THE HEART OF THE MATTER
Deuteronomy 6:1-9
New International Version (NIV)
Love the Lord Your God
6 These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, 2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. 3 Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.
4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[a] 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Mark 12:28-34
New International Version (NIV)
The Greatest Commandment
28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[a] 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[b] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[c] There is no commandment greater than these.”
32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.
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I want you to understand the significance of the human heart today. We beat around the bush if we do not address the natural inclination of our hearts. Firstly, Jesus said that 'out of the heart come evil thoughts, lies, murder, slander, adultery' (Matthew 15: 19). Secondly, God said that he intended to replace our hearts of stone and give us new hearts - hearts of flesh that will happily obey him (Ezekiel 36:26). I am going to add a third: modern neuroscience has found that the human heart has 40,000 times more electrical energy than the brain. It now speaks of 3 brains: the brain itself, the heart brain which it considers the most significant, and the stomach or bowels as a brain.
(Science now speaks of a stomach brain. This is due to the immense number of neurons located in the gut and around the heart. The enteric nervous system contains around 100 million neurons, which is more than in the spinal cord or the peripheral nervous system.This illustrates why we experience what we call ‘butterflies in the stomach’ (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=gut-second-brain&print=true). The bowels are where we experience the feeling of compassion. Compassion is derived from two latin words that combined mean ‘to suffer with.’ The greek words which it translates are Splanchthna and Splanknizdomia. These express a bodily reaction to the needs of others. They depict the bowels as the seat of compassion. They literally mean to have a gut feeling about something, particularly for another person’s needs. All strong emotions have an organic association. In other words we tend to feel an emotion in a certain part of our body.)
The heart and stomach are far more intuitive. What I wish to highlight by mentioning neuroscience is that 'The Bible' has always referred to the heart as the core of our being. If we do not address the condition of our hearts we live in denial of the seriousness of our human condition. Hence I have chosen as a thematic statement for this sermon: 'The Heart of the Matter.' I am only going to consider three aspects of The Heart of the Matter: The heart of our wellbeing; the heart of the kingdom; the heart of the home.
THE HEART OF OUR WELLBEING
I am fairly kinaesthetic. I may not be in touch with all of my feelings, but as I pen and even speak these words I feel my heart. It has a deep sense of conviction, passion and enthusiasm. I physically feel something like these things. Interestingly, neuroscience from the 1990s through to now, is demonstrating that when we deal with the heart and not the brain we are able to achieve lasting healing. Wow, how is that for insight! I am not making light of it. I am using it to demonstrate the significance of 'The Greatest Commandment' which talks about what we set our hearts upon. I would like to also point out the short coming of neuroscience. It alone cannot set the heart right. Only God can do that.
After the teacher of the law asked Jesus what the most important commandment was, and he gave his response to Jesus by saying, “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” Let us extrapolate from this very quickly to say that the kingdom of God enters us through the heart. This is why the Old Testament prophecies that the New Covenant which ushers in the Kingdom of God will be written on our hearts: (the following texts are not to be read, but are provided for reference from http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+30%3A6%2CJeremiah+31%3A33%2CJeremiah+32%3A40%2CEzekiel+11%3A19%2CEzekiel+36%3A26&version=NIV)
Deuteronomy 30:6
New International Version (NIV)
6 The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.
Jeremiah 31:33
New International Version (NIV)
33
“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
after that time,” declares the Lord.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
Jeremiah 32:40
New International Version (NIV)
40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me.
Ezekiel 11:19
New International Version (NIV)
19 I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.
Ezekiel 36:26
New International Version (NIV)
26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
The heart of our wellbeing depends on our addressing matters of the heart honestly. These are our heartfelt issues. What lies at the centre of your thoughts? What occupies your mind? What is your heart focused upon? What issues do you hold close to heart? What we set our heart upon is our God. What we love and fear the most is our God. When we can identify these things we are closer to resolving the heart of the matter. We are being called to examine our hearts for our health sake - for the sake of our wellbeing.
When God is not the centre of our being then we have false Gods which we call idols. We can dislodge these and break them in pieces through heartfelt repentance. The commandment to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength comes in the context of God saying that his own heart is set on forgiving us and renewing us… The Great Commandment comes in the context of it's speaker, namely Jesus the Living Word of God. He kept that commandment in our behalf and thereby presented himself as the guarantor of our forgiveness…
Jesus always speaks to the heart of our wellbeing. He holds our present and eternal wellbeing in mind. He gets to the heart of matters like no one else can, for he is the heart's creator, redeemer and sanctifier.
THE HEART OF THE KINDOM OF GOD
The kingdom of God is not based on doctrines. It is based on matters of the heart. The most significant of all matters of the heart have to do with relationships: God with us, us with God; our relationships with one another and others. Doctrines are not unimportant, but their role is to define these relationships. Doctrines tell us that the Bible teaches that God is Triune; that he is Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier, who operates in unity to save us. He is the Creator. We are his creatures, the objects of his love or his wrath.
