Have you ever encountered something extraordinary in scripture that you missed before? Join me, Tracie Corll, on Indispensable People for an intimate exploration of the road to Emmaus narrative from Luke 24:36-43. As we traverse this biblical journey together, we'll uncover the transformative nature of Scripture and how it can mirror our real-life surprises. With each step, we'll discuss the power of context and expectations to distort our perceptions.
As our path winds on, we delve into the significance of breaking bread—not just as a historical or by practice, but as a metaphor for the unwrapping of each individual's gifts, including those with disabilities, within our church communities. Rather than focusing on structured programs, we pivot towards the importance of personal interaction and the discovery of the unique contributions everyone can make. Just as Christ was revealed in the breaking of bread, so too can the hidden talents and abilities within each of us, leading to a more inclusive and appreciative faith community. Let's gather around the table, ready to be changed by the connections we make.
Have you ever encountered something extraordinary in scripture that you missed before? Join me, Tracie Corll, on Indispensable People for an intimate exploration of the road to Emmaus narrative from Luke 24:36-43. As we traverse this biblical journey together, we'll uncover the transformative nature of Scripture and how it can mirror our real-life surprises. With each step, we'll discuss the power of context and expectations to distort our perceptions.
As our path winds on, we delve into the significance of breaking bread—not just as a historical or by practice, but as a metaphor for the unwrapping of each individual's gifts, including those with disabilities, within our church communities. Rather than focusing on structured programs, we pivot towards the importance of personal interaction and the discovery of the unique contributions everyone can make. Just as Christ was revealed in the breaking of bread, so too can the hidden talents and abilities within each of us, leading to a more inclusive and appreciative faith community. Let's gather around the table, ready to be changed by the connections we make.
Speaker 1:
Hi, my name is Tracie Corll and welcome to Indispensable People. I'm a wife, mom, teacher, pastor and missionary, and I believe that every person should have the opportunity to know Christ, row in Him and serve Him with the gifts that he has given no matter their ability. Over 65 million Americans have a disability.
Speaker 2:
That's 25% of the population. However, over 80% of them are not inside the walls of our church. Let's dive into those hard topics biblical foundations, perceptions and world-changing ideas.
Speaker 1:
Hey, hey, welcome to this episode of Indispensable People. My voice is back, I'm feeling great. No more scratchiness that you'll have to listen to while I'm talking. But I am so excited to share with you today just a picture into Scripture that I didn't realize or hadn't seen in this particular way. So I'm excited to share that revelation with you. But first I want to share with you how funny it can be when looking at Scripture one day to the next.
Speaker 1:
Just about two months ago, I preached a sermon in Costa Rica on a mission trip using this Scripture, and it wasn't until two weeks ago that I saw it in a completely different life. And that is how God works, right. He brings us revelation, he shows us things when we're ready to see them, and His Word is so full of depth that we cannot just read once through and think that we've got it all. He just has so much more for us, and so I'm going to share with you this particular Scripture from the book of Luke, chapter 24, 36-43. Those of you who may be super familiar with it know that that is the story about Jesus on the road to Emmaus, and this Scripture I'm just telling you. I came across this in such a way I was like, oh my, okay, all right. And so just to set the stage a little bit, the passage comes right after the resurrection of Christ, and on the third day some of the women followers were found the tomb and it was empty, of course. And then the disciples went and they verified it, but no one quite knew what to make of it. And so this passage in Luke is happening that very same day and it happens to start out like that. So chapter 13, verse 13, sorry, says that very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened, and while they were talking and discussing, jesus himself drew near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. That's very important. I want you to kind of keep on that.
Speaker 1:
So I'm going to note here, before continuing on, that it was actually fairly common for Jesus not to be recognized post-resurrection appearances. I don't know about you, but I can kind of maybe equate this to well. There's two things First of all, it says that their eyes were kept from recognizing him, and also when you see someone out of context, or you don't expect the their placement. It like throws you because you're like wait, you don't belong here. And at that point they would have think that they would have thought that Jesus had passed on and that he was no longer around. So how in the world would they see them? Him, they must be mistaken. So, for example, when I was teaching first grade, if I would see one of my students at the grocery store, they would be like, oh, this is coral. Like you know, I must live and breathe at the school only, and what in the world would I be doing at the grocery store? So just know that that was actually pretty common and that there are several instances where he appears among the disciples, frightening them because they think he's a ghost.
