Hearts Like Ours

This is the message given in the Wheatland Parish Sunday, July 22, 2012.  The scriptures are Matthew 7:1-5 and Matthew 18:15-17.

           Today, we’re picking back up with our sermon series “This Is Country Music”, as we listen to some contemporary country songs and look at what they have to say about faith and society.

           

The song we’re going to listen to today is called “Heart Like Mine” by Miranda Lambert.  I’m not saying that I agree with everything the song says, but I do think that it shows how a lot of people in society tend to look at the church.  I also think it shows what a lot of people see as a disconnect between the love they see in Jesus and the judgmentalism they see in the church.  So, let’s listen to the song, and then we’ll talk about it.  The words are below.

           

I ain't the kind you take home to Momma

I ain't the kind to wear no ring

Somehow I always get stronger

When I'm on my second drink

Even though I hate to admit it

Sometimes I smoke cigarettes

Christian folks say I should quit it

I just smile and say, "God bless"

'Cause I heard Jesus, He drank wine

And I bet we'd get along just fine

He could calm the storm and heal the blind

And I bet He'd understand a heart like mine

Daddy cried when he saw my tattoo

Said, he loved me anyway

My brother got the brains in the family

So I thought I'd learn to sing

'Cause I heard Jesus, He drank wine

And I bet we'd get along just fine

He could calm the storm and heal the blind

And I bet He'd understand a heart like mine

I'll fly away from it all one day

I'll fly away

These are the days that I will remember

When my name's called on the roll

They'll meet me with two long-stemmed glasses

Make a toast to me coming home

'Cause I heard Jesus, He drank wine

And I bet we'd get along just fine

He could calm the storm and heal the blind

And I bet He'd understand

He’d understand a heart like mine

Oh yes, He would

            About six weeks ago, in a different sermon series, we talked about how most of us don’t like rules.  If someone tells us “you can’t do this” or “you have to do that”, we resist that.  We want to make our own choices.  We don’t want to have someone else tell us what to do.

           

I think that really comes through in this song.  The person singing it has made some choices that the “Christians” in her life disapprove of.  She admits that some of those choices may not have been the best ones.  What she says, though, is that she thinks Jesus would show her understanding for those choices, while the “Christians” in her life don’t.

           

Now, is that a caricature of Christianity?  Well, maybe, to an extent.  It’s certainly not true of all Christians all the time.  But we cannot say that it’s not true of any Christians any of the time.  There is a strain of judgmentalism that runs through Christianity, and if we’re going to get anywhere we need to acknowledge that this is true.

           

We also need to look at why that’s true.  I say that because as Christians, we walk kind of a fine line sometimes.  There are passages in the Bible where Jesus tells us not to judge others.  There’s no question about that.  We read one of them today.  On the other hand, we know that there are also passages where we’re told that certain things are right and certain things are wrong.  We’re told that we need to stay away from sin.  So what do we do?  How do we handle this?  How do we deal with behavior that we know is sinful without falling into the trap of judgmentalism?

           

Well, I think there are at least a few things we can do.  One of them is to make sure that things we consider sin actually are.  We need to make sure those rules we’re talking about actually are rules that appear in the Bible, rather than rules that we’ve made for ourselves.

           

For instance, let’s look at a couple of the things that are mentioned in this song:  drinking and smoking.  Now, I don’t drink, and I don’t smoke, and I’m not saying that I think either of those things is a good thing to do.  At the same time, though, I am not aware of anything in the Bible that says the consumption of alcohol is a sin, nor am I aware of anything in the Bible that says smoking is a sin. 

As the song points out, Jesus did drink wine.  In fact, we have the famous story of the wedding in Cana where Jesus turned water into wine.  There are passages that say drunkenness is wrong, but that does not mean all consumption of alcohol is a sin.

It’s the same with smoking.  Now, I don’t know that they had tobacco in Jesus’ time, but the closest I can come to something that says smoking is a sin is the times when the Bible says that we should take proper care of our bodies.

I agree that we should, of course.  The thing is, though, that taking proper care of our bodies involves a lot more than just not smoking and not drinking.  It means not eating too much.  It means eating the right things, rather than candy and ice cream and chocolate cake and sweet rolls.  It means getting enough exercise.  It means not going to the convenience store and getting the thirty-two ounce fountain Coke.  If we’re going to rely on taking care of our bodies as the basis for our judgments, we’d better make sure all of our own behavior is in order first.

            That brings me to the second point.  Even if the things we consider sins are recognized as such in the Bible, we need to make sure we’re not just recognizing certain sins, and conveniently forgetting about the things we don’t like so much.  After all, there are places where the Bible speaks out against gluttony, against eating too much.  There are places where the Bible speaks out against envy and jealousy.  There are places where the Bible speaks about how we’re obligated to give one-tenth of our income to God.  There are lots of things the Bible talks about.  This is what Jesus was meant when he said we need to first take care of the plank in our own eye.  If we feel like we’re qualified to judge the behavior of other people, then we’d better make sure our own behavior is all where it should be.

So what does that mean?  Does it mean we can never point out behavior that the Bible says is wrong?  Are we, as Christians, required to accept a philosophy of “anything goes”, because anything else would be judgmental and wrong?

Well, I don’t think so.  In fact, in our reading from Matthew 18, Jesus specifically tells us what to do if a brother or sister sins.  Jesus does not say anything goes.  Instead, Jesus specifically tells us that when a brother or sister sins, we need to do something.

Here’s what’s interesting, though.  When Jesus refers to a brother or sister here, what he’s talking about is a brother or sister in the faith.  He’s talking about our fellow believers.  When a fellow believer sins, we’re supposed to go talk to them.  If that does not work, we’re supposed to take one or two other believers along.  If that still does not work, we’re supposed to take the matter up with the church.

In other words, what Jesus is saying is that we’re supposed to point out the sins of fellow believers.  And we’re also supposed to listen when fellow believers point out our sins.  But Jesus does not say that we’re supposed to go around pointing out the sins of non-believers.  In fact, Jesus says that if people, “refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.”

Now, we read that, and maybe we think Jesus is telling us to be dismissive of believers who won’t listen when their sins are pointed out.  That’s not it.  Think about it:  how did Jesus treat pagans and tax collectors?  He loved them.  He spent all kinds of time with them.  He healed them.  He offered forgiveness of sins to them.  As our song says, Jesus got along fine with them, because he understood hearts like theirs.  He offered those hearts complete, total, and unconditional love.

Here’s what I think Jesus is saying.  He’s saying, yes, we do need to help lead people away from sin.  The way we do that, though, is not to start by walking up to people and pointing out their sins to them.  The way we do that is to start by treating them the way Jesus treated pagans and tax collectors.  In other words, the way to start is by offering complete, total, and unconditional love to people.

Through that love, over a period of time, with God’s help, we can sometimes bring people to Christ.  Then, we can start teaching them about how the Lord wants us to live.  While we do that, of course, we need to still speak and act in loving ways.  We also need to be mindful of the ways in which we, ourselves fall short of the way the Lord wants us to live.

            Bringing people to Christ does not mean changing their behavior.  It means changing their hearts.  If we give people unconditional love, no matter who they are no matter what they do, with God’s help we can change their hearts.  When our hearts are changed, our behavior will follow.  Then, we can all serve Christ together, knowing that Jesus understands hearts like ours.