Be Yourself! Follow your heart!

From The Rectory

 

Some commentators would argue that the contemporary West has rather lost its way. The old certainties of 1700, 1800, 1900, or even 1950 are now contested. Even if we still believe in the progress of humanity, the horrors of the 20th Century notwithstanding, we can’t always agree which way we are, or ought to be, heading.

 

We are having a Diocesan Year of the Old Testament. And we have been studying the fascinating and colourful book of Judges (set after the Exodus and Conquest of the Promised Land and before the Israelite Monarchy of David and Solomon and the rest). You know? Samson and Delilah and all that. The refrain of the book is, “there was no king in the land, and everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” The confusion and chaos can feel contemporary. That emphasis on each of us deciding for ourselves what is right has a massive cultural resonance today. Indeed, it seems to be the great virtue of our times. Be yourself! Express yourself! Do what feels right! You be you! You can imagine the motivational Facebook meme urging you to live your best life of self-fulfilment. It’s your duty to find your own unique path to happiness.

 

We’re also going to have a sermon series in Genesis, the first book of the Bible, the book about human origins. The Christian doctrine of Creation, which it contains, speaks powerfully to our confusions and our spiritual but not religious creed of celebrating what comes from within.

 

The Bible says you are marvellous. You are made not only for time but for eternity. You are infinitely valuable and more loved than you could ever imagine.

 

But we know our world is in a mess. In theological terms, human beings have Fallen away from righteousness by their rejection of their Maker and his ways. The Bible’s view is that the world doesn’t always divide up simply into goodies and baddies. Evil is real, but it is not only out there with those terrible others. The author of The Gulag Archipelago, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, said: ““The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either -- but right through every human heart -- and through all human hearts.”

   

The Christian claim is that Jesus entered his creation to save it from itself. Jesus was the only human being who could follow his own heart with perfect confidence, because he is the Son of God who perfectly loved his heavenly Father. His heart was true, good and beautiful. Jesus was always and only on the side of the good. But out of love for us, he came to sort out our evil.

 

Creation, Fall and Redemption help us not only to understand our world, but to live in it well, despite all our failures, and all the mess we experience, and sometimes perpetuate. We can have a spectacular ability to mess up our world, but Jesus died to win the world. He means to put it to rights. His resurrection shows he is more than able to make all things wonderfully new. And he invites us to come along. To know ourselves as his creatures and to express our gratitude to him. Even amidst the ruins of Christendom, a life of faith, hope and love is still possible. And in our better moments and our right minds, perhaps we can see that this is the best life (with all the suffering and sacrifice it sometimes entails) to which our God-given hearts are calling us. St Augustine of Hippo was right to say in his Confessions: our hearts are restless until they find their rest in God.

 

So, yes, in a sense, maybe, follow your heart! But your heart belongs, or should belong, to Jesus, who made you and loves you and would always welcome you back to him if you will turn to him. Don’t just follow your heart. What a confusing burden! Follow Jesus! That’s the heart of who we were all made to be. And it is the hope for a culture and civilization.

 

The Revd Marc Lloyd