Feel the Burn

Word of Life, Jesus Christ,
All glory to you!
Word of Life, Jesus Christ,
All praise to you!
Our hearts burn within us
While you open to us the Scriptures
Word of Life, Jesus Christ,
All glory to you!
Word of Life, Jesus Christ,
All praise to you! -- Gospel Acclamation

Today's Gospel lesson put me in mind of one of my favorite parts of the Sunday worship service at our church, the Gospel Acclamation. We usually speak the liturgy, but this part we sing; it's a lovely melody, and it's sung with gusto.

But it isn't only the music that resonates with me -- nor, I suspect, with my fellow worshippers. The Gospel Acclamation moves me because I know it's true. One of the great gifts of the liturgical tradition is our exposure, over and over again throughout the year and from year to year, to the same texts, the same stories. They etch themselves into our memory...sometimes whether we like it or not, as was the case for me when I tried to Molotov-cocktail the Christianity bridge back in my 30's, only to hear those passages cycle in my head while I was driving, or working, or trying to get to sleep. I couldn't get them to stop. My heart burned within me -- an uncomfortable burn, like falling in love when you don't want to: Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!

Every once in awhile -- maybe more often than that -- the burn still makes me wince. I'll be in a snit, nursing my wrath to keep it warm over one thing or the other, only to find the lectionary readings focusing on grace and mercy. Or I'll be feeling just a leeetle bit spiritually superior to someone else -- "My, I've been an upstanding individual" -- and then I inevitably hear words of warning about the sin of pride and the yeast of the Pharisees. Ouch.

But these days, when I "hear a word," when I hear the revealed Word, I usually feel more of a beckoning warmth that makes me want to hear more. May I always want to "feel the burn."


Easter Window/Road to Emmaus, Stephen H. Hackney, Holy Comforter Lutheran Church, Belmont, NC