Lives Transformed
Today's lunch was very special to me. I got to listen to my friend, Jeff, tell me about his experience on the Walk To Emmaus. A little background information is that Jeff and I met in college and he married one of my suitemates! Jeff and I have been going to church together for years, we were in Sunday school together, both families came to Pine Valley United Methodist Church and are in Sunday school together again. I sponsored his wife for Emmaus five years ago and just sponsored Jeff for the men’s recent walk. This story in a nutshell, “He is a new creation!” 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
The Walk to Emmaus is an experience of Christian spiritual renewal and formation that begins with a three day short course in Christianity. It is an opportunity to meet Jesus Christ in a new way as God’s grace and love is revealed to you through other believers. Luke 24:32, “They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road (to Emmaus) and opened the Scriptures to us?” I believe Jeff’s open and honest feelings about his walk will encourage others to spend three days with God. As Jeff said, he had heard about the walk in the past but always put it off. He said it was a big commitment but now knows it was an excuse. Even though Jeff was not raised in the church, he did believe in God and Jesus. While Jeff knew he was not an expert in the Bible he thought he knew enough. Now he knows he doesn’t know enough. He says that Proverbs 16:9 is him. “A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.”
In Sunday school, Jeff always felt inadequate but now feels that was his fault for not putting forth the effort. He is a control person and feared Emmaus because he did not know enough. He believes that God nudged him to go on this walk. I believe that, too, as I had witnessed some changes in the last years. Jeff began to come to church with his family because “he was expected to.” A few years back he began to come to Sunday school and then went out and bought a Bible! We both agreed coming to PVUMC made a huge impact on our spiritual lives.
For the control oriented people like him, the weekend taught him a lot like turning things over to God and not stressing out about things. He loved hearing that God doesn’t call the qualified but qualifies the called. Another quote that hit home to Jeff was, “Christ has no hands but yours.” He feels he was fed enough that he wants to do more. He was helped in prioritizing his life and seeing what he needs to work on. He never thought much about what communion means, and he treated it like a ritual. Learning about communion was powerful as now he can lay his burdens down and be renewed! Galatians 5:22-23 came alive for him. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”
The Walk to Emmaus turned his need for spiritual growth into a want for spiritual growth. He wants to grow through prayer, study, service and doing devotions with his wife. He realizes that generosity is his responsibility and he has to trust the church to make the right decisions of where to put it. This is not always easy with a person in the finance world. He says, “I can’t control what the person does with it. I just have to be responsible for my part.” Jeff said he learned a lot about idols and realized there are a lot more idols than alcohol, drugs, and porn. Everyone has an idol and he realized wanting various material things can be an idol.
The objective of Emmaus is to inspire, challenge, and equip the local church members for Christian action in their homes, churches, communities, and places of work. Prior to going on the walk, Jeff said he had a lot of open ended questions but the weekend completed his circle. It has given him the inspiration to move foreword, not doing what is expected of him but doing what he is excited about doing. He said he believed that God loved him but this weekend he FELT God’s love. And in the last 23 years, that is what I hear most people say when they return. Jeff also said that he does not believe he would have gotten it any other way. One of the special things for Jeff was the fellowship with other men. “Adult men rarely get an opportunity to fellowship for three and a half days with other men. We built new friendships.” Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” I believe Emmaus inspired, challenged and equipped Jeff for Christian action!
Jeff said he thinks a lot of men are like him - maybe something is missing, maybe you want to learn more - “You have to do it. I don’t think anyone has ever regretted going. You have to go because you want to - not because your wife makes you!” When he thinks about the time he gave up to go, he thinks of the team and the other behind the scenes people who gave up even more time to make the walk possible. And they did that because they were so excited for him to go! He had never experienced Christian love like that. On several occasions Jeff has told me he wants to go back and I understand. It is a weekend of love that everyone deserves! Jeff said, “72 hours is a big commitment but it is nothing compared to what you get out of it. What you get out of it is worth a lifetime!” I could not have said it better, Jeff!
If you are interested in going on the men’s or ladies Walk to Emmaus, you just need to find someone who has already been to sponsor you! They will be excited for you to go! 1 Thessalonians 5:11, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up…”