Intra-cardia Faith
Fifth Sunday in Lent
Jeremiah 31:31-34; Psalm 51:1-12
At the beginning of Lent, I put a part of Psalm 51 out on the north side of the marquee. It reads, “Our Lenten Prayer – Create in me a clean heart, O God.”
We finally arrive at that Psalm, and an associated passage from Jeremiah. Three phrases jumped out at me when I was studying this past week for the sermon – the first coming from that phrase from Jeremiah in the 33rd verse, when the prophet quotes God. “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord; I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” The second and third phrases come from David in the 51st Psalm, verse 6 – “You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.” And then the third phrase, verse 10 – “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.”
God desires something different for us as we move deeper into relationship with God. The word that jumped out at me from each of these verses was the word “heart.” God intended that something change within us – that the basis for our relationship changes – from something external, to something quite internal in nature. When God broke the news to Jeremiah of God’s desire for a different kind of relationship with mankind, God referred to a “new covenant.”
Covenants are not something that we are familiar with, in the mainstream. People in our part of the world think about contracts. While they both seek to limit the actions of the other party in the relationship, as well as call upon both parties to agree to certain conditions, contracts are formed out of respect for individual rights – a person enters into a contract to protect his individual rights and properties, while in a covenant, persons enter into contractual agreements with one another out of respect for the other party, as well as for themselves. It is a subtle but important difference. We enter into contracts because we do not necessarily trust the other party, but we enter into covenants, at least in part, out of deep respect for the other person or persons.
When God determined to interact with human beings on a personal level, God chose to introduce us to the idea of covenants. There is still the give and take arrangement between God and man, but God initiated the covenants God made with mankind out of God’s deep, abiding respect for us as a part of God’s creation.
We are not used to this kind of thinking. We are a nation of laws, and therefore, a people of laws. Law makes covenant a difficult concept to understand. We still think about external obedience to laws. External law always invites internal resistance. That is true in our relationship with God – where God’s will was once experienced as an external force to be resisted or obeyed, now God speaks of a different kind of experience. God speaks of planting the desires of God in our hearts. God speaks of transforming the relationship from one of law into one of desire.
Right here in this message, I’ll ask you the tough questions I’ve been asking myself all week. Do you desire God? Is that the best descriptor of your relationship to God – that you desire God? Or is your relationship to God characterized more by obedience to a set of external laws and expectations? Here’s another way to ask this question – Do you avoid doing the things that you know displease God simply because they displease God, or do you avoid doing those things because you love God and you desire God? Do you do the right thing because it’s the right thing, or because you desire God?
Pastor Edward Bowen from Pennsylvania, began his sermon from 6 years ago with these words:
“Sometimes we make the mistake and think that since God is a forgiving God that God really doesn’t care what we do with our lives. After all, here in this passage that we listened to in Jeremiah, we are reminded that God wants to forgive us. So many people use as their theme song, the song that Frank Sinatra sang, ‘I Did It My Way.’ We figure, why bother doing things God’s way? Let’s just live our lives our way, the way we want to. Since God’s going to forgive us anyway, why not?
But even though a lot of people think that way, that’s not what God’s forgiveness is all about. You see, this passage in Jeremiah says that yes, God does want to forgive us for the sins that we’ve committed in the past. But this passage reminds us that God doesn’t just want us to go right on sinning. Instead, God wants to forgive our old sins, so that we can start a new life, and live the way that God wants us to.”[1]
Zeke Sarver made a decision last week to trust Jesus. He had been thinking about it – they had talked about it some in his Sunday School classes, and he’d spoken with his parents from time to time about the matter – not much, but a little. Last week during our invitation time, Zeke decided to enter into covenant with God. Those weren’t his words, but that’s what happened. It is the beginning of a relationship, molded out of deep respect on the part of both parties. God respects Zeke, and Zeke respects God. God loves Zeke, and Zeke loves God. At some rudimentary level, it is just that simple.
I told Zeke that this won’t be an easy thing to do – to live the Christian life. He’ll run up against his sin time and again. It will be ever before him. But I promised him that if he wants to, he will grow in this relationship – as he learns more about Jesus, and especially as he learns more and more every day that he can trust Jesus.
I suspect that to a person, that would be the testimony of every person in this room. Living the Christian life isn’t easy. Sometimes, it’s just plain tough. But it’s worth it.
