Two Roads

Luke 24:13-35

I like to describe my call to the ministry as more an Emmaus Road experience and less a Damascus Road one. Our reading from Luke for today helps me to explain what I mean. As they walked along the road of Emmaus on the day of Easter, two of Jesus' followers were joined by a stranger who continued on the way with them and explained the scriptures to them so that they would see the truth more clearly (Luke 24:25-27). It was only when this stranger shared a meal with them that they realized it was Jesus (vs. 32). Contrast this story with the one from Acts 9:1-9 (also written by Luke) where Saul is knocked off of his horse by the presence of Jesus Christ. This happened on the road to Damascus.

For some the call to ministry (or to the faith for that matter) is a sudden, life-jarring experience that knocks them down before showing them the way they should go. But others like me have a slow, gradual sense of growing purpose that is sometimes best understood in hindsight. ("Were not our hearts burning within us?" [Luke 24:32].) As I look back on my life I can see the hand of God at work guiding me along the path through my parents, Sunday school teachers, mentors, fellow clergy, and many, many others. There are times I wish I could point to a sudden, life-jarring experience, but I also treasure the thought that God has allowed me to grow in faith and understanding in ways that sustain my ministry today and which I hope are of service to others.

Though the roads to Damascus and Emmaus themselves run in different directions, they each arrive at a place where we may know God to be a real presence in our lives and a source of strength for the living of these days.

Prayer: God of Emmaus and of Damascus, of the gradual dawning of faith and of the sudden jolt of understanding, of the journey and of the destination, of the believer and of the one who wrestles, of the community and of the individual, we come to you in different ways bringing with us different needs, different questions, different circumstances. But you await us in all our diversity because you have never been far from us. For this we offer our thanks and praise, this and all days. Amen.