Let me ask you, what have you learnt from this exercise this morning?
Now I wonder if any of you would be so brave as to share, in about three words, what God has been speaking into your life as a result of this exercise.
Now I want you to ask yourselves, how available, today, are you for God? What are the bricks that you have put up in your life that might hold you back? What is the wall you have built between yourself and God?
Last week I had the privilege of attending the Church Mission Conference in Waikanae. The keynote speaker, the Bishop of the diocese of Josh in Nigeria, Bishop Ben Kwoshi, told the story of having his home as well as his church burnt down by fundamentalist Muslims when he was a vicar. They lost absolutely everything. He was eventually offered another parish to pastor and he said as he set out, between himself and his wife Gloria and their two small babies, the only possessions they owned were the car he was driving and one small suitcase! The most amazing thing was, he said, that instead of feeling bereft, they experienced a wonderful sense of liberation: liberation from all the material stuff that gets in the way of our walk with Jesus. They were free to serve God! And, believe me, serve God they do! They are the most exciting and inspiring Christians I have been in the company for a very long time. I believe what they had experienced first hand, was that removal of one of the bricks in their life. Material possessions!
Don’t get me wrong. I am not suggesting we go home after this service and give away all our possessions, though the prospect does excite me, however, I believe we do need to really look at all the bricks we use to build a wall between ourselves and God. All those things that get in the way of an in depth, daily walk with Jesus; all those things that rob us of our intimacy with the very One who laid down his life for us.
· Bricks in our lives build up very subtly. Over time, I believe, they have built up in our lives to the point that we are unaware of them and, of course, Satan wants us to accept them as the norm of daily living. This morning I am just going to cover some that are more obvious and those that perhaps you might never have considered as bricks in your lives.
· The brick of busyness is the most common and perhaps also the easiest to justify, but when you really think about it we are often busy with non essentials. I have to confess that I struggle with this one and have to be very deliberate in putting time aside to spend in the company of my Lord. Jesus reminds us about the danger of busyness in the story of Mary and Martha, where Martha places her own busyness as a barrier to learning from the feet of Jesus.(Luke 10:38-41 )
· Working long hours in order to maintain empty lifestyles is also a very real factor for many people today. Empty lifestyles, because without Jesus having priority in our lives we have no sense of purpose or real fulfilment. The danger is that emptiness leaves the door wide open to the temptation of trying to find fulfilment through other things like sex, drugs and alcohol that eventually lead to an untimely and tragic death as seen recently with Amy Winehouse.(Proverbs 7:6-23 )
· Following close on it’s heels is the brick of tiredness. We so wear ourselves out on the non essentials that we if we have to choose between bed and God, bed wins out every time and another day goes by without reading God’s word or having any time with him. I wonder how many of you can identify with that? How often when you tired and worn out do you think to go God for refreshment I wonder? Too often I counsel couples whose relationship has fallen apart because over time they have become too exhausted for physical intimacy which leads to one or the other being tempted to look elsewhere. Isaiah very clearly tells us “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.” “He gives power to the tired and worn out” Isaiah 40:29-31 So my question is, why aren’t we doing this?
· Just like the rich man in today’s gospel reading, money can be an enormous brick in our lives. Money in itself is ok as long as money, or the requirement of it, is not our chief focus. For when our focus is on making more money then our focus is not on God and the enemy very quickly steps in to tempt us with the idea of self-sufficiency. Because when we are busy working in our own strength, we’ll never experience God’s power
· The brick of unforgiveness can often be a very heavy brick we not only carry but use to build up a wall between ourselves and God. I know, I’ve been in that position myself where I have harboured unforgiveness towards someone. Oh yes, I could justify it in my mind, but all it did was harden my heart and put up another brick in my relationship with God. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit went to work on me and reminded me that Jesus not only taught about forgiveness, he also demonstrated his own willingness to forgive.
Matthew 9:2-8
John 8:3-11
Luke 7:47-50
John 18:15-18; 25-27; 21:15-19
Luke 23:39-40
After much repentence on my part, I can honestly say I experienced the “weight” of that brick being lifted from my life.
· Another brick that has crept into our lives today is the brick of over-stimulation of our minds. We are so bombarded with information coming to us from so many different quarters that we fail to hear God speaking to us because we have clogged up our minds with useless information. We end up with so many ideas choking up our minds, that too often there is no room for God
· I am also aware of a brick called “desensitization.” As well as the bombardment of information, our minds also become saturated with the violence we see and read about on a daily basis. Because of this I believe, we run the risk of becoming desensitized to the world around us and fail to display the compassion Christ calls us to show others.
· And finally, I am becoming more and more aware of many people at my stage of life, including in my own family, who are retiring early and going off around the world for a few years involving themselves in good causes. That, in itself, is very noble but, I believe, they often immerse themselves in good causes so they won’t have time for eternal ones. And that is one of the biggest bricks people of my generation put up between themselves and God. They see good works as being above a relationship with God!
So, I will ask the question again. What are the bricks in your life? Are you willing to lay them down at the feet of Jesus this morning so that you relationship with him is no longer hindered by the wall you have built?
