In Need of a Heart Transplant

Sermon delivered on June 2, 2013

During the previous century, modern medicine evolved to the point where doctors can perform organ transplants.  Some transplants - such as kidneys transplants are now even fairly common.....but heart transplants are a different story.  The first heart transplant was performed in South Africa in the 1960's....but progress was slow after that.  The first successful pediatric heart transplant didn't come until 1984. The biggest problem with heart transplants is the tendency for the body to reject the new organ.  Instinctively, the body fights the new heart….even though having the new organ makes the difference between life and death.  The body simply does not want that new heart.  Transplant recipients must take a litany of drugs, throughout their lifetime, to prevent the body from rejecting their new heart.

In much the same way, we reject God.  Deep down, we know God can be the difference between life (light) and Death (darkness) but we tend toward rejecting God anyway.  We’re born sinners so it’s what we do.  So how do prepare ourselves to accept God?  Well….seems that a heart transplant (at least the spiritual kind) is the answer (speaking of).  Let’s turn to Mark 2:18 - 22 and learn more.

In the 2nd chapter of Mark we find Jesus ministering in Capernaum....probably out of Peter's house.  Scripture tells us that there were so many people following Jesus that the crowd was spilling out into the street.  You may recognize this scene as the same one in which the paralytic is lowered down to Jesus through the roof. 

Also in this chapter, there are five stories of conflict with the Pharisees...arguments about the authority of Jesus.   In one such story, the Pharisees (a word that means the "separated ones") are criticizing Jesus for his actions such as dining with "sinners" (tax collectors, etc.).  Since Pharisees advocated strict adherence to Mosaic Law, a question was asked about fasting because the Pharisees noticed that Jesus and his disciples were not fasting "properly".  According to Mosaic Law, fasting was required annually on the Day of Atonement.  However, Pharisees saw it as a sign of piety to fast on Mondays and Thursdays as well.  Needless to say, Jesus and the disciples were not "following the rules".  In response to the Pharisees’ angst, Jesus shared three quick parables.  Two of those stories are closely related and can be found in Mark 2:21 - 22.  In those two short parables, Jesus used the illustration of "patches" and "wineskins" as a simple way for Jesus to address the Pharisees. 

In Jesus' day, patching an old garment with a new patch never worked.  The reason was that the new patch was unshrunk....so when it did get finally get wet, the patch shrunk, pulled away from the older fabric and literally tore the garment apart.  In fact, the garment would be in worse shape than it was before. 

Also….In those times, wine was kept in wineskins as there were no bottles of any kind.  New wineskins had a certain amount of elasticity and could stretch which made them a good match for new wine while it was fermenting and producing gases.  However, old wineskins became harder and less yielding and were only appropriate for mature (fully-fermented) wine. 

Through these two parables, Jesus was saying the following:

His radical message could not simply be a patch for an old system as it would tear it apart.  His new teachings were impossible to integrate with old teachings.  His radical message and purpose could not be "held" in an old container that could not stretch and change.  An old container would burst.

What can be learned from this passage of Scripture?

The Holy Spirit wants to give us a new heart.  Our new heart is like the new wineskin or the new garment.  We need that new heart to accept the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit wants us to stretch and change.  We must be willing to changed and grow if we want to fully accept the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit wants to show off this new heart to the world. Just before these two parables in Mark, Jesus is seen dining with sinners.  (Mark 2:15 - 17).  When asked why he was doing that, Jesus said he came for sinners and not the righteousness.  If we are to be like Jesus, shouldn't we show this new heart (wineskin, garment) to a world that desperately needs to see it?

When we accept the Holy Spirit, we are no longer our "old selves".  We receive a new heart (wineskin/garment) capable of living out the will of the Holy Spirit.