A New Heart

You see, in all of the lawyers rules, and traditions, and doing the right things… he still misses the point, that holiness isn’t about rules, or traditions, but about relationships and how we interact in those relationships. And so, in the over all context of this story… it’s not just about loving your Neighbors, or serving your neighbor, but this is a story about needing a new heart and examining the heart to find what kind of mercy we have, and what kind of mercy we extend to others.

Did you know mercy doesn’t begin with us? I cant tell you how many times I’ve done merciful things and I It begins with God. Real much begins with Jesus.

Mercy is a really interesting attribute of God and one, that I would say can only come from a right relationship to God. Because in my natural sense, I would not show anyone that I don’t know, or anyone I don’t love, let alone, anyone that is my enemy any kind of mercy. But how is that even a reflection of Christ in me? Because mercy begins by examining who we worship. I believe it really does come down to that.

I mean, come on friends… why do you cling to just the hem of Jesus when you can embrace Christ fully and what he fully is design to give to you? I’m saying theres a deeper life “in Christ” that’s available?

I was convicted of this. At district assembly we had to read our prayers and I read mine lat week so you all could hear the prayer ive been praying for us as a church. But another pastor got up and his prayer convicted me and showed me that I wasn’t being merciful towards those who have hurt me. And so, heres my prayer, Abba Father, in the name of your beloved Son, yes His name is Jesus. i repent of any emotion that betrays the love, presence and power of my mighty God. Amen! I want living a merciful life. I cant claim Christ in me, and holiness and being devoted to Christ, when I'm just living my life no different than the lawyer, priest and levite. I can’t claim a deeper life when mercy is only conditional to my own well being and own comfort. So I.. repented. Holiness as we’ve learned the last three weeks, is taking on the identity of Christ that is within us, Being obedient through love, and living a life of repentance. And now, God was showing me a part of my heart that wasn’t merciful. Why would you not pursue it? Why would you not want that? I get it if you’re not really saved, and you’re wondering and asking questions.. it might not mean much to you. I mean to be honest thats the question every church needs to ask every person who has put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. What if there was more.. would you want it? And if so.. What would you be willing to give up to have it? I believe with all of my heart, God has so

Right… what if I told you today, that you could experience a greater love than the love that you have experienced up till now? What if I told you theres a deeper life, and a deeper calling than the one your holding onto…. And the first thing I would ask you is this, what is your mercy like towards those who love you verses those who hav harmed you in some way? You see, in all of the lawyers rules, and traditions, and doing the right things… he still missed the point, that holiness isn’t about rules, or traditions, but about relationships and how we interact in those relationships. And so, in the over all context of this story… it’s not just about loving your Neighbors, or serving your neighbor, but this is a story about needing a new heart and examining the heart to find what kind of mercy we have, and what kind of mercy we extend to others. This story isn’t just about loving God and neighbor, and serving both, it’s about needing a new heart. So, I want to show you very, very simply, two steps toward a heart of mercy that will lead you into a deeper life in Christ…

First part is this…. Mercy begins with a new heart. One of my favorite verses in the Bible comes from Ezekiel chapter 36. "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh."—Ezekiel 36:26 I think most Christians knows this verse. Its one of the first verses I had learned. But right before this, the Bible gives us the reason why, a new heart is needed. And its found in verses 22 and 23, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. 23 I will show the holiness of my great name,.. So a new heart is needed to show, or to reflect God’s own holiness in our lives. What kind of heart is a new heart? Well a new heart is a tender heart that listens. One of the stories we find in I kings is the story of Solomon where he makes a treaty with he pharaoh of Egypt and marries the daughter of the Pharaoh. And he heads to the high places to offer sacrifices to the Lord because the temple hasn’t been built yet. And while he was there, the Lord met him in a dream and said, ask for anything and it will be given to you. Sounds amazing right? What would you ask for? If you had one request that you know God would answer, what would it be? New car. More money? I thought about it this week.. I think I would ask have, a closer walk with him. To know his presence. And so, Solomon answered, in I Kings chapter 3, verse 9… 9 Give to your servant a listening heart to judge your people, to discern between good and bad, because who is able to judge this, your difficult people?” I can see this as my life because often I don’t always know what to do. I don’t always know how to lead my family well and how to shepherd these children’s hearts to know God. I struggle with wanting to teach them about God, but also wanting them to seek God themselves. I don’t know how to carry out this duty of being your pastor. Yes, I know what God’s words says, and its a timeless word, and God is always speaking to us through his word, but there are times where I ask, I don’t know how to think about the hate we see in our colleges right now. I didn’t know what to do about covid. I didn’t know how to handle some circumstances in life with relationships. I struggle at times to know without a doubt how to carry out my responsibilities of knowing how to shepherd you well without always feeling like I am failing you in some way. I want to walk step by step in his word, and in his grace but I just don’t always know how. All day long, in my prayers feel like I’m always pleading for wisdom and forgiveness. And perhaps that is how our relationship with God is meant to be? Coming to God like a child with questions, and readily being willing to listen to His words of wisdom. Solomon asked for a listening heart but eventually ended up listening to the wrong voices in his life. Solomon would end up listening to his wives to worship false Gods. We have such a natural desire to listen to the wrong things in our life. And perhaps, when David says in the Psalm, the be still and know God, it’s a word for us to patiently listen to what God is wanting too tell us. Because often, he will give us moments to see if our hearts are reflecting his holiness or not. That leads me to the second point, a tender heart is a heart that wholeheartedly seeks to worship. Just as it’s easy for us to listen to the wrong voice, it’s also easy for us to misplace our worship as well. The lawyers worship was in what he knew, which was the law. He was proud of the fact that he knew the law, but what Jesus exposed was the fact that you can know something, and still not be propelled to do it. Like, my kids know without a doubt they have chores. Alicia and I shouldn’t need to get up everyday and say, you’re chore is this, your chore is that. I mean, we even have a chart on the door in our dining room. But yet, we find ourselves always reminding our kids, you need to get this done. This is how our walk with Christ is so often. We can know what we should be doing, but choose not to do it. And it becomes a habit, a pattern to not do what we should be doing.

This story is about needing a new heart. Not just helping people. If it was just about helping people then the conversation would have looked different I think… the text points us to ask what began the conversation, and it was, how do I inherit internal life. And Jesus was saying, you need a new heart that is full of mercy… SO, church, I'm asking, how do we get that? How do we become a beacon of hope within our community where people of our community look at this church and say, man, thats a church where mercy flows? Those people, those people have so much mercy for others. SO much compassion for others? I was reading Psalm 126 this week, and theres a moment in verses 1-3 where joy is about to be restored as God restores the fortunes of Israel. And the Psalm says, the mouths are filled with laughter and shouts of joy. And right at the end of verse 2, it says, the Lord has done great things for them. And what the Psalmist is doing is showing us that other people are witnessing the joy coming from a heart of the worshipper because God has restored them. And the people around them are witnessing it and saying, I want that. I want what they have…. Whatever it is.. I want that. I’ve done that at restaurants.. where I saw food go by, and it looks hot and delicious, and I'm like waiter or waitress… I want whatever they are having.. because it looks good, and pleasing, and fresh, and I can see the joy on their face as they dive in and eat. The restraint has done great things for them.. and I want what they have. Jesus is showing the people, you’ve got to have a new heart and with a new heart comes, new desires. And it’s having these new desires, that begin with receiving God’s mercy to offer mercy to those around you.

So, what does a family of faith filled with mercy look like? Well first, we are a family that seeks to receive God mercy. *