Sermon 2/13/2022
Sermon Epiphany 6C 2022
“Matters of the Heart”
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Scripture:
Jeremiah 17:5-10
Luke 6:17-26 - Sermon on the Mount
Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. Anyone who has walked into a store in the past 2 weeks or for that matter two months has been bombarded with red hearts. For much of the kids growing up years February was valentine making time. I’m not talking time to go to the store and buy a box cards and a bag of candy and scribble your name on them. I’m talking time to go down to the basement and bring up the large rubbermaid tote with paper heart doilies and ribbons and recycled cards and get to work with glue sticks. Hearts are ubiquitous this time of year. Even here in our sanctuary as we celebrate Month of Compassion, we have a special heart hanging from the rafters to remind us that “love remains”.
All of these hearts got me thinking about how we talk about the role of the heart in our culture and how the bible talks about the heart. I was raised with messages telling me to listen to your heart and to follow our heart’s desire whether in romantic relationships or even other areas of life. I was interested to learn that for some even work has become a place where we are encouraged to follow our heart. Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple once said:
Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. - Steve Jobs
What light does the bible shed on matters of the heart?
Our lectionary reading from Jeremiah today has a few things to say about the heart. It says.
The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse-- who can understand it? - Jeremiah 17: 9
Clearly the people who put together the lectionary schedule of readings are not on the same page as Hallmark or Hershey’s or they would have selected a more appropriate passage from scripture such as 1 Corinthians 13 - love is patient, love is kind . . .
Something that fits much better on a Valentine card.
How do we make sense of Jeremiah’s warning about the heart? It is interesting to note that the Hebrew word for “devious” is “aquobh” root of Jacob “ya’aquobh” “the deceiver” who tricked his brother Esau out of his birthright and blessing.To be fair not all of society is sentimental about matters of the heart. I came across this quote by a popular author and columnist.
In matters of the heart as well, a certain level of negativity and suspicion is universally recommended. You may try to project a thoroughly positive outlook in order to attract a potential mate, but you are also advised to Google them. - Barbara Ehrenreich
On the one hand we are given the message “trust your heart” but on the other hand we are told “don’t trust the heart”. So in matters of the heart - where can we turn? Where do we put our trust?
Let’s look more closely at this passage from Jeremiah. This scripture point to two states of the heart -tturned toward God or away from God
So how can we know if our heart is turned toward or trusting in God? Quite simply, we can ask God to show us - “I the LORD test the mind and search the heart” (Jer. 17:10)
At first glance this phrase can sound ominous and fill us with fear. God is giving us a test. I didn’t like tests when I was in school, and the thought of them still sends an anxious shiver up my spine. But the truth is that “The God who would test the heart is not to be feared but to be trusted” (Feasting on the Word, p. 342) God is here to help us discern the true desires of our hearts from the false or misplaced desires of our hearts.
I can personally attest to the fact that God can be very helpful in this regard. When I was a teenager my desire was to try to be good to please my parents and teachers and friends and to please God. I worked hard to get good grades, tried to be a caring friend, and volunteered with organizations at school, girl scouts, and church. I thought I was following my heart. But I had a bit of a spiritual epiphany when I was around 16. I came to accept and truly believe that God loved me just as I was, that I didn’t have to be perfect or please everyone in order for God to be pleased with me. Being able to trust in God’s love transformed me in a powerful way. I felt free. I realized that all that time my motivation for doing good and being good was rooted not in love but in fear. I needed to prove to others that I cared. But once I placed my trust in God’s love I discovered that I was able to love others more freely. When I had conversations with other people I discovered that my inner monologue had changed. Rather than thinking “I wonder what this person thinks of me? What should I say or do next?” I wondered instead, “How is this person feeling? What can I learn about them?” I was better able to listen, to focus on them in a way that filled me with curiosity and not anxiety.
