Ezekiel 36:24-29

            {Prayer}

            The heart, the heart of every problem is always a problem of the … heart. The heart of every problem is always the problem of the heart. That’s true with marriage problems and financial problems. It’s true with job problems, relationship problems, and raising children problems. The problem isn’t a money flow problem or a government response problem or a supply and demand problem. No, the heart of every problem is always the problem of the heart. The real problem isn’t out there … it’s here. The real problem is in here, it’s in my heart.

            The Bible consistently and repeatedly says that the heart of every problem is always the problem of the heart. The Bible calls us to trust God. Trusting God is a response of the heart. The Bible calls us to hope in God’s promises. Hoping in God’s promises is a disposition of the heart. The Bible describes Christians as those who seek the Lord. This is a yearning of the heart. The Bible expects us to grieve over our sin, lament over sickness, disease, and death, and to mourn the lost. All of this is done with the heart. The Bible invites us to give thanks to the Lord, to rejoice with singing, to worship Him with gladness. None of this can be done without the heart. And the Bible, above all things, calls us to love both God and our neighbor … from the heart. It’s no wonder the Bible uses the word “heart” a whopping 763 times.

            We often use the word “heart” to mean our emotions. We may say something like, “She broke my heart.” She didn’t literally break my heart but we’re emotionally crushed. Sometimes we use the word “heart” to mean our support. “I’m behind you with all my heart.” Still, other times we use the word “heart” to describe people as having a “change of heart”, simply, they changed their mind.

            In the Bible, the word “heart” doesn’t only mean our emotions, or only our support, or only our mind. Nor does “heart” mean that large, muscular organ pounding in our chest that keeps our blood flowing. In all of its 763 uses, the Bible uses “heart” to mean our inner life. Our inner life includes our emotions, thoughts, desires, and our thinking.

            In Psalm 51, David says, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (51:10). I want you to note, even though the word and is in this verse, David is not asking for two things. He is not asking for a clean heart and a right spirit. Our heart and spirit are the same thing. “Heart” sums up our entire life. “Heart” sums up the intellectual, emotional, and spiritual part of who we are. It’s no wonder that the Bible teaches, the heart of every problem is always the problem of the heart. The truth becomes most evident in Ezekiel 36. I’m going to make four points, all using the letter D.

            Ezekiel gives us our diagnosis. He says that we have “a heart of stone” (36:26). Even as believers, our heart can become hard as a rock. All too often, my heart doesn’t take the Gospel and pump it to me. My heart doesn’t take the Gospel and pump it through me. Every sin in my life, whether it is what I do or fail to do, every sin is directly related to my hard heart.

            And my heart condition can’t be cured. I can’t make myself alive to Jesus. I can’t make my cold, stony, lifeless heart beat with love any more than I can take a rock and make it live. No matter how hard I try, no matter how good I manage to be, no matter how much I pray, I can’t cure my heart of stone.

            I need a doctor. God says today, “I will take. I will sprinkle … I will cleanse. I will give … I will put … I will remove. I will put”. Notice, we do nothing. The Doctor, God does everything. He does here seven times. Seven in the number of perfection which means that the Doctor is in perfect control.

            The Doctor though, He doesn’t repair our heart. No need to worry about by-pass surgery, a stent, a pacemaker, an ablation, or a valve replacement. If the Doctor were to do these, He would still be using old parts. Instead of a repair, we need a heart transplant.

            A heart transplant isn’t something that can be done by us. A transplant can only be done to us. It requires a doctor with special skills, training, and equipment. My heart of stone can’t be trained, tamed, or taught. My heart of stone needs to be removed and replaced.

            God says, “I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26). A heart of flesh implies a heart that’s soft, flexible, and sensitive. A heart of flesh implies a tender heart towards Jesus and a tender heart towards other people.

            In 1967, Dr. Christian Barnard performed the world’s first heart transplant surgery in South Africa. After the operation, the recipient lived for 18 days. Today, the average heart-transplant recipient lives for 15 years. However, when God gives us a new heart … we live forever.

            We have a diagnosis, a doctor … but we need a donor.

            Where will we get a living, beating heart? Who will it come from? …. There’s only ever been one person who hasn’t suffered a birth-defect of a hard heart. There’s only one person whose heart has loved the world with an everlasting love, a love without limits. That person? None other than our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

            When a surgeon performs a heart transplant, we know that a death must have had happened. The donor gives life to another at the expense of their own. Usually in a tragic circumstance of some kind.

            For Jesus, His tragedy … it was no accident. Jesus, as God, planted the tree from which His cross was carved. Jesus, as God, created the iron that was forged into nails that broke His tender flesh. Jesus, as God, set in motion the events that sent Judas to the Garden, Pilate to Jerusalem, and the Roman soldier to thrust his spear through the Savior’s side. This was no accident. This isn’t even the end of the story.

            For Jesus rose on their third day! Physically, actually, and eternally! Easter is real! Christ’s heart is beating and overflowing with love for you! The heart of Jesus is so perfect and so alive that it’s sufficient, it’s enough for every believer of every time and place.

            Diagnosis, doctor, and donor. What’s the fourth and final D word? Decision.

            Let’s say I end up in the ER this afternoon and the doctor says, “Mike, Here’s the bad news … your heart is riddle with disease and you’re going to die today. But here’s the good news, a perfect replacement has just come in. Will you agree to a transplant?” How insane would it be for me to say, “You know doc, thanks, but no thanks. I’m going to stick with the heart I have.” That would be absolutely insane! Why not instead say, “Doc, getter done! What are you waiting for?”

            The Doctor, the Eternal Doctor is waiting to perform the operation, free of charge. The Donor’s heart is available, free of charge. It’s in God’s heart to give you a new heart. In the power of the Holy Spirit, will you allow God to give it to you?

            Who doesn’t want to stop letting the Gospel ricochet off their heart like BBs off a steel plate? Who doesn’t want to stop being hooked up to a spiritual EKG, registering no pulse? Who doesn’t want a heart of flesh that’s alive to Jesus? Who doesn’t want a heart that’s strong and steadfast, confident and courageous?

            What’s the most urgent problem in your life right now? Money? School? A friend? Loneliness? These are problems, huge problems. But these aren’t the heart of the problem. The heart of every problem is always the problem of the heart. So what should we do?

            We stand and sing. As we sing, we pray the words of our Offertory.