Surprise Surprise Surprise

We're going to be in Deuteronomy chapter 30, verses 1 through 10. It's our custom to read God's word aloud together. So if you could find that in your bulletin or look on the wall behind me as we project that up here.

Scripture Reading

When all these things happen to you, the blessings and the curses I have set before you, and you come to your senses while you are in all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, and you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and all your soul by doing everything I am commanding you today, then he will restore your fortunes, have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. Even if your exiles are at the farthest horizon, he will gather you and bring you back from here. The Lord your God will bring you into the land your ancestors possessed, and you will take possession of it. He will cause you to prosper and multiply you more than he did your ancestors. The Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love him with all of your heart and all your soul that you will live. The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. Then you will again obey him and follow all his commands I am commanding you today. The Lord your God will make you prosper abundantly in the work of your hands, your offspring, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your land. Indeed, the Lord will again delight in your prosperity as he delighted in that of your ancestors. When you obey the Lord your God by keeping his commands and statutes that are written in this book of the law and return to him with all of your heart and with all of your soul.

— Deuteronomy 30:1-10

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

The Larry Crabbe Story

Some of you may know the name Doctor Larry Crabbe. He was a Christian psychologist and writer who was really popular in the nineties era, early two thousands. While his writings are significant, I want to highlight his personal life. There's a story that he tells about his relationship with his younger son, Kepp.

Crabbe says he and his family did everything they could possibly do to teach their kids about Jesus. He says they always had a PowerPoint projector in their living room. They taught and instructed and gave all kinds of directions. Yet when Kepp got into high school, he was very rebellious. When it came time for him to go to college, his parents sent him to Taylor University, which is in the middle of nowhere. They chose this because you have to drive like 50 miles to sin.

One day, Larry Crabbe is at a conference where he's speaking and somebody comes up and hands him a note saying he needs to go get his son. Kepp has been expelled from Taylor. He's about halfway through his college career at this point.

Larry Crabbe recalls leaving the conference and driving to Indiana, and he's angry the whole way. He's fuming, filled with lots and lots of memories of all they've done for this kid. As he's driving and praying, he says to God, "I have tried. I have taught. I've given him all I know to give him. He doesn't need me. He needs you. So right now, will you give him you through me?"

After he prayed that prayer, all the anger and the sternness sort of evaporated. He gets to Kepp's school and goes to his dorm room and sits on the bed and says, "How can I help?" Their relationship changed that day.

The Surprise Ending

I'm telling you that story because here's what I wonder. We've been reading through Deuteronomy, this book of the law, and it's all of these statutes and laws and instructions. I just wonder, sometimes when I'm preaching to this congregation, when you hear us reading through this fall, if it doesn't just sound like "do, do, do"—instruction, instruction, instruction. If it doesn't have the sense of the stern dad who's like, "Here's what you gotta do."

But today we come to what I hope you understand is the surprise ending to the book of Deuteronomy. This is incredible. It's like Yahweh walks into the dorm room and sits down on the bed and says, "How can I help?"

We come to what is maybe the most amazing chapter of this whole book. One of the most amazing in the whole of the Bible. Because what you expect at the end of Deuteronomy is like, "Okay, here's all the laws. Go do it. Go team."

Instead, you get this sober description from Moses who says you're not gonna do this. You're not gonna keep it. And already a promise here of a new covenant which is to come. So Moses is acknowledging this covenant is failed because it's already broken.

Jesus said about this chapter, "Moses saw my day, and he was glad of it." Because in this chapter, we see the promise of the new covenant and how God relates to you today, to me today, on the basis of Jesus.

So today, here's my outline for those of you who like to take notes. We're gonna look at the necessity of a new heart and the provision of a new heart and evidence of a new heart. And I just gotta tell you, I heard a sermon by Tim Keller years ago that used this outline, and the rest of his content's mine, but I ripped off his outline for today. So in case you check up on me.

Really, it's the new heart. Why you need one? How you get one? How you know if you got one?

The Necessity of a New Heart

You know, we love—Americans love—fix-it solutions and New Year's resolutions and how-to books and life hacks. We love podcasts about how to do things better. We like efficiency. We like to think about new technologies and diets and how-to programs.

And Israel is about to enter this land. They've been given all the laws and all the rituals and all the statutes. And Moses has walked through this for thirty chapters now. From the start, it looks like these people, if anybody is set up for success, these people are set up for success. They're gonna do it. And they're all set to choose life, and here's what they do. They don't. They won't.

In the first part of this chapter, verses one through five, Moses tells the future history of Israel in a space of a few verses. A future history—what's about to happen for the next fifteen hundred years before Jesus. They're gonna fail. They're gonna abandon the Lord. He's gonna discipline them by sending them into exile, the Northern Kingdom and then the Southern Kingdom. The future history of Israel. And it sounds so pessimistic.