So we know that we can turn to God and seek God’s help to search our heart. But the scriptures have more to say about these two states of the heart that is very helpful. The scriptures describe 2 states of being - states of the heart - not simply as a state of trust - of turning toward God or away from God - but also as a state of blessings or of curses.
Jeremiah compares these two states to a dry shrub or fruitful tree
Jer 17:5-6 Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals and make mere flesh their strength, whose hearts turn away from the LORD. They shall be like a shrub in the desert,
Jer 17:7-8 Blessed are those who trust in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit.
Jesus uses similar language of blessings and woes in describing these two states in his Sermon on the Plain
Then he looked up at his disciples and said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. "Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. "Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. "Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets. "But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. "Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. "Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. "Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets."
These two scriptures give us some important insights into how we understand these states of blessing or woe and the state of our heart. As I read and understand these scriptures there is a difference between God decreeing and God describing. God does not decree that some should be cursed and others blessed - as if God was some character from a Disney movie controlling people’s fates. Rather the prophet is describing the state we find ourselves in when we put our trust in the wrong place.
Another somewhat radical insight - is that these states of blessing and woes have a complicated relationship with our circumstances. Oftentimes we compare our lives with other people and we think, “Look at all the comfort and happiness they have while I am suffering. What have I done to deserve my fate?”
It is important to note that In Jeremiah both plants are subjected to the drought, but one is a dried up shrub while the other flourishes. Whereas Jesus takes this idea of linking our circumstances to our state of blessedness or woe and turns it on its head. Preaching that those who appear cursed - the poor, hungry, grieving and vilified are blessed while those who appear blessed - the wealthy, well fed, happy and well respected are cursed.
If being blessed or being cursed is not determined by our physical state or even our emotional state that leaves us with one option - our spiritual state. Jeremiah describes it as turning away from God or toward God in a posture of trust. I like the way it gets described in Ignatian spirituality as being in alignment with God - where our heart’s desires are aligned with God’s heart and God’s desires for us and for our world. To live our lives so that they align more closely to God’s desires - brings us into a place of blessedness despite outward hardship.
So - how do we get there? How do we align our hearts with God’s heart?
We can take ac couple of different approaches:
One is to examine our motivations more closely. Ask God to “search my heart and mind” and reveal to us what are the desires of our hearts and where have we placed our trust.
Romantic relationships - What is the motivation of our heart? Are we expecting this other person to fulfill our hearts longing for constant love and affection? Are there ways in which our trust in this person or this relationship may be misplaced? Are we expecting things from them or from this relationship that only God can provide?
Work - Could the same be said of our work? I was listening to a fascinating podcast this week about work and the host talked about the dramatic shift in the way many people approach work and careers now than they did 20-30 years ago. It used to be that people made decisions about their career based mostly on financial considerations - what job will enable me to support myself and my family. Now, many people, like the quote from Steve Jobs indicates, expect their work to fulfill their deep desire for meaning and purpose in their life. It has become a “matter of the heart”.
Other approach is to focus instead on our relationship with Christ
How much do I trust in God? Or how much am I still depending on myself and on the provisions of this world to satisfy my heart?
Do I truly believe that I am loved completely right now, just as I am? That all of my past sins are forgiven? That there is nothing I can do to earn God’s love or to remove God’s love from me?
Do I trust that if I give 10% of what God has given me back to God as an act of thanksgiving and worship, that God will take care of my needs?
Do I believe that my heart can know joy even in the midst of grief or rejection by others?
Do I trust that even during times of hardship God can use my life to bear fruit?
We all know what it is to suffer heartbreak. This week in our church community we witnessed two families said goodbye to their cherished wife, mother, grandmother. Another person said goodbye to a business dream. I’m sure there are other heartbreaks I don’t know about - relationships on the rocks, difficult health conditions, family members caught in the web of addiction and dreams deferred.
But with our trust placed firmly in God - we need not fear. As the apostle Paul reminds us:
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;
- 2 Corinthians 4:8-9
Psalm 46
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble with its tumult.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.
Psalm 31:24
Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the LORD!