The most important part of your body? That is quite the question!! If you ask Flo Westra who has had extensive surgery on her foot what the most important part of the body is, she may point to her toes. If you ask Richard Bress who fell off of a ladder and broke the majority of his ribs, I think he would point to those ribs and say that those are quite an important part of the body. Before he broke them he didn’t think of them too much but now they are on his mind constantly.

The most important part of your body? When I was in college I had a friend who had a really good-looking girl friend and he went and dumped her. I couldn’t believe it!! He said she spent all her time making sure she stayed beautiful. And he grew impatient waiting for her to do her makeup and her hair!! Maybe our faces are the most important part of the body. We can spend a ton of money making sure that we look different at 7:00 then what we looked like at 6:00. Or maybe it is our shape. I saw an infomercial recently that showed some folks with muscles and curves and lots of sweat and the promise was given that for just $100.00 a month for the rest of my life I could look like that!! Hair is extra, though!!

There are many important parts to our body. We spend a lot of money on this thing. And if it isn’t working right or we have injured it, that part that needs repair or replacement becomes the most important.

But what is the most important part of your body? The heart!! The heart is the most important part of your body. In the Gospel reading for today from Mark 7 Jesus is being questioned about His followers failing to observe the ceremonial laws of washing hands and washing the utensils that they ate with in the proper way. Jesus pointed to something greater than their traditions, He pointed to the heart. This is what Jesus said, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men. You have let go of the commands of God and are holding to the traditions of men.” (Mark 7:6-8)

Jesus said that they had a problem, a serious one and it lay in their heart. They had all the motions right, they spoke the right words but the heart was empty. We see the problem with the heart all the time. Have you ever worked with someone, or maybe you’re that someone, who has no drive, no desire, no heart. They clock in and clock out, they might even do their work, but their heart is not in it. When a sporting team is getting ambushed, and you can just see them wilting, you see their heart is no longer in the game. If a kid sits in a classroom and has no interest in the subject at hand and doodles away the hour you can see that their heart is not connecting with the instructor or the subject. Or in marriage we can see folks who have lost the spark of their initial commitment – their heart isn’t in it anymore. Something died.

The heart of the folks that Jesus spoke to was wonderful in the ritual and going through what they thought they should do, but the heart lacked true substance. He called them hypocrites – a hypocrite literally meant someone who was an actor, a person playing a part. They weren’t true and genuine.

It was their problem. But it is our problem. Our problems start with the heart. They were so concerned in the days of Jesus about having something from the outside making you unclean but Jesus said it wasn’t what was on the outside but what was on the inside that makes us unclean. It is the heart. This is what He says, “What comes out of a man is what makes him unclean. For from within, out of man’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man unclean.” (Mark 7:20-23)

In the 1930’s the president of a small Midwestern college used to promote his school to the parents of potential students by playing up the school’s remote location. He would say, “We’re 37 miles away from the nearest sin.” Impossible!! Our nearest sin is as close as our heart!!

The other day a man who had spent 6 years in prison because he falsely represented himself to be an attorney was returned to prison. You see, just days after getting out the first time he posed as a lawyer once again!! I guess you never learn!! I think in his trial he represented himself – he’s the best lawyer that he knows!! There was something wrong with his heart – the most important part of his body.

So, in our days if God is going to work on us, it all begins with the heart. Psalm 51, one of the penitential psalms, says, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Verse 10) One of the songs that we sing in our worship services is “Open the Eyes of my Heart, Lord.” Some of the words say, “Open the eyes of my heart, Lord, open the eyes of my heart, I want to see you…” The song is based on this verse from Ephesians, “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints.” (1:18)

When your heart can be broken in repentance and then made new in seeking the will of God, and when the heart can trust in Jesus, our mighty Savior alone, then the heart is right. Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21)

A few months ago I was making that endless journey through Kansas on I-70. On that stretch of road there were a number of religious signs that some group has put up. I think it was a Catholic group – they have a unique way of showing Jesus. Jesus is in the center of the billboard and over his flowing robes is a huge red heart – on the outside of His body. His hands are extended and inviting. What I saw in that billboard was the heart of Jesus open and inviting to all.

The most important part of our body is our heart. We know that. When we sin it is our heart that chose that route. When we go through the motions or religion and life and have no substance to what we do, the problem is in the heart. At school, on the field, at work, with our family our problems as Jesus says, “Come from within, from men’s hearts”.

And so the remedy comes from within, from the heart, from the heart of Christ. When He spoke to the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, the folks in this Bible reading, the folks that were so concerned about externals and never got to the heart of the matter, He wanted them to have a true heart, a forgiven heart, a new heart.

The heart of Jesus is the most important part of Christ. His heart reveals His will. During the recent weeks, in our Scripture readings, we have seen Jesus in His travels going from place to place. And we see people following Him, seeking Him. One of the times He got into a boat with His disciples and they went away, for a retreat. We read this, “But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” (Mark 6:32-34)

What they saw was His heart. He had compassion on them. He cared for them. What we see is His heart and His desire and His passion for us. His heart is seen in His mercy and kindness of us. His heart is that we would know the peace of God that He brings to us. We are a forgiven people. We are a saved people. We are people who will celebrate eternity next to the side of Jesus Christ.

Do you know the most important part of Christ? When you come to this table and receive the body and blood of Jesus for forgiveness, peace and the strengthening of faith you are receiving more than the true body and blood of Jesus Christ, you are receiving His heart.

His heart is for you. It was broken for you, it bled for you and it suffered for you. His heart rose in triumph conquering all enemies. His heart is still open to our needs for strength and courage.

His heart is ours and our heart is His!! Jesus wanted something different from the folks that he spoke with in our text. He was inviting a new heart when he quoted the prophet Isaiah, “These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.” He wants our hearts. And when He has our hearts He has our feet and our mouth and our hands – He has us!! With your heart follow Him right now and every day.

You may know the Prayer of St. Patrick – Christ on the left and the right, Christ in front and behind, Christ above and below – it shows us the comforting truth that Christ can be found in every situation and every place. But in that prayer it also mentions “Christ within me” – in my most important part of the body – my heart. When I know that His heart is mine and He rejoices to be in me I will see Him everyday of my life, everywhere.

The most important part of your body? Your heart!! He gave His for you. Give yours for Him. Amen!!