The bottom line in the kingdom of God is not based on doctrinal knowledge, but that God is love. God loves us, we love God because he loves us, and we love others because of his love for us. James 2: 19 tells us that demons are better theologians than any of us. Unlike many people, demons shudder at the thought of God. It is good that we learn to fear God too. This is our place. He is first and we need to keep it that way. In that way he can sit enthroned upon our hearts and keep his kingdom in order.
In Matthew 23: 23 Jesus says that we can be the best 'church goers' and tithe everything, but if we neglect the weightier matters of mercy and justice, namely love, then we have missed the most important thing. The kingdom of God has some pretty smart people in it. Some of these teach that the DNA of the church is to 'Love God, Love Others and Make Disciples.' In this way they combine 'The Two Great Commandments' with 'The Great Commission.' To love God, to love others and to make disciples is a good mission statement. It is also the heart of the matter. It is the heart of the kingdom of God.
There is no better way to cure the soul or heart of a person than for God to be given his rightful place as King of Hearts. As you know The Two Great Commandments sum up the two tables of the law. The first table of the law has on it the first three commandments which deal with our vertical relationship with God. The second table of the law has on it the last seven commandments which deal with our horizontal relationship with other people. We do not have time to expand on this other than to say that Jesus demonstrates the connection between the two, as do 'The Gospel According to St John,' 'The Epistles of John,' and 'The Letter to James.' These all teach that we demonstrate our love of God by our love of others. None of us love perfectly. However, we are embraced by one who loves us with perfect love. By Jesus' death, the price he paid for putting God the Father above all else, he gives us his undying love to reunite us in love with each other. In order to put an end to hatred, jealousy, envy and every other kind of evil we must love others, even our enemies. However, it begins with one person at a time. Jesus says we are to love our neighbour not neighbours. We learn to love our neighbours one person at a time. This is the heart of the kingdom of God.
THE HEART OF THE HOME
It is not coincidental that when God first spoke The Great Commandment he gave it as a commandment to parents to teach their children (: '6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.')
I am not going to beat around the bush. I believe that many of us parents feel we have failed to teach these commandments as we ought to have. I spent three years under a preacher who frequently said from the pulpit, 'We will see whose children turn out.' That kind of judgmentalism does not come from the heart of God. Guess who has had more prodigal children than anyone else? Yet, I feel I have failed in my role as a parent, despite good efforts. Perhaps I did not always let Jesus reign as King of Hearts and Home. It may be because of idolising our children, perhaps spoiling them, not teaching them how to work, or failing to demonstrate to them the joy of exalting Christ, worshipping him and making him first and last. Perhaps it is because we did not honour our own parents. A taxi driver with an interesting life history told us how his father gave his time to work and church, but was never home for his children. He asked if I was like that. My wife said definitely not.
I suspect that many of you feel the same way. This can be so, even if our children are outwardly 'good' and go to 'church.' There should be no boasting. I do not pretend to judge you, your children or mine. Like St Paul, I do not even want to stand in judgment of myself (1 Corinthians 4: 3). I repent of my failures when I can identify them. And I rejoice in the forgiveness granted me by Jesus. When we had children we delighted in their first smiles, when they first stood up, when they took their first steps, when they began to read, ride a bike, and play sports. We can also rejoice in the glory of Christ which I see in our children as they mature, when they accept responsibility, and in how they handle hardship.
Rather than judge ourselves and each other, may we stand together in repentance and implore the joy of God's forgiveness (Psalm 51) and mercy upon us and our children. May we do so in love for each other. As we do so God enables us to inherit the promises that God introduced our texts with. The verses from Deuteronomy 6 opened with these words which we recite with the fourth commandment that we are to love and honour our parents: 'These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, 2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. 3 Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.'
HEAD, HEART, HOME
In conclusion, I want to say whether your struggle is within your head, your heart or your home, wherever it may be, God's desire is to heal you, to bless you and yours, to forgive and restore, to grant peace of heart and mind to you and your home - that all may be well with you and you live a long and fulfilled life.
The heart of the matter is that it is good that we love and fear God above all else with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. This is our place. When we do, we are putting him first and last. He is King of Hearts. This is how his kingdom comes, and he can sit enthroned upon our hearts to keep our house in order. So close is the kingdom of God!
Let's pray into these things during the prayer time.
The verses from Deuteronomy 6 contain what is called 'The Great Shema.' V4 'Hear, O Israel.' 'Shema O Yisrael.' It is beautifully sung on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hdG1aXlExI The word ‘Shema’ is found in the name Samuel. Samuel means to hear God or be heard by God. We are commanded to hear him, but we are also reassured that he will hear our prayers.
(The King of Hearts my Shepherd is)
