Reflection - Hearts

By Steve Hall

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101720.cfm
Ephesians 1:15-23
Luke 12:8-12

A man from Biblical times would be astonished at our readiness to transplant a heart. The medical expertise would be insufficient to satisfy him as to the wisdom of such a move. His concern with the matter would be more directly focused on the multiple operations of the heart; whereas we would narrow our view to the singular function of efficiently pumping blood. All other functions we may attribute to the heart are, in fact, relegated in the modern world to the class of fiction or fantasy. Just as, in our own day, we attribute emotions to the heart, so too did Biblical man but his delegation of certain activities to the domain of the heart was not poetic as ours is at all, but rather followed from a certitude regarding the manner in which human beings function.

In various parts of Scripture the heart is said to be discouraged, to be moved, to be merry, to be anxious and to be sorrowful. These emotions we, today, attribute to the heart as well; but we do so in a fanciful way. The heart in Scripture, however, is more than just the seat of many emotions. It is also the source of certain things we today would place in the realm of judgement — so in various places Scripture tells us that the heart is prudent, that it needs to be strengthened, that it is penitent. Biblical man would stretch the province of the heart well beyond what we would attribute to it as regards feelings and emotions. For him, evil itself was in the heart, and it was the heart that devised evil plans. It was the heart that heard and obeyed the directives of God. The heart knew and could speak and advise just as the intellect did.

All this is a prelude to the search for a more complete understanding of Paul in his letter to the Ephesians. There he prays:

“May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened,
that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call,
what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones,
and what is the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe.”

For the Biblical man (and that includes Paul) the heart sees. The heart hears. The heart knows. The heart understands. Or at least it is capable of any and all of these things. For Biblical man, the heart was the abode of the person; and if the heart met and knew and understood another within the bounds of the heart, it was with an intimacy that the head can merely observe. No wonder Paul prays for the eyes of the heart, and that those eyes be enlightened. He’s praying for a tender and loving contact between the Lord of all creation and one of the many who believe. It is this same Paul who will admonish the Romans: “If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9) Paul gives voice to a truth which doctrine and dogma fail to touch: belief must be in the heart because that’s where person meets person; and so too, consequently, must both conversion and repentance.

In John’s Gospel we find an amazingly succinct statement of this truth: "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." (John 6:29) Not believe in the truths being taught but believe in him, the one the Father has sent, the one who is the fulfillment of all promises that have come before.

There are multiple times in the four Gospels where Jesus talks about believing. There is not one time where he talks about believing a doctrine or dogma. In the same way Paul is praying for it here: “May the eyes of your heart be enlightened.” And for what purpose does Paul utter that prayer? His purpose is immediately upon his lips: “that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe.” Paul is praying that the Ephesians encounter Jesus through the vision, the knowledge, the hearing and the personal touch which is only possible through their hearts. Moreover, he prays that they experience all this with a depth of intimacy that is beyond the limitations of human understanding.

We have a number of prayers that have come to us through the living tradition of the church. I would readily welcome this prayer of Paul to join them.

“May the eyes of my heart be enlightened,
that I may know what is the hope that belongs to his call,
that I may know what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones,
and that I may know what is the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe.”