Four Profiles of the Heart

17 01 2011

The Big Idea: The way you listen to God’s Word reveals the condition of your heart and creates a faith trajectory for your life.  Text: Luke 8:4-15

(Here is the outline from yesterday’s talk at the Origin worship gathering.)

The Parable is preceded by some dramatic scenes:

1.  John the Baptist questions if Jesus is “the one.”

2.  A woman crashes Simon the Pharisee’s party and hears the   announcement that her sins are forgiven; her faith has saved her.

3.  Jesus begins going through the cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God to large crowds with a contingent of committed men and women.

Two Important terms
Kingdom of God:   The age and reality of God’s rule and reign, initiated by Jesus, the Messiah and King, in order to deliver people from the kingdom of darkness through the forgiveness of their sins they may know God and participate in His redemptive work.

Heart:  For biblical authors the heart is more than the organ pumping blood; “it is the control center of our lives, the place where we take in all the data (whether through our brains, our emotions, our imaginations), sort it out and make decisions.  The problem says Jesus, is that not enough of those who hear the good news with their ears are allowing the good news to take over the control centre.  Something or–someone else–runs the control center.”  Darrel Johnson, The Glory of Preaching, p. 42

Four Heart Profiles Revealed by Gospel Proclamation

  1. Hard Heart.
  2. Shallow Heart.
  3. Cluttered Heart.
  4. Submissive Heart.

1.  The Hard Heart.  Vs. 12

“The ones along the path are those who have heard.  Then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.”

God “gives” His word, the good news of the Kingdom, to bring salvation.  The devil “takes” so that the process of hearing, believing, and being saved is interrupted.

“But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed?  And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?  And how are they to hear without someone preaching?  And how are they to preach unless they are sent?  As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news?’ But they have all obeyed the gospel.  For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?’ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”  Romans 10:14-17

This heart is hardened against God, His Word, His Kingdom, His life.  It is habitually unbelieving.  People with a hard heart do not “understand.”  That is they do not grasp, comprehend, or “stand under” the revealed word of God and take action accordingly.

Note Jesus’ interaction with His disciples regarding this parable.

a.  Jesus issues a call to all the crowd to “hear.”

b.  The disciples ask Jesus what the parable meant.  vs. 9

c.  He affirms God’s grace to them–the secrets of the Kingdom have been given to you.  vs. 10

d.  Jesus identifies the parables as part of God’s plan to reveal the condition heart condition of people: they hear, but do not “understand.”  vs. 10

2.  The Shallow Heart.  Vs. 13

“And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy.  But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.”

These people are happy to receive Jesus and the good news of the Kingdom of God.  However, when adversity because of that word and this relationship comes they walk away.

They have the appearance of discipleship, but they have a hardness just below the surface.  They are shallow.  The Shallow Heart is unwilling to allow the Gospel to penetrate areas of significance in their lives and therefore have no root.

They are not willing to give extensive thought regarding the implications of the Gospel for their lives.  Their primary value remains happiness.  They are easily offended and therefore depart from their walk with Jesus and the fellowship of the church before “the time of testing” accomplishes what God desires in the formation of their heart.

3.  Cluttered Heart.  Vs. 14

“And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.”

Like the shallow heart, these people hear the word and have the appearance of a great start with Jesus.  However, their lives are pre-occupied and cluttered with other affections.  Their lives are ruled by other matters.  Jesus identifies three controlling concerns:

1.  cares.

2.  riches.

3.  pleasures of life.

The Cluttered heart refuses to allow Jesus to reorient or reorder the priorities of their lives.  They may be around the fellowship and show promise of fruit in keeping with the kingdom however, they never become multipliers or reproducers; they never reach maturity.  They hang around, but never produce.

4.  Submissive Heart.  Vs. 15

“As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.”

The good soil represents those people who hear the word of God and are responsive.  In the final sense of this parable they are the one who have been graced to hear, believe, and be saved.

Jesus notes three aspects of their responsive.

1.  They hold it fast.

2.  They hold it fast in an honest and good heart.

3.  They bear fruit with patience.

 

This parable has both promise and warning for us as listeners to God’s Word.  The way you listen to God’s Word reveals the condition of your heart and creates a faith trajectory for your life.  As a listener there may be seasons or areas of my heart that are hard, shallow, cluttered or submissive.

