How the Heart Looks

1 Samuel 16:1-13 and John 3:14-21

As you probably all know by now, I love reading books, particularly fiction books. When I read a book for the first time, the thing that will most impact my opinion of a book is the characters. While the storyline and action within the book are important, it is the characters that connect me with the story and lead me to experience life through their eyes. The characters’ personalities and my connection to the traits that make them who they are can lead me toward fierce anger, overwhelming sadness, intense joy, and rekindled hope. While the actions of a character can give us a glimpse into their personality, the truth is that their personality is what should be the determining factor for each of their actions. It is that consistency, that depth of character development that makes a book truly special. It is only when we know a character that we can see when their actions don’t line up with who they are.

In our passage for this morning from the gospel of John, Jesus is talking with Nicodemus who was a Pharisee and Jewish leader. He talks to Nicodemus right before this passage about being born not only of water but of spirit as well. Nicodemus doesn’t understand. Jesus turns his attention instead to God’s plan of salvation. It’s in this where we get the most well-known verse in the entire Bible. John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” Then comes all of this talk about judgment. Jesus says, “And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

Jesus says that “those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.” This tells me two things. First, when there is light in us, it can be seen in how we act. And second, if we want to continue to do good deeds, we must return to the light over and over. The light of God exposes our failures and weaknesses. It offers us the opportunity to repent and make amends. When we hide those things, the darkness grows. And then there is slowly less and less light inside us. We hide our evil deeds and don’t bring them into the light. It is the light within us that determines who we are and who we become.

In our Old Testament reading from 1 Samuel, we read about the prophet Samuel and King Saul. God had determined that Saul was not fit to be king, so he called Samuel to find Saul’s replacement. Samuel was to go down to see Jesse the Bethlehemite. Samuel was deeply worried that if Saul found out what Samuel was doing that he would be killed, but God tells him to make it look like Samuel is simply going there to make a sacrifice to the Lord. Samuel reluctantly agrees. When he gets to the place, he invites Jesse and his sons to come sacrifice with him. When Jesse and his sons arrived, Samuel looked to the largest, strongest of them, Eliab, and was sure that he would be God’s chosen. But God rejected Eliab. Then Abinadab was sent before Samuel and the Lord rejected him, too. After all seven of the sons who were there were soundly rejected, Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all of your sons here?” Jesse said, “Well, there is the youngest but he is out tending sheep.” Samuel asked Jesse to bring his youngest son there right away, and that was the one the Lord chose.

Now, going back a second, Jesse’s older son, Eliab, was everything Samuel thought made for a good king. He was big and strong and commanding. As the first born, he had the most privilege of all the brothers. He was clearly the best choice. But God had something else in mind. The Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” For God, it is about what is on the inside, in our hearts, that matters. It is about who we are, not about how we look or what we can do. God sees our true character and chooses us. We haven’t been chosen to be king, but God still cares about who we are on the inside, in our hearts.

A mouse was playing under the bushes when a cat spotted it, and chased it all the way to the fields. The mouse was scared to death that it called out for its fairy godmother and asked that it be transformed to a cat. So, the mouse became a cat. One day, the same cat was bobbing in the prairie when a dog spotted it, and chased it all the way to the woods. The cat was scared to death that it called out for its fairy godmother and requested that it be transformed to a dog. So, the cat became a dog. One sunny day, the dog was searching for food in the woods when a tiger spotted it, and chased it all the way to the river. The dog was scared to death that it called out for its fairy godmother and begged that it be transformed to a tiger. So, the dog became a tiger. One morning at sunrise, the tiger was prowling in the hills when a couple of native hunters spotted it, and chased it all the way to the jungle. Natives make use of tiger skin and fur as their clothing. The tiger was so scared to death that it called out for its fairy godmother and demanded that it be transformed to a native hunter. The fairy godmother firmly replied, “I have transformed you from a mouse to a cat, from a cat to a dog, from a dog to a tiger, and now you want to be transformed from a tiger to a native hunter. I can make you whatever you wish to become, but if your heart remains to be a heart of a mouse, you will always live in fear”.

There are two things that I like about that story. First, it shows us that outward change does not automatically change who we are. We can be as strong and powerful as can be on the outside and still feel like a weak, scared little kid inside. And no matter how much we work to be even more powerful, it will not change our heart. The heart must undergo its own change and growth. And second, the heart is capable of change. The last line of that story says, “I can make you whatever you wish to become, but if your heart remains to be a heart of a mouse, you will always live in fear.” That little word “if” tells me that our hearts don’t have to remain as they are.

I remember a different story about David that involved a change of heart. David had made some really bad choices and done some bad things. He’d taken another man’s husband for his own, gotten her pregnant, then got her husband killed in order to hide it. One bad choice led to another to another to another. David was king and could do what he wanted without consequence. The laws that applied to his people did not apply to him. He had done something bad, broke God’s laws. But he was the most powerful person in the land. He could get away with anything he wanted. But God wasn’t about to let David off the hook that easily. God sent the prophet Nathan to David to tell him a story. The story involved a rich man who had lots of sheep but when a visitor arrived he took his neighbor’s sheep and slaughtered it to feed the visitor. The story outraged David, until he learned that the story was analogous to his own. Nathan was using the story to point out David’s own poor choices. The important part of that story though is that David, in that moment, realized that darkness had crept into his heart. He recognized his sins and he did something many leaders struggle to do. David repented. He admitted his mistakes and asked for forgiveness.

The great boxer Muhammed Ali, in 1978, said, “The personality of a person, the ways of a person, the thoughts, the deeds and the actions, it’s all based around the heart. For what is a man? A man is his heart.” The person that we are, our truest self, is the thing that impacts our thoughts and actions the most. Yes, there are outside factors that contribute to our choices, but ultimately what is inside us is what comes out of us most consistently. The light of God has come into the world. We can choose to let the light into our hearts and live as children of the light. Or we can choose darkness. We can choose to defend the bullies and oppressors, to support injustice and codify hate, to build up walls between ourselves and others, and thus embrace the darkness. Or we can open ourselves up to the light. We can admit our mistakes, repent, and let the light of God transform us. God reminds us of what he said to Samuel, “The Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” How does your heart look? Mine doesn’t always look great, but if I come to the light of God and allow my mistakes to be exposed, God will dispel the darkness inside and change my heart to make it new. Let us all push the darkness away and let the light in. Imagine the difference that could make in the world. AMEN.