When you have a good heart
You help too much
You trust too much
You love too much
And it always seems you hurt the most
Which of the two would you say is the most important the
brain or the heart? Why?
Medical science will tells us without your heart the body ceases
to exist, death is certain when the heart ceases to function. Not so with the brain, it is possible for you
to be physically still alive, but completely brain dead. I’m sure we all know or at least think we
know somebody with this condition.
A little girl asked her mother, "Where did people come from?"
Her mother answered, "God made the first man Adam and his wife Eve
and they had children and we are all part of their family.
A couple of days later she asked her father the same question.
The father answered, "Men of Science tell us that we all started
out as monkeys, from there we evolved into humans."
The confused little girl returned to her mother and said, "Mommy,
how is it possible that you told me that we were created by God, and Daddy said
we came from monkeys?"
The mother answered, "Well, dear, it is very simple. I told you
about my side of the family and your father told you about his."
The heart of a church can be found
in its mission, and its mission is, to
love and serve others. The heartbeat
of any family, society or church can be found in its respond to care for one
another. Matthew 5:8 “tells
us Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
Rev. David Chadwell posed a rather
interesting question: Which would you
prefer for a next-door neighbor: a person of excellent habits {morals} or a person with
a good heart? Which would you prefer for a good friend, for a husband, wife or
child: a person of excellent habits {morals} or a person with a good heart?
It is wonderful to have a neighbor
who conscientiously cares for his property while respecting your property. It
is wonderful to have a friend who always treats you with consideration. It is
wonderful to be married to a husband who always is thoughtful and courteous, or
to a wife who always is gracious in her comments and deeds. It is wonderful to have a son or daughter
who shows respect for others and uses good manners. As wonderful as these situations are, none of
these behaviors can compare to having a good heart. When you discuss good behavior, you are
discussing the quality of a person's self-control, their moral or ethical
performance, their manners etc. May I suggest that when you
discuss a good heart, you are discussing the quality of the person. A person of good heart is authentic and holds
the ability to love and treat others in the same way they treat
themselves. If we only look at how
others keep up personal appearances, follows the rules and traditions of family,
society, community or church, we can be misled. Jesus wants us to look deeper into our own
heart, and take note of how we love and care for self and our neighbor.
This is the focus of today’s
Scripture. Pharisees and teachers have
come down from Jerusalem and they are gathered around Jesus but have been eying
his disciples. The disciples, it seems, are eating lunch. It appears that they are too hungry to care
about religious ritual, or it may be that they have not been schooled in
observing the Jewish ritual of washing before eating, they immediately sit down
to eat with unwashed hands.
The Pharisees cease upon this
ceremonial oversight and question Jesus:
Why don’t your disciples live according to the traditions of the elders
and clean their hands before they eat?
This is all that Jesus needs to hear in order to make his point as he
turns to these lawmakers and teachers saying in essence, "Why do you not
live according to the traditions of God and cleanse your hearts?" Here Jesus is very pointed in his reply
suggesting that good manners and following religious rituals that have been
created by man will not produce a cleansed heart. This poses a question for us today doesn’t
it. We all know someone who has a
generous and loving heart, but is not interested in the ritual of Sunday
morning worship, does this make them spiritually unclean, or somehow unworthy of
God’s amazing grace? In Matthew 15: 7 Jesus calls the religious leaders hypocrites
because of their observance of man made rules and standards, while ignoring the
great commandment. Can you recite it
with me? “LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD with all your heart,
with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love
your neighbor as yourself.”
May I suggest that there is no
standard for Sin, a mistake is a mistake and no one escapes making mistakes. Yet there are those who feel because of who
they are, their present circumstances, their past, or some rules, traditions or
regulations of their Christian denomination, they are not worthy. It may be because of an unspoken dress code, the
acceptance of Jesus as Lord and Savior, or because they smoke, drink, curse swear,
gamble a little on the lotto, or have covered their body in tattoos, my question here is: who has
set the standards for worthiness here?
Jesus is pushing his listeners to the limits, here folks, especially
when we in the church profess to know that God accepts all, and loves all
unconditionally, we need to be that visible example. Jesus accepted persons
from all walks of life, those with different religious backgrounds, people off
the streets, tax collectors, thieves, prostitutes, the poor, and especially the
rejected minority and yes just regular middle class folk, those in the
trades or business, fisherman, farmers and yes the rich man too. No one was or is excluded from his camp of unconditional love and forgiveness.
The question we must consider is;
have we fallen into the same trap as the Pharisees, judging others by society
standards or the observance of religious rule and ritual. Is this message from the Gospel for us in
the church today? It can be just as
easy for us to fall into a good habit and leave behind a good heart. Jesus warns the Pharisees, not to prefer
creeds, deeds or rituals over God’s way of unconditional love and acceptance. James 4:8 we read “Draw near to God and He
will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, and purify your hearts,” How a person appears on the outside, in
dress, with good deeds, attending worship regularly isn't necessarily what lies
within the heart. Our society has been
trained to look for the polished, the shiny, that shows quality. True quality cannot be seen by looking at
the exterior only. We can make the
mistake of judging others by physical condition, their way of life, their
dress, and their morals displays which can distract us from seeing the
qualities which lies within a good heart.
God is not just looking for good Creeds and Deeds, but for clean hands
and a clean Heart. Jesus gives us the
one great commandment which will cleanse the heart of anyone who follows
it. Luke 10: 27 “You shall love the LORD
your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and
with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’” Let us Pray.
"WE ARE ALL WORTHY" take a moment and watch.
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