For those engaged in the ministry of God’s Word through personal witness, proclamation, discipling, or teaching or preaching, this parable serves to instruct us and encourage us to persist in that ministry even though we do not immediately see crowds changed by the good news of Kingdom of God.  The “seed is good.”  Our task is to keep submitting and to keep sowing.


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The Origin of Love

7 01 2011

I have been reflecting on God ‘s love for us in Christ and am drawn steadily back to 1 John 4:10.  ”This is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”  These reflections on the Gospel truly show us the good news of Jesus’ kingdom.  To be governed, constrained, compelled by this great love is much greater than the self-loathing so easily generated by our efforts at being loveable.

I was delighted today to read in James Bryan Smith’s book, Embracing the Love of God” how God had moved him from self-loathing and earnest promises to “do better” to rest in the love of God shown us in Christ.  Smith quotes Soren Kierkegard’s prayer:

You have loved us first, O God, alas!  We speak of it in terms of history as if You loved us first but a single time, rather than that without ceasing.  You have loved us first many times and everyday and our whole life through.  When we wake up in the morning and turn our soul toward You–You are there first–You have loved us first; if I rise at dawn and at that same second turn my soul toward You in prayer, You are there ahead of me, You have loved me first.  When I withdraw from the distractions of the day and turn my soul toward You, You are there first and thus forever.  And we speak ungratefully as if You have loved us first only once.

May this truth of Jesus become our on-going reality and experience.

 


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JoyLeaks at Christmas

13 12 2010

Leaks seem to be hated recently.  And I agree.  When our kids were smaller I hated diaper leaks and now a leak in the roof will keep me awake at night for days.  However, as governments around the world respond to wikileaks I have been reflecting on the greatest leak ever.  In Luke 2:9-20 God leaked the secret of Jesus’ birth and broadcast it to shepherds working the night shift.  Up until that moment of revelation Jesus’ birth was Mary and Joseph’s private experience.  But God would not keep this joy to Himself.  This is how joy works.  It leaks into our lives and sometimes floods, but most often leaks.

I think there are plenty of reasons why joy is not our normative experience.  For one, we are incredibly suspicious of publicly joyful people.  Second, we are inhabited with joy killers who roam about like Rowling’s dementors ready to suck the happiness out of us: boredom, envy, and self-righteousness come to mind.  And third, life is tough as we live in a Narnia-like state of suspended winter:  ”Always winter, never Christmas.”  We need joy to leak into our lives and our public experience.

I imagine it was another mundane night of watching sheep until Heaven leaked “good news great joy” all over those shepherds.  It was God’s happy dance.  Joy has roots in the details and the reality of Jesus’ birth.  Unto us a child is born!  Heaven shouts, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

The shepherds show us how joy might leak more regularly into our lives.  They investigated Jesus and got close to Him.  So it is with us when we daily ascribe to Jesus the greatest worth and value in our lives, when we respond to the good news of the Gospel that God loves us, joy emerges.

I love the line in verse 20, “The Shepherds returned…”  They returned to their jobs, their lives, their responsibilities…but they were not the same.  They returned “glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.”  Sounds like joy.

Here is a joyleak to enjoy:


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The Grace in Nevertheless

6 12 2010

Your response to the coming of God in your life depends in large part on your attitude toward God.   Is the arrival of Immanuel good news or bad news?  Isaiah sees the darkness, gloom, and despair that overwhelms a nation that persistently refuses to trust God.  If Ahaz (Isaiah 7 and 2 Kings 16) and others will not trust God then they will lead the nation into a deep descent in which paranoia (Isaiah 8:12) and fear  rule their hearts.  Because they refuse the knowledge and the word of God, superstition and the occult (Isaiah 8:19-22) rule their hearts creating a dissatisfied and angry generation.  These people have no peace in their hearts nor in their nation as it will be ravaged by the Assyrians.  Without the perspective provided by trust in the sovereign God they will drift in darkness.

