Hearts on Fire (April 18, 2013)

…Opening To…

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can… (J.R.R. Tolkein, The Lord of the Rings)

…Listening In…

They said to each other, “Weren’t our hearts on fire when he spoke to us along the road and when he explained the scriptures for us?” (Luke 24:32; context)

…Filling Up…

Yesterday, we talked about Bartimaeus, a blind man who doesn’t start making his way down the road until Jesus restores his sight. Now, most of us persist in our spiritual blindness even as we grope along looking for the road, so it’s a good thing that you don’t actually need to be able to see to start making your way down the road.

In fact, there’s a story that deals with just that. On the day of the resurrection, two of Jesus’ followers, Cleopas and another unnamed person, travel home from Jerusalem to Emmaus (half a day’s walk, give or take). These two fairly unimportant folks are walking down the road when they meet another traveler. We know this newcomer is Jesus, but they don’t see him for who he is. While they are walking along the road, they are blind to the reality of the Risen Christ in their midst.

When they sit down at table later on and Jesus breaks the bread, they recognize him with their eyes. Then they say something peculiar: “Weren’t our hearts on fire when he spoke to us along the road…” While we are traveling along the way of Jesus Christ, we rely on more than just our sight to guide us. It is not until they see Jesus with their eyes that these two disciples realize something inside of them told them what was going on hours earlier on the road. Call it intuition. Call it instinct. Call it the presence of God pulling each of them and each of us into closer relationship.

This pull happens while we are traveling down the road with Jesus – we don’t need to see it to feel the pull tugging us back to God.

…Praying For…

Dear God, your son’s presence made the travelers’ hearts burn within them. Help me to recognize that same fire within me whenever I start to doubt your presence in my life. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray. Amen.