HOLY HEARTBURN

A Sermon for the Third Sunday of Easter
April 6, 2008
by Pastor Laura Gentry

Luke 24:13-35
Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, "What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?" They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?" He asked them, "What things?" They replied, "The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him." Then he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?" Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, "Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over." So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?" That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, "The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!" Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.(NRSV)

Grace and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

This morning’s gospel text takes place on that first Easter morning, the day that the women found Jesus’ tomb empty and were greeted by an angel. As our text begins, two very downtrodden disciples are sadly making their way to Emmaus, a seven mile journey from Jerusalem. It was just four days ago that they had shared the bread and cup with Jesus at the Last Supper. Yet, now their shattered world is crumbling in on them and they feel the sting of loneliness. They are so caught up in the drama of this tragic narrative that when Jesus himself shows up, they don’t even recognize him. He comes right up to them and asks, “what’s going on?” Still, they cannot see that it is their Lord! Cleopas answers him, “don’t you know anything?” and then proceeds to tell him all about Jesus’ death and burial. Jesus patiently listens to his whole oration and at length, he begins instructing these two who are slow of heart to believe. He uncovers the mystery of the Holy Scriptures and explains the words of the prophets and how they spoke of the coming Messiah. Now he didn’t make them memorize any of Luther’s small catechism or take any sermon notes like we do for our confirmation students, but he did instruct them at length. And this is not the first time the disciples been instructed. Certainly Jesus taught them many many times while he was with them before his death.

Why are these two so foolish? How can they not recognize their own leader? I mean did he shave off his beard or something? Did he have a new and improved “Risen” look to him? We don’t know. Luke simply says, “their eyes were kept from recognizing him.” Certainly it is understandable. Their Lord has just died. They are disturbed, afraid, disappointed, weary, confused, and feeling abandoned. They cannot make sense out of what had happened. And the Risen Jesus himself comes along and gives them words of Hope—of God’s plan for the Messiah, certainly profound and amazing words that should have overwhelmed them—that should have given sight to their spiritually blind eyes. But that does not happen. They continue to walk along in their darkness.

And what happens to us when we hear these stories about Jesus or when we go to Sunday School or confirmation and learn about God’s plan for our salvation through Jesus Christ? Does it turn our world upside down? Does it radically transform us into brave disciples who run off to proclaim the good news? If not, don’t be too hard on yourself—it didn’t happen that way for the disciples, either. They knew in their hearts that they were longing for God to reach out and deliver them from their terrible state, but hearing Jesus speak about the scriptures doesn’t yet do it for them.

But that night, as the disciples reach the village, they urge Jesus to remain with them, even though they still don’t know who he is. And as they sit at table, Jesus takes the bread, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it to them. In that very moment, their eyes are opened. “It’s HIM!!! Could it be?” they wonder. This stranger on the road to Emmaus is their very own Jesus—the Jesus who had broken bread with them in this same manner just four days before. Their eyes are opened, and they recognize him; and he vanishes from their sight. That quick. Revelation! And then he is gone. And in his absence, it begins to dawn on them and they say, “were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?”

Holy Heartburn, Batman! Their hearts were burning within them! They knew it then, but they just couldn’t put their finger on it until now—until this experience of breaking the bread with him. Now, all that opening of the scriptures talk about the Messiah on the road to Emmaus is making sense.

Even so, many things are still so unclear to them—why did Jesus have to die in the first place, and why did he trick them by not identifying himself to them, why did he vanish just when they recognized him and when is he coming back!? So many things they don’t know—that they can’t know, but they do know that they have met him in the meal. He did come to them—not even death could keep their Lord away!

Yet the questions remain. Perhaps all these questions don’t have answers that would make sense in the mere words of a sermon. Perhaps it is that God has created us in such a unique and complex way that we need more than intellectual understanding in order to open our eyes to the presence of Jesus in our midst. Perhaps in the gift of the bread and the wine, the body and blood of our savior, there is something altogether different—that can’t be explained in words, because it is an experience of the whole person—one in which Jesus transcends time and space and comes to us in a most tangible way and we experience the true presence of Christ. And then, our holy heartburn makes sense.

That same hour, the two disciples leave Emmaus and return to Jerusalem to tell the others. They don’t mind that it is the middle of the night. They aren’t upset that Jesus vanished from their sight the moment they recognized him. Just catching a glimpse of him in the meal is enough to sustain them—even on the dark journey back to Jerusalem. They have seen the truth for an instant and it has fired them with emotion and given them the assurance—the abounding assurance that their Lord is risen.

This is such an interesting story, one that connects with the lives of many people. Have you ever felt holy heartburn—the deep sense that you wanted more, needed more, that your life was missing something and that you were reaching out for it, even though you couldn’t quite figure out what it was? This is what the disciples were going through in this story. Their hearts, they later realized, were burning within them!

I’ve met many a holy heartburner in my ministry already. While I was in California, I taught a series of First Communion classes, which were also open to children who had not yet been baptized. They plan was for all the children to receive instruction in both the sacrament of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion, then on First Communion day, the children who had not yet been baptized would be baptized as well that morning. One particular session, we advertised with a flyer that went home with the children of the church’s elementary school and the response was overwhelming. Twenty eight children and their parents showed up! Ten of the children had not been baptized! And as the instruction progressed, there was holy heartburn going on. As I visited individually with the children who would be baptized, the Spirit was moving. I was sitting in the living room of one family and the mother of the child spoke up. She explained that her parents had changed churches several times and never gotten her baptized and that after receiving the baptismal instruction with her daughter, she was experiencing an intense desire to be baptized also, and would I be willing to baptize her? I was amazed at how God was calling her to baptism. And then the next day, I was meeting with another family and this child’s mother had a similar story. She too, had never been baptized and felt she was being called to baptism. As if that wasn’t enough, be the end of the week, two more mothers asked to be baptized! In the end, I baptized 14 people on one Sunday—including four mother-daughter pairs. They realized there was something about these sacraments that spoke to them in a unique way—in a way that words alone had never done. Holy Heartburn.

The miracle of this story is that Jesus knew his followers had holy heartburn and would stop at nothing to reveal himself to them. And Jesus continues to do the same for us today! Our hearts hunger and yearn for a deep, abundant, life-changing experience of God—they burn within us, and Jesus comes to meet that need. He comes to us in his Holy Word and is made known to our burning hearts. But he does not stop there, he also gives us the gifts of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion where he is manifest—where he comes to wipe away the crimson stain of our sins and tell us, “I love you, you are mine, you will always be mine.” May Christ’s appearance in word and sacrament meet your heart where you need him most.

Let us pray: Holy Jesus, we praise you for your resurrection. We praise you for appearing to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, for meeting them in both your words and in the sacrament. Meet us today, we pray, that we may know you more and our burning hearts may be satisfied. Amen.

May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

© 2008 Laura Gentry