3rd Sunday of Easter - Year A (Luke 24:13-35)

They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32) As a person who suffers from frequent heart burn, I am forced to take a second look at this passage from Luke. While we have always interpreted this in a positive light, perhaps we do the Word a disservice by eliminating any notion of preaching as irritation.
Perhaps the best analogy is that of the grain of sand in the oyster – a tiny irritant that, in due time, produces a pearl. It might help to imagine yourself on a plane traveling home from a funeral and being forced to sit next to someone who insists on having a conversation. While no doubt awed by the way in which the stranger explained the scriptures to them, the two pilgrim disciples on the way to Emmaus must have been at least a bit irritated. Not only did they have their solitude impinged upon by this talkative fellow traveler but their understanding of both the scriptures and the events that had just taken place was refuted. It was only in the context of the breaking of the bread that everything became clear.
The effective preaching of the good news requires a kind of pushiness that is respectful but insistent. Effective preaching requires that the hearer’s preconceptions sometimes be dismantled. Finally, effective preaching is tied to the Eucharist. It is the presence of the risen Christ in both word and sacrament that enables us to hear and receive Gospel.