Planted In Our Hearts
Sermon
The Courage to Carry On
Sermons for Lent and Easter During Cycle B
Once upon a time, at a pastor and teacher's conference the group leader asked everyone present to identify the most influential person, other than parents, in the spiritual formation of their lives. It was difficult for some to choose. Dr. Fred Craddock was participating in the exercise. When it came his turn to share, he stood up and said, "Her name was Miss Emma Sloan." Craddock went on to describe Miss Emma Sloan as an elderly single woman. "She taught me in the primary department," related Craddock. "And since there was nobody to teach us as juniors, she went right on with us, and taught us for years. She gave me a Bible. She wrote in the front: 'May this be a light to your feet, a lamp for your path. Emma Sloan.' She taught us to memorize the Bible; she never tried to interpret it. I don't remember her ever explaining anything. She just said, 'Just put it in your heart. Just put it in your heart.' "1
Dr. Craddock concluded by describing how Miss Emma's influence of memorizing Bible verses, planted in his heart, has sustained his life over and over again. Some of us have similar experiences. There is something about having the good news of God planted in our hearts that makes a difference.
As we approach the end of our season of penance and preparation, Jeremiah anticipates a primary thrust of the Easter experience, in that God will transform human hearts. Jeremiah's vision of this new covenant follows the dreadful time of suffering in the Babylonian exile. Similar to that time of crisis and suffering, during the transition time between passion and resurrection, a vision of hope and good news is announced. Judgment is not the final word. A new covenant is coming.
"The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant ..." (v. 31). It will not be like the old covenant ... "This covenant ... will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God and they shall be my people" (v. 33).
The language is very intimate, isn't it? "I will write the new covenant in their hearts; and I will be their God and they shall be my people."
Miss Emma Sloan knew exactly what she was doing as she encouraged her students to memorize selected scripture verses by heart. It was a quickening of something already there; a reinforcement of promises planted long ago.
We are God's people. God is faithfully connected and active in our lives. His loving presence resides in our hearts. We, in turn, come to life in spirit and in purpose as we respond to this intimate loving relationship.
Saint John of the Cross of the sixteenth century coined the phrase, "the dark night of the soul." His awareness suggests dark times in anyone's life when there is fear, depression, and despair. Perhaps this was the case during the time of the Babylonian exile and perhaps especially during our time.
But with the covenants, promises, and activity of God especially in Jesus Christ our Lord, we can be renewed and reshaped from the inside out.
Sometimes it comes as a slow but steady discovery that the steadfast love of God never fails. This love of God in Christ seems to be most evident when we are aware of the merciful presence of Christ in our lives. It seems to be incarnational, planted in our hearts. Quite often, God appears to be most real to people who are struggling with difficulties that seem too much for them. In the midst of such turbulence and discouragement, they often discover that God has not abandoned them.
This spiritual sensitivity and awareness can save us from cynicism and despair by the quiet realization that our Savior and Lord will never forsake us.
William Hinson, in an inspiring book titled, Reshaping the Inner You, speaks of being transformed by the power of God's love in our hearts. Hinson indicates that too many of us have forgotten that life is lived from the inside.
"On our way to achieving the outward signs of success, we've forgotten or neglected the spirit. We are like the prodigal son, who fed one part of his being and starved another. That's why we wind up in the pigpen of life. We are not just a body; we are spirit as well. By choosing to take God's path, no matter what your age or station in life, you can begin to live again from the inside."2
Susan was a beautiful woman. She enjoyed sports of all kinds, especially water sports. Since her father owned a boat company, Susan spent many afternoons on the lake skiing behind one of the fastest and finest ski boats on the water. But tragedy was lurking.
One day Susan was out riding in a car with her brother, John. She was happy and full of life. In fact, it was her sixteenth birthday. Before she knew what happened, there was a scream of brakes and a clash of metal. Immediately she was knocked unconscious.
When Susan awoke, in a daze of pain, bright lights filled her room. The intravenous bottle, people all around her dressed in white, and the smell of antiseptic suggested to her that she was in a hospital emergency room. She tried to shift. Her legs would not move. Weak with pain, she shut her eyes.
As consciousness grew, she became more aware of voices and a conversation just outside her room. To her shock and horror she heard someone telling her father, "Your daughter's legs are paralyzed." There was a long silence broken by deep crying by her father.
Some moments later, her father, other family members, and the doctor gathered around Susan's bed to tell her the truth. Her father, so pale and downcast, took Susan's hand and said, "Honey, you will never walk again."
In those few devastating moments before they came into the room, Susan had prayed. A remarkable calm had interceded. Because she had experienced merciful strength from God before, somehow she was able to blurt out, "I can still use my hands."
From that moment forward, Susan began an upward journey. There were doubts, despair, cries of anguish mixed with hope, prayers, and trust in the good Lord's mercy and healing. Every morning she had her devotions. And every morning she determined to fix her eyes on the things other than her personal tragedy. With a deep awareness of Christ in her heart and fully confident in the Lord's mercy, Susan persevered. She returned to school and completed an accounting degree at Rice University. Eventually, she married and had two children. Her life has become an inspiration, a joy, and a comfort to those who know her.3
Susan's story is a wonderful story. It reminds us how joy, hope, perspective, endurance, and faith can be ours as well, under any circumstances, because we have the gifts of God in our hearts. We have an inward capacity to see life and love life with courage and insight because this new covenant has become a reality we can count on.
