‘Divide and conquer’ means gaining and maintaining power by breaking up larger concentrations of power into pieces that individually have less power than the one implementing the strategy. Effectively, we are reminded that when people are united and work together, they can achieve far more than when they are divided and disunited (a principle first seen in Genesis 11 with the Tower of Babel.) This is perhaps one reason that unity is stressed so much in the Bible (see Ps 133, Eph 4:3).

In Acts 23:1-11, we see Paul dividing the Sanhedrin by speaking of being on trial for his belief in the resurrection of the dead (Acts 23:6), for the Sadducees were conservative in theology, adhering to the letter of the Pentateuch, while the Pharisees were progressives, ready to ‘modernise’ the law by their interpretations of it. It was, therefore, the Pharisees who were open to the idea of resurrection, a belief which is far from being clearly seen or taught in the Pentateuch. Jesus’ exposition of the law in this sense (Luke 20:37ff) was certainly a novelty to his hearers. Paul introduced this issue into the discussion by claiming that he was a Pharisee and what was really at stake was the question of belief in the resurrection. This, of course, led to the claim of the resurrection of Jesus, which put the Pharisees in a difficult position! (They believed in the resurrection but were not so keen on admitting that Jesus had been raised from the dead!) The dispute was fierce and eventually led to the commanding officer once more taking Paul away from the scene without really being any wiser about the source of the problem, since he did not understand these theological differences.

In this passage, we see how easy it is to divide people according to certain beliefs or practices. This has sadly continued in the Christian church, with denominations often being formed because of dispute over certain practices, which may well be important, but which do not need to divide. Paul wrote about the importance of unity and diversity, reminding us that unity is not the same as uniformity. (Rom 12:4-8, 1 Cor 12:12-31) We do well to remember this, and also to see how Paul focussed on the really essential matter in this passage. The resurrection of Jesus cannot be consigned to merely a debating point. Many matters of faith and doctrine may be important but not fundamental; the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, however, is at the heart of our faith and Paul was right to say that ‘I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.’ (Acts 23:6) The Roman officer may not have understood the significance of this statement, but this was at the heart of the dispute between Paul and the Jews. We do well when this is at the heart of our testimony, even if it does divide those who hear this message, because this is the cornerstone of our faith.

In Acts 23:1-11, we see Paul in dispute with the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council. The Roman officer who has intervened because Paul was in danger of being lynched by the crowds is still no further forward in discerning the root of the dispute between him and the Jews, and so he brings Paul before the Sanhedrin to try to understand something of the issues which have so aroused the ire of the Jews. At the start of this section, we see a dispute between Paul and the high priest Ananias in which tempers seem to run high (Acts 23:1-5); we see also something of the difficulties between respect for God-given structures and what happens if officers do not, by their actions, uphold God’s ways. Paul calls him a ‘whitewashed wall’ (see also Matt 23:27-28, Ezek 13:10-12), and although when rebuked for speaking against the high priest he does apologise, upholding the office, it is clear that his words carry something of a prophetic denouncement which is at the heart of political theology.

Political theology is a term which has been used in discussion of the ways in which theological concepts or ways of thinking relate to politics. The term political theology is often used to denote religious thought about political principled questions. Tom Wright says of Paul that he ‘manages to hold together two things which people often find difficult. On the one hand, he certainly will respect the office. Without that, chaos is come again. That is the long and the short of his famous passage in Romans 13:1-7. God wants the world to be governed, because he wants people to live in peace and justice, and if you don’t have structures of justice, then the bullies, the extortioners and the rest will always win. The problem of course, is when those structures become structures of injustice, but the present passage meets the question head on. The fact that you must respect the structures does not rule out, but rather actually includes, the duty to remind the people currently operating the structures what it is that they ought to be doing, and for that matter not doing.’ (Tom Wright, ‘Acts For Everyone Pt2’, (P 168)

This is always a topical question. In our current situation, politicians are legislating on matters to protect people during a pandemic, but there are always situations when we may feel they have overstepped the mark and are intervening in matters beyond their remit, limiting our freedoms in ways that are not helpful and may in actual fact be more harmful than the situation itself. Opposition to government measures has been excoriated; anyone who questions whether lockdowns are the most effective way of dealing with the present situation, for example, has been on the receiving end of fierce abuse. Paul shows us in this passage that we cannot live an a-political life; theology and politics will inevitably come into conflict with each other, and we need to be prepared to speak out against injustice and wrong, allowing our beliefs to inform our politics rather than simply allowing politics to dictate what we believe and how we act.

Thanks to all the volunteers who came to prepare bags today, ready for Shrove Tuesday when we will be distributing them from St Helen’s Church in Thurnscoe, the Salvation Army in Goldthorpe and Furlong Road Methodist Church in Bolton-on-Dearne. We will be giving bags out to 75 families with almost 200 children.

Each bag contains crafts & toys, colouring sheets & puzzles and our activity booklet:

Each family will also receive all the ingredients to make pancakes with toppings of honey, jam or lemon juice.

