Ezekiel 36:26 says, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." Some of us have stony hearts. In fact, deep down we all probably do. We're prejudiced in some way or another, or we care about ourselves and our reputations more than we care about the souls of others. This keeps us from effectively sharing the Gospel with everyone around us.
It's apparent that something is radically wrong here. We've built walls around our hearts. These walls make it difficult, if not impossible, to reach out to others.
Perhaps we should look to the life of Christ (always a good thing to do). Jesus Christ had quite a heart, wouldn't you say? He reached across all boundaries of race, gender, nationality, social standing, sinfulness, etc. He shared his love with all those around Him, regardless of who they were or what they did. Tomorrow and the next day, we're going to be discussing some of my favorite stories of Jesus' compassion on those who were in some way "different." You see, while Christ was here, he associated with "sinners": tax collectors, prostitutes, and those considered "socially unacceptable."
Our hearts have grown stony against these people. I can remember being disgusted at a group of Christians protesting outside a Billy Graham crusade. They were protesting against homosexuals being allowed to come in and listen. I am often disgusted at the way our churches treat those who are "different". I just want to ask these people, "Why not share the news of Jesus with those who need it most?" We're defeating ourselves because our hearts have grown stony against different sorts of people.
Instead, we as individuals and the Church as a whole needs to learn to accept and love these people, gently leading them to the faith. We need to learn to show compassion, to realize that these people are really no different than us. The only difference is that we've found the Saviour that they are all (although some unknowingly) are searching for. We need to, as Paul said, "become all things to all people," and share the message of Christ with them.
This morning, I encourage you all to ask that the Great Physician would perform a divine heart transplant on you. Ask him to replace your heart of a stone with a heart of flesh, a heart that can truly love others regardless.