Easter Heart Burn

Luke 24:13-35

I’m dating myself here, but how many of you remember Speedy Alka-Seltzer or the Alka-Seltzer commercials. Now we have all kinds of antacid commercials and products. It seems Americans are consumed with heartburn. It might be the huge portions we eat. But whatever the case we probably have more acid indigestion than any other country in the world. As a result, we have Tums, Rolaids, Maalox, Pepcid, Tagamet, Zantac, Prilosec and my favorite Omeprazole. And those are only few. For years, all I ever knew about was Alka-Seltzer, Tums or Rolaids. But now there are so many more choices.

One kind of heart burn we need to experience is the kind of Heart Burn that Cleopas and his companion experienced on the Road to Emmaus. It was that Easter Heart Burn that came, not from an encounter with a fiery hot bowl of Tex Mex chili but from an encounter with the Risen Christ.

This story of Cleopas and his companion’s encounter with Jesus on the road to Emmaus is, in my mind, why every meal we share is sacred. It reminds us that no matter who we are or with whom we are sharing the meal; no matter what our situation in life or where we are, Christ can show up and reveal Christ’s self amid that relationship and in the simple act of breaking bread. Christ does reveal Christ’s self and presence with us in the everyday ordinary aspects of daily living.

It also means that we could meet Jesus around any corner, on the other side of any door, at any table, or in conversation with anyone. I don’t think it’s accidental that Cleopas’ companion is not named. It would have been easy to name him or her. But I think the name was left out intentionally so we could put ourselves in that place. So, we can experience Easter Heart Burn. So, we can be reminded that we never know when we’ll meet the Risen Christ or when Christ will make Christ’s self-known to us.

We may not know when, but we do know that when we meet Christ face to face, we too will experience that Easter Heart Burn. Like Cleopas and his companion, we’ll say, “did not our hearts burn within us.”

This Easter Heart Burn isn’t really something for which you can prepare. Oh, you can spend time in prayer. You can spend time studying Scripture. You can spend time meditating on how the Scripture applies to your life and your situation. You can give of yourself through your time, your gifts, your offering, your service. All those things help. They mold and shape the heart. But you can’t ever really prepare for the event itself because you never know when the Risen Christ will appear, or through whom.

A Brazilian priest tells how he was studying and meditating on this very passage of Scripture dealing with the disciples on the Road to Emmaus. It seemed incredible to him that after living with Jesus for three years these two men failed to recognize Christ as Christ walked down the road and talked with them.

While the priest was meditating on this, there was a knock on his door. When he opened the door, he found a poor man who was looking for a priest to tell his troubles to. The priest was so caught up in his meditations that he told the man he was too busy right then. Instead of inviting him in, the priest gave the man some money, it was quite a bit more than he normally gave, because he felt guilty, but then went back to his Bible study.

He said, it wasn’t long afterwards, that he realized that he had been just like the disciples the Road to Emmaus. He said, “Christ knocked at my door. I saw Christ, I heard Christ, I talked to Christ, and I failed to recognize Christ.”

You see, we can encounter the Risen Christ wherever we find ourselves and in whatever situation we find ourselves.

Christ chose to reveal Christ’s self to the Disciples in so many ways and places.

He appeared to Mary at the tomb she mistook him for the gardener. He met the ten gathered in the Upper Room and ate with them proving that he wasn’t a ghost. A week later he appeared to them again. Only this time Thomas was there, and Jesus tells Thomas to reach out and touch His wounds. He did that so Thomas could truly see and believe.

So, you see, you can witness and experience the Risen Christ in your own home, surrounded by family and friends. You can experience the Risen Christ and this Easter Heart Burn across the family table or in fellowship with friends.

The Risen Christ meets us wherever we are on our faith journey. There is a story of a British soldier in the First World War who lost heart for the battle and deserted. Trying to reach the coast for a boat to England that night, he ended up wandering in the pitch-black night, hopelessly lost. In the darkness, he came across what he thought was a signpost. It was so dark that he began to climb the post so that he could read it. As he reached the top of the pole, he struck a match to see and found himself looking squarely into the face of Jesus Christ. He realized that, rather than running into a signpost, he had climbed a roadside crucifix. Then he remembered the One who had died for him. The one who had endured so much for his sake. The one who didn’t give up and had never turned back.

In that moment of despair, in the darkest night of his life, he experienced that Easter Heart Burn. The next morning that soldier was back in the trenches.

We never know when or where or how Christ will show up. But we do know this: Christ is alive and wants to live in the hearts of all disciples. Christ wants you to feel the Easter Heart Burn.

Let your Heart Burn with the joy of Easter. Let your Heart Burn with gratitude for what Christ has done.