I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. …You will be my people and I will be your God.
It weighs about 250 grams. Normally it's about 15cms long and at its widest point about 10 cms across. It is somewhat pear shaped, about the size of your fist. The colour is reddy-brown. It is a hard working four-chambered pump. By this time you have probably recognized what I have been describing. It is the human heart. The heart is a muscle in our chest, one of the masterpieces of the Creator.
In the Bible, the heart is much more than a blood pumping mechanism. This marvellous little organ in our body beats 100,000 times each day without us even being aware of it most of the time. Each day the heart pumps blood through 96,000 kms of blood vessels.
Heart disease is the number one killer in the world. Even though cancer is feared more, it is heart disease that claims more victims. In recent years, there has been a lot of advance made in medical science in the care of the heart and heart patients.
Open heart surgery, heart transplants, are all dangerous and tricky operations, nevertheless, these days it is possible to do what was unheard of a generation ago. The prophet Ezekiel tells us in our text that we all have heart troubles and nothing but a heart transplant will do.
The Bible has a good deal to say about the heart but it rarely speaks of the heart beating in our chest. When the Bible speaks about the heart, it is talking about the attitudes and emotions of people.
The Bible is interested in what makes people tick. It speaks of a glad heart, a sad heart, a proud heart, a courageous heart and discouraged heart, a loving and hating heart, a sick and broken heart.
The Bible also talks about the heart not just as the core and center of all of our emotions, but as the core of everything a person uses when he / she thinks, feels and acts. The heart, as the Bible often says: questions, criticizes, understands, meditates, plans, believes and trusts.
The Bible also speaks of different ways the word ‘heart’ is used. There are texts that speak about gladness of heart, uprightness of heart, a trembling heart, a clean heart, a faithful heart. The heart for the Bible writers is a person’s whole character and personality.
And it is to the heart, this very center of a person's emotions, thoughts, personality, character and religious life that God speaks and reveals his will. God says, "I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord" (Jer 24.7). With characteristic realism, the Bible tells us that every human being has a fatal spiritual heart disease. Yes, you & I have a fatal terminal heart illness.
We were born with this heart defect, a heart full of sin from birth. Jesus says that out of the heart comes all those things that put a person at odds with God (Matt 15.19). Whether we care to acknowledge it or not, we have this disease that could be fatal.
This disease shows itself in our day to day to life. It shows itself in the way we speak to one another when we say unkind and hurtful things, when we criticize a person. This heart disease shows itself in the intolerance we show toward others, the prejudice we display toward those who are different from us, either be race or creed.
This disease shows itself in the difficulty we have in obeying and respecting those who have been placed in authority.
This heart disease is evident in the way we find it difficult to go to a person with whom we have a difference and seek reconciliation. Our proud hearts will not let us seek out the person who has offended us and to care for him/her. Jesus summed it up like this, "Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander" (Matthew 15:19).
Heart disease is a fact. The other name for this heart disease is "sin". It is part of our lives, it is who we are. Even though we are regular members of the Christian church, we are not immune to this heart disease. It can attack us at any moment.
In fact, it seems to strike members of the Christian church with a particular vengeance. You may have your own story (ies) about particular congregation where sin-filled hearts, cold hearts, stubborn hearts have destroyed the unity of that congregation with a terrible vengeance.
I’m sure you can recall times even in your own life where Christ’s call to have compassion on those down and out, his call to tell others about God’s love have been met with stony hard hearts that stubbornly refuse to listen. This disease, as the prophet Ezekiel said, is not going to be cured by surgery, or artificial valves or bypasses.
We need a Spiritual rebirth – this Spiritual rebirth is not produced with instruments. God said to Ezekiel: "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws".
This is not a repair job. It is heart removal and replacement. It is a heart transplant. Because of his love for us, and by his power he takes out the old and puts in the new. Defects in the human heart, the human character and personality are not due to the failure of God.
Neither is God happy with the idea that if we do a little repair job here and there, everything will be all right. If we trim back a little here, fix up a few of our vices, improve a few of our virtues everything will be all right.
That will not work, says the Lord. That kind of cure for heart disease never works, it's not getting at the very bottom of the cause of the problem. What people need is a new heart, a new character and personality: new thoughts, feelings, ways of looking at things, new ways of doing things.
Medical doctors are able to extend the life of people with heart transplants and replacement of certain parts of the heart. For a person to receive a donor heart someone has to die. Jesus died to give us a new heart.
(The Heart transplant Story of Burt...)
On the cross we see God acting as only God can, taking out the old heart of stone and replacing it entirely with a warm, living heart that love others. It is the heart of Christ himself that now lives in our heart. It renews us, gives us new life and energy to do the things that please God.
What we need, in the power of God’s Spirit, is to let that newness affect and infect everything in our everyday lives. We have received forgiveness and salvation from Jesus through our baptism. We have been adopted into God's family and so now as God's children our lives should reflect that we belong to God, that we have new hearts that are keen to do the will of God.
We say it all when we sing together, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me". We are asking that the new life that Jesus has:
given may become a reality in the way we see things,
the way we relate to other people,
the way we regard the things of this world,
the way we work for God in his church.
Today God is reminding we that he has given us new hearts. The Spirit-filled life that God gives makes changes to the way we live everyday. This new life is ours! That new life in Christ is for us! In fact, if we let our new God-given hearts rule us, I believe we would be surprised at what God would accomplish through us.
Let us pray:
Lord God, give us a heart that understands your love in Christ,
a heart that accepts your forgiveness,
a heart that responds to your kindness and grace
with new love,
new understanding,
new kindness toward others,
and new life filled with the joy of your salvation,
through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Rev. Samuel King-Kabu
February 26, 2006