Circumcise Your Hearts

Feast of the Circumcision of Christ

Col. 2:8-12 Luke 2:20-21;40-52

Humans have rites of initiation. From the highest to the lowest, we see it.

Politicians are sworn in, taking an oath of office.  The Military have to take an oath.  Without these oaths, they cannot act on behalf of the government.

When I became a member of the Lay Dominicans, I had to make Life Promises. When we married, my wife and I each made vows. Without those promises, without those vows, I could not really say that I was admitted to that state of life.

In Genesis, Chapter 17, we read of a covenant that God makes with Abraham. “I will give to you and to your descendants after you the land in which you are now residing as aliens, the whole land of Canaan, as a permanent possession; and I will be their God. For your part, you and your descendants after you must keep my covenant throughout the ages.  This is the covenant between me and you and your descendants after you that you must keep: every male among you shall be circumcised.”

Circumcision became the outward sign of the Old Covenant, the Mosaic Law. And it applied not only to the Jew, but to any foreigner or slave living among them who would partake of the Passover. 

In Leviticus, we read that a male child is to be circumcised on the eighth day.  And so it was with Jesus, the feast we celebrate today. The heir to the throne of David submits himself to the Law of Moses, receiving the sign of the Covenant - the same Covenant that he, as God, had made with Abraham.

Beyond that, it was the first sign of his sacrifice for us. It was the first shedding of his precious blood. We read in Leviticus, “The life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement on the altar for yourselves, because it is the blood as life that makes atonement.” As a further sign, he is given a name that points to his purpose, Yeshua - Jesus, meaning Yahweh - God - saves.

Throughout his ministry, Paul was troubled - attacked, really - by people saying that circumcision - and adherence to the Mosaic Law - was required of all who would follow Jesus. He addresses that in the Epistle. “In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not administered by hand, by stripping off the carnal body, with the circumcision of Christ. You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead".  

This echoes two admonitions in Leviticus. “Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your  heart, and be no longer stubborn”, and “the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live”.

In these last two quotes from Leviticus, we learn a very important aspect of our faith. We are told to circumcise our hearts - and then we’re told that GOD will circumcise our hearts. Our faith and our spiritual growth depend on us as much as it does on God!  As I pointed out a few weeks ago, our good acts don’t save us; they carve out a portion in our souls for the Holy Spirit to fill with grace.

To understand circumcision of the heart it helps to understand physician circumcision. 

Physical circumcision involves removing the foreskin of an organ, an organ that can get a man in a lot of trouble, an organ that can be an instrument of sin.  Circumcision of the heart, then, is cutting away anything in the heart that can lead us to sin.

Writing to the Galatians, Paul warns us of such things. “Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God”. 

It can be difficult and painful to cut out such things.  They can become ways of life.  But Paul offers a solution. Continuing in Galatians, he says, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law".

Look at the last of the Spiritual Acts of Mercy, praying for the living and the dead. Do you really think you can pray for someone and continue hating them?  I mean REALLY pray for them?  I don’t think so.

Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked - as you continue to show them those mercies, they become more than just anonymous faces. You begin to love them.  And when you begin to love them (obeying the Second Great Commandment), you begin to love God (obeying the First Great Commandment). “And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live”. 

Why was Christ circumcised?  In all of history, only Jesus fulfilled the entire Law of Moses. His circumcision is the first step of his fulfilling the Law. And it is the confirmation that he is fit to be heir to the throne of David.

Circumcision is not a part of Christianity - it’s part of the Old Covenant, a covenant made by God with the physical descendants of Abraham through his grandson, Israel.  

Baptism is the Rite of Initiation of the New Covenant. And it is in Baptism in which we are buried with Christ and rise to new life.