check in on as well. Decided to pop over and check yours out. What a beautiful site — and what a wonderful message today! I plan to bookmark your site and check back from time to time. So glad I discovered it! By the way, I’m a bath person, too 🙂

  3. Needing the luxury of a long, calming bath in His presence.

    “Sacred communion with Christ will never happen by accident. It happens through deliberate intention and through a faith that isn’t afraid to walk the unknowns of an Emmaus road…”

    This morning I read a devotional about the difference between communication and communion. One is about conversation, the other about transformation.

    My parents have an artists depiction of this scene in their home. I have often gravitated to it, to observe and ponder such an encounter. An Emmaus experience. Available for us daily.

    Walking forward with a burning heart for Him,
    Joy

  4. Thank you for this refreshment. I’m glad we have this road to walk on, and I sure look forward to the final cleansing at the end, when we see Jesus with unhindered eyes, never to lose sight of Him again!

  5. Thank you, Jesus, for giving us this balm to cover the difficult situations that have come our way over the last couple of days. Only Your Word can calm the storms that rage in our heads and hearts…giving us rest and peaceful words as we walk on to the end of each day.

    Thanks, E!

  6. Oh, Elaine! What a refreshing post for the soul. Thank you so much! I have to ask…seeing that you’re Methodist too…have you ever done the Walk to Emmaus? Just curious!
    Many blessings, sweet friend.
    Love ya,
    Susan

  7. I am a bath person too. And very thankful for each one. I often say a little prayer for friends yet unknown who’ve never had that luxury in other spots of the world.

    Once again, your words are soothing to tired souls, myself included!

  8. Elaine,
    Now that school has begun this week for my kids and I have been peppered with the questions of what am I doing this year regarding (ministry, school involvement, etc.) and then extra needs for more exercise to shed a few summer gained pounds presses in as well. Your post is helping my heart continue to where I know I must go. I have limitations that keep me from the deluse of extra options but I can still find myself not walking to the table.

    You wrote:
    “Today walks differently for all of us. Some of us fully grasp the obedience of a forward walk and are enjoying the bounty of heaven’s bread and wine. Some us remain stuck behind closed doors, longing for a tabled communion but lacking the cooperation of our feet. Some of us are on the road…halfway between our fear and God’s full.”
    I believe I vacillate between these three depending on my week. Thank you for the reminder to choose to soak and savor…I do know how to do that but the enemy still knows how to discourage and tempt me from it and then I’m empty and dry.

  9. Oh, I look forward to sharing this journey with you, Elaine! Your writing is so beautiful and expressive, as usual. 🙂

    This line particularly struck me: “Jesus is faithful to reveal himself, especially to those who are deliberately seeking his presence.”

    Thanks, too, for sharing your heart on my post today. I know that the Lord has a perfect plan in His perfect timing for LIVING STONES FROM BROKENNESS. Praise Him that He can take our horrific rubble and recraft it into something beautiful and useful for His glory!

  10. Just beautiful, Elaine. I love what you said about the walk of faith being a deliberate journey. This speaks to me in my “lurking” right now, that it is oaky to be in-between, but I need to be deliberately going forward. The destination is unknown, but the walking is all that matters right now.

    Thanks for a great word, friend. It has encouraged me to put my walking shoes on.

  11. “If deep communion with Jesus is to be tasted, then a deliberate walk to the table must be made.”

    That is my hearts desire. He did all the work. The table is set. All I need to do is sit down and eat.

    What an awesome host He is! I always feel welcome at His table. I can see that everything He sets before me was prepared with me in mind. It pleases Him to serve me. He desires to fellowship with me at His table.

    When I am deiberate about my walk with Him I NEVER leave unsatisfied.

    Thanks again Elaine for your words.

  12. I’m working the night shift and I have all kinds of diseases around me at this moment (I’m a nurse if you didn’t know). That cleansing bath sounds so good!! However, from a personal perspective, I am thinking I need to be sterilized from satan’s grip…does that mean I need the dishwasher?

    Your response on my last blog entry meant so much. It felt like a hug and left me with tears of comfort. Thank you!! The issue wihtin our family that caused so much pain has calmed a bit but we still cherish your prayers!

    In His Graces~Pamela

  13. Stopping by to check on you with the storm coming. Hope you are safe! I love this post. The calm, refreshing sense of God’s healing, love and grace. Sooths my soul. Makes me think of a couple of beautiful words my Pastor Dan Morris wrote about the Bible study I wrote: “It’s like a dip in a cool swimming pool on a hot day. It’s like a warm bath on a cold night. It’s cleansing, refreshing, renewing, and rejuvenating all at the same time. It’s the pure—clean—love of God; and it’s offered to you. You who are tired, lonely, abandoned, rejected. You who feel. . . unclean.” Oh yes, Jesus cleanse, refresh and renew us!

  14. Praise God. What a wonderful word for today. I look forward to the next entry.

    I’ve actually got a little something for you on my blog – an award. I hope you’ll come on by to pick it up.

    Be blessed.
    Melanie

  15. Powerful connections. Bathing. Walking. They seem so ordinary. Yet in this context we see how extraordinary they are.

    Kathleen

  16. Elaine I have a little scrap of paper taped to a basket on my desk that has something I want to remember written on it. I have added “Faith Walks Forward.” blessings, marlene

  17. Thanks Elaine for your blogs.
    I am a bliever in Christ, that’s over coming alcoholism and depression. I find your Blogs helpful. God Bless, Tim

  18. You’re absolutely right Elaine! Yes! My prayer is to continually seek to be closer and have that communion with God- consistently bathing in his presence and being engulfed in his presense!

    Lord, gives us the strength to continually walk forward!

    I look forward to part two!

    Blessings,
    Kennisha

    P.S., Things are going well book wise. Still working on those queries and book proposals. I’ll keep you posted. Hubby is editing- and it can be grueling, but I appreciate his help!

    Love you and God Bless!

  19. I have walked that road…and communed with the Lord.
    There have been sweet times waking with Him.
    Right now it is rough..my feet seems to be stuck.
    But, I hear Him calling. I wake often with sweet songs from Him. He is asking me to come.
    He wants to heal the things that I did not even realize were really there.
    There is a song that we sing with the kids at summer camp…

    Jesus poured in the oil and the wine
    The kind that restoreth my soul
    He found me bleeding and dying on the Jericho road
    And He poured in the oil and the wine.

    We still need the wine…

  20. Elaine, this is amazingly insightful and blessed. We MUST start that walk first. A message I needed today. (oh, and YES, those are my verbs of being, though I learned them in a slightly different order hehe thanks for stopping by)

  21. I typed up a long and personal response to your email and now my email program won’t send anything out…..so it sits in my Outbox for now. I wanted you to know you haven’t been neglected. Thanks for asking and once my tech savy husband figures it out….it will be off. At present Hubby is fighting our little Prince Caspian on the lawn!

  22. “If deep communion with Jesus is to be tasted, then a deliberate walk to the table must be made.”

    Amen dear sister. I love these words. I think of so many who just feed on scraps at the foot of the table… oh how there is so much more of Jesus than church on Sunday. I pray for those who are missing out on that deep communion.

    He prepares a table before me and I will glady walk a lifetime of hurt to sit down with him and savor his blessings!

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