Hindrances to Experiencing the Awe of God
Luke 10:38-42 Mary listens while Martha is busy – Busyness
John 11:28-45 Lazarus raised - Circumstance
John 12:1-8 Anoints Jesus – Fear
Slide
Last week we began talking about
how we lose the Awe of God and
how we might again be able to recapture that Awe.
We saw that we need to
recognize God for Who He is (Creator and Judge) and
recognize ourselves for who we are.
This week
Slide
I want to talk of some of the things that
hinder us from experiencing the Awe of God and
get in the way of our relationship with Him
so that we can truly be awed.
I think that it is important to recognize these hindrances so that we can
overcome them and
have an easier time being able to focus on
Who God is and
Who we are.
There are times that we know that we need to refocus on God, but there are things in our life that are stopping us from being able to do that and we need to
understand what they are,
recognize them, and
seek to overcome them
so we can again refocus on the Lord and experience His awe.
So, what is it that hinders us from experiencing the Awe of God?
That’s the question that I want to answer today in an effort to help us to see if there are areas of our life that we need to let God work on so we can again experience his Awe.
To do this I want to look at Mary, Martha’s sister. We see her several different times in the Bible and we get to see the
Awe she had for the Lord that others did not and
Joy she experienced that others missed because of it.
Turn with me first to
Luke 10:38-42 (p. 735)
Slide
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
41 "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
(from New International Version)
The first thing we see is that we let
Busyness Hinders us from Experiencing the Awe of God
Slide
Martha was very busy with all she had to do, but Mary did not let herself be distracted by all that was going on around her. She made a choice to let the things that “needed” to be done take a back seat to the more important matter of sitting at the feet of Jesus and Hearing His Word so that she could have a proper Awe of God.
Even after last weeks message I know there are people here today that are having difficulty experiencing the Awe of God.
It is easy to say focus on God and who He is and recognize who we are, but it is unbelievably difficult because busyness has become a way of life for many of us.
Just this week, I found myself completely overwhelmed with things here.
Getting back into small group and the preparations that required
Starting IMPACT back up and the teaching that had to be prepared for there.
Then we have 41 kids show up and you have to start adjusting because the space is limited.
You have to start thinking about how to accommodate this size group
Dealing with a relationship situation within the body
Preparing for this Sunday’s message.
Thinking about our search for more pastoral staff and administrative help and what will be required of each of them so we can get job descriptions together
Preparing for the Facing the Giants movie event we are having in a little more than a week.
Trying to figure out how to get more cars parked out here so we don’t have people turning around and driving away.
And on and on it goes.
And I know that many of you face similar things week in and week out.
Things going on that we believe we can’t ignore.
And I am not suggesting that we ignore them.
What I am suggesting is that in moments when we are overwhelmed like Mary’s sister, Martha was, we stop and choose the better thing of falling at the feet of Jesus and finding rest, like Mary did.
This past Wednesday, I thought I was going to collapse from the overload of things.
But instead I collapsed at the feet of Jesus.
And you know what happened?
Let me start with what did not happen.
None of the circumstance changed.
I still faced all of the different things that still need to get done, but even inspite of that, my whole outlook changed.
You know why?
Because the Lord reminded me that I am not the one doing this stuff anyway.
Yes there are things that need to get done and accomplished.
The reality is is that my principal job is to trust and follow the Lord, to seek His kingdom, and He will accomplish through you the things that really need to be done.
Here is a challenge for you this week.
In those moments where you are overwhelmed, whether you are at work or at home,
Take five to ten minutes and just fall at the feet of Jesus and lay those burdens at his feet.
Besides busyness, we also find that sometimes we let
Circumstance Hinders us from Experiencing the Awe of God
Slide
Turn with me to John 11:28-45 (p. 761)
This is the next time we see Mary, and it is when Jesus raises her brother Lazarus from the dead.
John 11:28-29, 32-45
28 And after she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. "The Teacher is here," she said, "and is asking for you." 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. …
32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 "Where have you laid him?" he asked.
"Come and see, Lord," they replied.
35 Jesus wept.
36 Then the Jews said, "See how he loved him!"
37 But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"
38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 "Take away the stone," he said.
"But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days."
40 Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" (Be awed)
41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me."
43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."
45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him. (from New International Version)
Mary’s and Martha’s circumstances are not very good at this point. Their brother Lazarus has died.
It is so often in the midst of
a death of a loved one or
their sickness or
some other poor circumstance of life
that we wonder where the Lord is.
