Major Heart Burn

Luke 24:13-35

What does Easter mean? Is there more to it than the declaration, “Christ is risen”? Is there more to it than the empty tomb and the astonished disciples? What is the Easter message and what are we to do with it? How does Easter touch human lives and make a difference in them? Is the resurrection simply just an event in Jesus’ career and nothing more? How does this story that appears to be “an idle tale” actually make sense?

The story of the walk to Emmaus is one of the most well-known of the resurrection stories. Its focus is on two human beings who knew the earthly Jesus and how they respond to the news of God’s deliverance through the resurrected Jesus. It intrudes into the lives of real people, evoking worship, confession, repentance, communion, transformation, obedience, and mutual love. They see Jesus from a different perspective, from a different point of view. They’ve known him as rabbi, teacher, but now he takes on a new role, several roles in fact. Stranger. Guest. Host. All three roles are played by Jesus himself on the road to Emmaus. He appears to his disciples first as a stranger, then as a guest and finally as a host, offering critical guidance to those of us who want to do a better job of welcoming and including people in the life of the church.

What these two travelers help us understand today is that the self-revelation of the risen Messiah comes through the interpretation of the scriptures and the breaking of bread; Word and Sacrament. This is how we, the church encounter Jesus and learn to see him as someone other than a strange fellow traveler.

With Jesus depicted as a stranger, he gives his disciples the challenge of showing hospitality. They practice philoxenia, which literally means "love of the stranger." Philoxenia is one of the Greek words used in the New Testament for hospitality. This approach stands in stark contrast to the attitude so prevalent in society today -- xenophobia, "fear of the stranger."

What would it mean for us to practice philoxenia in the life of our congregation? We do it every time we teach English to a student through our ESL ministry. We do it every time we speak to strangers in the hallways and doorways after worship, instead of visiting only with our friends. We do it every time we make an effort to get to know a person from a different race, culture, nationality or sexual orientation. We may come to discover that the stranger we encounter is not all that strange. Jesus calls us to take good care of the guests who come to us. He challenges us to feed the hungry and welcome outcasts as he did throughout his ministry. Since we, the members of the church, are the physical body of Christ in the world today, we're supposed to be his hands and continue his work. We show his presence in the world every time we practice hospitality in his name, whether we're feeding the hungry through Saturday Bread or welcoming a guest to a service of worship.

Guests are important to Jesus, which is I think why he played that role on the road to Emmaus. He wanted to challenge his followers to see him as a guest and show true hospitality. Recall with me the story Jesus told in Matthew 25. Jesus comes in the form of people who are in need of food, drink and a warm welcome. Jesus says, "Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me" (vv. 34-35).

The followers of Jesus hear these words, but they don’t get it. No comprende. They don't remember seeing Jesus and helping him, so they ask, "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry ... thirsty ... a stranger?" Jesus answers them simply, "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me" (vv. 37-40).

Jesus comes to us as a guest, even today. When we help a person in need, we're really helping Jesus. And this happens not only in church, but on the street, in school and in the workplace. This can be tough to do, because our schools and the workplace have become competitive and anxious places, with everyone forced to do more with less and excel at any cost. But even there, when you help a person in need, you're helping Jesus.

The role of Jesus changes from stranger to guest to host when he sits at the table and breaks the bread (v. 30). We see this when the risen Christ nourishes us through the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. As the bread is broken, we're invited to open our hearts to the presence of Christ. He's comes to feed us, and to fill us with his power and his presence.

It's critically important for us to permit Jesus to be our host; to eat his bread, drink his cup and allow his body and blood to become part of our body and blood; to accept the forgiveness he offers and to allow ourselves to be strengthened and inspired.

Sometimes, it's easier for us to help others than to receive help for ourselves. We would rather be a host than let someone else host us. But today, at the Lord's Supper, permit Jesus to be your host. Open yourself to what he wants to give you. Like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, your eyes will be opened and you'll recognize him.

This message is a proclamation, and it's something we're all challenged to do. To make a proclamation is simply to talk about how we've experienced the work of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. It's going to be different for all of us, and differences are just fine -- they are part of the diversity of life in a church that is a home to all.

Pope Francis has stirred up the Roman Catholic Church since his selection last year, gaining particular attention for working to make the church "the home of all." In a recent interview, he talked about proclamation and Christian hospitality. "Proclamation ... focuses on the essentials, on the necessary things," he said. "This is also what fascinates and attracts more, what makes the heart burn, as it did for the disciples at Emmaus."

The road to Emmaus: this is where Jesus came to his disciples as a stranger, as a guest and as a host. Emmaus is where we learn how to welcome one another around a table, and then go out into the world with a proclamation. Emmaus is where we come together and strengthen our bonds with Jesus and with each other.

Writing in The Lutheran magazine (June, 2012), Peter Marty writes about an incident Viktor E. Frankl recounted from when he was in a Nazi concentration camp. He was at the end of his rope from the deprivation. At this point, when he had lost every possession and had every valuable destroyed, someone gave him a piece of bread. Frankl wrote, "I remember how a foreman secretly gave me a piece of bread which I knew he must have saved from his breakfast ration. It was far more than the small piece of bread which moved me to tears at the time. It was the human 'something' this man also gave to me -- the word and the look which accompanied the gift."

Peter Marty comments, "Keep on the lookout for that 'human something' the next time you break bread with another person. Their words may offer more nutrients than the bread in your hand. Their look may open the eyes of your heart. It might all be a small taste of the first Emmaus."

When we practice Christian hospitality, we become part of a mighty spiritual movement -- one that can overcome divisions in a terribly polarized world. It all begins when Jesus breaks the bread, our eyes are opened and we recognize him. Amen.