A Heart Transformed

Introduction

To start things, I’d love to tell you all a story. In 2003 a 15 year old girl named Dana Vollmer began to experience dizziness, light headedness, and spikes in her heart rate. Being a competitive swimmer, her parents knew that medical attention was needed. After she was seen by a cardiologist, she was diagnosed with a heart condition called supra-ventricular tachycardia. Surgery was ordered, but she then was faced with an even larger issue. The doctors discovered that Vollmer had symptoms associated with long Q-T Syndrome. This caused irregular heart activity. This risked arrhythmia and cardiac arrest. She required extra care and surgery, and left her with two options. Implant a defibrillator in heart, and never swim again. Or carry an external defibrillator to in pool she swam in. Her parents opted for the second route. Dana would go on to compete in the Olympic games in 2004, 2012, and 2016 and win five gold medals, one silver, and one bronze.

This is an amazing story and I bring it up for a few reasons. The first is that heart conditions affect so many people today, and is one of the most common illnesses Americans face. Another is because having a “good” heart can enable us to do amazing things. It’s central to how we function. And the inverse of a “bad” heart can led to struggles and at the worst, death.

But for the Biblical writers a “good” heart and a “bad” heart means much more than a physical life or death. And the way they talk about the heart varies in both the Old and New Testament. Nabal has a heart attack in 1 Samuel 25:37. 1 Kings 3:9 shows that Solomon’s wisdom is found in the heart. And Paul shows that he experiences emotions in his heart in passages like Romans 9:2.

You’ve probably heard Rod talk about Dallas Willard describing the heart as an executive center. A group that I think is doing great work described it n a Word Study video they produced as: “the heart is the generator of physical life and also your intellectual and emotional life, but there’s more. In biblical Hebrew the heart is where you make choices motivated by your desires.”

The heart is central to who we are. Physically, emotionally, psychologically, but also spiritually. We know what a “good” and “bad” heart look like for us in the enlightened age we live in. But, is our modern understanding of the heart shortchanging the role it plays in our life? I would argue as much. And if this is true, then the question becomes “what do these different hearts look like?” What does a “good” heart look like, and what does a “bad” heart look like Biblically.

Ezekiel paints a picture of these two hearts in Ezekiel 36:26

Ezekiel 36:26 NASB95

“Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

Hard Hearts

Rather than starting with the “good” heart, I want to look at a “bad” heart in the Bible. To me one of the most interesting pictures of this is found in Exodus.

Moses and his brother are tasked with confronting Pharoah, but God warns them that things won’t be easy. Pharoah has a “bad” heart, and it sets a particular scene in the story. The Israelites are being oppressed, they are crying out to God, and He commissions Moses. But, God tells Moses in Exodus 3:19-20 ““But I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go, except under compulsion. “So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My miracles which I shall do in the midst of it; and after that he will let you go.” God goes on to describe the state of Pharoah’s heart as “hard” and with each time Pharaoh’s heart is described as hard a plague follows.

So we see what a hard heart looks like through the character of pharoah. The first thing we see is pharaohs view of God. He views his own advisors and religious authorities on par, or perhaps even greater, than God. He’s resistant to God and relies on his own power and authority. Moreover, when pharaoh’s own religious authorities no longer go toe to toe with Moses and they warn Pharoah, he is still resistant in Exodus 8:18-19.

Pharoah doesn’t listen to Moses, Aaron, his own magicians, but ultimately doesn’t listen to God. A hard heart can know what is right, but acts according to their own desires, not God’s.

Though a hard heart doesn’t just stand in opposition to God. Pharaoh’s hard heart led him in a journey that tested him. Pharaoh’s decisions led to the destruction of Egypt in a variety of ways. Their economy, stability, and loved ones were threatened and destroyed. And with each opportunity to repent (which happened five times) pharoah doubles down and his heart is hardened more and more. This leads to the death of crops, livestock, and even his firstborn. But the story doesn’t end there. Pharaoh’s hard heart leads to his own death.

So what does a hard heart look like?

First and foremost we must recognize and be aware that a hard heart doesn’t manifest itself overnight. Pharaohs heart resulted in multiple decisions that occured over time. Moses goes to pharoah ten times. God is full of grace and mercy. I may not have given Pharaoh that many chances. Even though God knows that Pharaoh will resist God and his desire for the Israelites He gives him the opportunity to repent.

Secondly, Pharaoh wasn’t ignorant to God’s desires for His people. Not only did Moses and Aaron tell him and prove to him through signs, his own magicians urged him to reconsider his actions in Exodus 8:19. A hard heart isn’t an ignorant heart. A hard heart is a result of intentional decisions that can occur over a long period of time.

Lastly, a hard heart results in a kind of death. For Pharoah that meant losing his son, his kingdom falling into ruin, and his own physical death. Ultimately the separation from God is the ultimate death. A hard heart can mean our own destruction. Destruction of our relationships, our work, and ultimately our own hearts, the core of who we are. (riff)

So what is the antithesis of the “hard” heart of Pharaoh? In the Bible it’s described in different ways. Soft hearts, new hearts, but the first metaphorical image, and the one I want to look at, is a bit different than those.

Circumcised Heart

Deuteronomy 10:12-16 states,

Deuteronomy 10:12–16 NASB95

“Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the Lord’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good? “Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it. “Yet on your fathers did the Lord set His affection to love them, and He chose their descendants after them, even you above all peoples, as it is this day. “So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer.

Now upfront we need to talk about circumcision. We live in a different time and place than the Biblical writers. Circumcision isn’t something we talk about, and certainly is something we talk about publically. It’s a bit odd, a bit archaic, and can be gross. We don’t like to talk about these kind of things, and some of us don’t even like talking about it in private. We all have things we’d prefer to keep between our doctors and ourselves, and I’m sure there are doctors out there that wish we’d keep even more to ourselves. But the Israelites didn’t always operate in the ways we do today, and circumcision is one of those things they thought about differently.

