Holy Heartburn

Grace to you and peace from God our creator and from our Risen Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

“Stay with us for it is evening, and the day is almost over…” This is sort of the ultimate “airplane” moment (back when we flew on airplanes!) - you exchange pleasantries with the person next to you as you buckle your seat belt… and suddenly you are sharing with each other your deepest hurts and wildest dreams, and you now have a standing Thanksgiving invitation and you are making plans to go to their son’s wedding.

These two from our reading were walking along the road from Jerusalem, and discovered another traveler on their road, going in the same direction… and found themselves in a conversation they never dreamed they would be having.  And so when this utter stranger, and new best friend, seemed like he would be going on to travel, all alone, in the night… it was only natural that they invited him to share their Air BnB  as the sun set on that Easter day.

It’s still the season of Easter. Jesus WAS there in the tomb, but he is not here any longer. Instead, he has gone on ahead of us, to meet up us out there on the dusty roads we travel. And he has won the victory for us, so that we who have been buried in our own tombs with Jesus may be raised in his glorious resurrection, now and in the life to come.

Which sounds great…. But what about tomorrow, or next week when we are still social distancing, waiting for unemployment benefits, still living alone, and can’t see our loved ones and friends? What about all our disappointed hopes and very real fears that are still up close and personal?

The words of these two walking along the road really resonate with us right now They tell Jesus: “But we had hoped that….”

Perhaps we had hoped that, by now, six weeks in, we had hoped to be done with social distancing and business closures. We had hoped that, even when we are able to get back together, we might go back to the way things were…though now we know that it will not look like it did before. We had hoped a lot of things, but reality seems pretty rough right now for many of us. What can we really expect from the resurrection in these times?

Two disciples, traveling from Jerusalem to Emmaus on Easter afternoon, wondering the same thing. I like to think they were husband and wife, debriefing the unbelievable 3-day weekend they just had… when Jesus appears to them, hidden in plain sight. (Maybe Jesus was wearing a mask and staying 6 feet away?)

Theirs is a road of bitterest defeat, for they had seen the man they had put their hope in put to death. It is no wonder that they didn’t recognize Jesus when he began to walk with them.

Jesus asked about what they were discussing, and they gladly shared with him the whole perplexing story. So, Jesus told THEM the whole of GOD’S story, from start to finish. Then THESE two followers of Jesus REMEMBERED Jesus’ message of welcome and took it to heart – they invited him to share a meal and their place of rest for the night.

It wasn’t until Jesus blessed and broke the bread and they ate together – Then they KNEW that this was JESUS! And so, they RAN – 7 WHOLE MILES all the way BACK to Jerusalem, that same night, just to tell the story to the other disciples of what they had seen – the Risen Jesus!!!!

What would make you run seven miles in the dark? Would it be for something that you didn’t expect? That must have been some “holy heartburn.” Remember that they said, “Were our hearts not burning within us?” Their Holy Heartburn – and Jesus - had finally interrupted their despair.

Jesus likes to interrupt things - Jesus interrupted death. He intruded on the funeral preparations of the women at the tomb. He appeared incognito and joined the two travelers walking to Emmaus, and interrupted their dinner as he revealed himself in the breaking of the bread.

In contrast to the rest of the disciples, who were presumably still locked in a room in Jerusalem as we heard last week, THESE TWO took Jesus’ message to heart. They heard the word and acted on it. They welcomed a stranger into their midst and into relationship. They practiced what Jesus preached. They embraced radical hospitality. They created space in their hearts and in their lives. And remember, at this point, they didn’t yet know that is was Jesus.

But isn’t that what being a disciple on the road is all about? Welcoming one another, creating space for each other for all of our stories and all of our experiences, making sacrifices for one another so that the most vulnerable among us can be kept safe and healthy…. We do this, not just because these people MIGHT be Jesus…. But because these ARE JESUS. After all, Jesus told us that whatever we do to the least of these, we are doing to him.

When we see Jesus in one another, we invite, we welcome, we share what we have, and we go out of our way to make sure all people are protected cared for. That’s all we need, really, to do this “following Jesus” thing. Be the Church, not “go to church.” Create relationships, not programs. Build up the body, not buildings.  Open not just our doors – especially now when that is not possible – but open our hearts as well.

Most of you have heard me quote this prayer a lot, but I think it’s more meaningful now than ever. Called “the servant’s prayer,” it has sustained me many times when the way forward doesn’t always seem clear and things seems hard, like now. Please pray with me:

“O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.”