Fred Craddock was once asked “whether Jesus had a governing view of life shaping his preaching. Craddock answered, ‘I think it may very well be that when Jesus came to preach, He preached that the very presence of God could live within you.’”[2]
We understand that the biblical testimony is that this presence of God within us is known as the Spirit of God – we sometimes call it the Holy Spirit. This is not merely conceptual – the biblical testimony suggests that the actual presence of God moves into our lives – takes up residence within our very lives. When we sing gospel songs and choruses, like “Come into my heart, Lord Jesus,” we are not just speaking metaphorically. And we aren’t speaking physiologically – the sermon title may have got you to thinking that I think this happens in a physical sense – this intra-cardia faith. No, this miraculous transformation happens in a spiritual sense, most of which defies our attempts at explanation.
But happen, it does. This presence of God changes things – and it changes us. Zeke’s life has been and will be changed – all as a result of this internalization of the Spirit of God. The presence of God changes us in so many different ways.
David Bartlett inspired me with of a couple of ways that the presence of God changes things.[3] He says this new covenant is marked by an internal assurance. God’s words – “I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more.” When I sat down with Zeke the other night, I told him that even though he is going to run up against his sin time and again, and that in all probability he will actually question his faith from time to time, he can be sure that he is still saved and secure in the arms of God. That reality I base on the ability of God to do what God promises God will do. The empty tomb that we will celebrate in a couple of weeks is our strongest proof. We see that empty tomb, and we know that if Jesus can overcome death, Jesus can do anything we need. We have an internal assurance that we are in covenant with God, and that our salvation is assured. That’s a promise we can bank on.
Then this new covenant is also marked by a new directive. “No longer shall they teach one another . . . for they shall all know me.” We start to move in a different direction with our actions. We no longer resist God and these external laws of God. Rather, we move toward God with new purpose and greater opportunity than ever before. We begin to allow our thinking, our hearts, and our purposes to meld with the heart of God. We stop trying to resist God, and we start trying to emulate God – in our actions, certainly – but in our thinking, as well.
What can we do to help the process? What can we do to help the Spirit of God take up residence in our lives? In the Greek language, the word “hypocrite” was first used to describe actors. They were actually called hypocrites. This was because actors in Greek dramas wore masks, and one actor would actually wear several different masks during their performances. One preacher I read this week said, “The masks were hot and uncomfortable. Hypocrites had difficulty breathing and sometimes even fainted from the burden of the masks. God sets us free from the need to wear masks. God wants to be our God, to take away our sin, and to make us into God’s own people.”[4] That’s a pretty good illustration. David asked God to plant wisdom in his “secret heart.” We all have those secret places that we don’t expose to anyone else. But that kind of behavior is foolishness when it comes to our relationship to God – both of us already know about our sin and our hypocrisy – we know, and God knows.
Sister Tracy wrote a pretty powerful sermon this week, and she reminded me of something I have shared with you in the past. Our sin – this beast we struggle with every day of our lives – our sin finds roots in pure ideas. Friday morning, I made my maiden voyage to the south office – Starbucks opened – and while I was there, I observed some people who came in. They didn’t like the coffee – not because they are connoisseurs of coffee, but because they are like most of us – we’ve drank so much watered down coffee during our lifetimes, we wouldn’t know really good coffee no matter what the circumstances. Anyway, one of the ladies said to her friends, “I won’t be coming back here – they don’t now how to make coffee the way I like it.” I suspect she is wrong – they could probably help her find a brew she would enjoy, but her attitude will prevent that from ever happening.
Her particular attitude was stubbornness. Now, where does that come from? We are taught that consistency and stalwartness are virtues – we pride ourselves on being able to hold individual ideas and remain somewhat constant. But that virtue becomes sin when we let it go to extremes. All sin is that way. Sister Tracy says, “Name your sin: chances are, in its purest form, it is a characteristic worth having . . . Jealousy, covetousness, selfishness, and greed are, at their root, a desire to be our best; but we’ve allowed that desire to overwhelm and overtake the needs and desires of others. In many ways, lying is nothing more than wanting to believe and wanting others to believe the best about us – just, wanting it too much.”[5]
God has entered into covenant with us – and it involves our heart. God has placed the law of God within our hearts. God has provided wisdom, even to the secret places of our heart. And God has actually come into our hearts – in the person of the Spirit of God.
As a result of this intra-cardia faith, we become changed people. Our thoughts change, our attitudes change, and our actions change. We can respond to God this day by returning our respect for God with lives that live up to our end of this holy covenant.