____________
1. Fred Craddock, Craddock Stories (St. Louis, Missouri: Chalice Press, 2001), pp. 33-34.
2. William Hinson, Reshaping the Inner You (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1988), p. 16.
3. Ibid, pp. 21-22.
Dr. Craddock concluded by describing how Miss Emma's influence of memorizing Bible verses, planted in his heart, has sustained his life over and over again. Some of us have similar experiences. There is something about having the good news of God planted in our hearts that makes a difference.
As we approach the end of our season of penance and preparation, Jeremiah anticipates a primary thrust of the Easter experience, in that God will transform human hearts. Jeremiah's vision of this new covenant follows the dreadful time of suffering in the Babylonian exile. Similar to that time of crisis and suffering, during the transition time between passion and resurrection, a vision of hope and good news is announced. Judgment is not the final word. A new covenant is coming.
"The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant ..." (v. 31). It will not be like the old covenant ... "This covenant ... will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God and they shall be my people" (v. 33).
The language is very intimate, isn't it? "I will write the new covenant in their hearts; and I will be their God and they shall be my people."
Miss Emma Sloan knew exactly what she was doing as she encouraged her students to memorize selected scripture verses by heart. It was a quickening of something already there; a reinforcement of promises planted long ago.
We are God's people. God is faithfully connected and active in our lives. His loving presence resides in our hearts. We, in turn, come to life in spirit and in purpose as we respond to this intimate loving relationship.
Saint John of the Cross of the sixteenth century coined the phrase, "the dark night of the soul." His awareness suggests dark times in anyone's life when there is fear, depression, and despair. Perhaps this was the case during the time of the Babylonian exile and perhaps especially during our time.
But with the covenants, promises, and activity of God especially in Jesus Christ our Lord, we can be renewed and reshaped from the inside out.
Sometimes it comes as a slow but steady discovery that the steadfast love of God never fails. This love of God in Christ seems to be most evident when we are aware of the merciful presence of Christ in our lives. It seems to be incarnational, planted in our hearts. Quite often, God appears to be most real to people who are struggling with difficulties that seem too much for them. In the midst of such turbulence and discouragement, they often discover that God has not abandoned them.
This spiritual sensitivity and awareness can save us from cynicism and despair by the quiet realization that our Savior and Lord will never forsake us.
William Hinson, in an inspiring book titled, Reshaping the Inner You, speaks of being transformed by the power of God's love in our hearts. Hinson indicates that too many of us have forgotten that life is lived from the inside.
"On our way to achieving the outward signs of success, we've forgotten or neglected the spirit. We are like the prodigal son, who fed one part of his being and starved another. That's why we wind up in the pigpen of life. We are not just a body; we are spirit as well. By choosing to take God's path, no matter what your age or station in life, you can begin to live again from the inside."2
Susan was a beautiful woman. She enjoyed sports of all kinds, especially water sports. Since her father owned a boat company, Susan spent many afternoons on the lake skiing behind one of the fastest and finest ski boats on the water. But tragedy was lurking.
One day Susan was out riding in a car with her brother, John. She was happy and full of life. In fact, it was her sixteenth birthday. Before she knew what happened, there was a scream of brakes and a clash of metal. Immediately she was knocked unconscious.
When Susan awoke, in a daze of pain, bright lights filled her room. The intravenous bottle, people all around her dressed in white, and the smell of antiseptic suggested to her that she was in a hospital emergency room. She tried to shift. Her legs would not move. Weak with pain, she shut her eyes.
As consciousness grew, she became more aware of voices and a conversation just outside her room. To her shock and horror she heard someone telling her father, "Your daughter's legs are paralyzed." There was a long silence broken by deep crying by her father.
Some moments later, her father, other family members, and the doctor gathered around Susan's bed to tell her the truth. Her father, so pale and downcast, took Susan's hand and said, "Honey, you will never walk again."
In those few devastating moments before they came into the room, Susan had prayed. A remarkable calm had interceded. Because she had experienced merciful strength from God before, somehow she was able to blurt out, "I can still use my hands."
From that moment forward, Susan began an upward journey. There were doubts, despair, cries of anguish mixed with hope, prayers, and trust in the good Lord's mercy and healing. Every morning she had her devotions. And every morning she determined to fix her eyes on the things other than her personal tragedy. With a deep awareness of Christ in her heart and fully confident in the Lord's mercy, Susan persevered. She returned to school and completed an accounting degree at Rice University. Eventually, she married and had two children. Her life has become an inspiration, a joy, and a comfort to those who know her.3
Susan's story is a wonderful story. It reminds us how joy, hope, perspective, endurance, and faith can be ours as well, under any circumstances, because we have the gifts of God in our hearts. We have an inward capacity to see life and love life with courage and insight because this new covenant has become a reality we can count on.
____________
1. Fred Craddock, Craddock Stories (St. Louis, Missouri: Chalice Press, 2001), pp. 33-34.
2. William Hinson, Reshaping the Inner You (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1988), p. 16.
3. Ibid, pp. 21-22.
