Youth during worship at Kansas City 2015. Photo by Vada Snider.

How can Christians connect tomatoes, cucumbers, eggs and the road to Emmaus?

On Thursday morning, Lesley McClendon, youth pastor at Calvary Community Church, Hampton, Va., illustrated the “purpose in your process and hope for your journey,” using familiar foods to represent each person in the room.

There is purpose in the process: Tomatoes are delicate and soft to the touch and represent those who can’t take criticism, are easily offended yet can be chopped into a tasty salsa. The cucumber is tough and often stands alone, waiting to be sliced and diced, but it must learn to endure long periods of soaking in order to turn into a pickle. Eggs stand firm but must experience heat to be palatable.

According to McClendon, those who identify with the egg are often cracked and in pain, “but God says sometimes it’s not until you are broken that I can use you.”

Jerol Schrag, youth leader from Whitestone Mennonite Church, Hesston, Kan., appreciated the imagery and noted his experiences with youth from freshman to senior year. “Like [McClendon] shared about the cucumber, I also recognize the thorny bumps that have to be smoothed down even before soaking,” observed Schrag. “And what a joy it is to watch the transformation of the youth during those years.”

McClendon assured the youth that God knows his people in advance and calls them to him to give them his glory. She explained, “Whatever you’re going through, there is purpose to your pain,“ using the Apostle Paul’s assurance that nothing can separate us from God even when we’re broken.

McClendon challenged the youth to allow Christ to love them so they can understand Christ’s message and pass it on, just as Jesus challenged Cleopas and his friend on the road to Emmaus. McClendon pointed to Jesus’ promise that there is nothing people can do to lose his love and thought should be given to forgiveness and hope in Jesus Christ.

“Christ in you. Christ in me. There is purpose in your process and hope in your pain.”