Heart and Action: Do Yours Agree?

[00:00:04] Now, we've sung both versions in a span of two weeks. So now a show of hands, who likes the one we just sang? [00:00:12] Bach's version? [00:00:16] Who likes Luther's version that we sang two weeks ago? [00:00:22] Okay. It's pretty even for those who voted. [00:00:26] Who likes both? [00:00:31] I got some feedback. I was like, well, let's just sing that again. [00:00:35] Great. [00:00:36] Well, now I won't always choose one of them, because now I know that we're not all on the same page about it just means we're going to have to sing it twice as much, which is fine with me, but not with just any hymn. So. [00:00:52] Just kidding. All right, enough kidding. In the name of Jesus, amen. I waited to do that. [00:01:00] Well, for better or worse, okay, In the Old Testament reading, God is saying to Israel that he doesn't like things that he has commanded them to do. [00:01:20] Did you catch that? [00:01:23] I hate. I despise your feasts. [00:01:27] Well, God did tell them to celebrate these feasts as part of their worship. Life together, kind of central to their life as his people. [00:01:40] And I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. [00:01:45] So they get there and they're solemn. [00:01:48] It sounds like it would be a good thing. [00:01:51] It sounds like they're reverent. [00:01:55] If you were there, it would look like, yeah, this is the real thing. They're doing it. [00:02:01] But he doesn't take any delight in it. Even though you offer me burnt offerings and grain offerings which were indeed commanded by Him, I will not look upon them. [00:02:13] Nope, I will not accept them. And the peace offerings of your fattened animals? Again commanded by God. [00:02:20] Nothing here indicating they're doing it wrong. [00:02:25] The peace offerings of your fattened animals. I will not look upon them. [00:02:30] Take away from me the noise of your songs. [00:02:37] Are they not to sing to God? [00:02:41] To the melody of your harps? I will not listen. [00:02:46] What's the problem here? [00:02:49] What's going on? Why is God now not interested in what he expressly commanded his people to do? [00:03:05] Well, you can do all kinds of outward things. [00:03:09] And if your heart's not in it, none of those things matter. [00:03:16] So if someone has stopped loving his wife, let's say she can tell something's off. [00:03:29] He could give her flowers, he could give her diamonds. [00:03:34] But if his heart's not in it, it's not going to matter to her. [00:03:40] There are outward things and there are inward realities. And those need to line up. They need to be aligned. [00:03:51] Husband who loves his wife and gives her diamonds, she's going to be thrilled. It's great. [00:04:00] Those things just if they're separated. [00:04:04] Then the outward is no longer an expression of the inner. [00:04:12] See the diamonds? It's like the husband could just love his wife and not get diamonds, give them to her. [00:04:22] What's wrong with that? [00:04:25] It's like so much better if that inner reality that's hard to see is expressed outwardly. [00:04:34] Could be by doing the dishes too, something like that. [00:04:39] So the outward expression is important, but the inner reality is the substance of it. It's what really in the end, makes the difference. [00:04:55] Well, that's what Israel is doing. They're doing all the outward things that God commanded. They have a real purpose and function in the life of Israel to support their faith. [00:05:04] Like, three times a year, every male has to go to Jerusalem and offer sacrifices and be part of the. [00:05:12] The feasts, remembering all that God has done for Israel. [00:05:16] Like, maybe you don't want to go to Jerusalem this time. [00:05:20] I guess I will, you know. And then you get there and you're like, well, I'm glad I did, because now I'm remembering who we are as God's people and what he's done for us. And then go back and share it with your family. That's kind of how I imagine it was like maybe, maybe one morning you don't feel like going to church, and then you go and you. You say, ah, what was I so worried about? Or what? You know, you go home, glad you did. [00:05:47] There was a structure, this outward thing. Your heart wasn't in it, but having the outward thing helped your heart get in it because you heard God's word. God worked in your heart and it was good for you. [00:05:59] The outward thing is important and the inward thing is important. They go together. [00:06:07] But it's all aiming at the inward, the inward reality. [00:06:13] Well, Israel is doing all the right things outwardly. [00:06:19] Their assemblies are even solemn. [00:06:22] They're reverent. [00:06:24] And God's not happy with them. He's like, I don't want your diamond rings. [00:06:30] Israel, he wants their heart. [00:06:38] And he's calling them back to himself with a warning. [00:06:44] Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord, who want the Lord to come to his people. [00:06:53] You think it's going to be good when he comes? [00:06:58] God's saying, you think it's going to be good when I come? [00:07:01] It's like you want rescue from a lion, but a bear meets you. That's what it's going to be like. [00:07:10] What an image. [00:07:13] Yikes. [00:07:16] Or you go in a house, because your house is the place where you can rest, where you're safe. It's your space. [00:07:26] Lean on a wall. Thank you, wall, for taking a little bit of my weight for a moment here. [00:07:33] And a serpent bites you. [00:07:36] The Israelites are leaning on something that's not what they think. [00:07:42] They're forgetting God and despising him without even realizing it. [00:07:52] They're missing the point entirely and going along as if everything's just fine. [00:08:00] God wants them to recognize everything's not fine. [00:08:12] Because maybe when the husband realizes I haven't been loving my wife, at that point, maybe he's cut to the heart and repents and loves his wife. [00:08:30] But otherwise we can easily fool ourselves into thinking that we have the heart of the matter, that we have it and we don't. [00:08:44] What's