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1 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” 2 The Lord looks down from heaven upon us all, 3 Every one has proved faithless; 4 Have they no knowledge, 5 See how they tremble with fear, 6 Their aim is to confound the plans of the afflicted, 7 Oh, that Israel’s deliverance would come out of Zion! This year, Monday Matters will focus on wisdom conveyed in the treasures of the book of Psalms. We’ll look at the psalms read in church before Monday Matters comes to your screen. |
A clean heart
Here’s a piece of wisdom passed on from a predecessor, Alan Gates, now bishop of Massachusetts. He said: I’ve never met a motive that wasn’t mixed. His wit offers wisdom about the human condition, truth as old as the Bible.
It’s truth reflected in Psalm 51, which you may have heard yesterday in church (see above). Attributed to David, the psalmist reveals his own mixed motives, the forces pulling him in different directions. The psalmist is aware of unsavory parts of his interior life, aware of dastardly things he has done. At the same time, there is a desire to be changed.
Centuries later, St. Paul wrote a letter to the church in Rome and described his own inner struggles. Get a load of what he says in the 7th chapter (verse 15-21): I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells within me… For the desire to do the good lies close at hand, but not the ability. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that, when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand.
Ever felt like that?
Soren Kierkegaard said that purity of heart is to will one thing. Sounds good, Soren, but how do we get there? Maybe there’s a key in one of the verses from Psalm 51. The author prays that God will create in him a clean heart and renew a right spirit within him. That kind of purity of heart, a clean heart, is something God creates. While I feel powerless over resentments and judgments that take up residence in my soul, the good news is that God can make things new. The good news is that such renewal is not all up to me.
We may think of God the creator as one whose work is finished, God setting things in motion like a clock maker, then moving on to other endeavors. The prayer of Psalm 51 affirms that the creative work of God is ongoing, as in the bumper sticker: PBPGINFWMY (Please be patient. God is not finished with me yet.) The persistent biblical image of God as potter and human beings as clay gets at this image of ongoing creative work.
The potter metaphor can be helpful, but having said that, I feel a need to point out that we are more than lumps of clay. As God’s beloved children, as bearers of the divine image, we have a part to play in this new creation. It has to do with being open to God’s creative work.
That probably begins with a recognition, a confession that we need a clean heart, that we are pulled in many directions. It begins with asking for help. Truth be told, we all have numerous vocations: parents, children, siblings, workers, bosses, employees, citizens, artists, athletes. Those various vocations tugging at us in ways that can create inner conflict. In that inner landscape, many of the meditations of our heart are far from acceptable in the eyes of the Holy One. Like St. Paul, I suspect we all contend with that kind of conflict.
Then moving beyond confession, we can open ourselves to God’s creative power. Last week, in reading meditations by Howard Thurman, I came across his vision for a way to have a new heart. He said we are to seek each day, and several times a day, a lull in the rhythm of daily doing. He added: At first the quiet times may be quite barren…one needs to get used to the stillness. This time may be used for taking stock, for examining one’s life direction, one’s plans, one’s relations. It is like cleaning out the closets or the desk drawers and getting things in order. When the awareness of God comes in – how he entered, one does not know, one is certain that He had been there all the time. Thurman concludes this meditation by saying: Suppose you begin now, this day with the use of the quiet time in some fashion as suggested.
Not bad advice for a Monday morning with a focus on a new heart. Thank you, Howard Thurman, for helping us begin.
So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being! II Corinthians 5.17
–Jay Sidebotham
