Burning Hearts - a sign of faith!
Faith Impulse
Pastorin, Kinder- & Jugendwerk
A burning heart...
I liked the image of the heart made of candles: a heart that burns and radiates bright light.
Burning hearts in the biblical sense are something positive. They are filled with passion, they become very warm for a cause or for a faith or perhaps for a loved one. If my heart burns for something or someone, then this cause or this person is very important to me. I am happy to take the time and am motivated to commit myself to the cause of my burning heart.
And when I meet people whose hearts are burning for something, they leave a trail of light in me. Burning hearts are contagious.
Burning hearts in the Bible
This month's verse comes from the end of the Gospel of Luke, from a story that takes place shortly after Jesus' death:
The two disciples who were on their way to Emmanus were guided by a multitude of feelings and questions. They were mourning the death of their teacher and companion, Jesus of Nazareth, and they had not realised that he had to die in order to rise again and become visible as the promised Christ. In the midst of their despair and confusion, the Risen One went with them to Emmaus.
His questions led to a conversation in which He was able to give them answers to their own questions, and it was only afterwards that the disciples realised that it was Jesus who had gone with them.
And they said: “Were not our hearts burning within us as he talked with us?” (Luke 24:32 )
Burning Hearts in Methodism
In the history of Methodism, a burning heart is also at the heart of an infectious faith.
John Wesley wrote in his diary on May 24th, 1738:
In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans.
About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ,
I felt my heart strangely warmed.
I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation;
and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death...(The next morning, Wesley added): The moment I awakened, “Jesus, Master,” was in my heart and in my mouth...
The Christian faith needs people who are inspired by God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. It needs people whose hearts are on fire and who allow themselves to be inspired by them in their decisions, in their everyday lives, indeed in their lives.
And sometimes, as I experienced myself today, we unexpectedly meet new people with burning hearts who also touch us deeply through their humanity, their love for their neighbour or their trust (in God).
What is your heart burning for? May it reflect the light of Christ to the people you meet!
Glaubensimpulse