Renewing Our Hearts
Dr. Tony Hopkins; Pastor FBC Greenwood, SC; CBF of SC Coordinating Council Member
October 15, 2006
Renewing Our Hearts
Ezekiel 36:25-28
When we began to talk about a title, or theme, for our capital campaign, Lee Wyndham, a member of the campaign steering committee, introduced very early the idea of renewal; and that was like putting a hook in my lip. I was immediately captivated by the idea– because renewal is such a prominent theme in the Bible. On the practical level, we are renewing our facilities; but that is a metaphor for what God wants to do in our lives. In the words of Ezekiel, God wants to give us a new heart and a new spirit. Spiritual renewal is our goal– individually, as Christians, and corporately, as a church. The other two key words in the theme, hearts and heritage, are the focal points of that renewal. Next week I will talk about the heritage part, but this morning I want to begin where our theme begins– and more important, where the Bible begins– and talk about renewing our hearts.
The Bible mentions the heart more than 590 times– it’s a major theme. And it was at the top of the priority list of Jesus. In Jesus’ day, there were 616 commonly acknowledged laws which devout Jews were supposed to obey. When someone asked Jesus, “Out of all of those laws and commandments, which one is the most important?” Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart.” In the modern Christian era, Baptists have championed the heart theme. As far back as I can remember, my preachers and my Sunday School teachers and my BibleSchool teachers all talked about the importance of having Jesus in my heart and giving my heart to Jesus. It’s good that Baptists have championed this theme, but I wonder if we haven’t been a little narcissistic about it– a little self-centered. The hymn we sang this morning, “Since Jesus Came into My Heart,” is a perfect illustration. It talks about all of the things I get when I have Jesus in my heart: I will be happy, so happy; I won’t have any dark clouds overhead; and I will go to that eternal city one day– it’s sort of a “What’s in it for me?” approach to having Jesus in our hearts. And especially the sermons I heard as a child said that I should give my heart to Jesus so that I would avoid the sufferings of hell and I would have the joy and blessings and eternal bliss of heaven– “What’s in it for me?”
Now let me be clear: the Bible certainly teaches that there are many benefits which come with giving our hearts to the Lord. But the Bible is equally clear that having our hearts renewed by God is much larger than “What’s in it for me?” This morning’s text, which contains the focal verse for our Renewing Hearts and Heritage campaign, is pretty typical of the biblical passages which talk about receiving a new heart from God. The focus is not so much on the perks, the benefits for us, as it is on living a transformed life, a life which will be pleasing to God. Ezekiel says that God will cleanse us so that we can live lives of purity. There is the notion of personal devotion and obedience to God, making sure that our lives are built on God’s will and God’s values. Ezekiel says that this involves renouncing idolatry– in other words, making sure that nothing is higher on our priority lists than God– and it has to do with following God’s statutes and instruction and guidance.
Somewhere in the months of preparation we have been doing for our Renewing Hearts and Heritage campaign, somebody said to me, “Preacher, here’s the question which our church members really want answered: what are we being asked to do?” Fair question. And Ezekiel has answered it for us: we are being asked to find and do God’s will– as we seek personal spiritual renewal; and as we seek God’s guidance about what God would have us give to this campaign. If we pull out the principles from Ezekiel which we just talked about, they can be organized into a three step process: (1) Identify the places where my priorities do not match God’s priorities. (2) Change those things so that my priorities match God’s priorities completely. (3) And then ask, “In light of these changes, how can I be more faithful, more committed, more sacrificial, more generous than ever before with my time, energy, spiritual gifts, and financial resources?” That is a description of a transformed life.
So we’re talking about more than external change. It’s not just our outward appearance God wants to change; God wants to renew our hearts and change our lives and our priorities. I heard Carl Hurley tell of going to a meeting. A few minutes after the meeting started, a woman came in and said, “I’m sorry I’m late, but there was a clown performing out on the sidewalk; and I started watching him, and I lost track of time.” Then someone else in the meeting asked this question: “Was it a real clown, or was it just somebody dressed up like a clown?” (Think about that.) Here’s the question for us: are we really Christians, or are we just dressed up like Christians? Have we made some cosmetic changes; do we go through the motions to look good for other people; or have we really asked God renew our hearts and our lives and our priorities?
In the end, identity, who we are, is about more than appearance; and it’s about more than lip service. I read a story about a debate between a Christian and an atheist. The report said that each speaker was intelligent and articulate and passionate about his point of view. In the end, however, the Christian was declared the winner, because in his concluding remarks, the atheist said to the Christian, “After listening to you, all I can say is, ‘Thank God I’m an atheist!’” That’s a story about identity. Is a person really an atheist if he offers thanks to God? Perhaps the more compelling question for us is: are we really Christians if we fail to demonstrate gratitude to God, in our words and our actions and our living and our giving?
Ezekiel says that renewed hearts lead to transformed lives, lives of obedience and godly priorities. The other result, he says, has to do with our relationships. There is a refrain in the last verse of our text, where God says, “You shall be my people, and I will be your God.” This refrain is used over and over in the Bible– from beginning to end, the Bible says that this is what God wants: God wants to have a relationship with us. I think preachers and Bible teachers have done a pretty good job of teaching that this truth is central to the New Testament; we have not done as well in teaching that it is also central to the Old Testament. Part of the reason for this has to do with translation.
