Lent 2- The Heart of the Matter- Belief as Righteousness

Genesis 12:1-4a; Psalm 121; Romans 4:1-5, 13-17; John 3:1-17

Lent is a time to examine our hearts. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus is often drawing our attention to our hearts. … He says, 

“You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgement.’ But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgement…” (Matt 5:21-22).

 Jesus moves the focus from murder to anger. He moves the attention from outward action to the inward disposition of the heart. … Imagine someone filled with murderous rage, but they are in prison. Their circumstances prevent them from acting on their anger. They aren’t able to commit murder, but we wouldn’t say they are virtuous for not committing murder.

Jesus has a similar teaching about adultery. He says, 

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matt 5:27-28).

 Again, Jesus moves the attention from outward action to the inward disposition of the heart. Imagine someone filled with lust. Inwardly, they are constantly entertaining lustful images, but again, say they are in prison and they can’t act on those thoughts. They aren’t able to commit the act of adultery, even though they really want to. They don’t commit the sinful act, but we wouldn’t say they are virtuous because they aren’t committing adultery.

Jesus turns it around and draws our attention to good actions. He draws attention to the act of giving, saying, 

“So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matt 6:2-4).

 What if we have a good action, like almsgiving, but our inward disposition is selfish? What if our inward disposition is primarily concerned with managing our public image- wanting people to think highly of us- wanting others to think we are better than other people? Would that person be considered virtuous by God? … Jesus recommends giving in secret to expose our real reasons for giving. If we are okay giving in secret, then our inward disposition is oriented to God.

Jesus looks at another good act saying, 

“And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matt 6:5-6).

 What if a person is praying, but they aren’t actually focusing on God? Instead, they are focusing on people looking at them, thinking of them as holy, thinking of them as eloquent? Would that person be considered virtuous by God? Again, Jesus recommends praying in secret to expose our real reason for praying. If we are okay praying in secret, then our inward disposition is oriented to God.

So, a person might be prevented from acting out sinful actions like murder or adultery, but their inward disposition might be directed towards those sinful actions. … Or, a person might be engaged in good actions like almsgiving or prayer, but their inward disposition might be directing them away from what those good actions are all about.

Learning from Jesus, Paul is saying something similar in our reading from his letter to the Romans. … Abraham is a hero of God’s people. To say you are a child of Abraham is almost synonymous to saying you are a part of the people of God. He is the patriarch of the faith. For Paul’s people, Abraham was an example to learn from. … Paul is asking, What was it that made Abraham justified, or righteous?

Abraham had works. For example, he left his family home to go to the land God would show him. He later placed the mark of circumcision on himself as directed by God to form a covenant. It appears like he did what God told him to do. Abraham had good works. …

Paul points to the place in the book of Genesis that tells us, 

“Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness” (Gen 15:6).

 Paul points to the inner disposition of Abraham, which was the motivation for his actions. Paul points to the fact that God considers Abraham righteous on the basis of his belief. … At this point in Genesis, when God counted Abraham as righteous, he wasn’t circumcised yet, and he didn’t have the biblical Law (Torah) to obey, which would be the traditional identifying markers first century Jewish people would use to refer to a person as righteous. In a sense, Abraham was a Gentile at this point in the story- and he was declared to be righteous on the basis of his belief.

We see something like this in our Gospel for today as well, from John chapter 3. Jesus makes reference to a strange story from the book of Numbers where a kind of poisonous serpent was around the camp and biting people. People were dying. When Moses brought this situation to God, he was directed to build a bronze serpent and put it on a pole. When people looked at the serpent after being bitten, they would live. They believed in what God told them, then they were saved. Pointing to this story Jesus says, 

“And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. ‘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” (John 3:14-16). 

Jesus points to belief.

Why point to belief? Belief is the fountainhead. It is the ultimate inner disposition of the heart. Belief says what your life is oriented towards. Or maybe we should say ‘who’ your life is oriented towards.

When people get married, the ceremony is about people who are oriented towards one another. It is about a belief in the other person. It is about trusting that other person. We don’t know what kinds of actions will be required of us in that marriage, but what we want from the person we get married to is belief. We want a heart oriented towards the relationship. That is the fountainhead from which all good acts in the relationship will flow. …

This is like the belief that Abraham had, and this was the foundation for the covenant. Circumcision ultimately flowed from Abraham’s belief in God- his trust in God- his faith in God. The covenant was based on faith. What God was looking for from Abraham was his heart oriented towards God.

James will want to give us a warning about this, so in his letter he says, 

“You see that faith was active along with [Abraham’s] works, and faith was brought to completion by the works. Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness’, and he was called the friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone” (James 2:22-24).

 James is reminding us that this belief can’t remain without action (when action is possible). That would be like being married to someone who says they love you, but they never act like it. … But, the foundation of the good action is belief.

Belief matters to God because it means that our hearts are oriented towards God. You can build a relationship on that. … Our hearts being oriented towards God means that we are oriented towards the highest good. We are oriented towards the Source of love, and joy, and peace, and beauty. We are oriented towards to Source of all life. Belief means we trust in that perfect Being. We trust that God wants good for us and for the world. ... Actions that come from this inward disposition are purer and more reliable. 

People have all kinds of motivations for the things they do. They might be trying to impress people. They might be trying to stay out of trouble. Maybe they just want to fit in with the crowd. People can even do good things with evil intentions- maybe they want to gain your trust so they can hurt you later. What looks like ‘goodness’ can be motivated by a whole variety of things. That’s why the disposition of our heart matters so much to God.

As a part of our Lenten disciplines, let’s not forget to look at the inner disposition of our heart, which is the fountainhead of all our actions. Maybe we need to realign our inner compass. May God grant us discernment for this important task. Amen