“A pastor, visiting one of his members, found him confined to his bed by
doctor’s orders. He didn’t look sick at all, his was the color of radiant health.
But his heart was acting up. He was really a sick man. In the course of the
conversation, he said: ‘Pastor, you know when the heart is wrong, everything
is wrong.’
“How true those words are physically. ‘When the heart is wrong, everything is
wrong.’ If that pump doesn’t carry enough life-giving and life-sustaining oxygen
to all the various parts and organs of the body, things just don’t work. The
strength isn’t there. The zest isn’t there. Nothing seems to be right or go right.
“How true those words are socially. ‘When the heart is wrong’ people become
proud or jealous or hateful or prejudiced, society suffers all around. You know
how these words apply in politics, in business, in the neighborhood, and in the
family. ‘When the heart is wrong, everything is wrong,’ out of balance, out
of focus.
“How true those words are spiritually – in the church, in the congregations, in
the societies of the congregations. ‘When the heart is wrong,’ how can our
worship be right, how can our witnessing for Christ be right, how can our lives
in Christ be right?”
How true are the opening words of this sermon prepared by Pastor Ott. Many
people remark on how the pastors of Holy Cross always adhered to the Word
of God, and faithfully administered Word and Sacrament. The pastors of Holy
Cross had their spiritual hearts in the right place and we’ve benefited from that.
When, by the grace of God, our hearts are made right with God, our worship
will be right, our lives will be right, and our witness will be bold.
A Study in Hearts - Luke 15:1-10
by Rev. John W. Ott
The Pastors of Holy Cross throughout the years.
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