Hearts Inscribed (Lent 5B)

Once upon a time writing was produced in a very different way than we write today. Writing was not as easy as word processing hundreds of words in an hour, and having the luxury of deleting as fast, or faster than we can write them down.  Writing was not as easy as grabbing a fresh piece of paper and scribbling down some notes.

Once upon a time human stories, histories, and transactions were recreated in stone.  Scribes were workers in stone.  They chiseled images, hieroglyphs, and letters onto monumental pieces of stone. It took time and precision. And their written text lasted down through to today.

Once upon a time, humans formed clay tablets for the purpose of recording written documents.  Into wet clay, scribes would use stylists, to push letters into the tablet. When the clay dried, the text was preserved, indented, in the clay. Archaeologists find these texts today, on tablets, seals, and writing on various styles of pottery.

Once upon a time, humans used homemade papyrus sheets and scrolls to put down their written words. Papyrus was made from layers of reeds, one layer vertical the next horizontal, put together wet they bonded together as the sun dried them. As the scribe wrote with ink across the slightly bumpy surface the papyrus soaked in the ink.  At times, words written on papyrus were scraped off and bleached in the sun, so the page could be used again.  Today when ancient scrolls are found the words written are read, but, more interesting is the second reading of the ghost texts that had been scraped off earlier. The written words can still be read with the correct light.  The ink had seeped into the papyrus and could not be entirely removed.

With these forms of writing in mind, hear again the words from Jeremiah:

This is the covenant that I will make…says the Lord; I 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.

Writing, to the first people hearing Jeremiah’s words, was not a simple scrawl on a piece of paper; something that could be erased later or crumpled up and recycled.  Writing was not graffiti on a building that could be removed with sweat equity and the right chemical. Writing was inscribing.  I will inscribe it on their hearts. Whether chipping a rock surface, pushing characters into clay, or ink seeping into the fabric of the papyrus, writing meant a change to that which was written upon. The item was changed, permanently, never to be the same again.

When we hear the words of the Lord from Jeremiah, do we hear that God writes on our hearts – inscribes our hearts – such that our hearts are changed forever?

Philosophically perhaps, we have entertained such an idea.  In the reading from Hebrews, we hear of Jesus who learned obedience through suffering, and was made perfect; becoming the source of eternal salvation.  The Gospel tells how a grain of wheat must die, change – permanently-, so that it can grow and bear much fruit. It is alluded to that Jesus is to die, and through the death, the ruler of the world will be driven out, all people will be drawn to Jesus; God’s name will be glorified.

What does it mean when growth, fruit, perfection, salvation, glory, follow after heavy statements:  through suffering, through death--- ?

I understand today’s readings via a story I retell. I have shared it with you before; it is not my own story; it has been written and retold many times; a parable of the Perfect Heart.

There is a young man in the centre square of the city.  He is pontificating on the beauty of his perfectly shaped, precisely working heart. He is proud of his heart – gleaming without a flaw to be seen – the heart has drawn the attention of bystanders.  A crowd grows to a catch a look and to praise the beauty of the heart.

After a period of time, when a large crowd had gathered, an old gentleman, wobbled into the centre of the square.  The crowd parted with gasps as he walked directly to the pompous young man. The crowd had gasped for they were shocked by the heart beating in the man’s chest.

His heart was old, discoloured, beaten, scarred, and bleeding. The old man confronted the youth and said, “Your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine.”  To which the youth protested: “Sir your heart is falling apart, it has gouges and holes, bulges and patches.  How can it be beautiful?” 

After a long pause, the old man explained that although his heart did not look perfect, he wouldn’t trade it for all the world.  Every hole was made when the man loved or had compassion.  He would take a piece of his heart, rip it out, and give it to the other. Sometimes the other would give him a piece of their heart in return and he would add it to his heart.  The pieces didn’t quite fit perfectly, but, the man’s love was woven with the love of the other.  Some of the scars and nicks, the bleeding; were the places where love was not returned to him and his heart waited for a day when those relationships would be healed.  His heart was a lifelong masterpiece created by love --- it was a creation of risk, as the interchange of love can be a tricky thing; giving, receiving, forgiving, thanking, were not always shared in equal measure.

The young man, and the gathered crowd, thought about this.

And as they did, the old man reached into his heart, took a piece and offered it to the young man. The old man had made another hole in his heart. 

The young man responded by taking a piece of his perfect looking heart and gave it to the old man. He placed the love of the old man in his own heart.  It didn’t fit perfectly, there was a jagged edge.  He was humbled and the perfect heart, became one of beauty, as love and compassion took root.

No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more. ...I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.

I was asked how it is that people turn out the way they do. How does one have the attitude of the young man? How does another have an old heart? There are examples in many of our families where one sibling embodies compassion, another anger, another indifference. They grew up in the same house, same parental figures, you would think the same values.  Somewhere though experiences and interpretations of the experiences were different, and so too then are the individual’s ability to self-differentiate and to take risks.  Perhaps it has to do with what has been, is allowed, to be inscribed on the heart.  Was there so much anger or fear that love could not penetrate and write on the heart?  Did the individual dwell on surface matters, creating walls for self protection, so that any love offered was superficial --- not changing the substance of the heart at the core of their being?  Were other’s hearts so scarred and left bleeding, the person so exhausted they could not build walls, so the rawness simply welcomed any kindness offered? Did the kindnesses grow and grow until the heart was mostly whole and began reciprocating? Are some people more prone to taking risks?

I wonder if in the giving and receiving of the pieces of our hearts – in the midst of messy relationship living- God forgives our iniquities and remembers our sin no more, because the brokenness is replaced with shared brokenness, a shared love that is centred and directed on wholeness through dying to self and growing fruit …fruit that is the permanent change of sin into relational living.  

This is the fullness of God’s covenant and the last words we hear before entering Jerusalem with Jesus next Sunday – the week where we walk with Jesus to the cross. Today’s scriptures are to remind us that the event coming, Jesus’ death, was God inscribing God’s heart, with a love and ultimate compassion born out suffering and death. God risking God’s heart out of love, to draw people to Godself… this is writing that inscribes -permanently changes one’s heart when it is witnessed and experienced.

Earlier we prayed Psalm 51:

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.

This is a risky prayer on our part. Creating a clean heart, a right spirit, restoring joy of your salvation, a willing spirit... in essence, we are asking to be the “old man” from the parable of the perfect heart. We are asking God to flood our hearts with the cleansing power of God’s gift of life --- love that casts out fear, love that melts wrath, love that conquers death.  We are asking that God’s gift of life – ultimate love—work through our spirit so we can be God’s presence in the world. Applied this means that we will risk loving –everybody, anybody, somebody, nobody—and we do this even though it will mean suffering and dying. We will be humbled, hurt, scarred --- and maybe not right away, but, down the road, love will be returned. Through relational living, our hearts will be made new, restored to joy …for as Jesus said: when I, [when Love] is lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself.

I will put my law within them, I will write – inscribe-  it on their hearts;

 I will be their God, and they shall be my people.