Have you ever experienced a revelation of truth so powerful that you could feel it? Maybe from singing a hymn. Maybe even a secular song can cause these powerful feelings. Sometimes truths come from interesting places.
One of those is found in Luke 24, the two men on the road to Emmaus. They were talking about all the things that had recently happened and then Jesus drew near, although they did not recognize Him. A conversation ensued.
They urged Him to stay with them, which He did. As they ate, their eyes were opened, they recognized Him and then He vanished. And then they said, did not our hearts burn within us as He related to us the Scriptures?
What is the heart?
In common modern metaphorical use it usually speaks to emotions. In scripture, it is about man’s core. It is related most often to the activity of reason and will, not just emotion.
It is the instrument of belief (Rom. 10:8-10). Truth, not just emotions, drive the heart. The heart can be driven toward evil through deception and lies.
Why does this matter?
1. Truth can be hard to see. It can come from places of happiness or places of pain and hurt. The men on the road were being driven by their emotions. It’s not evident their inability to recognize Him was a miraculous event. They just may not have been thinking on that plane. It’s apparent that no one believes yet or why would they have been sad regadring recent events. There are lots to emotions throughout this story – wonder, fear, confusion…. Just like them, we sometimes get confused by misguided expectations. They were blind to the things right in front of them. Whether we see truth and reality or not, does not mean it isn’t so. Maybe we place hope in the wrong things rather than with God’s plan so when things don’t go as we had hoped, we blame God.
2. God is not limited by man’s inability to see. There will be times where we don’t understand, yet. The purposes of God do not depend upon whether or not I can see them. What catches the attention of the men on the road is not His vanishing right in front of them, it is His teaching from the Scriptures that causes their hearts to burn within them. We must lear not accept that God’s ways are higher. We can trust Him even when life doesn’t happen the way we would have imagined it.
3. The heart is moved by the presence of truth. The men on the road didn’t even know it was Jesus but what caused their hearts to burn were the teaching from the Scriptures. This is why it is so important for us to be in the words and speak truths to others around us. Worship is a proclamation of the truth that God reigns.
The power of the presence of truth in our lives causes us to surrender our will to God’s, not merely follow rules because we have to. Don’t ignore it when your heart burns within. Realize this is when your relationship with God finds it’s purest form. You are His, He has made you. He is worthy of praise and honor. When our hearts are burning we cannot help but proclaim these truths.
Sermon by Brent