And then Isaiah sees the grace of God break into the darkness like a mighty spreading light.  The NIV introduces Isaiah 9:1 with “Nevertheless.”  This “inspite of” moment is a glorious interruption that comes not because of the righteousness of the people, but because of the character of God.  ”For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)

Christmas is a celebration of God’s zealous intervention in our darkness.  The Messiah comes as a child, initiating a new kingdom, not by means of earthly rule or military might (John 18:36-37).  He is not more warlike than Israel or the Assyrians.  Rather the Messiah comes and by his character and very presence among us–the literal fulfillment of Immanuel, God with us–As a child, He begins his peaceable, expanding, and eternal Kingdom.  Now we may know Jesus as our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:7)

Like Ahaz, we may have lived in our own darkness, independent of God, ignoring His call for faith in Jesus, but “nevertheless” the grace of  God breaks into our world, “For unto us a child is born.”  If God truly loves us, that changes everything.  (See Ephesians 2:1-10)


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its a matter of scale

28 09 2010

“I am not all that important.”  I agree, humility is a virtue to be nurtured and appreciated.  However, I have been surprised to hear now from several sources, “humility” as a reason not to pursue God.  In contrast to my friend who believes to accept the reality of God would diminish himself, this “atheist” upheld his position of non-engagement in the question of God as one that emerged from humility.  ”I am not all that important, and humans are not all that important.  Why would I need a god to tell me I’m significant?  We don’t really matter.”

Indeed even a cursory look at the stars puts us in humbling position in regard to the universe and time.  The Psalmist declared, “When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers–the moon and the stars you set in place–what are people that you should think about them, mere mortals that you should care for them?”  Psalm 8:3-4

The extension of this humble view of insignificance seems to me to have a troubling consequence.  If I extend the view that I don’t matter to others, then they don’t matter as well.  I am not sure I would want to live in a society in which other’s don’t matter and the choices I make in respect to them don’t matter either.  Such a society would eventually suffer from its corporate amnesia and enter into the chaos of distrust and the persistent pursuit of self-interest.  That’s the way human hearts seem to work.  We abandon the forward motion of love for tolerance; we abandon tolerance for apathy.

So it is a matter of scale.  When looking at the stars, earth and its inhabitants seem relatively insignificant.  However, when I look across the room or across the table, I am glad there is someone who cares or takes an interest in me.  If I am really so insignificant, why do I care to be loved?  And it is at this point that the Christian message becomes very particular and quite scaled down.  God, who in three persons–Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, engaged in the Creation of all we see, got very personal with us.  The incarnation of Jesus Christ is described in the most physical and close terms:  ”So the Word became human and made his home among us.  He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.  And we have seen his glory the glory of the Father’s one and only Son….God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ.  No one has ever seen God.  But the one and only Son is himself God and is near to the Father’s heart.  He has revealed God to us.”  John 1:14, 17-18 (NLT)

The Gospel is announced in Jesus’ incarnation;  God is getting up close and personal.  He crossed the universe to announce and complete His love for us…for me…for you.


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liberty, human rights, & the Gospel

22 09 2010

“This understanding of the equal and inalienable value of people has steadily made its way into people’s thinking wherever Christianity has spread, so much so that every ethical theory by Western philosophers, however much they differ from each other, assumes and is based upon the absolute value of every human being.  Since this teaching of Jesus took hold in Western civilization, our legal systems, our understanding of human rights, the slow and gradual rise of democracy, and the emancipation of women and slaves–all rest on and are inspired by such simple parables as that of a Lost Sheep, a Lost Coin, a Lost Son, because they teach us that every person must be taken with ultimate seriousness.  These stories encapsulate the core of the gospel:  each and every person so matters to God that God the Son became a human being to seek us.  Nothing can give us the value and worth that underlies our civilization’s conviction concerning human rights, which is spreading to the rest of the world today–nothing except the love of God.  To reject God, to ignore God, or to neglect God is at the same time to reject, to ignore, or to neglect our irreplaceable value.”  Diogenes Allen, Theology for a Troubled Believer, xxii


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The critic vs. the skeptic

20 09 2010

“A critical person is not a skeptical person, who raises or looks for difficulties in order to undermine Christianity and to avoid personal commitment.  Critical persons have faith and are seeking better to understand what they believe.  To one who lives only in a pious mode, a person who at times is in a critical mode of speaking may appear threatening and even a skeptic.  Some skeptics, on the other hand, take all believers to be merely pious people, without critical faculties, and they mistakenly identify faith with irrationality.”  Diogenes Allen, Theology for a Troubled Believer, xvi.


