Intentions of the Heart - January 15
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 20, 21:1-7(8-14); PM Psalm 110:1-5(6-7), 116, 117; Gen. 6:9-22; Heb. 4:1-13; John 2:13-22
Today’s Reflection
Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account. –Hebrews 4: 12-13
Yesterday, our Romans Bible Study group was trying to wrap our brains and hearts around understanding Romans 7: 13-25. It’s not one of the lectionary passages for today, but it connects with the above verses from Hebrews, which are appointed for today. In these verses from Romans 7, which even the New Testament scholar N.T. Wright sees as “convoluted,” Paul is wrestling with the dilemma of believing what we should do and how we should conduct our lives, but then the tension with how we end up saying or doing things that are in conflict with how we believe God would have us to be. One Bible where I looked at this Romans passage gives it this title: “The Inner Conflict”:
For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin. I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! —Romans 7: 14-25
Our group’s discussion of these verses was wide ranging, but one of the themes was intentionality. When a person intends to do something sinful—something that hurts God, another person, or even themselves—is that worse than when someone unintentionally hurts God, someone else, or themselves? Or, looking at it from another vantage point: If we don’t intend to hurt someone, but unknowingly or accidentally do so, is that considered to be sinful?
I don’t know that we were able to answer these questions around sin and intentionality with any more clarity than any of the many theologians who have wrestled with this over the centuries. But one member brought up a conceptual framework that may be helpful in reminding ourselves of what we know about our own intentions and what others can know about them, looking in from the outside. The Johari window is a framework from the field of psychology that is also widely used in other fields of thought, including interpersonal communication. The window has four panes, or quadrants: 1) the open area is that which is known to both ourselves and to others; 2) the blind spot is that which we do not see ourselves but that others observe about us; 3) the hidden area is that which we know about or see in ourselves but is unknown to others; and 4) the unknown is that which neither we nor others are aware of about ourselves.
This framework can help us gain insight into intentionality in that “the hidden area” of what we know about ourselves, including our intentions, may seem very clear to us and yet can remain unknown to everyone else out there. Or, depending how well people know you, some people may be clear about your purposes but those same purposes may be unknown or obscured to people who do not know you as well.
So, while it may be clear to ourselves (as Paul writes in Romans 7) that “I delight in the law of God in my inmost self,” what is in our inmost selves isn’t always readily apparent to others. All others can know about us is what we put our there into the universe for them to know—through what we say (and don’t say) and through what we do (and don’t do). However, what I find comfort in through our Hebrews 4 passage for today is this: God knows “the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” All is “laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.”
While it is often important to make sure our purposes are clear to our fellow human beings, what is most important, ultimately, is that we know that God (who knows all our thoughts and the intentions of our hearts) loves us, cares for us, and is patient with us. As the great character Anne Shirley (from Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables books) once said, “Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?" Thanks be to God!
Becky+
Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen. (Collect for Purity, Book of Common Prayer, p. 355)
Questions for Self-Reflection
Reflect on a time when you what you intended in your words or actions did not come through clearly to others. How did this misunderstanding of intentions impact your relationship? Were you able to clarify your intentions? What did you learn from the misunderstanding that helped you moving forward?