Randall Caselman
Bella Vista Church of Christ
February 24, 2002 AM
Hearts Made In His Image - A Spiritual EKG
Reading - Proverbs 3.1-7 & Matthew 22.34-40
I have enjoyed my time serving as a chaplain in the heart unit at Washington Regional Hospital. I am continually amazed at the seemingly miraculous things which occur there. The operating suite is filled with technology... The latest in medical equipment... Wall-to-wall. There is the heart lung machine that handles the patient's breathing and blood circulation during the procedure. Hanging immediately to the right and a little above the surgeon is the heart monitor. It displays the blood pressure... The heart rate... The patient's blood oxygen level. In effect it serves as a continuous EKG... Providing the doctors and nurses with visual representation of every movement of the heart.
This visible readout has two components... The timeline--moving horizontally across the video screen... And the beat of the heart is displayed vertically above and below this line. When the heart is stopped by injection... The vertical lines disappear... Only the timeline is left. When the heart is restarted at the completion of the surgery, the vertical lines reappear.
What I want to do in this morning's lesson is to spiritualize this HEART MONITORING equipment and apply it to our life in Christ... To our relationship with God. In effect, I want us to take a spiritual EKG.
First... We note that Christianity is a heart condition. Solomon says... As a man thinks in his heart... So is he. Jesus said...
- Out of the heart comes the issues of life...
- Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.
Jesus maintained that...
- The good person does good things because of the good stored up in their heart.
- And the evil individual does evil because that's what is in their heart.
In the Sermon on the Mount He said... Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Paul said... It is with the heart that we believe.
We are told that we should to have the heart... the mind... the attitude... the disposition of Jesus. Paul instructs Timothy and us to call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Twice Paul says we are to obey God out of a pure heart.
Perhaps Jesus best summed up our purpose here with these words... Love God with all our HEART... And love our neighbors as ourselves.
Is there any doubt this morning that Christianity is a heart condition? You see... Christianity is a mindset... a disposition... an attitude.
This brings us to the next point...Our attitude has direction. The vertical direction is our attitude toward God... His word... His will in our life. The horizontal direction is the kind of heart we have for one another, including:
- Our spouse and children...
- The church and our neighbor...
- Those of the opposite sex...
- And even our enemies.
It's true isn't it?... Christianity is an attitude... It is a heart condition?
For the application portion of our lesson... I want to examine the heart of Jesus. Let's see what we can learn about the kind of heart we should have.
First... We will examine Jesus' vertical attitude. What kind of attitude did Jesus have toward God and His will? Let's see if we can find out!! Go with me to the Temple... Jesus is twelve years old. Mary and Joseph are upset over a lost son. Jesus' first recorded words were... Don't you know I must be about my Father's business? Mary and Joseph didn't understand all He meant by this statement... But we do... Don't we?
At His baptism... John refused saying... I have need to be baptized of you. Jesus said... John... Just do it... To fulfill all righteousness.
Jesus was saying... John do it because this is what My Father commands.
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said... I did not come to abolish, to ignore, or to do away with the law of God through the prophets... I came to fulfill it... I came to do all that the Father has ask of Me.
Then He says... I want you to know that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and Scribes you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Make no mistake about it... Doing God's will... Keeping His commandments is more than outward perfection and ritualism. Church... That which brings salvation includes inward intent... motive... attitude and a heart condition. I think Jesus summed up His heart condition and what ours should be when He commanded...Seek you first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.
Jesus said... I came to do the will of the Father who sent me. Matthew 12.50 has Him saying... "Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother." Acts 10.35 tells us that God accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right. In the Garden, Jesus said... Not My will, but Thine be done.
Jesus' heart was set on doing what God wanted Him to do. He had given His life totally to the Father without any reservations... Allowing God to rule and reign in every circumstance... Including the cross. Church... Are we willing to let God rule in every arena of our lives?
Then on the cross Jesus' last words... Into thy hands I commit my spirit.
You see... The heart of Jesus... The life of Jesus... Was always in the hands of the Father. Genuine... Christianity is placing it all...
- Our heart and life...
- Our attitudes and actions...
In the hands of the Father. ARE WE WILLING??
Question... As we examine our own heart this morning... Does it look like the heart of Jesus?
- What is our attitude toward God... Christ... the Spirit?
- What is our attitude toward this book... His word?
- Can we really sing... Let Him Have His Way With Me?
God help us have a Jesus heart... Vertically.
Now let's look the heart of Jesus horizontally.
The first commandment is vertical... Love God with all your heart... mind... body... and soul. The second us horizontal... Love your neighbor as yourself. We can't keep from being awestruck with Jesus' love and compassion for people. Let's note some well known narratives as we try to see what kind of heart we should have toward others.