Speaker 1:
You can find examples of that and Luke, or John, chapter 20, verses 19 through 29. Also in the garden with Mary, where she thought that he was the gardener until he said her name. And also scripture it says while several the disciples were out fishing, they didn't recognize him until he told them to cast their nets on the right side of the boat, only to catch a miraculous number of fish. So here in this passage we'll see that, similar to these other appearances. These men were kept from recognizing him until the pivotal moment when Jesus breaks the bread. That's something else I want you to hold on to.
Speaker 1:
When Jesus breaks the bread so further into scripture, verse 17 it says and he said to them what is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk? And they stood still looking sad. Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened here in these days? First of all, that just makes me laugh. Okay, he's like don't you know where have you been? Everybody knows what's going on. And he's saying this, you know, to the man who it just happened to? No big deal, no big deal. So verse 19 goes on to say and he said to them what things and they said to him concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet, mighty indeed and word before God and all people, and condemned to death and crucified him, but what he hoped, that he was one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happen.
Speaker 1:
Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning and they did not find his body. They came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it, just as the woman had said. But him they did not see. And Jesus says oh, foolish ones in slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary that Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? And, beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them all the scriptures, the things concerning himself. Can you imagine being there? I would have loved to hear Jesus's explanation, as he brought all of those scriptures to light, and Emmaus was about seven miles from Jerusalem, so the journey would have lasted a while and they would have had lots of time to cover A whole lot of scripture. Going on to verse 28, it says so they drew near to the village which they were going and he acted as if he were going farther. But they urged him, shrelling. He's saying Stay with us, where it is toward the evening and the day is now far spent. So he went in with them.
Speaker 1:
Now we can only imagine what is going through the minds of these men. We'll see here in a few verses that Jesus was explaining the scriptures to them. They said that their hearts were burning within them. Have you ever had an experience where you see someone that you know, that you've seen somewhere before, or you have met, but you just can't for the life of you figure out where you know them from and why? I imagine maybe that's a little of what these two disciples were going through Now. They were blocked from seeing and understanding who Jesus was. But you might have had some you know something in the memory jog, in the memory going. He just seems familiar. I wonder where we could have met him before. But they've just had Jesus himself open up the entire Old Testament in a testimony to them and they're probably thinking, wow, this guy, he just he knows this stuff right. He's got, he's just got so much information he understands that all. I just can't place him. Who is this guy? So in a very common ancient near Eastern hospitality, the men strongly urged Jesus to spend the night with them and if I were them I know I'd want a little bit more information. He had so much to give right. So, continuing on, he went in and to stay with them. Jesus was the one who was there, he lived through the experience and he is given all the scripture to them.
Speaker 1:
They are diminishing his intelligence by saying early on, weren't you there, don't you know? Everybody knows what's going on. You know, they were really kind of like questioning his intelligence, like what are you doing? They were devaluing his presence in their conversation at first and they were creating, creating kind of a value of less than because he didn't know about an important event that they did. They over explained because they perceived his lack of knowledge and more often than not, this is the experience of people with disabilities.
Speaker 1:
We tend to assume incompetent, even if we don't understand their disability. I have seen videos, interactions, all kinds of things, of people who use a wheelchair where they're approached and then the person, like, speaks at a crazy loud volume because there must be something else. You know, like the wheelchair triggers the hearing, that triggers the understand. It's just a weird domino effect of what it creates in our understanding of people with disabilities. So we assume that they have to need our help, though we have to offer ourselves to help them, that they need our assistance, and I want to kind of take the picture of Jesus, who is an understanding, or seemingly understanding, what these men are talking about, and so they then go on to like overcompensate for what he doesn't understand. And then all of a sudden Jesus flips the script and he was like didn't you know? This was all foretold in the word in the scriptures. So I want to just kind of highlight some people that I have experienced in my past where they were assumed to have a lesser knowledge because of their disability, or they were maybe thought of as less than because of their disability.
Speaker 1:
First of all, my son, noah, is my number one example that I will tell over and over and over again of times that God has used him specifically in our ministry to speak what God wanted to deliver For we travel to churches on a regular basis and we get to share the word of God and his view and vision for people with disabilities and their families. And on a particular Sunday morning we're traveling to a church and Noah says hey, mom, what are you going to talk about this morning? And so I kind of give him the rundown of my plan and he turns around and he says well, I really think that God wants you to say, and he laid out what he wanted what he thought God wanted me to say and I said okay. And so that particular morning I went up on stage with my husband, we did our window of speaking and I shared what I was normally going to share and then I added to that what Noah had shared with me and as I walked off of the stage with my husband that morning, the pastor walked up to give me a hug as she went to go on stage with tears in her eyes and she said that was exactly what my congregation needed to hear this morning. And it was still perfect. And it was exactly what they needed to hear. And it came from Noah, who on a regular basis, because of his disability, would be questioned to his knowledge. And that is not the only time that God has used Noah in that capacity.
