04/19/2026 ~ Third Sunday of Easter ~ * Acts 2:14a, 36-41; Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19; 1 Peter 1:17-23; Luke 24:13-35 ~ EKC VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ff_VI4hDg4
HARPSWELL TV VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRRf_zXSerQ

A Long and Winding Road

“They said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while Jesus was talking to us on the road, explaining the Scriptures to us?’” — Luke 24:32

When I was a freshman at a parochial High School a World History course was taught by a member of the religious order known as the Christian Brothers. To address the reality of the Roman Empire this teacher placed some of the origins of New Testament into the context of the specific and concurrent era known as The Pax Romana.

He said it’s amazing the Christian Scriptures were even written, since the literacy rate at that time was less than 10%. So these works were likely composed by literate people, probably members of some upper class group. That this was an influential group is one reason the New Testament spread. And it does say something about the context of its origins and the context of the era.

He emphasized we did not know how names of Apostles that were assigned to each Gospel. We did not know how they were assigned. But these attributions were probably made up.

Luke and Acts, he said, were not separate writings but two volumes of the same work, written by the same author or authors at the same time. At some point the Gospel we know as John somehow got stuck between the two.

Being curious, I went home, pulled the Bible off a shelf where I’m sure it had rested untouched for quite some time. I read those two works— Luke and Acts— as if they are one, which they are.

I’ve often said two things about this. First, that event started my life long interest in and study of Scripture. It was also a conversion experience since the church I saw in front of me was not the church I found in Scripture. Hence, it seemed reasonable for me to work for change and I think that is one of a myriad of reasons I stand in this pulpit. (Pause.)

A disclaimer— today a lot of what I will say about Scripture you have heard me say before, perhaps in bits and pieces, but I’ve said it. To start I want to address the chronological composition of the New Testament, what was written when. (Slight pause.)

All the (true) letters of Paul are written before any Gospel since Paul died before any of them were composed. The earliest letter, First Thessalonians, was written about 25 years after the Resurrection. Fourteen letters are attributed to Paul but the Apostle actually wrote only seven of them.

As to the Gospels, despite its position in our Bibles, the second of four, Mark was the first written, and written about the year 70 of the Common Era, 40 years after the Resurrection. Matthew was the next. Most scholars say it comes together around the year 85.

Luke/Acts followed. A consensus says that happened about the year 90 of the Common Era. The year 100 perhaps a little later, John is compiled. That’s at least 70 years after the Resurrection, 45 years after Paul writes.

Paul’s attributed letters and the other works are likely to have been written as the later Gospels are being composed. But some are written as late as the year 120 of the Common Era. Further, the New Testament was largely written in geographical areas far away from where the events described in the Gospels take place. (Slight pause.)

The earliest fragments we have of the New Testament— and it’s just fragments— date to the Second Century. The earliest mostly full copy— the Codex Sinaiticus— dates to the Fourth Century.

There is no question this journey, this development of the New Testament, is a long and winding road. I hope all this reminds us that when we ignore the context of Scripture, the time, the sequence in which it is written and those who wrote it, we may be ignoring the understandings of those who composed it or first heard it or first read it.

When those aspects are willfully ignored what happens is people often try to exclusively place today’s understandings on these readings. That can lead to missing significant meanings which are there, present in the writing. (Slight pause.)

We find these words in the work called Luke/Acts in the section called Luke: “They said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while Jesus was talking to us on the road, explaining the Scriptures to us?’” (Slight pause.)

Please note: since the New Testament did not yet exist, Jesus is explaining the Hebrew Scriptures. So how did the Hebrew Scriptures develop? Here’s a very, very, very short version: The Pentateuch, the Torah, the first five books, are a merging and editing of four older works, woven together in about the Fifth Century Before the Common Era.

Experts can tell some of those words date to a little after the Tenth Century Before the Common Era. The Prophets and the Writings also come together over time, some recorded as early as the Eight Century Before the Common Era, some much later.

The Dead Sea Scrolls date from between the Third and First Centuries Before the Common Era and contain a portion of what we find in the Hebrew Scriptures. But they also contain other documents.

The scrolls predate any physical record of the New Testament but that is not unusual since in the time of Jesus the New Testament didn’t exist. This is clear: this journey, the development of the Hebrew Scriptures is a long and winding road. (Slight pause.)

Well, I hope that was not too much of a long and winding road. It was a very, very, very short version of that road and, as my story indicates, I’ve been exploring this road for better than sixty years. I have not yet finished that exploration. (Slight pause.)

Here’s an obvious statement. In the year 2026 of the Common Era it can be hard to understand something written between 2,000 and 3,000 years ago.

But one thing we do need to understand is this story in Luke, indeed, much of Scripture, is not meant to record history, report facts. So when we read Scripture it’s usually unwise to ask, ‘What are the facts the writing reveals?’ We need to ask, ‘What is the meaning being revealed and what are the feelings being revealed?’

Indeed, the word theology means the science of the study of God. So we need to remember the purpose of Scripture is to explore Who God is. So the Bible, especially the story we heard today is not trying to convey facts. Jesus is not even trying to convince these travelers the Resurrection happened. Jesus is trying reveal the meanings in Scripture, reveal Who God is. So what or rather Who does Jesus explain? (Slight pause.)

You’ve probably heard this old saw: the God of the Old Testament is a vengeful, angry God; the God of the New Testament is a loving God. That is false, false, false, false and false.

Why is it false? Who is this God Jesus discerns in the Hebrew Scriptures? This is a God of covenant, a God of steadfast love. Or as Jesus puts it, the two most important commandments in the Hebrew Scriptures are love God and love neighbor. Jesus is explaining a God Who loves and invites us to love. (Pause.)

What we call The Last Supper was a Passover meal. It is a joyful meal, a celebration of community and of liberation from an oppressor, tyranny, a tyrant. With the breaking of bread, the Road to Emmaus episode provides a bookend to what happened the week before. And if we fail to understand railing against an oppressive state, tyranny, a tyrant, is present in this story we’ve missed that this is a constant theme and some of the context we find in Luke.

And yes, this relationship to Passover provides continuity to and about the God of Israel. This is the One about Whom Jesus speaks to the travelers, God Who celebrates community, liberation, God who knows about freedom— and freedom from an oppressor, freedom from tyranny, freedom from a tyrant, the God of covenant, of steadfast love. This is the God Jesus proclaims.

And when do the travelers truly understand what Jesus has explained? When Jesus breaks the bread which recalls the Passover. So perhaps for us the resurrection is or should be an affirmation of everything cherished by God, God who celebrates community, liberation, covenant, and steadfast love. Amen.

Elijah Kellogg Church, Harpswell, Maine
04/19/2026

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Benediction. This, then, is a précis of what the pastor said before the blessing: “Two things: most people forget when both the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament were coming together those writing it, compiling it, did not think it was Scripture. They were simply trying to address their own individual experience of God. Next, given my sermon title— A Long and Winding Road— for those disappointed I did not quote Lennon and McCartney please remember the last words of that lyric say (quote:) ‘lead me to your door.’ That’s what Scripture tries to do— lead us to the door, the threshold of the revelation God offers. Then we need to both explore what’s behind the door and be proactive about the covenant promise which instructs us to love God and love neighbor.”

BENEDICTION: Let us serve the world in the name of Christ. Let the love of Christ find expression in us. And may we love God so much, that we love nothing else too much. May we be so in awe of God, that we are in awe of no one else and nothing else. Amen.

[1] If you listen to/see the video you will hear the pastor left out the word “true” but it is made evident in a later sentence.