Grinch #2 - Enlarging My Heart
Developing A Passionate Heart
Dec 7, 2008
What is it that you are passionate about? What drives you? What “cranks your tractor?” When it comes to football passions, we have a very diverse church family. Most of you are Eagles fans, but we have Packers fans, Giants fans, Cowboy fans, Steeler fans, Patriot fans, and even one lowly Browns fan! There is a word that describes people who are passionate about their football team. That word is ‘fan.’ Did you know that the term ‘fan’ comes from the larger word, “fanatic?” We have a lot of fanatics around our church. Interesting that the same root word gives us the word ‘passion.’ So what is it that you are passionate about? Your career? Your house? Your car? Your hobby? Travel? Family? Grandkids?
This morning we are going to look at developing a passionate heart. Now the Grinch was a pretty passionate guy. He was passionate about destroying Christmas for all the Whos of Whoville. The problem was that the Grinch’s passion was misplaced. His heart was set on the wrong things. Our foundational Bible verse for this emphasis on enlarging our hearts is Proverbs 4:23, “Above all else, guard your hearts, for it affects everything you do.” This means that there is nothing more important in your life than guarding your heart because your heart influences and determines everything you do and are. Last week we talked about developing a pure heart and that is where it all begins. Passions are your heart in motion. Passion without purity leads to lust, greed, self-centeredness, and despair. It was an impure heart that motivated the Grinch to steal the Whos Christmas. But passion with purity results in pure and good passions and that is powerful. And that results in greatness, in transformation both personal and societal. The philosopher Hagel remarked, “We may affirm that absolutely nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion.” And nothing so horrific happens from a passion that is evil like 9/11, the Nazi concentration camps, the killing fields of Cambodia, the gulags of the Soviet Union, the bloodbaths of Rwanda and Burundi. Passion drives both the pure and the impure heart. That’s why it is so imperative to guard your hearts.
Jesus tells us that our passions are best used in two areas. We read this is Mark 12:28-31. The Message paraphrase puts it this way, “Loving Him with all passion and intelligence and energy and loving others as well as you love yourself. That’s better than all the offerings and sacrifices put together.”
As we noted in our last sermon series on 1st John, there are a lot of people who claim to be Christians who believe and behave in a lot of different ways. Unfortunately some who claim the name of Jesus behave very badly. I have endeavored to make our church a safe place for people to come and check out Christian faith and experience. A place to seek and find God’s truth in the midst of the world’s confusion, lies, and deceit. If you are here and this Jesus stuff is all new to you, I hope that you will understand what an awesome Jesus we love and serve; and that you will have a desire to know Him too. If you are a Christian maybe you have gotten a bit out of alignment. My desire is for God’s Holy Spirit to either toe you in or toe out and bring you into proper alignment.
There are 3 primary passions that are crucial in order to enlarge our hearts this Christmas—a passion for God’s presence, for God’s people and for God’s plan.
I. Once we have a pure heart, a passionate heart begins with a passion for God’s presence. In the Book of Acts (2:28) Peter quotes David’s words from Psalms, “You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.” For Christians Christmas is one of the 2 greatest holy days we celebrate because it reminds us that God sent His Son into our world as 100% man and 100% God. C.S. Lewis once said this about Christmas, “God’s Son became a man so that men could become sons of God.” In the Old Testament they believed that the primary place to be in God’s presence was the Temple (or church building) and only the priests had the privilege of God’s presence, but with the coming of Jesus into our world He opened up access to God’s presence to all the ordinary people like you and me. Eph 3:12 says, “Because of Christ, and our faith in him we can now come fearlessly into God’s presence assured of His glad welcome.” While God knows us, we can know God for ourselves. Our past is forgiven, our present is taken care of and our future is assured—all because Jesus was born.
But sometimes this truth becomes too familiar. We take it for granted and don’t take advantage of what we have. Bud Town lived a couple hundred feet from the beach in Sea Isle City. He told me one day that he hadn’t been on the beach in over 30 years! Most shoobies would give their right arms to live 200 feet from the beach. We Americans do that with our democracy. We do that with our history right here is South Jersey. When was the last time you visited Independence Hall. How can’t count the number I times I drove past the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio and yet I have never been in that Hall of Fame. Familiarity often breeds indifference. Many of us have become indifferent and casual when it comes to being in God’s presence. Have we lost our first love? When Sharon and I were dating I had a passion to be in her presence every chance I could get. Remember those days? Do you still have that passion for his or her presence? Do you still have that same passion as you did when you first came to Jesus?
When you spend time in God’s presence your stress level goes down. When you are lax about being in God’s presence your stress level goes up. James 4:8 tells us, “Draw close to God and He will draw close to you.” This is why worship is so important, and prayer, and your relationship with Jesus each and every day no matter what you are doing or where you are going. He is there right beside you. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.” That pretty much says with everything you are and everything you got, doesn’t it? A pure heart leads to a passionate heart for God’s presence.
