A small-town problem?

When I grew up in the North County of St. Louis, I had a lot of civic pride (North County Proud!-where else can you see the things that you see in the circle?).  I loved Florissant--still do--but my community was not really defined by my geography.  I regularly spent time in Bellefontaine Neighbors, Ferguson, Hazelwood, Clayton, St. Louis City, etc., etc. 

My community was defined primarily by my church.  Part of the reason was because I attended parochial school at my church, but even in high school and beyond my activities were usually connected with the church or with people from the church.  My family was not the only one; in fact I know of at least a half-dozen families who were (and are) just like mine in spending a lot of time at church.

Now I live in a small town.  There are many great things about a small town--John Mellancamp can tell you all about them.  But when it comes to the church, there seems to be a bit of a difference.  I could be way wrong, but it occurred to me this morning as I was walking the streets of Dwight, that many people would consider their community primarily defined by the town, and by the church only secondarily.  First a resident of Dwight, second a member of Emmanuel.  Because I had a community defined by my church growing up, church was where I went to be with my friends, with my extended family, whether in worship or other things. 

I don't know if this is something that's more particular to a small town as opposed to a large city or suburb (the high school behind my house where I grew up had more students than my current town has residents).  Perhaps it's a problem we've created for ourselves at Emmanuel by failing to foster a community around the Word of God and the Sacrament.  I don't know. 

Sermon for Easter 7

Seventh Sunday of Easter

Ezekiel 36:22-28

5 June, 2011

Emmanuel Lutheran Church—Dwight, IL

In the name of the Father, and of the T Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

            Between our Lord’s ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, we’re told that the disciples “with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers” (Acts 2:14).  As they followed Jesus’ command to wait for the promise of the Father and the baptism of the Holy Spirit, they spent their time in prayer and meditation upon God’s Word.

            When the Jews prayed, often their prayer was shaped by the Psalms—the prayer book and hymn book of the Bible.  In ten days time, it is reasonably certain that they prayed David’s great Psalm of repentance, Psalm 51, in which is found the words, “Create in me a clean heart, O God and renew a right spirit within me.  Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit” (Ps 51:10-12).

            This Psalm shows that

The Gift of the Holy Spirit Is the Gift of a New Heart

I.

            Consistently, one of the top killers each year is heart disease.  Many of you have probably been warned about it already.  Bad diet, lack of exercise, unhealthy habits all cause your blood vessels to harden, your heart to work harder, your arteries to clog with cholesterol.  Your heart beats within your breast until it cannot take the strain any longer and it fails.  Scripture says that “the life of every creature is its blood” (Lv 17:14a), and when your heart stops pumping blood, your life will soon be lost.

            I recently read about another form of heart disease—this one more deadly than arthrosclerosis.  It’s more deadly because it’s harder to detect.  An angiogram will overlook it, and the symptoms are mostly unnoticeable until it’s too late.  It also affects those who lead an active and fit life just as often as it does those who are sedentary.  This particular form of heart disease is a congenital defect—if you have it, you’ve had it since birth. 

            Our Lord warns us against this heart disease in His prophecy through the mouth of Ezekiel.  “I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (v 26b). 

            What does the Lord God mean by a heart of stone?  Clearly it’s not that the tissue inside your chest is petrifying.  To have a heart of stone means two things: first, it is a heart that resists God’s Word; second it’s a heart that chases after idols. 

            When Pharaoh witnessed God’s miraculous signs in Egypt, again and again we’re told that he hardened his heart.  God spoke His Word to him through His prophet Moses, but he would not listen—he would not let the people go.  Even when it seemed as though he would relent, he again hardened his heart and resisted God’s good grace.

            The gracious words of our Lord deliver His good gifts to you—but a gift can always be rejected.  Hard hearts don’t like to receive from God, but would rather earn on their own merits. 

            The result of the hardening of hearts is the pursuit of idols.  God works graciously through His Word and His holy Sacraments, but for most people that is exceptionally offensive.  That God would descend from heaven to atone for their sin must necessarily mean that they can contribute nothing to their standing before God.  And so they reject God because they reject His Word.  But it is not possible to live without a god.  Something will inevitably fill the void. 

            The Large Catechism says that a god is anything on which you rely for all good.  The most common god is money.  Why do you think that we have nearly 600 members in this congregation, but less than a hundred worshipping here today?  Because God asks you to give Him money.  But God’s ten percent can be spent on so many other things on Sunday morning. 

            We often make the mistake of limiting idolatry to the Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, and atheists.  But notice to whom Ezekiel prophecies.  He’s not speaking to the nations about their idolatry, but to Israel—God’s chosen people.  They are the ones who have profaned God’s name; they are the ones who have worshipped the idols. 

            This prophecy still speaks to Israel today—not the nation, but the new Israel in the Church.  You also were born with spiritual heart disease that turns your heart rock-hard.  You bear God’s name by virtue of your baptism, but your sin profanes God’s name—you drag it in the mud with you whenever you disobey.  Your heart of stone seeks after idols to replace the true God even as you sit here and worship Him.

            Repent.  Know that your heart is hard and pray to God to give you a new one.

II.

            Ezekiel’s prophecy, though harsh, isn’t ultimately a prophecy of judgment, but a prophecy of grace.  Even though he speaks God’s Law in all its fury and wrath, he does not do so to condemn, but to save. 

            “I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (vv 24-26).

            This is the best news that can be given to someone with spiritual heart disease.  God does not offer to treat only the symptoms of this disease—to make you feel good about yourself, to hide your suffering under false emotionalism—but He promises a complete heart transplant.  He will remove your heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh. 

            How does this spiritual surgery work?  It begins with the sprinkling of water.  God washes you clean from all of your idolatry by combining His Word with water.  Even though you drag His name through the muck of your sin, His name remains vindicated through the obedience of His Son.  For you bear not only the name of the Father, but also of the Son, who came down into the muck with you, yet kept God’s name holy. 

            God keeps His name holy in you with the continual word of forgiveness that He speaks to you in the Holy Absolution.  He returns you to your baptism to wash you clean once again.  Once you have been cleaned of your idolatry, God goes to work on the root of the problem. 

            What makes heart disease so dangerous?  The heart is responsible for pumping blood throughout your body to deliver all sorts of nutrients to you members.  But the most important duty of the heart is to deliver oxygen.  The air that you breathe goes into your blood and is sent throughout your body by your heart.  When the heart stops, the oxygen stops.

            In Hebrew the word for air is also the word for spirit.  I don’t think that it’s a coincidence that God goes about replacing your heart in the way that He does.  “And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my just decrees” (v 27).

            God promises the Holy Spirit to cure your heart from the inside.  The spiritual surgery is done every time the Word is spoken, which is sharper than any two edged sword.  It cuts to the heart and removes the malignant disease that finds its way to your core. 

            Many of you know that a major surgery isn’t something that you get taken care of in a short visit to the doctor.  Surgery lasts hours and recovery takes a long time with follow-up visits.  The Lord’s surgery is a life-long procedure, and it will only really be finished on the day of resurrection when your old flesh, which will be laid to rest in the grave, will be raised to new life. 

            Jesus ascends to His Father, but not without first promising to send the Holy Spirit.  He is a precious gift; He is the gift of a new heart.

In T Jesus’ name.  Amen.

JWE

VDTMA