"My Heart's Desire" (Romans 10:1-14)
-Rev. A. Torrence, Pastor
Cross of Life Lutheran Church
The one characteristic that I admired about the apostle Paul is his sense of passion. Paul was man of passion. What ever he set his mind to do, Paul was earnest enough to bring it to reality with fervor. Even when he was doing wrong – he had passion. Before his Damascus experience, he was passionate about persecuting the Christians and stumping out this Christ threat. When Christ opened his eyes and turned his heart around, he began to preach with passion. When he was put in prison, and couldn’t preach anymore, he wrote with passion. Paul was a man of passion. And in this opening verse, he tells us what that passion is. His heart’s desire was the salvation of his own people – the Jews. Paul was a Jew but his ministry was strongest towards the Gentiles. Now, we must understand that for was Jew to have any dealing with those outside their faith was considered blasphemous. The Gentiles were considered un-cleaned, unsaved, and unchurched; yet, Paul had a passion that all men, regardless of race, culture, gender, age, and past, would be saved.
Just think about the frustration that must have existed in his heart as he would preach to strangers, social outcasts, the downtrodden and the forgotten, and witness thousands coming to Christ but those in his own family, his own culture, his own race – those who he grew up with, work with, and probably live with – would not share his passion for Christ. I mean, some of us know about that. We know what it is to wake every Sunday, get dress for church and live our spouses at Bedside Baptist. We know what it is to be saved and husbands are not saved, wives are not saved, and children are not saved. Our hearts desire is just like Paul’s, for them to be saved. Because, deep down inside our hearts, we do not want them to be left behind, like those in the book we are reading. Paul must have had a heart of frustration. Folks were being saved, healed, and blessed all around him; yet, because of their hard hearts, his own people were not benefiting. Paul was following his passion for ministry but his family and friends did not support it.
Have you ever been excited about something and those around just did not seem to care. I mean, I know the frustration I get when I am passionate about ministries and ideas, and the people around me don’t see it, don’t grasp it, and don’t share it. I know what it is to be excited about mentoring teenage mothers or teaching parenting skills and have folks tell you, Pastor-that’s just not for me. I know what it is to see God moving around you and in you, and all you want is for others to experience what you experience. I know the frustration of knowing what God can do for others because I’ve seen it. I lived it. I experienced it and yet, I am still surround by folks who have zeal for God but not according to knowledge. I know what it is to be surround with people desiring to do things their own way and not God’s way. I know what it is to see folks caught up in doing things right rather than doing the right thing. Doing things right to them is doing it out of tradition and ritual. We have to do it this way because we’ve always done it like this. I don’t know about you but I can relate to Paul having a heart desire to see his people saved.
But then I understand why they are not saved. I used to think it was me. But Paul clarifies the situation. Paul concludes that his people are suffering from a heart condition.
His people are perishing and dying because of a poor heart. Someone once stated that the two most important muscles, which operate without direction of the brain, are the heart and the tongue. Our logic and our reason do not govern the passions of our heart or the conversations of our tongue. Yet, our tongues will often indicate the contents of our hearts. What we say to each other will reveal either our mutual love and respect or our animosities and regrets. In ancient times, the heart was thought to be the seat of one’s emotions, appetites, intellect, and moral faculties. It was considered to be the place in which the process of self-consciousness is carried out and in which the soul is at home with self. So in Paul’s time, the heart was center of one’s vital actions. His people are dying because there is something wrong with their hearts. I yet believe and still uphold that the death of many churches come not from declining memberships or the lack of finances. Churches die not because of poor leadership or the lack of discipleship. Churches do not close their doors because of changing communities and transient economies. No churches die and close their doors because of the hardening of human hearts. If I had to preach my last sermon, render the final benediction and Cross of Life had to close its doors for very last time, it would not because of the lack of preaching, evangelism programs, or outreach ministries. It would be a direct result of a poor heart condition within our church. Many churches throughout the body of Christ are experiencing cardiac distress. There is a heart disease spreading throughout the body of Christ. In fact, I would contend that this wave of spiritual revival is an attempt by Christ, the great physician to revive his church with CPR. These spurts of mega churches, chart-topping gospel music, and spiritual awakening are actually Christ giving the church body a “1-2-3, breathe” resuscitation.
And, saints do not get me wrong. This is not an indictment against the church; it is just a statement of reality. The church needs resuscitation because its members are in need CPR. More and more people are coming to God with broken and destroyed hearts. And I am not referring to a heart of humility that David talks about. No I’m talking about distraught hearts that have been trampled on by all forms of abuse and misuse; lonely hearts disappointed by divorce and death of love-ones; sick hearts suffering from AIDS, cancer, and sickle cell anemia; hearts suffering from the trauma of addiction, unemployment, and homeless. The church is filled with broken-hearted people who are functioning in society by living a substandard menial existence because we do not know how to allow God to mend our broken hearts.
And our problem is that we often try to mend our own hearts by taking matters into our own hands. We get into self-help programs, empowerment tapes, and listen to motivational speakers and attend conferences trying to get our selves together and when it is all over we are still broken. We try to fix our selves up, get a new hair-do, buy a new outfit, and maybe even move to a new location but our hearts are still empty.
What we need is filling-up, a bubbling of God’s spiritual power in our life. We need something that is not only concrete and tangible, but something we can aspire to. And I don’t know about you but I am ready to move this church from Cardiac Care Unit. I am ready for CLLC to get off the critical condition list. But I also, realize that the only way that our medical discharge will take place, is not only for us to have might move of God but for us to open up our hearts to his movement. You see, God is moving. He is moving all around us. But he desires to move inside of us. When he is inside of us then God will use us to move this community. The key is getting him inside of our hearts.
