Gospel

Four Profiles of the Heart

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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.

The Origin of Love

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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.

 

JoyLeaks at Christmas

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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:

The Grace in Nevertheless

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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)

its a matter of scale

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“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.