We understand that the biblical testimony is that this presence of God within us is known as the Spirit of God – we sometimes call it the Holy Spirit. This is not merely conceptual – the biblical testimony suggests that the actual presence of God moves into our lives – takes up residence within our very lives. When we sing gospel songs and choruses, like “Come into my heart, Lord Jesus,” we are not just speaking metaphorically. And we aren’t speaking physiologically – the sermon title may have got you to thinking that I think this happens in a physical sense – this intra-cardia faith. No, this miraculous transformation happens in a spiritual sense, most of which defies our attempts at explanation.
But happen, it does. This presence of God changes things – and it changes us. Zeke’s life has been and will be changed – all as a result of this internalization of the Spirit of God. The presence of God changes us in so many different ways.
David Bartlett inspired me with of a couple of ways that the presence of God changes things.[3] He says this new covenant is marked by an internal assurance. God’s words – “I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more.” When I sat down with Zeke the other night, I told him that even though he is going to run up against his sin time and again, and that in all probability he will actually question his faith from time to time, he can be sure that he is still saved and secure in the arms of God. That reality I base on the ability of God to do what God promises God will do. The empty tomb that we will celebrate in a couple of weeks is our strongest proof. We see that empty tomb, and we know that if Jesus can overcome death, Jesus can do anything we need. We have an internal assurance that we are in covenant with God, and that our salvation is assured. That’s a promise we can bank on.
Then this new covenant is also marked by a new directive. “No longer shall they teach one another . . . for they shall all know me.” We start to move in a different direction with our actions. We no longer resist God and these external laws of God. Rather, we move toward God with new purpose and greater opportunity than ever before. We begin to allow our thinking, our hearts, and our purposes to meld with the heart of God. We stop trying to resist God, and we start trying to emulate God – in our actions, certainly – but in our thinking, as well.
What can we do to help the process? What can we do to help the Spirit of God take up residence in our lives? In the Greek language, the word “hypocrite” was first used to describe actors. They were actually called hypocrites. This was because actors in Greek dramas wore masks, and one actor would actually wear several different masks during their performances. One preacher I read this week said, “The masks were hot and uncomfortable. Hypocrites had difficulty breathing and sometimes even fainted from the burden of the masks. God sets us free from the need to wear masks. God wants to be our God, to take away our sin, and to make us into God’s own people.”[4] That’s a pretty good illustration. David asked God to plant wisdom in his “secret heart.” We all have those secret places that we don’t expose to anyone else. But that kind of behavior is foolishness when it comes to our relationship to God – both of us already know about our sin and our hypocrisy – we know, and God knows.
Sister Tracy wrote a pretty powerful sermon this week, and she reminded me of something I have shared with you in the past. Our sin – this beast we struggle with every day of our lives – our sin finds roots in pure ideas. Friday morning, I made my maiden voyage to the south office – Starbucks opened – and while I was there, I observed some people who came in. They didn’t like the coffee – not because they are connoisseurs of coffee, but because they are like most of us – we’ve drank so much watered down coffee during our lifetimes, we wouldn’t know really good coffee no matter what the circumstances. Anyway, one of the ladies said to her friends, “I won’t be coming back here – they don’t now how to make coffee the way I like it.” I suspect she is wrong – they could probably help her find a brew she would enjoy, but her attitude will prevent that from ever happening.
Her particular attitude was stubbornness. Now, where does that come from? We are taught that consistency and stalwartness are virtues – we pride ourselves on being able to hold individual ideas and remain somewhat constant. But that virtue becomes sin when we let it go to extremes. All sin is that way. Sister Tracy says, “Name your sin: chances are, in its purest form, it is a characteristic worth having . . . Jealousy, covetousness, selfishness, and greed are, at their root, a desire to be our best; but we’ve allowed that desire to overwhelm and overtake the needs and desires of others. In many ways, lying is nothing more than wanting to believe and wanting others to believe the best about us – just, wanting it too much.”[5]
God has entered into covenant with us – and it involves our heart. God has placed the law of God within our hearts. God has provided wisdom, even to the secret places of our heart. And God has actually come into our hearts – in the person of the Spirit of God.
As a result of this intra-cardia faith, we become changed people. Our thoughts change, our attitudes change, and our actions change. We can respond to God this day by returning our respect for God with lives that live up to our end of this holy covenant.
Richard W. Dunn, Ph.D.
posted by the sojourning pilgrim | 3:02 PM
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