Paul tells us, how this process begins. He reveals to us why God is moving in every other community but those of his own Jewish people.
What Paul reveals to us is that God desires to move throughout our lives like the flow of blood moves throughout each chamber of the human heart. The word, the logos, the Christ desires to flow in and out the four chambers of our hearts giving life to our total being. And once God is completely flowing throughout every aspect of our life like blood flows through our heart, we will witness supernatural moves of God in our lives.
To understand this process, we must understand the operation of the human heart. To clearly understand how we are let god mend our hearts, we must look into the biological operations of the major component of the circulatory system. You see the heart is only the size of a small fist composed of two halves and each half divided into two chambers. It used to be my understanding that blood flowed into the heart only once. But after careful research, I soon learned that blood actually flows through our heart twice. The first time, blood enters into the right chamber (atrium). The blood is fill with carbon dioxide and other impurities and it is very low in oxygen. At this stage the blood is not pure. It is not perfect, yet but it is necessary. Paul states that when God first comes into our lives he comes through a messenger. The messenger is imperfect, flawed, and human but he is still necessary for the process. Here is where many of us, already have a problem. It is right here in the first stage of the process where many people are setting themselves up for heart failure. You see heart failure can occurs when deposits of fat and dead material build up on the inner walls of arteries leading to the heart. Too much build up stops the flow of blood. Many of us have build up in our hearts hindering us from receiving God’s messenger. We have wrong ideas, stereotypes, misconceptions, and prejudices. “All preachers either womanizers, greedy, or gay.” Many are still using Jim Jones, Jim Baker, Jim Swaggert, and David Koresh, as excuses for not trusting God’s messenger. Many of us, have lost powerful messages from God, because we could not see beyond the messenger’s gender, race, and culture. “He’s too young. He’s too black. He’s too fat. He’s not tall enough. He’s not married. He’s not Lutheran.” I mean there are saints in our midst missing out on the move of God because they will receive me as there pastor. Been coming to this church for years but won’t make commitment. They call me pastor. But I’m not their pastor. Others have not received me as a messenger because of what a former pastor did or say to them. But in order for god to begin moving in us, you must receive his messenger. You may not agree with him or her, but still receive him. If God call him, you must respect him or Her as God’s chosen vessel. The prophet wrote, “how beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news.’ It was understood that when a servant of God came to one’s town, community, or house, he was bringing good news. He was bringing the covering of God’s glory to the houses he visited. Brother Lot knew this when he took in God’s angels and defended them from an angry mob. Rahab the harlot knew this when she took in Joshua’s two spies in the city of Jericho. The widow of Zarephath understood this when she received the prophet Elijah into her home and gave him her last morsel of bread, yet her meal barrel remain full. Mary and Martha knew this when they took in Jesus of Nazareth, and when they needed most during the death of their brother Lazarus; he came as the resurrection and the Life. The first step in witnessing a move of God in your life is to receive his messenger. God sends his messenger to the door of your heart and once you can receive him you can begin to hear God’s message.
That’s the next step – hearing the word. As the blood flows from first chamber into our hearts and down into the second (right ventricle), so must the word flow from preacher to your hearing. Hear the word. Don’t get caught up in socializing with the pastor, let the pastor become your teacher. Don’t just let the pastor see you at house parties, political functions, funerals and weddings, but let the pastor see you at bible study. Allow yourself a hearing of the word. Don’t get caught up in a handsome face, a moan and a groan. Don’t get distracted by excitement and flash but you must hear the word. And, we don’t realize it but I am learning that the reason many of us are not becoming doers of the word is because we do not know how to hear it. Take notes during the preaching. When the preacher refers to scripture you don’t know or to terms you are not familiar with – write them down – then take them home and look it up. Get a copy of the message. Meditate on it. Use it for your own private devotionals. We must understand that the process of hearing is important. Hearing the word, allows us to hear God’s voice. It amazes me how after a message is preach many people hear various parts that mean something to them. Grab hold to that part. Allow that word to be planted into your heart. What will happen is that word will begin to flow in you and give you some relief. If it is a rich word bringing new revelation, your heart will burn. (Say heartburn. That’s what many of us, need today. We need heartburn from God.) We need a word will shed light on the dark areas of our lives. We need that Word to come into us like a burning torch revealing those areas we still need to work on. You see it is in that second chamber of the heart where the blood is sent up to the lungs and lungs purify it sending it back to the heart. When you hear that word, it will pop up in other areas of your life because God is trying to reinforce what you just heard. Situations will occur. People will make comments. Things will happen in order for that word to come back into remembrance.
Then it flows back into your heart. That’s the Left Atrium –third chamber. Paul says, it is at this point you make the decision to trust it or not. You’ve received the preacher, heard the word, now you must decide whether or not to believe. Will you believe that God will pour out blessing, if you bring him your tithes? Will you believe that he will take care of your children, if you raise them up in word? Will you believe that you will spiritual grow, if you come out to more bible studies? Will you believe that he is doctor in the sick room, lawyer in the courtroom, comforter in the bedroom, when you need him?
If you believe, then God’s word flows on right down to the last chamber – the left ventricle and you begin to call on him. And the good news is that no one who believes in him will be put to the shame. Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. He will save your marriage. He will save your sons and your daughters. He will deliver your household from debt. And by I dare you to trust him. Watch him come through.
I dare you to put his word to the test. The best thing that hearers can do for a preacher is to put the message to a test. In fact, I would rather for you to spend your energy in testing God’s word. I appreciate that many of you though of me this month, but if you really want to see a smile on my face. Try God’s word. Tell me how you put a message to the test and it passed. Tell me how you trusted in God and God came through. Tell me how you took home a sermon audiotape, played it for a love one, and that person came to Christ. Because the truth of the matter is that it is my heart’s desire that they may be saved.