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Who is crying now?

8 07 2010

Can you imagine what it would be like to grow up without having ever watched the evening news on TV or ever played a video game full of death?  The first time would be shocking.  The absolute abandonment of respect for others would be shocking; Unless of course that is your life and is the reality of the house you live in.  Without calluses toward the shock of violence, rape, murder, anger, theft, lying, we would daily be utterly crushed by the evening news.  Or having viewed it with no tears, we walk away with our self-righteousness intact, glad we are not like those people.

I’m reading Ezekiel with one of my Life Transformation Groups and I have been challenged with the question “Who’s crying now?”  God gave Ezekiel a scroll to eat and on both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe.  And God said to Ezekiel, “Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.”

So I’m wondering whose lament, whose mourning, and whose woe filled those pages?  God’s?  Was it God’s lament for a nation that was incapable of knowing, and loving Him.  Or was it the mourning of victims; Were those pages filled with the cries of those who had received no justice; who had only suffered at the hands people or a system out to steal even their hope?  Or did that scroll give voice to the regret of those who realized the folly of their ways?  Those who wish they could go back and do life over because of the pain their callousness had inflicted upon others?

The scroll was sweet to eat.  However, Ezekiel is totally overwhelmed by his encounter with the glory of God and the assignment from God to go to a people who would not listen.  He writes, “The Spirit then lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in anger in my spirit, with the strong hand of the LORD upon me.  I came to the exiles who lived at Tel Abib near the Kebar River.  And there, where they were living, I sat among them for seven days–overwhelmed.”  Ezekiel 3:14-15

The Gospel has a sweet taste but also creates a disturbance.  To respond to the reality of a world that is not as it should be and to our own complicity with rebellion against God is disturbing.  But I do believe the Holy Spirit fortifies us for honesty and promises, “joy in the morning.”  And Jesus promises, “The Truth will set you free.”

James encourages the followers of Jesus to humble themselves before God.  ”Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Come near to God and he will come near to you.  Wash your hands, you sinners, purify your hearts, you double-minded.  Grieve, mourn, and wail.  Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.  Humble yourselves before the LORD, and he will life you up.”  James 4:7-10

What does such humility look like?  Perhaps it looks like Ezekiel utterly overwhelmed sitting quietly by the river Kebar for seven days among the very people he was called to serve.


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change on the horizon

6 06 2010

Today has been a roller coaster of emotions, as I announced publicly at Cityview that I am responding to God’s call to plant a church in the UBC Campus Community.  God has blessed my family over the past 16 years with your friendship and partnership in Vancouver.  Starting early this morning I replayed the stories of many people who have seen Jesus lifted up and their lives transformed by the Gospel at Cityview.  Thank you for praying for us and for being a part of our lives.  If you would like to hear more of what I shared, listen to the talk that will be uploaded later in the week at www.cityviewchurch.ca In the meantime, please pray for Cityview and for my family as we go through this transition.  Our last Sunday will be July 18 and in September we will give our full attention to the UBC Campus Community.


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the Resurrection of Jesus & the “new normal”

6 04 2010

Jesus who was crucified, is Risen.  To accept the Resurrection of Jesus as a new normal is to challenge what you believe about God, life, and yourself, it is to begin a journey with a new guide, and with new rules:  live by faith, not by sight.  The resurrection of Jesus as a new normal changes the way you do business.

1.  God matters.  Life is not about me.  God becomes the main character in the story of my life.  Its not about me or my family, or my country, its about Him.  The glory, honour, praise, of life is to be His.  True worship is something that seeps from my life because of WHO God is, not what I want Him to do for me.  To stand before the Resurrected Lord with Pride in my heart seems ludicrous and in fact can only produce fear or denial of Who Jesus really is.  To stand before the Resurrected Lord with humility and with the confidence of His acceptance of me is to know that life is not about me.  Its about Him.

“You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified.  He has risen!”

If God is the main character of our life story, then our acceptance of the Resurrection of Jesus as the new normal promotes Him rightfully into the star role and not just our audience for whom we are performing.

