HARD HEARTS SERMON
In Mark’s gospel chapter 6 and verse 52 we have these words :-
“they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.”

Many of the followers of Jesus witnessed numerous miracles including the feeding of the 5000.

But their hearts were not always in tune with the great things Jesus was doing in his ministry. Because of their hardened hearts they did not understand Jesus’s mission, they only saw and heard what they wanted to see and hear.

I remember 30 years ago hearing a preacher give the most powerful sermon i had ever heard, on the parable of the prodigal son. The sermon was focused primarily on the reaction of the older brother who was angry at the father’s loving and generous response on the return of the prodigal. The preacher spoke to my heart, and his message was directed to all in the congregation.
It was not one of those sermons that spoke of all the wrong things in the world, but rather spoke of the wrong attitudes that can lurk even in those who seek a relationship with their heavenly Father.

But when the service was over, the person sitting next to me, to my utter amazement, said :-
“but of course this sermon did not refer to us, his message was directed to those outside the church” –
–he could not have been more wrong in his assessment.

Quite often we hear only what we want to hear – and see only what we want to see – and block everything else out.

No matter what Jesus did or said many of his followers could not grasp what he was actually trying to teach them.
Because their hearts were not right, they saw only the loaves and nothing more, they saw only what they wanted to see.

When we look at the beauty and wonder of life and the universe , what do we see.

The psalmist says :-
The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.

For the one who does not want to see, this knowledge does not stir the heart to praise God for his creation.
For the ardent atheist the explanations for the universe point away from God – and not towards Him.

St Aquinas said
“To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”
The atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell was once asked what he would say if he found himself standing before God on judgement day and God asked him, “Why didn’t you believe in Me?” Russell replied, “I would say, ‘Not enough evidence, God! Not enough evidence!'”

The truth is God doesn’t force himself upon us. He has given evidence of Himself which is sufficiently clear for those with an open mind and an open heart, but sufficiently vague so as not to compel those whose hearts are closed.

The great French mathematical genius Blaise Pascal who came to know God through Jesus Christ at the age of 31, put it this way:

“Willing to appear openly to those who seek him with all their heart, and to be hidden from those who flee from him with all their heart, God so regulates the knowledge of himself that he has given indications of himself which are visible to those who seek him and not to those who do not seek him. There is enough light for those to see who only desire to see, and enough obscurity for those who have a contrary disposition.”

In other words, the evidence is there for those who have eyes to see.

The traditional arguments for the existence of God and the evidences of Christianity are not coercive, but they are certainly sufficient to make Christian belief rational.
Faith is not as some have said a leap in the dark
Faith rather is a light
I love these words from Benedict the 16th – explaining that faith is indeed a light – he says :-
“There is an urgent need, then, to see once again that faith is a light, for once the flame of faith dies out, all other lights begin to dim. The light of faith is unique, since it is capable of illuminating every aspect of human existence. A light this powerful cannot come from ourselves but from a more primordial source: in a word, it must come from God. Faith is born of an encounter with the living God who calls us and reveals his love, a love which precedes us and upon which we can lean for security and for building our lives. Transformed by this love, we gain fresh vision, new eyes to see; we realize that it contains a great promise of fulfilment, and that a vision of the future opens up before us. Faith, received from God as a supernatural gift, becomes a light for our way, guiding our journey through time.”

Those who are dogmatically atheistic have eyes – but they do not see – they see only what they want to see – no arguments or evidence will convince them.

But if people are willing to be open, to receive the true and living God – He will come to them – and they will know Him, and know that they have been known by Him – and they will gain fresh vision and new eyes to see.

When Pascal came to know God personally through Jesus Christ – That experience changed his life.

When Pascal died, there was found sewn into his clothing a reminder of that event which he constantly carried with him. And this is what it read, “From about 10:30 at night, until about 12:30. FIRE. God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, not of the philosophers and of the learned. Certitude, certitude, feeling, joy, peace. God of Jesus Christ . . . Jesus Christ. . . . Let me never be separated from Him.”

Pascal discovered that ultimately we have to deal not with evidence for God — but with God himself – who seeks us out – and loves us more than we can imagine or comprehend.