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Sunday Sermons
4-6-08, Easter 3
Pastor Phil Lee
Title: "Matters of the Heart"
Text: Luke 24:13-35; Acts 2:14a, 36-41; 1Peter 1:17-23
Theme: Passion from encountering Jesus (Lk.24); conviction (of sin/repentance) from hearing the Gospel (Acts 2); action of loving one another deeply (1Pet.1)
Introduction
“Theocardiotherapy.” I think that should be a new word, but, of course, it’s not. But, if it were a word, instead of an awkward kind of double-hyphenation, it would mean “God-heart-healing.”
“Theocardiotherapy.” That’s what all three of today’s scripture texts are about – Luke 24; Acts 2; 1Peter 1. (Keep your bulletins open so you can refer to these texts.)
These texts are about matters of the heart, passionate hearts, convicted hearts, and loving hearts. And as we hear God’s Word today, we are also invited to encounter the living Lord Jesus Christ in the heart of who we are.
Point
In today’s Gospel from Luke 24, we are introduced to two of Jesus’ disciples who are on the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus. It was<> evening, the gloaming time of day when the light was fading. At that point on the journey, Jesus’ resurrection was simply a rumor they had heard, an idea that many dismissed as gossip. And yet, when the Stranger came along to join the two disciples on their journey, they were at least interested the grand possibility of resurrection. They seemed to be hungry for something more than rumor and gossip, hungry for the hopeful possibility that Jesus of Nazareth was God’s Redeemer.
But the layers of disappointment, dashed hopes, and skepticism were too heavy a burden for those two disciples to carry. They were blinded to the stunning reality that God was in their midst in the Stranger who joined them, alive and present with them as the risen Jesus accompanied them on their journey.
The Stranger listened to their dashed hopes and sadness and curiosity and shared with them how the Scriptures spoke of the crucified and risen Messiah. And finally, it was in the intimacy of breaking bread together that the eyes of those disciples were opened and they recognized the Stranger for who he was. They recognized the presence of the resurrected Jesus in their midst.
“Were not our hearts burning within us (passion) while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” And in this encounter a passionate faith was kindled within them.
Problem
This morning, all over America, and here, too, in this place, contemporary disciples come through church doors weighed down by cynicism, stress, doubt, troubles, and self-centeredness of all kinds. They are engineers and scientists, teachers and lawyers, business men and women, professionals, laborers, retirees, homemakers, skilled in their work and the ways of the world, but uncertain in the world of things that are spiritual.
Like the first disciples, these disciples are hungry for the living presence of God. Maybe you are one of them. But, they are too preoccupied, too suspicious, and too busy to actually recognize God in their midst.
In their world of facts and transactions and projects and money, the Church’s message of mystery and meaning and risk and relationship with God seems trivial, unimportant, or unimaginable.
Many of them want to debate the idea of God, but they are not ready to experience or recognize the presence of God. They do not yet realize that it will only be through passionate hearts and convicted hearts that they will come to recognize and believe in the crucified and risen Jesus.
27 years ago, when we came to the church I served as a pastor back in the early 1980’s, Mary and her family were members. Like so many others, she was a parent of young children, with all the struggles of a young family. Mary and her family lived a modest life and were active at church. But, below the surface, out of sight of the vision of most people, there were problems. Mary and her husband had become alcoholics. They were functioning quite well actually, but marriage and family stress, some depression, and deep spiritual hunger were taking their toll. But, instead of running away and trying to hide, they stayed connected with the congregation, regularly heard the transforming message of the crucified and risen Savior, and experienced the healing community of Christian fellowship. And it was during that time that Mary’s heart began to burn within her and she recognized the presence of the living God in her life. In a life-changing way, the risen Jesus came along side Mary, just as he had joined the two men on their journey to Emmaus. Jesus had become Mary’s traveling companion on the journey of her daily life. And for some years now, Mary has been a Lutheran pastor ministering to others who are going through what she went through.
Power
The Stranger who came along side the two men on the road to Emmaus listened to their dashed hopes and sadness and curiosity, and revealed to them how the Scriptures spoke of the crucified and risen Messiah. And finally, it was in the intimacy of breaking bread together that the eyes of those disciples were opened and they recognized the Stranger for who he was. They recognized the presence of the resurrected Jesus in their midst. “Were not our hearts burning within us (passion) while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” This encounter gave birth to a passionate faith within them.
The same kind of passionate faith is echoed in the words of today’s lesson from Acts 2. When Peter described the agony, cruelty, and purpose of Christ’s death to the Pentecost crowd, the listeners were “cut to the heart,” and in their sorrowful conviction, they were led to repentance and were reborn to a living faith.
Later, in the lesson from 1Peter, we hear that the Gospel continued to live in the early Church, and that many people came to faith in the crucified and risen Christ. And so Peter, a veteran follower of Jesus who knew about such things, wrote to those early Christians, reminding them that they were to “love one another deeply from the heart.”
The heart of God continued to beat in the hearts of the two men on the road to Emmaus. The heart of God was beating on the day of Pentecost, and people were “cut to the heart” as they heard about Jesus’ death and resurrection. And, the heart of God continued to beat as Christians in the early Church “loved one another deeply from the heart.” Again and again in Scripture, passionate hearts become convicted hearts, and convicted hearts become loving hearts.
Is the heart of God beating within you?
Conclusion
“Theocardiotherapy.” I think it would make a nice word. It’s got a nice flow to it. But, of course, it’s not a real word. However, if it was it would mean “God-heart-healing.”
“Theocardiotherapy.” That’s what all three Scripture texts are about today. They are about matters of the heart, passionate hearts, convicted hearts, and loving hearts. And as we hear God’s Word today, we encounter the living Lord Jesus Christ who comes along side us to journey with us.
Will you invite him to come into your heart?
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