“He became obedient to death—even death on a cross!  Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  Philippians 2:9-11

The Sovereignty of God or the supremacy of Jesus over all things is not something we run from, but something we joyfully embrace.  For then life’s pain, suffering, trails, are not meaningless, but instead are made meaningful by the knowledge that the one who suffered on the Cross and was raised to life is able to accomplish His purposes and retain His glory in them and through them.

2.  Jesus is the victory.  Jesus has victory over death.  Jesus has the power.  Jesus has been promoted by God as judge over the living and dead.  By entrusting myself to Jesus and believing on him I have one who claims me as His own and is able to judge between all situations.

When a day’s work is done…you go home.

“He is headed to Galilee.”   Jesus is going home.  Death did not keep him down.  He is not stuck outside Jerusalem in shame.  He is going to Galilee.  He is going home.  He is going home victorious.

The new normal.  When confronted by my fear of people and the “death” they may inflict on me, the new normal of Jesus’ resurrection, reminds me that my life is hidden in Christ.  He is victorious over death.  Death is not the end.  physical death By entrusting myself to him and by believing on Him I am freed from the bondage of sin, of my sin, of the fear of death.

This is a new normal that I confess I am still getting used to.  This past year to be at the bedside of one of our members who was dying…  To share in that moment with the family… to have confidence of our eternity in Christ.  Jesus is the victor.  Paul said, “Oh death where is your is your victory where is your sting?” The sting of death is sink and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God!  He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  1 Corinthians 15:56-57

3.  My life matters to God.  The angel said, “Tell his disciples and Peter.”  To take a big view of creation is to be confronted with the smallness of ourselves.  To read the Scriptures is though is to be confronted with the bigness of God and His big interest in people.  I matter to God.   You matter to God.

Because the Resurrection of Jesus is the new normal the Cross of Jesus becomes a sign pointing to a new reality:  my life matters to God.

John 3:16 becomes personal

“Brothers, think of what you were when you were called.  Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.  But God chose…”  1 Cor 1:26-27

“I chose you…”  John 15:16

God has chosen to share His mission of redemption with people.  He entrusts his Gospel to women and to men and says share this.  He takes an interest in the lives of people.  God is big enough for this.  And you matter enough to Him.  He knows your name.

The resurrection of Jesus created a new normal for the disciples’ view of the cross.  They would come to know that the cross showed that God would take extraordinary measures to show the glory of His grace.  Your life matters to God for it is intended to show the glory of His grace.  Sin distorts and hides His grace and glory.  You matter so much to God, that Jesus accepted the cross for the joy set before Him—the glory of the Father and the incredible treasure that would be His—people redeemed and saved.

4.  What Jesus says matters to me.  “There you will see Him, just as He told you.”   Christ is the authoritative voice in my life.  To accept the Resurrection of Jesus as the new normal is to accept that Jesus is now the authoritative voice for life.  Everything Jesus taught has new authority.  And now by the power of His Holy Spirit made available by the Resurrected Jesus I enter into a real living relationship.

Jesus is exalted as Lord of my life, and has become my shepherd’s voice.  So as I look back on His teachings I am also seeking to hear his voice for today.  Jesus is a living Lord, not a dead voice speaking from the past.  His voice and word is present, not just past or future.  Today Jesus can speak to me and guide me into his paths of life.  I expect that the Word of God is a living Word giving not only wisdom for my relationships, but directives about what I do in response to this grace of God.  I am united with Jesus in his death.  I am united with Jesus in his resurrection.  The disciples were to go to Galilee to meet Him.  But now by His Spirit He meets me wherever I am.  Learning to hear His voice and know Him is the essential relationship I now enter into when I accept the Resurrection of Jesus as the new normal.

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he will strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.”  Ephesians 3:16-17

You and I lack spiritual comprehension.  Unless the Holy Spirit intervenes we are left with only. hearing about the resurrection of Jesus.  By the power of the Holy Spirit we We miss the new normal.
A new normal is on your doorstep.  To be with Jesus in His Resurrection is to let Him create a new normal in your life where
1.  God matters to you & life is not all about you.
2.  Jesus is the victor.
3.  Your life matters to God.
4.  What Jesus says matters to you.

To face life with the Resurrected Jesus means that when life presents me with “new normals” that challenge the very core of who I am, I face them not alone, but with Him.


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