Speaker 1:
But also let me share with you another little guy that attends my home church. He is six years old, he is diagnosed with autism and his social capabilities are at times questionable. He has difficulty first of all sensory wise, but also when he interacts with other children. He would mimic kind of social abilities of a much younger child and that may make you believe that this particular child is maybe operating at a lesser capacity, that his understanding is much less. However, first of all, when he went for his kindergarten testing, he tested in an eighth grade level. He uses Rosetta Stone and has been learning different languages since he was super young. He has the intelligence and the intellectual capacity of above an eighth grader. Now, his social capabilities might make you think otherwise, however, his understanding of the word of God and the scriptures is much, much more vast than students of his age. It's absolutely incredible.
Speaker 1:
Let me add to that another story about a young adult that attends my church. I have known him since he was a child. He was diagnosed with autism when he was younger and he was a very ordinary child, lots of joke cracking. But his social capabilities, his ability to handle certain sensory things, longevity to finish tasks and things like that were challenged. However, one thing he was never challenged with is music. He's been playing music with his dad since he was little and he currently helps with worship on Sundays. He leads our respite group once a month and he also participates in our worship team at our summer camp for people with disabilities.
Speaker 1:
Here's what I saw Last summer when he came to our summer getaway program he felt at home. He was in the right place. He had found a place where he belonged, where he was accepted, where there were no holds bar on what God was going to do through worship. At one point of the week, after service, we were in a time of prayer and he literally had this group of people that were surrounding him and he was leading them in prayer. Now, all of that is capable. He is capable of in any setting. But what the difference was is he was not surrounded by people who assumed his incompetence. He was around people who saw who he was in Christ and that allowed him to go to the full capacity of what God has for him. Again, that is something that can absolutely happen within a church setting, within others, without disabilities. But what made way is that the people at this camp who also had disabilities, saw this gentleman, saw this young man for who God made him to be, not for what he lacked, not for what he may not be able to do, but for what God had created him to do. So let's move on in this. I could share stories to no end with you, but here's where the difference comes. You might be going. Okay, I'm trying to tie in disabilities and the road to Emmaus, and we're going to bring it home right here.
Speaker 1:
Later on in the verses it says when he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed it and broke it and gave it to them. At that time their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and then he vanished from their sight. The lights finally turned on for these disciples and they recognized Jesus and the catalyst of being, in this instance a breaking bread. That's what changed everything breaking the bread. For whatever reason. God waited until this moment for their eyes to be open to his true identity. Here's the thing. I don't want to make more out of the significance of the breaking of bread than it's meant to be, but right in that moment, when God sat down with them, he entered into a practice which was known to take people deeper with God, to open their eyes to who he was.
Speaker 1:
And so this is where I would challenge you. First of all, in our churches, in our special needs programs, whatever. We spend so much time creating those programs and making sure that people are accepted and that they are welcomed and that they are trained to help people develop spiritually. But here's the thing programs will never win out over people. I'm going to say it again programs will never win out over people.
Speaker 1:
Sometimes just choosing to spend that time with that person, sitting down with them, breaking bread with them, is where your eyes will be opened to who God has created them to be, and then you will look past the disability to see what God has placed in them as their gifts and their talents to serve Him.
Speaker 1:
Because if we believe that every person should have the opportunity to know Christ, grow in Him and serve Him with the gifts that he has given, then we certainly need to have our eyes opened to see those giftings.
Speaker 1:
Because if you are a volunteer or in a place of leadership, part of what you do is you help cultivate those gifts and talents that God has given his people. But if we only choose to see what we think exists and not what God sees and what God knows exists, then we will miss out, we will diminish their capabilities, we will diminish the calling that God has on their lives. But when we open our eyes, when we sit down and we break bread and we get to know someone, then we can see them for who God has created them to be. So why does the road to Emmaus matter, because it showed us how to break the bread, it showed us how important it is to sit down with someone, and it showed us how our eyes can be open to a deeper level so that God's works can be seen and known in all of His people, especially his people with disabilities.
Speaker 2:
Do I know everything about disability ministry? Do I have all the answers? Have I done everything perfectly? I've absolutely not, but we are going to continue this conversation so that people of all abilities can have the opportunity to know Christ, to grow in him and serve him with the gifts that he has given back.
