On the Road to Emmaus

In a deeply personal and spiritually resonant sermon, Dr. Reverend James Ritchie reflects on the biblical story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus, drawing powerful parallels between their grief and his own recent experience of losing his sister to cancer. He reveals that he prepared this sermon in the shadow of death, wrestling with how his message would change if his sister had died before Sunday—only to preach it after her passing. This context transforms the story from a theological narrative into a lived reality: two disciples, hearts heavy with loss and disbelief, fail to recognize Jesus walking beside them, not because of the setting sun, but because their minds were fixed on a dead Messiah. Ritchie argues that we, too, often miss Christ’s presence not due to physical blindness, but spiritual numbness—grief, expectation, and disbelief cloud our vision. Yet, in the breaking of bread, their eyes are opened. The sermon becomes a call to vigilance: to watch for the Holy Spirit’s breath, to rekindle fading faith, and to prepare for Pentecost not as a distant event, but as a present possibility. In a church facing decline and doubt, Ritchie offers hope not in numbers or institutions, but in the power of a few sputtering sparks fanned by divine wind.