Moreover, circumcision was the sign of a covenant with Abraham, a prerequisite for Passover attendance. And I firmly believe that when God uses the phrase “circumcised hearts” it wasn’t a flippant decision. But I think that the choice is one that the Biblical writers were clued in on.

God uses the phrase again in Deuteronomy 30:6-8, and it adds more complexity to the metaphor.

Deuteronomy 30:6–8 NASB95

“Moreover the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live. “The Lord your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you. “And you shall again obey the Lord, and observe all His commandments which I command you today.

What did this mean for the Israelites, and what does it mean for us ? First we should be aware that the Israelites are about to enter into the Promised Land. This is it, but the road has been a long one. The Israelites have grumbled, fought, and lived in opposition to God. As a result they took a journey that should have taken less than a year and spread it out over forty years. Even Moses, the interceder for Israel and intermediary between them and God, wasn’t able to enter the land because of the state of his own heart. So these passages stand as a warning to the people, but also a hope of a different life. A better life.

So we can see a few things from these passages. One of them is the way this spiritual circumcision differs from a physical one. God promises to change the core of who a person is. Not just how they appear externally. I can say the right things, do the right things, but with the wrong motives and contempt and malice in my heart.

A circumcised heart is one that desires in the same way God does. The prophets talk about a soft heart, or a heart that has the law written on it. This kind of heart defaults to obey God by loving Him and loving others.

I can take a car to get the nicest paint, detailed and cleaned, but neglect the engine, and pretty soon that car will fall apart. It doesn’t function the way it was intended. The most crucial parts of it can be broken and no one will know. (My own Mustang)

Secondly these passages show us something else that’s important. This kind of circumcision is done by God and no one else. when it comes to a physical circumcision it was done by fathers or priests. But this heart change can only occur through God’s actions.

We can’t follow the rules in order to circumcise our own hearts. I can’t do it for myself, and no one else can do it for me. God is the only one capable and qualified to cut out the things in our hearts that lead to a hard heart.

Lastly, these circumcised hearts are all encompassing and inclusive. Physical circumcision had its limits. The most obvious being that only men took part in this ritual. But these circumcised hearts are for anyone following God. Men, women, young, old, and foreigners alike were included, but needed a circumcised heart. A heart made new. And the covenant that God had made with Abraham would be completed in a new work on hearts. One that leads to God’s blessing, so we can truly live.

The Choice

The good news is that this circumcised heart, this new heart, is given to us through the work of Jesus Christ. And if we believe that Jesus came to “fulfill the Law”. Then it’s not a stretch to believe that Jesus made a way for a new life and transformed hearts. And Paul connects so many of these themes in Romans 2:4-11

Romans 2:4–11 NASB95

Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each person according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.

Although he doesn’t explicitly mention circumcision here. We can see the undertones of these two hearts. Good hearts and bad hearts. Paul shows two paths. One of selfishness, unrighteousness, wrath and evil. Another that seeks glory, honor, and eternal life.

We have new hearts but we still face choices every day.

We can make bad decisions. And we may not see the fruit of that immediately. But we know that over time those choices change us. We exemplify things that don’t align with God and his desires. And we often know that deep down. Sometimes we do those things that align with hard hearts, and we don’t even understand why we do them. But in those moments we are invited to another path. One of circumcised hearts.

As God transforms us we see changes too. We become more patient, kind, gentle, loving, and other people begin to notice these things too. A circumcised heart is humble and repentant. And often it isn’t the path of least resistance or an easy one to take.

Main Takeaway: A circumcised heart is one that is transformed by God, that results in the core of my being acting, thinking, and seeking after things that lead to life.

So what can we do?

Takeaways

1. The first, and most important, takeaway is to pray.

Depending on where you are in your journey of faith that prayer may look different. For some of us we may pray daily that the Holy Spirit is leading and guiding our choices. In the monastic movements this looked like breathe prayers that were repeated continually. For me this has been praying through the Psalms.

For others the prayer may be a prayer of repentance. Perhaps you haven’t followed Jesus before, or you have hardened your heart, and you need the Spirit to draw you near to Christ and accept the salvation that Jesus offers. Whatever prayer it is, recognize that God is the only one that can change your heart, and that He desires to do it.

2. The second takeaway is to learn practices of mindfulness and reflection.

For some people this means journaling every day. Other people may need more structure. A great practice is something Ignatian monks have practice for a long time called the Daily Examen. It is broken down in five steps. 1. Become aware of God’s presence. 2. Review the day with gratitude. 3. Pay attention to your emotions. 4. Choose one feature of the day and pray from it. 5. Look toward tomorrow.

However you do it, learn to recognize when you are making those hard heart decisions so that you can begin to pray and seek to change those things that are in you.

3. Name the hard heart moments and give them to God.

We know that we can’t fix ourselves. But perhaps you recognize something in yourself today that you know will result in a hard heart. Maybe it’s the way you think about another person. Perhaps it’s a vice in your life that you’ve been hiding away. Perhaps it’s just something you said that you regretted. It’s important to be honest about those things and repent to God and those you’ve wronged.

But I don’t want you to do it later this week, or perhaps next Sunday. I want us all to practice this today. And in order to do so we have prepared paper that is scattered throughout the sanctuary, and if you are watching online you can grab any kind of paper. And I want you to write down something that comes to your mind. Then I want you to pray over that thing, and then give it to God. If you are in the worship center right now drop it in the buckets of water, and if you are at home tear it up, put it in the fireplace. Whatever can symbolize that you want God to work on that area of your life.

As we continue to worship we invite you, as the Spirit leads you, to pray and participate in these things with us.