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.

“It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”

Jeremiah 31:15-22

Colossians 3:1-11

I hate to even bring this up, but there are a number of Christians convinced that tomorrow, May 21, 2011, will be the day of judgment and the end of the world. If you are reading this some time after May 21, 2011 then I guess they were wrong. Yet today’s readings do offer a word about the new things that God has been doing all along – not the end of the world so much as the end of the world as we know it (to borrow a line from the song by REM), and maybe that’s the real point.

Jeremiah uses an odd example. “For the LORD has created a new thing on the earth: a woman encompasses a man” (Jeremiah 31:22). According to some commentators this means that women will no longer need protection from or by men in order to function in society. In the prophet’s day this would have been a significant change. Colossians takes the idea further. “In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!” (Colossians 3:11). In each case the writers see a time when human distinctions will be swallowed up in God’s grace, when the way we’ve always done it will give way to the way God wants it done.

God has always been at work doing new things, challenging perspectives, upsetting preconceived notions, pushing us in directions. I suspect that regardless of what happens May 21, 2011 will be no different. Somewhere tomorrow God will touch a life, will encourage a community, will work through science and art to accomplish some part of the divine will. Somewhere tomorrow God’s grace will be sought and found, God’s healing will have a profound effect, God’s love will be reflected in the love of those around us. These will be new things that God is doing, things that will bring a close to the way it was before. Tomorrow will be the end of the world, at least as we have known it. But then, so will May 22, 2011, and May 23. God continues to act and to create, and frankly I feel fine about it.

Prayer: Gracious God, help us to accept the new thing you are doing in our midst and to embrace your will at all times. In Jesus’ name. Amen.