And Moses is even more dire in the next chapter, which we didn't read for today, but we'll put this on screen.

For I know how rebellious and stiff necked you are. You, if you've been rebellious against the Lord while I'm still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die? For I know that after my death, you are sure to become utterly corrupt and turn from the way I've commanded you. In days to come, disaster will fall on you because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord and arouse his anger by what your hands have made.

Ouch, Moses. Harsh, maybe, but honest.

What we see in Israel is what is writ large of what we're like. Who we are. The Bible tells us you can't fix you. Some of us are on a lifelong quest to fix self. But you can't fix you. You can't make yourself be good even by your own standards. If you were to write a list of all the things you've ever told other people they should do, things that you've been annoyed with family members about, things they ought to do and didn't do, and you said, "I'm gonna live by this"—you wouldn't do it. Because we're people who believe rules are good for other people, but not for self.

Think of how Moses' view here contrasts with our current Santa Claus mythology in our culture. Here's the Santa Claus mythology in the culture: if you are good, you get good presents. I remember reading this by an author several years ago who talks about this celebration he went to in his community in 2013. He said, "We sang all the Christmas songs. We sang everything from 'Oh Holy Night' to 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town.' And at the end, the man in red comes out. And he asks the kids the question: 'How many of you have been good this year?' And they're like, 'Me.' And he says, 'How many of you have been naughty this year?' And they're all like, 'Me.' And Santa's like, 'Oh, wasn't expecting that answer on the second.' And so there's this pause and Santa shrugs and says, 'Oh, well, I guess you've tried to be good.' And proceeds to throw out presents."

And it's such a weird mixed message of moralism and apathy. A mix of only good people get the gift and everybody's a good person. That's what our world says.

God tells us something here that's both more realistic and more hopeful. God says, actually, no. You're not gonna be good. And he tells us this for two reasons. One is the law can't make us good, and we won't do it.

First, the law can't make us good. The law doesn't change us. Knowing the rules never means that you are going to obey the rules.

Case in point. Finish the sentence. No cop. No stop. Yes. You know a couple other honest people here this morning. That's right. Why is that? Because a constrained heart isn't a changed heart. Knowing the rules doesn't mean we do them.

If knowing the rules meant we do them, we would all save more money, eat better, exercise more, write thank you notes, and put down our phones. We would all be thinner, more fit, more thankful, and more present. But does that change our behavior? You know all the stuff. We don't do it. The commands point to life, but they can't produce life. So the law doesn't change us.

The other thing is we won't change us. Just like a constrained heart is not a changed heart, so a restrained heart is not a changed heart. There are all kinds of examples of people who obey for short periods of time. Kids in school can obey for a short period of time. Soldiers with a commanding officer can obey for a short period of time. Athletes with their coach can obey for a short period of time. But it's always motivated by guilt or fear of punishment or social pressure or duty.

And the problem is much deeper within us. Nobody keeps that up. Nobody keeps that going. And the reason is because the word for sin in the Bible doesn't just mean doing wrong things, it means wanting wrong things. And the problem is much deeper than what we do. It's what we love. It's what we desire that needs to change. That's what's messed up.

God's Promise of Transformation

Here's the surprise ending of Deuteronomy. This is what's amazing. God doesn't just demand obedience. He promises transformation. He promises a way to get it. It all has to do with this word: heart.

In our culture, heart is about emotions. It's about what we feel. In the Bible, heart is about what we think, about what we feel, and about what we choose. And God promises here that you need a new heart and he's going to provide it.

This is the second point: the provision of God. God comes and sits on the dorm room bed. And he doesn't say get it together. He says turn to me. Turn to me and ask and I'll give you a new heart.

Now let me be really precise for this passage. In this passage, God says circumcise their hearts, our hearts. Israel knew about circumcision. And I know you're like, some are like circumcision yuck. Why we got to have a Christmas sermon where we talk about circumcision. Why you yucking my yum, pastor? Christmas yum, circumcision, yuck. I'm sorry. We got to talk about this.

Circumcision was an outward ritual that represented something deep inside. It was a ritual performed on little boys born into Jewish families at eight days old or converts from outside the communities of Judaism. But it was never meant to be just a rite. It was never just go through the motions, do the thing. It was always meant to be a picture. It was always meant to picture for God's people that something on the inside needed to be cut away. Something was wrong deep in our hearts that needed to be cut away. And there's a circumcision that you can't see, that you can't do.

Here's what's fascinating. Earlier in this book, in chapter ten verse sixteen, Moses says:

Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your hearts and be no longer stubborn.

He's telling the people, hey, get rid of the rebellion and stubbornness on the inside of you. Try to put that away from you. But now in this passage, Deuteronomy 30:6, it says:

And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, that you may live.