First... Jesus made an effort to genuinely touch people. In Mark chapter one... A man comes to Jesus with leprosy. He falls on his knees... Begs for Jesus to help. He says... I know you can heal me... If you're willing. Then verse 41 says... Jesus was filled with compassion... Reached out and touched the man, saying... I am willing... Be clean. And immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.
Lepers were social outcasts... No one was willing to touch a leper... Too much of a risk. Jesus was willing to take risks because He cared about people. Church... Have you and your preacher taken any risks this week... Have we touched any lepers this past week? O yes!!!... There are lepers all about us... Those who others will not have anything to do with...
- The social outcast... The down and out.
- The sick... Perhaps those who have a contagious disease.
- Maybe the broken hearted... The lonely... The forsaken... The abused.
Yes... It takes time and effort to touch people... And try to help them in their daily distress.
Yes... There is a risk in touching them. Are we willing to have a Jesus heart?
Secondly... Jesus accepted people where they were. Jesus did not demand a certain stage of righteousness before He would talk with them, forgive them, help, or save them. In Mark 2... Jesus has dinner at Levi's... At Matthew's house. Matthew was a tax collector... Scum of the earth as far as the Jews were concerned. When the religious self-righteous of Jesus' day saw His actions... They were astonished and began quizzing the disciples:.. Why is He eating with sinners? Jesus heard them and said... I didn't come to doctor the well... But rather the sick. I didn't come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. Later... Matthew becomes a disciple... One of the twelve.
I hope and pray that we have no such criteria in this church. You see, we are all like Matthew. We are all sinners in need of a Savior... Sinners in need of a LOVING... Merciful... Forgiving God.
Church... Listen to me carefully... When we see ourselves better than others, we automatically exclude ourselves from Jesus' company... Because He came associating with... calling... saving... sinners... SINNERS!! Paul says... Of whom I am the chief.
Somewhere... We have gotten the idea that... Before we can accept people, HELP people, we must...
- Straighten out all of their false doctrines...
- Find and expose all of their sins...
- And make them conform to our understanding on every religious issue.
Question!!!... Was that a Jesus heart?... I don't think so.
- Jesus accepted them as sinners...
- Taught them truth...
- Made forgiveness possible...
- And exposed them to a better way of life.
People don't come to this church... to Jesus... because they have their lives straightened out. They come because they need to get their lives straight. God help us to have a Jesus heart. The horizontal heart of Jesus was one of forgiveness and affirmation. A woman caught in the act of adultery was brought to Jesus by the self-righteous Pharisees. They didn't care about her... They were not interested in forgiveness. They just wanted to use her to accomplish their purpose... Of condemning Jesus. Ever know people like that?
- Pointing at sinners... But never loving sinners.
- Pointing out their sins... But never talking about forgiveness and forsaking their wrongs?
- Pointing at sinners to take the focus off their own sins.
Sometimes we preachers find ourselves using sinners as examples, but never loving them enough to do much more than that.
Well... Preacher Jesus... What do you say? Are you gonna condone adultery?... Or, can we give you a rock? Church... What did Jesus say?... You that are without sin can start the stoning. All you can hear are thuds as rocks are dropped to the street. Then listen as Jesus says... Go now and leave your life of sin. This lady thought she was going meet another judge, but instead met a Savior. I would like to think that she was so awe struck by Jesus' treatment... that she never returned to her life of sin.
When people visit our assemblies... Do they meet a judge or are they exposed to a Savior?
Then finally... Jesus had a heart of help and inclusion.
Church growth studies tell us that unless people can become a part of a group in the first few weeks... We tend to lose them. All of us need to do some work in this area... Don't we?
- We ask people to cut their ties with the world.
- We ask them to forsake denominational doctrines.
- We ask them to leave detrimental companionships.
And come in here to be strangers.
So... What happens most of the time is that...
- They float around on the fringes a few weeks.
- They are not really encouraged to participate in the services.
- They are not given any particular job or responsibility in the church family.
- They are not included in our social gatherings.
- And before long... They just drop out, slip through he cracks. And we excuse ourselves with... Well they were never really converted. Church... When someone walks church aisles, we must start at that moment to include them in our fellowship.
Recall... That when Jesus called the twelve... He would say... Come Follow me.
And church, when they did He furnished all they needed for the rest of their ministry. You see...
- They left their fishing boats...
- Their tax collecting booths...
- Their political ambitions...
And became friends with Jesus.
I believe that invitation still stands... Doesn't it?... Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
I challenge each of us here this morning... To have a Jesus heart.
- Have the correct attitude vertically toward God...
- And horizontally toward our fellow man.
I challenge each of us to make a conscious effort to...
- Touch...
- Accept...
- Affirm...
- And include...
ALL THOSE JESUS CALLS INTO HIS FAMILY.
Some here this morning need to correct their attitude toward God and his Word by obeying His command of faith, repentance and New Testament baptism.
Some may need to correct the horizontal line by correcting some relationships with others.
Will you have a Jesus heart?
Come, as we stand and sing together.
