Redeeming Our Orphan Heart

Jesus has the unique ability of not only seeing the condition of the human heart but also being able to address it in succinct statements. Such statements do not condemn, rather they bring life. 

We read one of these statements in John 14. Jesus is with his disciples for one last meal before he is taken away to the cross. He spends the evening re-iterating who he is, why he came to earth and the amazing change that is about to take place through his death and resurrection. He looks at them and says "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you" (John 14:18). 

He sees his disciples as orphans. Now, we have to understand that he is not talking about their human state or their relationship with their parents. Nor is he purely talking to them; he is talking to us and about us as well. He looks at the state of our heart and sees our fallen humanity, the consequence of that first sin in the garden. He sees our independence and how we have stepped outside of the Father's love and chosen to follow the great deceiver. 

At this point let me pause and consider what an orphan is. I've travelled to Uganda many times and seen countless orphans, often rejected by society and forced to live on the streets. It is totally heart-breaking. I've also seen many ex-street children. Children who have found a home and a way through the pain and rejection of being abandoned. Such scenes of redemption are beautiful. 

An orphan is unloved, without parents, without a home and therefore no sense of identity or belonging. The life of an orphan is an empty one: they have lost everything that a child should receive. They feel they are nobody because of the emptiness of their heart. 

An orphan is empty. Devoid of love and consequently they have to fight to make a name for themselves and fight for everything they need. Life, for an orphan, is a struggle and one that many people fail to find a way out of. 

That's the condition of the human heart which Jesus identifies in his disciples and, by the way, in you and me as well. He primarily identifies a deep spiritual need that only he can fix. 

Thankfully, we are not left as orphans, he has come to us. Jesus promises a way out of the emptiness and loneliness of our orphan heart. We were never meant to live as orphans but as children of God (John 1:12). 

What do we do when something is empty? We seek to fill it. 

That's what an orphan heart needs. It needs to be filled with the thing it lacks. It needs to be filled with love. 

As you will have noticed, I refer to an 'orphan heart' rather than an 'orphan spirit'. I do that deliberately as it is our heart that needs to receive and contain love. The only way we will see orphan hearts being redeemed is through love. An orphan needs to be loved and go on receiving love until such a time as the pain and rejection has been healed. Something we all need as there continue to be some orphan-hearted ways in each of us. This is not a one-off event but a new way of living. 

Jesus identifies the state of the human heart and shows the way of redemption. "I will come to you", "I will send another Counsellor (or Comforter) to help you and to be with you for ever" (John 14:16). This Counsellor (or Comforter) is the Holy Spirit who is not only with us but also within us (John 14:17). 

In 1 John 4:16 we read that God is love. The very nature, character and personality of the Father is love. Paul tells us that this love (the whole of God's nature) is being poured into our heart by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). He does not pour his love into our mind in the hope that it might drop into our heart. No, he pours his love directly into our heart. It is in our heart that all meaningful and deep relationships live, it is the place of encounter and intimacy. It is our heart that is transformed by the power of his love; a transformed heart will lead to a renewed mind. As our heart is transformed the emptiness, lostness, lack of identity and belonging can be satisfied in the only way possible. By the unconditional love of the Father. 

We primarily need an encounter with the Holy Spirit to show us that we are no longer orphans. It is through this encounter that we are able to satisfy the eternal desire of the Father's heart which we read about in Jeremiah 3:19. We can turn to him and call him 'Father' because that's who he is (I thought you would call me 'Father'). In doing so, we step into our true identity (how gladly would I treat you as sons), we find our true home (and give you a pleasant land) and are able to receive our inheritance (the most beautiful inheritance of any nation). 

The Holy Spirit is therefore a bridge between us and the Father. In fact, I like to refer to him as an elastic bridge! He is joined to the Father and he becomes joined to us. He then draws us closer and closer to the Father so that we take our place in Christ, at the side or bosom of the Father (John 1:18). Instead of the emptiness of an orphan we take our place as beloved sons and daughters of the Father. The very thing he has always desired (Ephesians 1:4). 

It's the Holy Spirit that enables us to walk in the Father's ways (Ezekiel 36:26-27). Too often we try to walk in his ways in the frailty of our human strength or ability. We fail because it's not about our effort. It's the result of us walking in the Spirit. As we walk in the Spirit we are caused or motivated to walk in his ways, to discover the path of sonship. An orphan can't do that, only a son or daughter can. 

Finally, let me mention the 'love sandwich' of 1 Corinthians chapters 12 to 14. These are passages we know well as they stress the necessity and importance of the gifts of the Spirit. I agree! They are vital and we need to see more of them, so 'yes' we should eagerly desire them. Yet Paul says there is a 'more excellent way'. It's the way of love which is the filling to the sandwich in chapter 13. This is the 'most excellent way' (1 Corinthians 12:31) and the one we should make our goal or greatest aim (1 Corinthians 14:1 AMP). 

It is through our constant encounters with the Holy Spirit that our orphan heart can be redeemed. It is through our constant encounters with the Holy Spirit that we discover we are loved and are truly God's children (1 John 3:1). It is as we walk in sonship that the fruit of the Spirit will grow in our lives and the gifts of the Spirit will be released through us. Let us pursue this 'most excellent way' with all our heart.

"I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love with which you have loved me may be in them and that I myself may be in them" (John 17:26).