One of my favorite meats to grill is
flank steak. It is a family favorite with
everyone at family gatherings. My wife,
Dana, marinates the meat in lots of hot and spicy herbs and spices . . . which
is not something I usually enjoy, but for this cut of meat it is
wonderful. I enjoy it every time as I
savor each and every bite.
One of my least favorite meats to grill
and eat is flank steak. Because it is
marinated in lots of hot and spicy herbs and spices . . . it gives me
heartburn. I moan and groan the whole
evening . . . I toss and turn all night . . . and, I always vow that I will
never ever submit my stomach to such pain.
It is a terrible feeling, but it is a feeling that gets my attention and
demands some sort of response . . . each and every time!
Well, guess what . . . I must have a
poor memory because I still grill flank steak at least once a month from April
through September. It has become a
“love/hate” relationship. I guess I have
come to the conclusion that it is worth the heartburn to enjoy the steak. Maybe some day I will come to my senses, but
I doubt it.
Heartburn is said to be a painful
burning or discomfort in the upper chest or mid-chest—that area around the
heart. It can be caused by underlying
diseases or from such things as spicy food, alcohol, overeating, or even tight
clothing. It is the stomach sending a
message that it is not too happy and wants some attention. If you have ever had it, you know what I am
talking about. So, in response we do a
variety of things . . . we take an anti-acid of some sort, we lie down . . . we
do something. After eating flank steak
my stomach lets me know . . . and, I, in return, just want to crawl and lie
down somewhere to die until it passes.
Heartburn is a hint that something needs attention.
I think that we can have physical
heartburn . . . and, we can have spiritual heartburn. I think that we all understand, and have
probably experienced, physical heartburn.
It is the spiritual heartburn that we need to consider this morning. This morning our scripture reading speaks to
this idea of spiritual heartburn.
On the same day that Jesus had his
second encounter with the disciples behind closed doors, there were two
disciples making their way from Jerusalem to Emmaus. As they were walking and talking about all
the things that had happened, they encounter a stranger. The stranger begins to walk with them and
asks what they were talking about. Of
course, they tell him all about the things that had taken place . . . the words
of the prophets, the trial, the crucifixion, and the empty tomb. The stranger kinds of looks at them strangely
and basically says, “And, why did you not believe?” From that point on the stranger gave them a
theological discourse worthy of the world’s best seminaries. He covered it all from the beginning through
Moses and all the prophets telling what it all meant about the Messiah.
To say the least, they were enthralled
with the stranger and all that he was sharing.
They had lost track of time and place as they walked, then suddenly they
were to their destination. As they
stopped, the stranger kept going. They
urged him to stay. Together they had a
meal. The stranger “took bread,
gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.” Suddenly their eyes were opened to who the
stranger was . . . it was Jesus. Then he
disappeared.
Astonished is probably not even a good
word to describe what the two felt of their encounter with Jesus. Excitedly they compared notes and asked each
other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on
the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” And, there it is! Heartburn!
The disciples had a case of heartburn . . . spiritual heartburn.
From where does spiritual heartburn come?
For some I think it came from when we
were exploring and learning about Jesus and what it means to be a person of
faith. During that time, we are reading
the scriptures and stories of Jesus . . . learning more about him and how much
he loves us . . . of how we can come into intimate relationship with God. It was something that grew within us until we
thought our hearts were going to burst . . . and, we responded by giving our
lives over to follow him wherever he led.
I think that is probably the first
encounter most of us have with spiritual heartburn . . . that desire to follow
Jesus and to enter relationship with God.
And, there are other ways. I
think that the other comes, fortunately or unfortunately, as our faith grows,
and we understand better and more deeply what it is that Jesus is asking us to
do as we follow him. Faith moves beyond
that stage of infatuation with the beloved into the stage of living that love
out. It comes from reading and hearing
the stories of Jesus and the people he encountered . . . the people he stood up
for . . . the people he spoke for . . . the people who were on the outside
looking in. It comes as we realize that
nothing has changed . . . those people exist in our day and age . . . they
still hurt, struggle, demand justice, demand to be seen, accepted, and
included. Seeing those around us our
hearts burn to reach out and love as Jesus loved and acted. That is spiritual heartburn.
So, if heartburn is demanding attention
. . . demanding action, then it makes sense that to get rid of it we must do
something. As the two disciples
congratulated themselves for having encountered Jesus, they did not idly sit by
and do nothing. No . . . in their belief
they hightailed it back to Jerusalem, found the other disciples, and told them
everything that had happened. But, most
importantly, they let them know that they believed. They especially believed that Jesus called
them to follow . . . all was not lost, there was still a future and much to be
done.
To get rid of heartburn you have to
respond and do something. For the
heartburn brought upon us when we encounter those whom Jesus ministered to and
loved . . . for the hungry, we feed them . . . for the naked, we clothe them .
. . for the imprisoned, we visit . . . for the lonely, we sit with them . . .
for the oppressed, we free them. For
whatever it is that burns within our hearts, we respond . . . we respond by
believing . . . we respond through love . . . we respond through action . . .
we respond as Jesus would.
And . . . it makes us feel good. It feels right.
As we continue the Easter journey to
discover Jesus in the world around us, let us be mindful of where we feel our
hearts burning . . . let us be prayerful of how we respond to the heartburn we
feel. And, let us embrace the knowledge
that Easter brings . . . there is a better world waiting for us. Our hearts burn for it . . . let us respond
in kind. Amen.
