The Care and Feeding of a Willing Heart, Part 1
A Sermon Delivered August 1, 2004 at Cedar Hills by Pastor Phil Christensen
Why did it take 10 boy scouts to help the little old lady across the street? You know: She didn't want to go. As a 6-year-old cub scout, I loved that joke. A few decades later it still makes me grin - but it reminds me that people can be made to do things even they're not willing. All it takes is a few Boy Scouts, and a little old lady can find herself crossing streets she never intended.
I've got three sons, and various secrets about their lives have come out lately. I've learned, for example, that the two older boys have - for years! - convinced the younger one to eat horrible things. They offer him money. I've discovered that these loving, older, mature, Godly, siblings have been using their tiny defenseless brother as a source of entertainment most of his life.
"This vast wealth," they'd say, waving a five dollar bill in front of him, "can be yours if only you'll...EAT THIS!" Then they would present him with some devilish concoction made up of various things found in our kitchen. Pickle juice. Hot peppers. Vanilla extract. Raw eggs. Catsup. Anchovies. Garlic. They'd frappe it into some horrific drink fit from Betty Crocker's nightmares, and...offer it to my darling youngest son. My favorite. Lured by the promise of riches, he would bravely consume this hellish stuff, wipe his lips and pocket the money.
Now there was an upside to all this.
First, Dylan always had money.
Second, his brothers always viewed him with a strange mix of awe and disgust.
And third, he was never finicky about food. In fact, he's seemed unusually appreciative of my cooking. "This is really good, Dad," he'd say.
Of course I had no idea what he was comparing it to.
Yes, people can be forced to do things against their will.
I remember a young woman named Melanie who sang on my worship team. She had a husband named Paul who never came to church. Melanie would tell us about Paul and how she was trying to get Paul to come to church with her. Looking back, I can only imagine what went on in that home as she nagged, begged and cajoled that poor guy into sitting through just one church service.
One Sunday morning Melanie prevailed. Paul came to church. He dragged himself through the front doors, looking like he'd just gagged down one of Dylan's Drinks. We shook his hand, and told him how glad we were to see him, but wow, he looked miserable. Sick. Almost terminal.
I led worship that morning, and looked out at the congregation. Most of the people were worshiping sweetly, encountering God. Glory shining from them. Tears running down some faces.
Then there was Paul. He was in pain. Now I've seen pain. I've stood at Mitzi's side while she gave birth to our children. I've been with people at their death beds. But I don't believe I've ever seen a man in the kind of agony Paul experienced that morning. He looked as though some tormentor had driven a dozen 10 penny nails into his chest.
Paul was there, but he was not there with a willing heart.
People can be motivated to do things against their will. Bribed, threatened, shamed, whatever - but it's still against their will.
And - goes the old adage: "A man who's moved against his will, remains unconvinced still."
When Dylan wants a snack, he's unlikely to ask his brothers to surprise him with a little something. When Paul is thinking of a great way to spend a Sunday morning, he doesn't go to church.
Simply put, they're not willing.
So what is this thing Christians call a willing heart? How do you get one? How do you take care of it?
A Willing Heart is a heart that's inclined to draw close to the Lord and submit to Him.
In our recent study through the book of Ruth, Pastor Randy introduced us to a woman who approached God with a Willing Heart. We compared and contrasted two remarkable passages. Let's review them. The first was:
Ruth 2:12: May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge. (NIV)
In Ruth, we find a woman who chose to run TO GOD, not away from Him. She had a willing heart. She trusted the counsel of Naomi. She stepped ahead in faith, obedient to what little she understood and then left the results of her life in the hands of a Sovereign God. She took refuge in His wings.
Now let's look the next passage: A very different passage. It paints an opposite picture from what we saw in Ruth.
Mt. 23:37: O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. (NLT)
In Jerusalem's religious leaders, we find people who did not have a willing heart. While Jesus longs to gather them under His wings, calling them to Himself, they refuse. They fold their arms and keep their distance from Him; they are not willing.
As we explore the "Care and Feeding of a Willing Heart," I need to be very clear about something: You can't care for and feed something you don't have.
1. A Willing Heart is a "graced" heart. It's a heart that's been birthed within us supernaturally as we kneel before the Cross of Christ.
You can't draw near to God apart from a salvation experience. Paul called it "becoming a new creature." Peter called it "stepping out of darkness into His marvelous light." Jeremiah called it trading a heart of stone for "a heart of flesh." Jesus called it being "born from above."
Being religious isn't enough. I've known religious people who have never had a saving encounter with Jesus Christ. Though they called themselves Christians, they wanted their relationship with God to be on their own terms. The Bible says you can't do that.
"No one comes to the Father but through Me," Jesus said.
"There's no name (other than Jesus) given under heaven that we might be saved," Paul wrote.
I remember the story of an aging art collector who had a priceless collection of paintings. When his only son was killed in a car accident, the man lost all his interest in fine art. He put his collection up for auction.
The very first picture on exhibition wasn't a Rembrant or VanGogh, but a simple watercolor done by the art collector's late son.
Most of those attending the auction ignored the amateurish work and refused to bid on it. But one fellow did. While others grumbled about getting on to the good stuff, a man who knew the son bid $25.00. The auctioneer accepted the man's bid and then stood to close the auction and dismiss the crowd. They were outraged and demanded to know what was going on! The Auctioneer explained: "The owner of the collection has instructed me to give his entire collection to the individual who bid for the work of his son." Then he turned to that man and said, "Because you've embraced the work of the Son, you're welcome to the riches of the Father."
