Luke 24:13-35

Num 22:21-31

Wow, Donna, thank you so much for the courage and strength to share this part of your faith journey with us today.

I want to reflect a bit on the beautiful experience that Donna has shared with us and tie it together with our Scriptures.

Donna’s faith-sharing is an example of how God speaks to us in many ways. God comes to us in dreams and visions. God speaks to us through angels and the still-small-voice. God speaks to us through burning bushes and through Jesus Himself. God speaks to us through each other! We saw today in our passage from Numbers that God spoke through a donkey. Thanks be to God that Donna was more receptive to God reaching out to her through cardinals, than Balaam was to God reaching out to him through his donkey. ...

I love Donna’s faith story because it is so encouraging and a stark reminder of the love of God. It is a demonstration of God’s compassion and gentleness. It is a clear demonstration of how God is always reaching out to us to bring healing and hope even to the deep valleys of grief that we carry with us. I think her experience is a beautiful illustration of one aspect of the incarnation.

God became human in Jesus and dwelt among us. God didn’t have to do that. But God chose to do that because God wants to reach out to us in ways that we can understand. God comes down to us SO THAT we can go to God. God doesn’t make us figure it out by ourselves. God comes down to us and shows us the way.

We saw Jesus doing exactly that in our Luke passage this morning, where 2 unnamed apostles met him on the road to Emmaus. He came to them as a stranger. First he listened to them and then he explained how his death and resurrection were foretold in the Scriptures. He came down to them and showed them the way. Finally, at the end of their encounter with Jesus, their eyes were opened and they recognized him when he broke the bread. It was just what they needed in order to understand. When we take communion, we are united with Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is a mystery: through the sacrament Jesus comes down to us and we are united with Him. It is a taste of what those two apostles experienced that day over supper after their walk to Emmaus.

Be encouraged! Keep alert! God has reached out to Donna through the cardinals. How is God reaching out to you? Amen.

#Luke24 #Numbers22 #EmmausRoad #Balaam #Cardinals #FaithSharing