A Broken Heart Or A Heart Broken Open?

Texts: Hebrews 10:10 – 23 and Matthew 9:27 - 10:1

This week I read an article that a friend of mine wrote. She says that “(we) need the courage to allow (our) hearts to break open, not apart.” She believes the skill of compassion helps us exercise our hearts so that they are supple rather than rigid. A supple heart can break open while a rigid heart will break apart.

This is important because we are called to a profound ministry. All of us. According to 2nd Corinthians, “we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making God’s appeal through us; we entreat (others) on behalf of Christ, (to) be reconciled to God.”

We are the bearers of the good news on behalf of Jesus. Being reconciled to God through Jesus means that we are in a good relationship with God. It doesn’t mean that we never lose our footing. It does mean that we stay in communication with God. We don’t give up, walk out in a huff, or give our past any power to break us apart from the God that loves our souls.

Being reconciled to God also means that God is in good relationship with us. God sticks by us; won’t leave in a huff when we make a misstep; and does not bring the past up to us. This is the good news of which we are ambassadors. There are many people that we encounter every day who wonder if God loves them or if they have what it takes to be in relationship with God. Our answer is a resounding yes to both of these questions. Yes! God loves you, whoever you are and wherever you are on life’s journey. Yes! You have what it takes to be in relationship with God because what it takes is accepting the grace of reconciliation. This is a profound and powerful ministry. It isn’t coercive. It isn’t needy or fearful. It is simply sharing the yes that you have been given with others who are looking for a yes. It is also reminding yourself of the yes that you have been given.

In Hebrews, the tenth chapter, we are told that God’s laws are in our hearts, and that we can approach God “with a true heart in full assurance of faith.” We are exhorted to “hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for God who has promised is faithful.” Our “true hearts” are crucial because God’s law is written there. Holding fast to our confession of hope is also crucial. These things are important if we are to have supple hearts … hearts that are broken open to receive the calling of God to love people and share the hope of the good news with them.

It is so easy for our hearts to become broken by the need we see and the sadness we hear. Our hearts can also become broken by the discouragement we feel, both from within and from without. In our story in Matthew we hear the Pharisees saying, "By the ruler of the demons he casts out the demons." I can see how hearing that might be very discouraging. But the story continues, “Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. It’s almost as if he is saying, “Casts out demons by demons? Really? Well watch this.”

It’s clear, however, from the next sentence that his true motivation wasn’t in reaction to the Pharisees. “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

Harassed and helpless. These were the people Jesus was drawn to. These were the crowds to whom Jesus ministered. In Jesus’ stead, we are to be ambassadors to these same crowds of people – the harassed and the helpless. Sometimes that means reminding the person sitting next to you of the hope they have in Christ. Sometimes it means talking to someone you have never met before. How can we be these ambassadors and not end up with broken hearts over the pain and suffering of others?

The writer of the letter of Hebrews tells us, “Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful.” In the Gospel of Matthew we read Jesus’ words, “’The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.’ Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness.” This takes a lot of commitment by us. And it takes having a steady foundation. Jesus is called the cornerstone for a good reason.

So how do we keep our hearts from breaking and yet keep our hearts broken open? Anne Howard, the author of the article I read, quoted Parker Palmer from his new book. Healing the Heart of Democracy.” In it he says, “a heart that has been consistently exercised through conscious engagement with suffering is more likely to break open instead of apart. Such a heart has learned how to flex to hold tension in a way that expands its capacity for both suffering and joy.” (p. 60)

This might seem counter-intuitive. How can conscious engagement with suffering keep a heart from breaking? I think the answer lies in the word “conscious.” We can’t expect to fix all the suffering. That just results in constant failure which is heartbreaking. We can attend to the suffering, and pray and work for greater love, mercy, and justice, but we can’t expect our efforts to fix everything. As Christians we can engage suffering while standing on our cornerstone, from a place of hope and unwavering faith.

Recognizing our own suffering – being conscious of our own condition and how Jesus, in his suffering, has opened up the way for us to be reconciled to God, gives us the capacity to engage the suffering of others with a heart broken open by compassion. Conscious engagement of our own suffering and redemption can fill our hearts with gratitude and hope. From this sure foundation we can reach out to others in a different way. Compassion can flow from our hearts that are broken open rather than the guilt of not being able to do enough or the judgment that we or those we see suffering are not good enough.

We can sit with suffering – our own and that of others – and have supple hearts when we see suffering for what it is, a condition of life that is difficult, painful, and in need of mercy and grace as well as loving action. Judging suffering does not break open our hearts. Being afraid of suffering does not break open our hearts. Sitting in compassion with suffering will break open our hearts.

It’s not as hard as it sounds. It does take a certain amount of patience, an assurance of faith, a firm foundation, and the boldness to feel in a conscious way. It also helps to remember that we have a Messiah who knows our suffering first hand. Jesus, our cornerstone, took on the struggle of being human. We do not have to bear suffering alone. We can let compassion well up within us knowing that we are supported by the love of Christ and the strength of the Holy Spirit.

Let your roots of faith sink deep down into the redeeming love of God in Christ. Because you have received compassion, you can share compassion. If your life is in tumult, set your focus on the compassion that Jesus has for you and those like you. Compassion flows from him to the harassed and the helpless. And as many laborers as he can find, he sends.

From a place of full assurance of faith it is easier to gently open your heart. I think it is much more difficult for a heart to break apart when it is already open. You will feel the pain of those suffering, but it will be a pain that rests on the faith of hope.

When Jesus said that the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few it was immediately after compassion filled his heart for a crowd that was harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. The disciples he summoned were to be likewise filled with compassion. They were given the authority and the charge to heal and help. If we are laborers, then I believe it is to labor with compassion for the sake of healing. It is from the foundation of our own reconciliation with God that we can best open our hearts and be the laborers that we are called to be.

There is so much suffering … the harvest is plentiful.

As we are called, let us reach out and sit with those who are suffering. In full assurance of faith, because of the immense love that Jesus has shown to us let us gently break open our hearts.