That's how it is with God the Father - His riches - His gift of Himself and eternal life - are only available through His son, Jesus. If you're here this morning and haven't given your heart to Jesus. Make this the day. If you don't know someone who can help you in the process, come and talk to me after the service. Or Pastor Robin. One of the elders.
A willing heart is - first, and above all - a regenerated, a "graced" heart
2. A Willing Heart is a growing heart.
It's very encouraging to me that a willing heart doesn't have to be a perfect heart. In the Matthew passage, Jesus is addressing people with some very serious problems - but He still offers Himself as the solution.
We're all people with problems. People who need to grow, to change, to be transformed by the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. He who began a good work in you will complete it! Ph. 1:6
You and I need to yield ourselves to God's intention to complete us. A willing heart wants to cooperate.
There's a Linda Ronstadt song:
I've been warped by the rain,
driven by the snow,
drunk and dirty, but don't you know
that I'm still willin'
Some of us know we're in pretty rough shape - but our hearts are still willing - and waiting for a touch from the Master.
Not that many winters ago, I sat down with a fellow named Dan.
He'd asked Christ into his heart when he was much younger, but had made a lot of poor decisions since that time. He'd been living in an immoral situation, but his girl-friend had just left him. A bitter divorce in his background. Plenty of drugs and alcohol involved. His teeth were blackened from smoking crack. As I sat with him, I also learned that he'd gotten a different young lady pregnant the week before.
It was the dead of winter, and the water pipes under Dan's house were completely frozen. Life was pretty bleak for Dan.
I picked up a kerosene space warmer and while we thawed his pipes, I found in Dan one of the most willing hearts I'd ever met. I asked him if he wanted to come back to Jesus, and Dan asked, "will He have me?"
I said, "you bet. And so will I."
Dan rededicated his heart to Christ that night. He did his best to make some old wrongs right. He went on to serve on our worship team. He formed a biking club and ministered to kids. Eventually, he married a wonderful, talented woman and this morning the two of them are leading worship in a fine evangelical church in Salt Lake City.
A willing heart is a growing - a changing heart - a heart that knows God is not yet finished with us, and yields to His work
God has designed that much of this growing occur through the regular reading of His Word. A Willing Heart is nurtured by daily times in the Bible. Peter put it this way: "Like new-born babes, long for the pure milk of the Word, that by it you may grow in the Lord (NASB)." (1 Pt. 2:2)
At CHEF we place a premium on the Word of God. Woven right into our DNA is the question: "Where stands it written?" Randy generally preaches in series through books of the Bible. We have daily Bible Studies, Bible reading programs, our small groups gather to study the Bible. We want to be Bible-saturated people.
By the way, some of us learn far better with our ears than with our eyes. If that's the case for you, treat yourself to the Bible on CD, and listen daily. Fall asleep listening. Take it along in your car.
I've discovered recently that these CD tracks of Scripture can be converted into MP3 Files - just like music. You can transfer dozens or even hundreds of these chapters into your MP3 player and carry them in your purse or pocket anywhere.
A willing heart is a growing heart, but
3. A Willing Heart is a gathered heart.
Jesus uses the word "gathered" to describe His intention for us. Have you ever noticed that it's difficult to "gather" by yourself? Gathering assumes that you're part of a group. The God Group! This matter of community is big on the heart of God.
Don't neglect the assembling of yourselves together. Relationships are strengthened when we gather. And just like coals that burn hotter together, we need each other. Our gifts complete each other.
If you're not in a small group this Fall, I encourage you to get signed up. If you've been thinking about joining a ministry team, do it. We need each other.
O Jerusalem, JerusalemÂ…how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.
I don't want to be one of these! I want a willing heart. I want to be like Ruth. I want to be one of the willing ones.
Not long before God called Mitzi and I to Cedar Hills, I led worship at a pastor's conference in the Pacific Northwest. It was a pretty big affair. After a morning session, two pastors invited me to join them at their table. I knew them both. I considered them both intelligent, well-trained men of the Word. One said, "Phil, we've been discussing it, and we've finally decided what bothers us about your approach to worship." I thought, "boy, I'm in for a real treat today."
Then they begin to explain: your songs are generally about wanting to be near Christ. They talk about fondness for God, and how good a close relationship with God is. I agreed.
Then they leveled me. They told me that most of the people in their churches didn't have that kind of relationship with God and generally didn't want it, either. That being the case, these wouldn't be honest songs for their people to sing.
I was sure I hadn't heard right, so repeated back what I'd heard: The people in their churches didn't desire a deeper life in Christ, so as pastors they felt they had a responsibility to filter out lyrics on the subject. They both nodded.
I'd visited both their churches. They were located in growing areas, but these churches were dying. Ministries that held far more funerals than newcomers classes. No children's ministries, no youth ministries, no salvations, no baptisms. And no wonder.
Gathered under Christ's wing is where the life is.
And they were not willing.
It takes a lot to make me draw a line in the sand, but I drew one that day. Intimacy with Christ is not a negotiable value. Mitzi and I knew very clearly that we would never - could never - pour ourselves into a ministry that didn't have a willing heart to draw close to God.
I can tell you confidently that Cedar Hills Evangelical Free Church is a place of the Willing Heart. I see it in our elders, hear it in our staff meetings. Randy has taken a sabbatical for the express purpose of drawing closer to Jesus. It's in the excitement of our children as they scamper off to their classes. On Sunday mornings, your voices resonate together - as one voice - from willing hearts. Next week, Pastor Jaysin and our youth worship team will lead us and you'll see that same spirit.
May Jesus always be able to say of us, Cedar Hills, I have longed to gather you under my wings - I'm so glad you were willing.