Did you hear that? Before: you circumcise your hearts. Now: God will do that. God will circumcise your hearts.

Moses calls them to do it, but promises that God alone can really do it. What is he saying? God commands them to turn away from their stiff-necked ways, and he promises to give them the ability to do it. That's amazing.

We're at the very end of Deuteronomy. And this is what Moses' great news is: God provides what he requires. God enables what he requires. This is unbelievable.

So a couple of Sundays ago, I talked about how God provides what he requires. We looked through and I had you divide up in half—half of you read the blessings and half of you read the curses. And I explained how Jesus came and fulfilled all of the law. He didn't erase it. He fulfilled it so much that he took upon himself all the covenant curses on his death so that you, if you are in Christ, get the covenant blessings.

And I told you the story about when I was the Easter bunny. Remember this? I was an Easter bunny when I was 18 years old. I had to wear the outfit, and I showed up for a photo shoot, an egg hunt with the Easter bunny, and I had no idea the reception I would get.

I was treated as if I were the Easter bunny. And all these kids are hugging me, and people want their photos. And when I take off the costume, nobody treats me like that anymore. Why? Because I was in the Easter bunny. And if you're in Christ, you receive from the Lord. God gives what he requires. He gives you the righteousness of Christ. He considers you like Jesus. In him, you are like him. You receive the blessings of God, of a covenant keeper.

But what we see this morning is even more crazy. Because not only does God provide what he requires, he now enables it. He creates something new in the heart of a person. This is called regeneration. Like Genesis, beginning, new life. This is what God does for his people. He makes dead things alive.

This is all of your Bible. In Ezekiel chapter 36 and 37, Ezekiel's looking at this valley of dry bones, and God says, "I can make them alive." And he makes them come to life. There's a picture in Jeremiah chapter 31 where he says:

I'm gonna give you a new heart and a new spirit. I'll take out your heart of stone. I'll give you a heart of flesh that you could obey the Lord. — Jeremiah 31

In John 3, Jesus meets with this old crusty Pharisee named Nicodemus. He says:

You got to be born again.

And he's like, "How do I be born again?" He's like:

I'm gonna give it to you. This is the gift of God.

This is not achieved. This is a gift that God gives of being born again, of having the new heart, the new life. God empowers what he requires. He does it by giving us a new engine on the inside.

So when I was in college, I rushed a fraternity. And as rush class, we had to go do a fraternity road trip. I was assigned a car full with four of us, and we were supposed to go from Davidson to visit all these colleges in Southern Virginia and the chapters on these campuses. I got assigned with Jesse. Now Jesse was a piece of work. He was on my freshman hall and his hobby was auto mechanics. So he had this old '70 station wagon that his parents had driven forever, and it got to the point where the engine seized up. It was just a rolling chassis. So Jesse, in high school, went to the junkyard and bought a Corvette engine and dropped that Corvette engine in that seventies station wagon with the wood paneling, and man, it was loud. But that Plymouth would move in a way no Plymouth station wagon should ever move.

That's what God's promising to do. God promises to drop Corvette engines in rolling chassis. This is what he does. The natural condition of every person is not, "Oh, I need a little help from God." It's not sick. It's dead spiritually. That's what the Bible says about us. We can't run. The engine's seized up. You can't fix you. But the promise here, repeated all throughout the Old Testament, is that God drops Corvette engines into rolling chassis of our hearts. He gives us what's new.

Two Types of Heart Transplants

Did you know there are two types of heart transplant operations? I had to look this up. There are two types of operations. One is what you would think of as a heart transplant. This is called an orthotopic heart transplant where they put a person on life support, they take out the old heart, they put in a new heart. But the other one is called heterotopic. And it's where actually a second new heart is added to the old heart, and it enables it. It's like a helper heart. They don't take out the old one. And the hope is this one will help restore the other one, and if one's rejected, you still have another one in there.

Now this is what we would prefer that God do. We would prefer the second version. God, just a little help. I just need a little help. I want a little help. I want your work in my life and a little bit of your aid to me. But I don't really want the radical surgery. I'm not that bad, am I? This is what humans do. We're like, "God, I just need a little bit of God. I don't want you to take over my life. I don't want radical surgery in operation." And we hedge our bets. We're like, maybe I can have just a little bit of Jesus in my life. I don't want too much to ruin me, to make me one of those weirdos.

God only provides one kind of heart transplant, and it's radical. He says, "You're dead, and you need a new heart. I can't just make you a little better. Dead things don't get a little better. You're not sick. You're dead. You need a new heart. Come to me."

And here's my invitation. You know, some of you will go through the airport in the next couple of weeks. Going to the airport never makes anybody into an airplane, I can tell. Neither does coming to a church make you a Christian. And a lot of people think that's true.

