27 March 2014 - the Rock and a hard place

27 March 2014 - the Rock and a hard place

God doesn't ask all that much of us on a basic level.  He says, "Listen to my voice".  Yet we refuse to listen. 

But they obeyed not, nor did they pay heed.
They walked in the hardness of their evil hearts
and turned their backs, not their faces, to me.

So we are called to be on our guard.  When he speaks to us there is a real danger that we will harden our hearts.  We have to be wary of this possibility so that we don't succumb to it.  We can't simply assume that because God speaks we will accept.  Mary does this, but most do not.  If we hear his voice today we have to make an act of acceptance with our will, empowered by faith, or our hearts will harden.

What is it in us that can see God at work casting out demons and yet say,  “By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons”?  How is it that we hear the mute speak on yet somehow, in prideful self-interest, in defensiveness, we refuse to acknowledge the finger of God at work.  We refuse to see the presence of the Holy Spirit working in power.

Do we?  Sometimes we see his works and rejoice in them.  But are we at other times guilty of witnessing him working but not acknowledging it?  What Jesus is doing, casting out demons, is also done by our "own people".  So maybe the problem is when we can't take any pride in the results.  Maybe when there is clearly nothing to connect us to results we don't rejoice as much as when we play a role.  And maybe it isn't just that we rejoice to be used by God.  Maybe our pride is trying to keep us in the center.  And this is the way to understand what Jesus tells us about who is with him and who is against him.

Whoever is not with me is against me,
and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”

To the degree that we insist on our own recognition, our own fame, and our own pride we are working against Jesus and against the kingdom.  He calls us to realize this.  He wants us to drive out demons (cf. Mar. 16:17) but to do so for the sake of his name rather than our own. 

The need to feel be appreciated for what we do is so fundamental to us.  But we are called to move beyond that.  We need to derive our worth from who we are as God's children.  Only then will his voice not threaten us.  Only then will our hearts remain soft when he speaks.  We will be, not employees, but sheep.

For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.

He never gives up on speaking to us.  Even if we miss him once he will keep trying.  He will keep trying even if we seem like a lost cause.

When you speak all these words to them,
they will not listen to you either;
when you call to them, they will not answer you.
Say to them:
This is the nation that does not listen
to the voice of the LORD, its God,
or take correction.

He reveals the hardness of our hearts not to condemn us but so that we might listen and be changed.  He is stronger than the enemy who holds us captive.  He has the power to take away the "armor" on which the enemy relies, the hardness of our hearts.  He distributes the spoils, the fruits of the Holy Spirit in and through us.

Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.


Yes LORD!  Break the armor of the enemy that keeps you from touching us in the depths of our spirits!