Though we may associate Ezekiel’s words about changing our hearts of stone to hearts of flesh (Ezek 11:9, Ezek 18:31, Ezek 36:25-27) with becoming a Christian, these words were actually spoken to God’s people who were in exile in Babylon because they had allowed their hearts to become hard and to follow idols rather than the one true God. God told Ezekiel that a healthy heart is an undivided heart, a soft heart (‘heart of flesh’) and a clean heart.

A Clean Heart

A clean heart comes from God. God told Ezekiel, ‘I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.’ (Ezek 36:25) Hebrews 10:22 talks about ‘having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.’ God is the one who cleanses us, the one who says that though our sins are as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. (Isaiah 1:18). God is able to continue to cleanse us when we sin; we regularly need His cleansing.

A Soft Heart

A heart of flesh is what God promised to give His people. Not that heart of stone, that concrete heart, that granite heart, that hard heart, but a soft heart, a heart that feels as He does. This happens as God dwells within us: ‘I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.’ (Ezek 36:27) It’s because God is living in us that we can have a heart of flesh, a soft heart. It’s because God’s Spirit is in us that we are moved now to follow God’s decrees and want to be careful to keep His laws. It’s not a question of ‘having to’, of obeying God because we are terrified of Him. It’s a case of wanting to obey Him because His concerns are now our concerns. As Graham Kendrick puts it, when God softens our hearts, we can feel His compassion and weep with His tears. (‘Soften My Heart’, Graham Kendrick)

It’s always important to stay close to God if we want to maintain a soft heart. As we allow His Spirit room in our lives, He will pour His love into our hearts: ‘God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.’ (Rom 5:5) When God’s love is in our hearts, then we will begin to see people as God sees them. We will not judge by appearances; we will look deeper within, through the way things appear. To have a soft heart is difficult at times, for it means we can be easily hurt by other people and by circumstances, but loving God and others is the most important challenge we all face.

An Undivided Heart

Having an undivided heart is the key to spiritual growth. Prov 4:23 says, ‘Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.’ The heart is the wellspring of life; it’s where everything starts. Jesus spoke about our actions and behaviour coming out of the overflow of the heart (Matt 12:34). God is looking for people to serve Him whole-heartedly, with undivided hearts. (1 Cor 7:35) When we do this, we reflect the unity of the Godhead and can live in freedom.

God specialises in heart transplants! He is able to soften our hearts, to cleanse our hearts and to give us undivided hearts. All He needs from us is our ‘Yes!’ of cooperation. He does the rest. In the verses we have considered tonight, God says ‘I will’ seven times. We can be sure that if we say ‘Yes’ to God, He will do all that He has promised in these verses and we can know what it is to have a clean heart, a pure heart, a soft heart and an undivided heart.

Last month, Mickey came to tell us about Zacchaeus and how Jesus changed him (and can change us too.) Tonight, we looked at how He does that, and discovered that it’s by changing our hearts. (Ezek 11:9, Ezek 36:25-27) This isn’t literal, but we talk about hearts when we mean what we are really like on the inside, our ‘soul’ or ‘real me’, so to speak.

Naturally speaking, people have hearts of stone, in that we don’t really care about God or other people. We are more interested in our own ways and putting ourselves first. We had a stone ‘heart’ to look at:

Sin – wanting our own way – is rather like having a ‘black heart’:

The change that Jesus brings is to change our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh, into soft hearts, into hearts that are kind and caring and loving. God says that He will clean us and change us from the inside out. It’s as if the black heart becomes a white one!

When Jesus died on the cross for us, He took all our sin, all our blackness, onto Himself and so, in effect, it transfers from us to Him. Jesus never did anything wrong at all, but on the cross, all the wrong things we have done, all the wrong things anyone has ever done, was put on Him. The Bible says, ‘God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God.’ (2 Cor 5:21)

When we ask Jesus to come and live in our hearts and make us clean, we become new creations. Jesus told Nicodemus this was like being born again. (John 3) The only way we can become a child of God is to have this heart transplant! This doesn’t mean we will never sin again, but God is able to forgive us and continue to cleanse us and He gives us His Spirit to help us to love Him and obey Him. (1 John 1:9, Ezekiel 36:25-27)

Dave spoke this morning from Proverbs 9:10-12, reminding us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Fear was first mentioned in the Bible in Gen 3:10, when Adam was afraid to meet with God because of sin. His disobedience meant that he knew he had done wrong and was rightly afraid of the consequences of this. We need to understand that God does not change and therefore there is not an ‘Old Testament’ God of wrath and a ‘New Testament’ God of love; rather the one God is both loving and righteous, forgiving and holy.

Wisdom is defined in the dictionary as ‘the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment’, but spiritual wisdom is more than knowledge. Solomon wrote many proverbs about wisdom, but we need to understand that both the wisdom and love of God are combined in the person of Jesus. It’s vital that we know both love and the fear of God; it’s not an ‘either/or’ situation.  As we learn more of who God is, then we receive the wisdom we need (see James 1:5); we must also learn to submit to God in reverence and awe if we are to grow in spiritual wisdom (see James 4:7).

We may well feel in the present times that we need much wisdom to navigate the difficult and often stormy situations of 2021. In order to receive spiritual wisdom, we must always begin with the fear of the Lord. Our knowledge of Him will lead us into wisdom so that we are guided by the Lord Himself.