Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Wednesday, 23 April 2014 "Weren't our hearts on fire?"

Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Wednesday, 23 April 2014  "Weren't our hearts on fire?"
Reflection Questions:
On the road to Emmaus, Jesus interpreted for his discouraged followers "the things written about himself in all the scriptures, starting with Moses and going through all the Prophets." As he broke and blessed bread for them, they recognized him in a flash of insight and memory. His transformed body disappeared, but they joyfully realized that their hearts were "on fire" as Jesus made the Bible clear.
Scholar William Barclay said this story "tells us of the ability of Jesus to make sense of things….Jesus came and talked with them, and the meaning of life became clear and the darkness became light….It is only in Jesus that, even in the bewildering times, we learn what life means." Can you recall any "aha!" moments when something painful and puzzling suddenly made more sense in the light of Jesus' love and grace?
The two disciples on the road may well have been husband and wife (cf. John 19:25; "Clopas" and "Cleopas" were probably the same person). Verse 29 says they urged their unrecognized companion to stay with them. If they hadn't, they'd have missed the awesome moment when they knew he was Jesus. How urgent are you, individually and as a family, about inviting Jesus into your life? How have you learned to recognize his presence in the midst of everyday life?
Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, I want you, I need you, to be with me in my home life. Help me, like Cleopas and Mary, to remember to invite you to stay with me at every meal, and every moment. Amen.
Daily Scripture: Luke 24:25 He said to them, “Foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Didn’t the Christ have to suffer these things and to enter into his glory?” 27 Beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he explained to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. 28 They came near to the village, where they were going, and he acted like he would go further.
29 They urged him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is almost evening, and the day is almost over.”
He went in to stay with them. 30 When he had sat down at the table with them, he took the bread and gave thanks. Breaking it, he gave to them. 31 Their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished out of their sight. 32 They said to one another, “Weren’t our hearts burning within us, while he spoke to us along the way, and while he opened the Scriptures to us?”
Insight from Angela LaVallie
Angela LaVallie is the Worship Logistics Program Director at Resurrection. She oversees preparing the Sanctuary for worship, supports Vibe worship and volunteers in the Student Center, provides oversight for Holy Communion at the Leawood campus, and assists with worship logistics at conferences.
I received a poem as a forwarded email many years ago. I tried to find it online to share with you here and have not been able to, so I’ll explain it as I remember it. The poem was told from the first-person point of view, as if God were the narrator. In it, he says that you, the reader, asked where he was when you requested to see him. He goes on to explain that he sent the sun to rise to shine his warmth on our faces. He sent the birds to serenade us with a song. He sent the flowers to bloom to give us beauty. The entirety of the poem is to illustrate God’s love and presence through the beauty of creation; it’s always there, we just don’t recognize it because we don’t look for it.
In the same way, we often don’t see Jesus’ presence or effects because we’re not looking for them. I’m pretty sure Jesus himself is not going to appear to me when I’m out for my evening walk (and if he does, I hope I recognize him!), but I am confident that he works through others who represent him.
As Christians, we are called to be Christ’s representatives; and if we’re his representatives, shouldn’t we see him in one another? I wonder if we miss seeing him in others because we are not looking for him there. Just as the sun, which can so easily be taken for granted, is a reminder of God’s love, so are those little gestures that show us Christ’s presence.
How many times has a friend or loved one said something you needed to hear or did something to give you support just when you needed it? It happens to me all the time. I’ll pray about a situation in my life, and then, BAM – my prayer is answered. It’s not always in ways that I would ask for or have expected, but when it happens, it’s clear that the answer has to be more than coincidence.
I think Christ is present in small ways too. Time spent with a good friend. A conversation with a stranger at the coffee shop that leaves you both smiling.  Dinner with family. A door held open when you’re rushing to get inside. All these little interactions can be Christ’s presence with us.
My small group is currently reading the book Love Does by Bob Goff, an American attorney who serves as Cunsul for the Republic of Uganda. In one of the chapters we’ll be discussing tonight that focuses on selective hearing, Goff says that God “can communicate to us in any way He wants to anytime He wants to. Through flowers, other people, am uncomfortable sense, a feeling of joy, goose bumps, a newfound talent, or an appreciation we acquire over time.” He goes on to say that God [and Jesus] could speak to us audibly if He wanted to, but “it seems that what God does most of the time when He has something to say is this…He doesn’t pass us messages, instead He passes us each other.”
I wonder how open we are to listening for that message and noticing Christ’s presence when he passes us each other…
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