ADVENT WEEK THREE: JOY
December 16 Rev. Jenny Wynn
A New Heart
Ezekiel 36:1-37
A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will
remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
Ezekiel 36:26
It may be cliché, but when I read Ezekiel’s words, I can’t help but think of the
Grinch. The Grinch is a curmudgeonly character whose heart is famously “two
sizes too small.” He hated everything about Christmas, so he plotted to steal
Christmas.
When the Grinch realizes that Christmas couldn’t be stolen because Christ-
mas was more than food, presents, and decorations, his heart begins to grow.
What strikes me the most is when Cindy Lou Who invites this former enemy to
join their Christmas feast. In that moment, the Grinch must become vulnerable
and release the protective barriers he had built around his wounded heart.
The Grinch had allowed hatred, distrust, and fear to isolate and harden him.
Sound familiar? We live in times when it’s easy to be consumed by fear and
distrust. Our hearts can become numb to it all.
This is where Ezekiel’s ancient promise becomes deeply personal. Speaking
to God’s people in exile, the prophet envisions complete heart transformation.
God promises to remove hearts of stone and replace them with hearts of
flesh: hearts that beat for justice, hearts dedicated to God’s dream for cre-
ation, hearts renewed in covenantal relationship with God.
This Advent, we are invited to examine our own hearts. Like the exiles in Eze-
kiel’s time and like the Grinch in his mountain cave, we too can experience
revival of our hearts. God can soften what has hardened, heal what has been
wounded, and give us a vision of Shalom to work toward.
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