Let us pray… May these words
of my mouth and this meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my
Redeemer. Psalm
19:14 | NIV |
Everyone needs to have a labyrinth pattern with 1 red and 1 blue
crayons. You may recognize this labyrinth pattern. This is the labyrinth I walked on January 8,
2020 at an Episcopal church in Englewood, Florida. I prayed for each of you by name as I walked.
Please take your blue crayon and draw your path into the
labyrinth. No worries, you cannot get lost.
Stay within the open “lanes” of the labyrinth. Once you arrive at the center- pause to
consider a fear, anxiety, stress, or frustration that you desire to leave with
Jesus. He can care for that better than
you. Just got that emotion or draw
a picture to represent what you’re
leaving behind. (no one else in this room is gonna see that). Write that in blue in the center. When you
are done, set down your blue crayon.
Grab your red crayon. As you are ready, draw your exit from the
center and follow the path all the way back through the labyrinth to the
original entrance.
As you make your way consider that it takes 18 turns to move from
outside labyrinth’s entrance into the center.
And an additional 18 turns to go from center back to entrance. 36 turns
total. That is a lot of turning- hopefully turning toward the Lord. Once you have exited the entrance, please set
your crayons down.
As everyone is finished… take your labyrinth and hold it up- over
where your heart is. Consider with me this diagram of the human
organ- the heart.
What do you notice in the movement of blood flow in the human
heart diagram compared with the movement you just accomplished following the
labyrinth path? Similar, yes?!
As the blood flows into the ride side of the heart, it is depicted
as blue because it is in need of oxygen.
Enters the Right atrium, then Right ventricle. Onto the lungs to get what it needs to fuel the
body. Later blood, seen in red, has been
enriched by oxygen moves into Left Atrium and then Left Ventricle then out into
the upper or lower parts of our bodies. I
read recently that one red blood cell in circulation will pass through the
heart every 45 seconds!
We moved towards God’s
presence as symbolized in the labyrinth center.
You left an emotion behind for God to oxygenate as only God can do. The
oxygenating process reminds me of the Psalmist who said, “Create in me a pure heart,
O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10 | NIV
As I walked this labyrinth
on January 8th, I considered this double movement (blood flow
through my body and my journey into the sacred space). I wondered about what the human heart teaches
us about the movement of the Holy Spirit to heal us, redeem us, and sanctify
us… as we give room for the Spirit to do Holy Work in us. Because we are
called by Jesus’ to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your mind.” Matthew 22:37 | NIV |
Heart disease
is the leading cause of death in the US.
So what is happening with our ability to love God & neighbor with
whole hearts if heart
disease is the leading cause of death in USA?
Let that sink in…
Scientists have now concluded that there
are significant connections between our emotional health and heart disease/dis-ease. Funny, I think, that science has just now caught
up to what the ancient believers knew.
Writer of Proverbs wrote a long time ago in a far far far away…”As water reflects
the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.”
Proverbs 27:19 | NIV |
What are our
hearts reflecting? To one another? To the church? To the world…If our hearts
are so diseased as to cause death rather than healthy enough to move us to put our
faith into action- my goodness
Heart research has exploded with study after study about the correlation heart
diseases and emotions. They are
collecting more and more scientific evidence of what L. Frank Baum, author of the
Wizard of Oz, already knew (remember what the lion wanted most? Courage…because he was fearful of everything!
Yes, I know the Tin Man wanted a heart- but the lion did not have the heart of
a lion.) Science has confirmed that it
is not just stress which adversely affects the heart… but depression, anxiety, unexpressed anger,
and unresolved fear. I will let that
sink in a moment too.
Recently,
researchers have discovered that there is a strong link between negative
emotional states, brain circuitry, inflammation, and an increased risk of heart
disease.
You may be
familiar with a variety of medical terms about heart diseases… but here is what
I have been mulling over… what if… we thought about…
· Coronary artery disease or Congestive heart failure (either
have narrowing of the arteries) experienced “…as having a heart of stone”
· Heart attack or Myocardial infarction… might be what we call
“…a broken heart”
· Abnormal heart rhythms, or arrhythmia's and heart valve
disease (valves do not open and close properly) “might want to consider how you
unhealthily “…pour your heart out…” (fail to have boundaries)
· Congenital heart disease (birth defects… malformed walls, arteries
or veins), Heart muscle disease (cardiomyopathy) and mitral regurgitation
(leaky backwards valves) “…sad heart as it is weak” or “lacking heart of a lion
because weak”
Some
of the preachers in this room have used the phrase “…break our hearts for what
breaks yours, O God”. But with all the
heart disease among us and within us and since this is this is the leading
cause of death here in the US… I wonder if we’ve been dying for the wrong
things?!
Clearly,
Jesus models a death which is a sacrificial and redemptive death… and invites
the old in us to die…while the new lives.
If you and I are fearful, anxious in everything, deeply depressed,
and/or swallowing our anger and frustration… are we breaking our hearts for the
wrong or proper things? Jesus is love.
Perfect love, scripture reminds us, casts out fear. Thus, it might seem
that we’re not dying a redemptive death, but dying for the wrong things.
Prophet
Jeremiah speaks of a new day in which, God will make a covenant with the people
“I will put my law in their minds and
write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
(Jeremiah 31:33)
· What if writing God’s law on our hearts… is a tattooed
promise we are never alone?
· What if writing God’s law on our hearts… is the gift that we
need not lean into fear because our God is bigger than what scares us in the
dark?
· What if our portion of the covenant is that we need not
swallow our frustration/pain/anger/sense of un-justness in the world- but openly
give that up… in order to wear “our hearts on our sleeves…”?
· What if you and I are called to be quietly courageous, as we
trust that the blood of Christ will circulate… and give us what we need to keep
going?
More
importantly, what if this whole conversation has not been about our
individual hearts? What if the more
important conversation to have is the state of the heart within the Body of
Christ?
What
if the heart within the Body of Christ is breaking for the wrong things? Or dying with a disease it need not have? How
is the Heart of the Body of Christ- fearful, anxious, angry/frustrated, and
stressed? What can you and I do to help
turn this around?
I
looked up contrite’s definition. A
contrite heart is a heart has turned around because it repents. If you were to stretch out the blood vessel
system from inside your body, it would extend over 60,000 miles. Imagine all
the turns within your body that one single red blood cell makes on it’s journey
to and from your heart? Our labyrinth pattern will look very simple in
comparison. If a blood cell can do that.
Maybe I can. Maybe you can. Maybe the heart of the Body of Christ
can.
What if winning hearts for Jesus is
leaning deep into the strength and comfort of God-Always-With-Us? Jesus
said, Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself
into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart
but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Mark 11:23 | NIV
What if having a heart of gold is what
the writer of Proverbs 3:1-2 means when she/he wrote, “My son/daughter, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in
your heart, for they will
prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity.” Proverbs 3:1-2 | NIV |
Take this with
you- what is more precious and valuable than peacefulness or being at peace and
being fruitful or prosperous? Nothing. That is more precious than gold. A heart
of gold.
