Episode 232: When Faith Falls Apart
The Rev. Dr. Alix Pridgen
Sermon for the third Sunday of Easter.
Text: Luke 24:13-35
On the road to Emmaus, two disciples walk away from everything they had hoped for. Their faith has unraveled. What they believed about God no longer holds, and they don’t know what to do next. And maybe we know that road. Moments when life breaks open… when prayer feels empty… when belief won’t come… and we quietly turn back toward what feels manageable. But on that road—Jesus comes near. Unrecognized at first… he listens. He invites their honesty, their grief, their disappointment. And then, gently, he begins to reframe their story—helping them see that even in the suffering, God was present… working… holding things together in ways they could not yet see. And something begins to shift. Not all at once—but slowly… a sense of presence… of connection… of meaning where there once was none. Until finally, in the breaking of the bread—they recognize him.
This is the good news: Faith is not about having everything figured out. It’s about discovering that even when we’ve lost sight of God… God has not lost sight of us. Christ still meets us on the road.
Still listens. Still reveals himself in ways we can recognize. And sends us back into the world… not with certainty—but with a quiet, steady conviction: “I have seen the Lord.”