Cut To the Heart

Acts 2:37-47

In his book The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956, Russian author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn writes, “If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?” What a profound understanding of the nature of humanity! What interests me today, however, is Solzhenitsyn’s notion that the line between good and evil “cuts through the heart.” According to our reading from Acts this morning, when the crowds in Jerusalem heard the disciples speaking in the languages of Pentecost “they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what should we do?’” (Acts 2:37). It would seem that the line between good and evil is not the only thing cutting the human heart. The word of God has that power as well, and it is the power to make a deeper and more lasting incision than any other factor we will ever face.

This image of cutting the heart resonates throughout scripture. For example, “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts…” (Jeremiah 31:33). In this case the word we translate as “to write” actually means “to cut,” as words were once cut into clay tablets with a stylus. On Pentecost, then, God was at work performing heart surgery, repairing the scar tissue left by the struggle between good and evil that we all face. With judgment that was in fact a sign of grace God reached out to many and left a mark on their innermost beings. God wrote—or cut—a new understanding, a new perspective, a new humanity into being. It was the message of the gospel, a message that continues to cut to the heart of hearers to this day.

Solzhenitsyn was right. Humanity is too often marred by the struggle between good and evil, but God will always have the final say for God alone has the power to cut and to heal the human heart.

Prayer: Lord, create in us a clean heart and guide us along the path of discipleship. In Jesus’ name. Amen.