II. An enlarged heart also gives us a passion for God’s people. Loving the people of God is a natural result flowing out of a passionate love for God’s presence. Jesus said (Mk 12:32), “the second is equally important; love your neighbor as yourself.” Some people are just more naturally gregarious than others and they are people people. How do you develop a passion for God’s people? By asking God and say, ‘Lord, I want to be passionate about what you are passionate about.” God is far more interested in people than He is in buildings, money, organizational structure, and stuff. In fact God created us not to be loners but to be family. We need one another.
God has called us to come together as like-minded believers and to be the church of Jesus Christ. It is not optional for Christians. It is not a once-in-a-while thing or a Christmas and Easter thing. In Acts 2:44-45, “And all the believers met together constantly and shared everything they had. They sold their possessions and shared the proceeds with those in need.” These early Christians had a passion for one another. It is a wonderful thing when God’s people rally round others in their time of need—whether that be sickness, death, financial need or emotional support. It is a blessed thing when God’s people rally with each other to teach our children and teens about Jesus. One of the great things about having a passion for God’s people is that it gets you out of yourself and the inward focus that leads to death. A passion for God’s people leads to a life of meaning and purpose and prosperity.
The main reason people return to our church is not the great music, not the great preaching, and not the beautiful sanctuary. It is because of the welcoming and friendliness of the people. You see people don’t come to a church seeking Jesus. They come primarily looking for love and acceptance. A passion for God’s people is contagious. In Romans 15:7, Paul encourages us to “warmly welcome each other into the church, just as Christ has warmly welcomed you and God will be glorified.” The Bible says that God is glorified when we genuinely great and meet one another at church. Something else you need to understand—the warmth and friendliness of a church has nothing to do with the size of the church. It has to do with the people of the church. By welcoming people you are creating an atmosphere of passion for God’s people. And that will definitely enlarge your heart.
III. An enlarged passionate heart is a heart passionate not only for God’s presence and God’s people, but also passionate for God’s plan. It is saying, “Lord, I want your will to be done in my life and in your world.” That can be a scary thing to pray because we are fearful that God will make us into somebody we don’t like. But God doesn’t do that. He doesn’t change you into a different person, rather God brings to life the person you already are, the person He created you to be. Each one of us is God-SHAPED and Kathy Harkisheimer will help you discover your SHAPE. God doesn’t ask you to do something you weren’t made and gifted to do. He energizes abilities, talents, and passions that He has already given us. In Christ we become our real person. Outside of Christ we are but a shadow living far beneath our potential.
Sometimes as Christians we get out of alignment. The potholes of life, the knocks and bumps of life can get us out of whack. We need to be realigned. In fact every time I put a new ink cartridge in my printer I have to go through the process of having the printer realigned. It’s a simple process. God’s plan is not this complicated maze where you have to go through all kinds of contortions and nonsense to know God’s plan. We make it much more difficult than it needs to be.
Sometimes though we look in the wrong places. I find it fascinating that a recent study revealed that 35% of college graduates place some level of trust in their horoscope. I find it even more fascinating when you realize that the whole system of the horoscopes is based on the sun revolving around the earth! These are college grads trusting in a system that is based on the sun revolving around the earth. Were they sleeping during science classes or what?
The truth is you won’t find God’s plan in horoscopes. You will find God’s plan in His Word—the Bible. If you don’t know much about the Bible the best place to start is in the gospels and I would recommend either John or Mark to start with. And get a Bible you can read and understand.
Now your life will either be determined by God’s seed or the world’s weeds. Steven Covey in his book, First Things First, tells a great story about a very wealthy man who wanted the world’s greatest garden. But he wanted this garden to be self-sustaining. He didn’t want to have to do any watering, weeding, pruning, fertilizing or managing his garden at all. The garden designer explained to this wealthy man that there was much that could be done to make this garden automatic but not everything. Then the garden designer made a very astute observation, “Where there is no gardener, there is no garden.” God’s plan for your life is neither automatic nor self-sustaining. There is work for you to do to reap the results of God’s plan for your life. Knowing God’s plan for your life is not passive but requires your active participation in it. Developing a passion for God’s plan involves putting into your heart God’s seed and eliminating the world’s weeds. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord. ‘Plans to give you a future and a hope.’”
Developing a passionate heart will enlarge your heart from 2 sizes too small like the Grinch to 2 sizes bigger than normal. An enlarged, passionate heart pursues God’s presence, God’s people and God’s plan. When you purse God’s presence He is there with you no matter what life brings your way. When you pursue God’s people, He brings others around you to encourage and help you. When you pursue God’s plans, He gives you hope for a future. All and more is yours when you develop a passionate heart.
Don’t be a Grinch. Let Jesus give you a passionate heart this Christmas.