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Sunday, November 16, 2014

Opening Hearts

In Acts 16 Paul visits Philippi. There he visits "the riverside" where people gathered to pray (Acts 16:13) to share with them the Gospel. And there we read this wonderful verse:
One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. (Acts 16:14)
Isn't that beautiful? "The Lord opened her heart." That is truly a wonderful thing. We like it. We even pray that way for our unsaved loved ones. "Lord, please open their hearts to Your Gospel." And rightly so. It is, after all, biblical. And it's good.

The idea that God would reach down into the heart of someone warms the cockles of our hearts. (Seriously, "cockles"? I mean, my heart doesn't contain any bivalve saltwater clams; does yours? Sorry, I digress. Move on.) Without analysis, we just like it. God at work. Saving people. Good stuff. Really good stuff. But ...

Why are we not miffed that God would open her heart? Isn't that an intrusion? Isn't that a violation of her free will? Can God do that?

There is no doubt that this expresses an invasion. If it was an expression meant to convey that Lydia inclined herself to hear God, the phrase would be meaningless. God didn't open her heart; she did. If it was a reaction on God's part to her already paying attention to Paul, again, God didn't open her heart; she did. There is no way, in fact, to rationally read this to mean anything but "The Lord opened her heart." And we rightly respond positively to the news that He did. We cheer God on for doing so. "Thank you, Lord, for opening her heart that she would pay attention to what was said by Paul." We beg for Him to do it again. "And, Lord, while You're at it, open the hearts of my loved ones as well that they may hear Your Word." We pound the throne of God entreating Him to invade and intrude, and we are right to do so.

I know that there is a segment of Christians who argue that God either cannot (by self-prevention) or will not (isn't that the same thing?) do this. God values too highly Human Free Will. What is it we hear all the time? "God doesn't want robots." But "The Lord opened her heart." And I pray that He does for many people I know and love. If that constitutes a divine violation of Human Free Will, I'm okay with that. "Has the potter no right over the clay?" (Rom 9:21). I think He does.

1 comment:

Neil said...

I love that passage. On my last day in the United Methodist Church the female pastor (I know, I know, just another reason to leave) preached on that passage. Guess which point she didn't make? Yep. She talked about all sorts of other things but never mentioned the part about God opening her heart. How sad.

I had already decided to leave that church after 16 years, but that made it so much easier.