There are so many names for God throughout the scriptures. It’s striking to me that we so often focus on only a couple of these names especially in the way we address God when we pray. God is probably the most common name we use when we pray to or speak about God. And on this Pentecost Sunday, we are reminded of another name for God, “Spirit.”
And of course we have other standard names for God like, “Lord” and “Heavenly Father.” These names for God usually get top billing.
I’m amazed at how many times I continue to uncover new names for God, at least new to me. In today’s New Testament reading from Romans, the Apostle Paul slips in another beautiful name for God. “Searcher of Hearts.”
We find this name for God in our Romans passage. The New Revised Standard Version which is what we commonly use for scripture readings during our worship services and bible studies makes this name sound more like a description than a name, which is why I like how one New Testament scholar translates this verse.
His translation of Romans 8:27 based on his understanding of the Greek language which Paul is using here says, “And the Searcher of Hearts knows what the spirit is thinking, because the spirit pleads for God’s people according to God’s will.” “The Searcher of Hearts.” What a great name!
This name, “Searcher of Hearts” reminds us that God is active. I like that. God is a searching God. This name reminds us that God is always on the move.
One of my favorite chapters in the four Gospels is found in the 15th chapter of Luke’s Gospel. This one chapter contains three parables where Jesus is describing God as a searching God. It begins with the parable of the Lost Sheep. “Which one of you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and goes after the one that is lost until he finds it?”
The second parable is the parable of the Lost Coin. “What woman having ten silver coins if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?”
And the third parable is the parable of the Son Son, the Prodigal Son. That parable concludes with the father saying to the elder son after the younger son had returned home, “We had to celebrate and rejoice because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.”
These parables all point to a God who is always searching for what is lost. And at the conclusion of each of those parables is a time of rejoicing because what was lost is now found.
In our Romans scripture reading, Paul writes “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” And the Spirit does this because God is a searcher of hearts.”
In theological language, this is what we refer to as God’s prevenient grace. “Prevenient” means to go before, to go ahead of us, to prepare the way. Which means that God is always the primary actor. God is the one who is initiating a relationship with us and who first reaches out to us before we even think about reaching out to God.
Or let me describe prevenient grace in this way. There is never a moment, there is never a second, and there is never a time in our lives, when God is NOT searching for us and reaching out to us. When we take a moment to let that sink in, it really gives us this powerful picture of a God who is the one who always makes the first move toward us. That’s prevenient grace.
The word that Apostle Paul is using here for “search” is a Greek word that was often used in reference to the lighting of a torch in order to search for something in the dark. And when Paul says that the Spirit helps us in our weakness which he defines as those times when we don’t know how to pray, this becomes an even more powerful image for us. I love this thought of the Searcher of Hearts lighting a torch in the depths of our soul to help us communicate what is so deep down in us that we can’t even find the words to tell God what we are feeling.
If you ever find it too difficult to pray because what you are feeling is so raw and inexpressible in that moment, then this scripture reading offers us a powerful word of hope. The Searcher of Hearts is lighting the way in our troubled souls.
Maybe that darkness is related to a grief that you are experiencing. It might even be a grief that you didn’t even know you had until the Searcher of Hearts revealed it to you.
A few years ago on a late afternoon, I was driving down the road and listening to the radio. I wasn’t able to concentrate that whole day and I knew that something had been troubling my soul but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
Something was telling me to turn off the radio, so I turned it off and there was this eerie silence as I continued down the road. But that’s when I finally realized why I was so down and distracted that whole day. It was like a light revealed what was troubling my soul.
All of the sudden, it came to me. It was my dad’s death anniversary. And that time of silence in the car is what helped God’s spirit to connect with my spirit and led me to be able to name what was troubling me so that I could receive God’s healing and comforting grace.
Whether it’s grief or past wounds or a regret or feelings of disappointment, this Searcher of Hearts is helping us in our weakness. This Searcher of Hearts is shining the light of love and grace in whatever brokenness we may be experiencing.
This is a dimension of Pentecost that I never really gave that much focus until I noticed this new name for God buried in this passage of Romans. “The Searcher of Hearts.” God’s grace and love are always going before us. This Searcher of Hearts has already been lighting up the darkness of our souls to help lead us to healing and wholeness.
Tomorrow marks the anniversary of when John Wesley, the founder of Methodism had his heart-warming experience in London, England after suffering through a very long time of spiritual dryness. It’s kind of interesting that it was when Wesley was hearing someone read from this letter of Romans that led him to stand up and tell everyone at that prayer meeting that he felt his heart strangely warmed.
Strangely warmed. The Searcher of Hearts had been lighting a torch in Wesley’s despondent soul leading him to be awakened to God’s joy, hope, and mercy. Wesley went on to share his heart-warming faith with others who like him were in need of God’s reassuring love.
Methodists are known for our wonderful casseroles and our love of committee meetings, but we are most known for being a people of warm hearts. We are known for our warm hearts because the Seeker of Hearts is always lighting the darkness of our souls.
God’s prevenient grace is always going before us, preparing us, inviting us, wooing us, beckoning us, and reaching out to us with a love that fills our hearts. This God who is known as The Searcher of Hearts.
Several years ago, I served as a Christian camp counselor at one of our United Methodist camps. I was sitting with four or five other camp counselors around a blazing campfire. Our hearts had been warmed by the testimonies of several of the campers who just shared how they had experienced God’s love in a very real way because of that week of camp.
Some of the young campers had shared how they had received Jesus in their heart for the first time because of our week together. Others shared that they experienced God’s love in a new way and they were now ready to make a recommitment in being Jesus’s followers.
And as I sat there with the other camp counselors around that campfire, one of them questioned why these same spiritual experiences weren’t happening in our local churches. There was some silence as we thought about that questions. And then I said, “Well, maybe tonight wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for the local church that sponsored them to come, that shared God’s love with them through Sunday School, youth group, and worship. Maybe God was already at work before we even arrived here this week for camp.”
This Searcher of Hearts is always going before us lighting the way and preparing us to have hearts that are strangely warmed.
On that first Pentecost, we are told that a tongue of fire rested on each of the disciples and all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit.
Spirit, Searcher of Hearts, so many names for this God who is always on the move, always lighting the way before us and who is always helping us in our weakness.
Searcher of Hearts
Gracious God, we do not often listen for your Holy Spirit. We turn from your guidance and your inspiration. The whispers and the shouts do not penetrate the noise of our daily lives. We silence the wisdom available to us through your Spirit of Truth. O searcher of our hearts, help us to hear both your quiet whispers and your holy shouts that our very lives may testify to your unseen hope. Amen.
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