I go regularly, and I do the stuff of church, and I'm a Christian. No. This is what makes you a Christian. God, would you give me a new heart? I have a heart that's dead. I don't want to love you and serve you and obey you. I need a new heart. Something's radically wrong with me. You ask the Lord and he gives it to you. It's amazing.

So last point is how do you know? How do you know if you have a new heart? This is the question I really want you to ask today.

Every pastor knows that their congregation, even though I've been here almost fifteen years, is made up of people, some of whom are really regenerate and alive in Christ, and some who aren't. And they don't know it. Part of my job is to help you. I don't care how long you've been in the church. I don't care how many ministries you've served in or how much leadership you've had. I care that you know that you have a new heart.

Evidence of a New Heart

How do you know you have a new heart? Three things we see in this passage.

First is you love God for love's sake.

The Lord your God will circumcise your heart and you will love him with all your heart and you will love him with all your soul. — Deuteronomy 30:6

When I was in college, I fell really hard for this girl who was an art history major. And suddenly, this guy started going to art museums. My family was like, what is wrong with him? That was not natural behavior for me. They're like, this is a miracle. No, it's not a miracle. I was loving art for Susan's sake. That's why I loved art. I loved art for Susan's sake. To get the girl, my extended family was in shock, but, know, it was Susan for crying out loud. Of course I loved art. Who wouldn't fall in love with art to fall in love with the girl? But one of the things that's happened over years is I like art now. I like art. I would go into art museums for its own sake. Not to get something, just because I love it.

How do you know if you have a new heart? How do you know you begin to love God just for God? Not for what he can do for you or things he can fix or solve for you, but who he is. You love God for God. You kinda love worshiping. You love his word. You love his people. It's loving God for God.

And by contrast, a lack of love for God is a symptom of something wrong. If you're like, I like church. I don't know if I love God. I like knowing about God. I don't know if I love God. I like appearing like I love God, but I don't know if I love God. That's something you should ask the Lord. Lord, is this real? Make it real. I want to love you for you. I want to be real.

Second, you obey the Lord.

Then you will again obey him and follow all his commands I'm commanding you today. — Deuteronomy 30:8

A new heart is a heart that wants to do what God says. There's a really famous story of a guy named John Newton, a British guy who had been in the slave trade. He comes to faith in Christ and it just flips his life upside down. But he writes this:

Our pleasure and our duty, though opposite before. I didn't like to obey God. Since we have seen his beauty, our joys to part no more. I love to obey. It's our highest pleasure no less than duty's call to love him beyond all measure and serve him with our all.

What's he saying? A circumcised heart. That new engine in your life changes the way you view God. You're like, I kind of want to do what he says. You're like the people at Chick-fil-A. A lot of my kids have worked at Chick-fil-A. You know what the people at Chick-fil-A say? My pleasure. That's what a heart that's alive to God says to him. My pleasure.

Conversely, if you find in you the inner rebel is really strong, and you're not one of those people who's like, yeah, I really want to obey him. I don't do it very well. But you're like, I don't even really care. Something's wrong, folks. I love you enough to tell you this. Something's wrong. You may not be alive to God. You may need to say, God, give me a new engine because this one doesn't run.

Finally, life.

The Lord your God will circumcise your heart and you will love him with all your heart and all your soul so that you'll live. — Deuteronomy 30:6

What do living things do? They grow. They're alive. Now there is a type of life that's existing that's not living. A person who is brain dead, we call that a vegetative state because a vegetable has a certain kind of life, but we know it's not the same as a person. I don't want to be insulting to anybody, but there's a way to be alive as a person and that's very different from being alive to God.

And it's as different as a vegetative state and a normal life. The life that's alive to God is a whole other order of being alive. It's living. It's knowing him. It's growing—not perfectly, not like a straight line. I mean, like all over the place. But it's like alive.

This morning, here's my question for you, and I really want you to wrestle with this: Do I have life? Am I in fact alive spiritually this morning?

Now I don't want you to get hung up on like, when did that happen? That'd be like you going and searching for your birth certificate in your house to make sure you were born. Who cares when? What matters is if.

The Call

And here's my call to you. Like, one of the things that my job is to do is to disturb the comfortable. It's also to comfort the disturbed. And if you're sort of cruising this morning spiritually, you're like, I don't really actually love all this that much. Can you ask the Lord? Lord, make me alive.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Let's pray together. Father, we thank you that your spirit is real, that the new life in Christ is a reality, and we pray, Father, that everybody here would have that. We pray that for our friends, pray that for our family members. Lord, we need hope this morning of the new life, the new heart. Lord, we need that. Lord, come in. Have your way. We want to be fully alive to you. We want to be loving you and growing in you and obeying you in a church that's filled with people who are alive. Lord, disturb those who are comfortable and comfort those who are disturbed this morning. Pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.