Sermon: "Holy Heart Burn” The word appears once in today’s lesson from Acts. After Peter finished his sermon on that Day of Pentecost, the narrator says, “Now when they – the crowds – when they heard this, they were cut to the heart.” The word also appears once in today’s scheduled but unread lectionary reading, from I Peter, where Peter encourages us to: “…love one another earnestly from the heart.” And twice in today’s gospel lesson this word appears. First Jesus uses it, in his conversation on the road to Emmaus, with these two discouraged and grieving disciples: “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared.” And then these same two disciples, after the risen Lord Jesus is revealed to them “in the breaking of the bread,” they say to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” Cut to the heart – loving earnestly from the heart – being slow of heart – and some holy heart burn. These are 4 times among the over 680 times the word “heart” appears in the Bible - more times than the word “love” – many more times than the words “faith” or “hope” or “heaven.” Our tradition, our faith, our relationship with God and with one another – and our very existence has a whole lot to do with the heart and the matters of the heart. And curious that in nearly every place where the word “heart” is used in the Bible, it does not refer directly to the hollow, muscular organ in your chest and in mine - that is right now beating and pumping blood to every part of our bodies. That part of our body is fascinating in and of itself. According to the online heartbeat calculator, at discovery.com, from March 7, 1959, to yesterday afternoon, my heart has been beating approximately 1,858,751,424 times. How about that! Oh for a nickel every time that happened. But in the Bible, in the ancient word, the heart means so much more. And some of these meanings have certainly carried over into our culture and language. Anybody want to guess the Greek word for heart? Cardia – right. Cardiologist, cardiac arrest - words some of us know very well. In the New Testament, the cardia - the heart is the seat of the physical, spiritual and mental life – the center, the source – the locus of the will, of our decision making process – and the organ of natural and spiritual enlightenment. The heart is the seat of the emotions, of moral decisions, even the faculty of thought and understanding. The heart is also the dwelling place of the Holy, - and we still speak of Jesus and the Holy Spirit being “in my heart.” What scientists tell us today about the working and function of the brain, in the ancient world was attributed to, and described as the heart. The word brain does not even appear in the Bible – it’s all the heart. Kathleen Norris, one of my favorite writers, wisely reminds us that "to believe" is not a matter of the mind – of the brain - but a matter of the heart. She says “what we "believe" is what we "give our heart to." So in today gospel lesson – consider with me the words of these two disciples, as they speak of the heart. Notice these are not two of the original 12 – but two lesser known, one named Cleopas - and another still unknown disciple. These two – sad and depressed – two despairing disciples, they had an encounter with the risen Lord Jesus Christ – and they didn’t even know it was the risen Jesus walking with them. While on that Emmaus road the risen Lord tells them they are slow of heart – slow of comprehension – slow to understand the prophecies in the Bible – for them the Hebrew Scriptures – and what they say about the Messiah, about his suffering and his glory. “Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he - the risen Jesus - interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.” We could call this an “on the road Bible Study” – a Bible Study where the words of the scriptures were spoken and interpreted – given meaning and application. And in that conversation the words spoken and heard made sense to these two disciples. Something deep and meaningful was communicated and shared between then. They knew that they heard was true and right - they could feel it – in their bones, in their guts – or, as Luke writes, in their hearts. Now we all know what that feels like. In the greatest movie of all time, “It’s a Wonderful Life” – you remember at the end of the movie, Burt the cop brings Harry home, through the snow storm. And the Bailey living room is filled with friends, there to help George in his time of need. And Harry offers a toast – “to my big brother George, the richest man in town.” Right there – that’s what I’m talking about. In those words, in that moment, we know the truth of that word in our guts. George is the richest man in town – not in money – but because of his many friends, whose lives he has touched, and who have touched his. What we feel from that movie we also know in our lives. When we hear something that is true and right, we feel it deep down - there is a kind of bodily resonance that occurs. We even respond with the words, “that really moved me.” Luke refers to this as heart burn: “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” Now this is not the kind of heartburn you need to “treat – the kind you want to get rid of - with Pepcid or Rolaids – or with Tums (Tums, ta tum, tum, tum!). This is the kind of heart burn you want to keep – the kind that is a blessing – the heart burn that sustains you and encourages you. This is the heart burn that moves us deeply – the kind that moves us life lives of hope – and that moves us to confident action, to mission and ministry. As we have been reminded in the news, this past week marked the 30 th anniversary of the death of Martin Luther King Jr. – a tragic event for his family and for our nation. Five years earlier, in April of 1963, Dr. King – the Rev. Dr. King - wrote a letter to fellow clergymen – to white clergypersons - to people like me, white pastors, Christian and Jewish - in response to their criticism of him for his “unwise and untimely activities” in the cause of civil rights for African Americans. I encourage you to read the whole letter –you can find it online – Letter from a Birmingham Jail. It’s rather long - nearly 7,000 words – written from one pastor to other pastors - but reading it again I found his words gave me some holy heart burn: “I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” “For years now I have heard the word "Wait!" It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This "Wait" has almost always meant "Never." We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that "justice too long delayed is justice denied." We still creep at horse and buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. He concludes with this paragraph: “I hope this letter finds you strong in the faith. I also hope that circumstances will soon make it possible for me to meet each of you, not as an integrationist or a civil-rights leader but as a fellow clergyman and a Christian brother. Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty. Yours for the cause of Peace and Brotherhood, Martin Luther King, Jr. I wonder how many pastors in 1963 were moved by his words. Had I been a pastor in those days, I hope my heart would have been moved. Today such words give me holy heart burn – I hope they do for you as well – words that move us to all work for that day when “the dark clouds of racial prejudice will pass away.” Friends – I hope you have all had some heart burn lately. I hope you are – and that you will remain - open to the Holy Spirit in your life – so that you will know and feel this holy heart burn, resonating deep within you. Using the word of Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, I hope you will hear, and then feel, deep down, those things that are true, and honorable, just and pure, lovely and gracious – excellent and worthy of praise – these words and thoughts that give us this holy heart burn. You will find these very things in the words of the Bible – in the risen Lord Jesus Christ – in the life of faith – and evident in this community of faith. And may each of us find this holy heart burn today - as we worship and pray, as we share peace - and as we receive the presence of the risen Christ in the bread and the cup, in the Lord’s Supper. May it be so for you and for me. And all God’s people said - Amen.
|