In the Old Testament, God has a name– I don’t think this is widely known among Christians, but in the Old Testament, God’s name is Yahweh. By way of analogy: in New Testament, Jesus is called Messiah, or Christ; he is called Savior and Lord. Those are titles, but his name is Jesus. In the same way, in the Old Testament, God’s name is Yahweh. “God” is a title; “Lord” is a title, but God’s name is Yahweh. You don’t see that in your Old Testament because when the Bible was translated into English, the translators followed the old rabbinic practice of substituting the word “LORD” for Yahweh, for God’s name. That’s why in your English Old Testament, in almost 7,000 places the word “LORD” is in all capital letters. That means that the text actually uses Yahweh, the name of God, at that point. So all of those passages which tell us to “call upon the name of the LORD” really tell us to “call upon the name of Yahweh.” In the Old Testament, the holy, righteous God, the creator of the universe, literally invites us to be on a first name basis– that is remarkable!
Last winter, when I preached through the Lord ’s Prayer, in my sermon entitled, “Hallowed Be Thy Name,” I mentioned some of this. After that service, my buddy Charlie Watson said, “Well, preacher, you taught me something today.” I said, “What’s that?” Charlie said, “That the name Yahoo is in the Old Testament more than 6,000 times.” I said, “Charlie, God’s name is Yahweh. ‘Yahoo’ is an internet service.” You can’t get the best of Charlie: without missing a beat he said, “I guess that means we can pray by e-mail!”
Charlie was right: God wants to communicate with us– because God wants to have a relationship with us. But, once again, this is not self-centered; this is not just about me. Yes, God does want to have a relationship with me, but God wants that same relationship with everyone else. That’s why it is so important that the church do outreach and ministry; which, in turn, is why the work to our facilities and our capital campaign are so important, because it is from these facilities that we go out into the world to do God’s work– as I remind us each week in my benediction. These facilities are the place from which we fulfill the mission God has given our church; and it is in these facilities that we are equipped and prepared for that work. The areas we are renovating are the places where we study God’s word and grow as disciples and strengthen our faith and identify and develop our spiritual gifts.
Think about this space which we are talking about. Many of you– or your children or grandchildren– came to know Jesus here. Many of you or your family members were baptized in our chapel. I don’t know how many children have learned their first stories about Jesus and their first songs– “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so”– they learned that here. I won’t take the time to tell the story, but probably the most spiritually formative experience of my life happened in a youth room at the FirstBaptistChurch in West Columbia. You know that has happened in our youth rooms, teenagers discovering that God has a plan for their lives.
In this place, teenagers have transitioned into adulthood. Adults have grown from being newlyweds to being lifetime partners. In this place, parents have found a way to become godly parents; and have found a way to survive their children being teenagers. In this place, some fragile marriages have been saved; and some people whose marriages were not saved have learned that God’s grace is sufficient, and no matter what happens somewhere else, this is always home.
In this place, senior adults have made significant transitions. For men especially, occupation is so much a part of our identity that retirement can cause an identity crisis. I know some men who have coped with that crisis in this place. I know a least one woman who said, “Three months into my husband’s retirement, I was ready to kill him; and we had a Sunday School lesson on the ten commandments, and I thought better of it.” In this place, God’s saints have grown old in a fellowship of Christian love and in the abiding presence of God’s Holy Spirit; and have learned that not even death is larger than God’s love, and therefore it does not have to be feared. In this place, many of us have received comfort in the wake of the most painful losses of our lives. I know about that, because I experienced that from you when my mama died.
I could go on and on with these stories, but here’s the point: all of the experiences we have had here were possible because at critical moments in the history of our church, there were people who made sacrifices– they were faithful and determined and generous. Isn’t our gratitude to those saints large enough; isn’t our gratitude to God large enough that we will make sacrifices and be committed and determined and generous?– so that these grace-filled experiences which we have had do not die with us.
Richard is a friend and a fellow pastor. His church was doing some renovation very much like what we’re doing. One night at a church business meeting, a very faithful church member, fiftyish, stood up and said that he did not agree with the renovation of the chapel which the church had voted to do. He kept talking about that, and the longer he talked, the angrier he became; and finally he threatened to leave the church and maybe even abandon his faith if the chapel renovations went forward; and then he stormed out of the meeting. Richard knew that something had to be going on. It turned out that years before, this man’s son had died; the memorials given for his son had been used to do the original work in the chapel. So he now perceived the renovation of the chapel as a threat to his son’s memory.
Richard went and visited this father. He was wise enough to mostly listen. Then he asked the father’s permission to pray, and the two of them prayed together. Richard continued to pray for this church member every day. Then one day unexpectedly the man showed up in Richard’s office and said, “I’m ready to support the work the church has voted to do– all of it.” “Even the chapel?” Richard asked. “Even the chapel,” he said. Richard got up, went around his desk, and embraced the man. Then he asked: “Do you mind my asking what changed your mind?” The man said, “It wasn’t so much a change of mind as a change of heart. [He said,] I really do believe in prayer; and as I was praying about this, it occurred to me: our church is full of parents who care about their children every bit as much as I care about my son who died– and my children who are still alive. So I began to pray for God to fill my heart with love, not only for my own children but for all of God’s children.”
Let’s pray for God to give us a vision to fulfill our mission as a church. But more than that, let’s pray for hearts filled with the love– and generosity– which make God’s work possible.