the heart of our gathering together as God's people? [00:08:49] Like, what would be the inner realities and what would be the outward kind of trappings of it? Again, outward is important, but the inner reality is essential. [00:09:04] One of the outward realities is we all shake our hands, shake, you know, each other's hands. [00:09:09] Not our hands shake each other's hands. [00:09:12] We share the peace of the Lord with one another, which maybe some of you don't particularly enjoy, but it's that kind of thing. It is an outward practice, an ancient one, that's there to train our hearts, right? If I go around saying, the peace of the Lord, peace be with you, like Jesus said to his apostles, if I go around and say, peace be with you, and my heart's not in it at first, like, not that it isn't, but, you know, well, it might actually get my heart into it, right? [00:09:47] It's an outward thing to train our hearts, right? But is the inner reality there? Or we come up to the table together, and we're all receiving Jesus, body and blood together, receiving Jesus in our bodies, in our hearts, and he's incorporating us all into his own body, uniting us together. [00:10:09] And so at the table here and invisibly with all God's people everywhere, in Jesus of all times, we're united, we're one. [00:10:23] But, well, what if. I mean, what if your heart's not in it? [00:10:31] What if you're not seeing what's there? [00:10:35] Or, you know, one way to tell that especially is if you come up to communion with, like, holding a grudge against the person next to you or. [00:10:47] And you hate them in your heart? [00:10:51] Well, there's disunity, right? And then the pretense of unity, or. Not that it's on purpose. Maybe we've just fallen asleep to what's going on. And like the husband who's like, come on, I gave you diamonds. You know, we like think that we're, we still have the thing, right? Faith in our hearts and we don't. [00:11:21] Is it uncomfortable to think about that? [00:11:24] It's like this is the constant reality is that every day we need to be kind of woken up out of our slumber, our falling asleep to what's going on in our hearts. We need to take a second look at our hearts not to find there something valuable that we can hang our hat on and say, well, yeah, I've got trust in God more than that other person. [00:11:59] Not to find something bad in our hearts and say, I guess I've got no hope. [00:12:06] Because that would be to do the same thing, to find something to stand on and find that we can't stand on it and then just sink, be washed away like sand on the beach. [00:12:20] God shows us in our hearts by faith, by the power of the Holy Spirit. God shows us when we're chasing after something else, when our hearts aren't in it and they want something else. It could be your honor, could be prosperity, it could be escape, it could be all kinds of things, any earthly thing. [00:12:50] God reveals that to us. [00:12:54] So we take a look at our heart, we find there desire for something else or fear of something. We shouldn't fear that kind of thing. What do you do? [00:13:10] Repent. [00:13:12] Repent. Because another option would be to just sort of paper over it, right? Just paper over it and say, I must be okay, everything's got to be okay. And just kind of keep doing what you're doing. Because if you hear the hard word, well, it can hurt. It does hurt and could be hard to take. It could hurt your honor, could make you feel without hope. [00:13:43] But not looking to Jesus, that's the key. Like how do you keep the heart of it? [00:13:51] How do you come to church and remember what is the essence of church? What is at the heart of our life together? [00:14:02] What connects us together? [00:14:05] Look to Christ. [00:14:07] Look to Christ and he shows you something that doesn't belong. [00:14:16] Let him wash away with repentance and let him feed you with that ever flowing stream of righteousness. In Christ, it's kind of everything. [00:14:34] Receiving from the Lord, whatever. He has to give both things, he has to give both. The clearing away. [00:14:45] So you can think about it with water. Or like let them burn up whatever straw, right? And then what remains, Christ living in you. [00:14:55] What a gift. [00:14:57] That's who we have to point to, that's who we have to cling to. [00:15:04] So if there's something that needs to be washed away by Jesus, forgiveness, driven away by his presence. [00:15:14] Don't worry, you can survive without it. [00:15:17] More than survive. Like, that's what life. That's what life looks like, truly. [00:15:25] Christ dwelling in us and giving us everything. That's what our church looks like with the eyes of faith. [00:15:38] Christ dwelling in us, among us, and on our lips. Being spoken to one another means laying down whatever we're holding onto that would pull us apart. [00:15:56] And looking to Christ, who pulls us together like a seamless garment. He says Christ has broken down the dividing wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile, but between all of us and then also between us and those who are outside. [00:16:21] Why are they outside? [00:16:23] Not because they don't share our culture. [00:16:26] Not because they don't know our history at Trinity. [00:16:32] Not because they wear a hat, don't realize they shouldn't wear a hat in church. [00:16:37] Not because they come in with clothes that you wouldn't wear to church. [00:16:41] Why are they outside? [00:16:45] Only because they don't know Jesus yet. [00:16:53] Thanks, Pastor Hesse. [00:16:56] Yet. Yeah. [00:16:59] Isn't it wonderful, like, when you clear everything away, what remains is Jesus. [00:17:05] And that's encouraging. [00:17:07] And it's also like, oh, I have a lot that needs to be cleared away, right? [00:17:14] There's a lot in me to die and then be raised to life in Jesus. [00:17:19] And a lot that's unnecessary, that I often think is necessary. [00:17:25] And maybe a lot about our life as a church, as a congregation, that's, you know, ancillary to what is really the heart of our life together. And that's an opportunity to look to Jesus who's the substance in his name. Amen.