Lord don’t you care
Lord, don’t you see how I am hurting.
Lord why don’t you change the circumstance that is causing this pain?
Notice where our thinking is.
It is in on our circumstance and not on the Lord.
We will never experience the awe of God when our focus is on our circumstances.
Now I want us to notice a couple things in this passage.
Look at
John 11:21
21 "Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died. (from New International Version)
And
John 11:32
32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."
(from New International Version)
These 2 sisters say nearly identical things to the Lord, but He responds to them in different ways.
Why is that? It is because Jesus can see right into our hearts and knows exactly what it is that we need.
In Revelation 2:23, Jesus tells us
I am he who searches hearts and minds
No matter what we say to the Lord, He knows our heart. He knows what it is we need so that we can grow closer to him.
This is the point right here that I believe that Martha receives Jesus as Lord.
Listen to what He says to her in
John 11:25-27
25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
27 "Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world."
(from New International Version)
She confesses Jesus as the Christ the Son of God.
She recognizes who Jesus is.
Martha is now prepared to experience the Awe of God.
But what about Mary?
Jesus’ response to Mary is completely different.
Instead of having any conversation with her, Jesus sees right into her heart where she is.
She was mourning the loss of her brother but in spite of this terrible circumstance, she knew
Where comfort could be received
Where peace could be found
Where Awe could be experienced
Right at the feet of Jesus, the Christ, God in the flesh.
She didn’t let her terrible circumstances alter her thinking or focus and thus hinder her from experiencing the Awe of God at the feet of God himself.
There are a lot of times when people are in bad circumstances,
we get angry at God or
we turn from God or
we say there is no God.
We let our circumstance dictate our attitude and outlook.
Application
Lord, if you cared, my marriage wouldn’t be so bad.
Lord, if you were here with me, I wouldn’t have cancer
Lord, I am trying to follow you and I have no job.
Why are these things happening?!?
Having the questions doesn’t mean we are not focused on God.
Having the questions should, for those truly in relationship with Him, help us realize even more
our need for Him,
our need to experience Him,
our need to be awed by Him.
Mary realizes this.
In the midst of her undesirable circumstance, she comes to the feet of Jesus, further realizing who He is and ready and able to experience the Awe of God.
Are you letting your circumstance hinder you from seeing the things that God has for you?
There are going to be times that we don’t understand why things are happening or going on but even as we turn to the Lord and trust in Him, He will help us through them and we can be awed by Him.
Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.
It is not only Busyness and Circumstance that will hinder us, but we also let Fear Hinders us from Experiencing the Awe of God
Slide
The final passage I want to look at is in the next chapter. In chapter 12 of John we see Mary come and anoint Jesus for his burial.
John 12:1-8 (p. 761)
1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5 "Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages." 6 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.
7 "Leave her alone," Jesus replied. "[It was intended] that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me."
Here we see a party going on for Jesus. Lazarus is there. Jesus’ Disciples are there. Martha is there serving, doing just what some of the men where expecting her to do. Where do we find Mary? There she is again at the feet of Jesus.
She is anointing Jesus body with very expensive perfume. And we see Judas objecting.
From the parallel account in Mark, we know that it wasn’t just Judas who was feeling this way.
Mark 14:4-5
4 Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, "Why this waste of perfume? 5 It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor." And they rebuked her harshly.
It was Judas who spoke up the loudest though, because as John tells us he wanted the money for himself.
Have you ever felt that you were supposed to be doing something, but others would not understand?
Maybe people would be talking about it or pointing fingers at you.
Look at that. What is he doing? That is just crazy.
Maybe you would be afraid to act.
Mary was probably feeling this same way, but she did not let fear hinder her from doing what God had wanted her to do.
Fear of what other people were thinking of her.
Fear of the circumstances that were approaching, the death of her Savior.
Fear has a way of
freezing us,
making us stop in our tracks,
paralyzing us.
We become comatose and we can’t see God or experience his Awe.
Maybe you are experiencing fear in some aspect of your life right now.
Take your eyes off of what you are afraid of and come to the feet of the Lord so that you can again be able to be refocused on Him and experience His awe.
Conclusion
I am not sure where you are today.
Slide
Maybe your life has become so busy that even after we talked last week about experiencing the awe of God, you could not even look around you at the creation God has made to be awed by Him.
Maybe your circumstances have become so challenging that it has become very difficult for you to think of anything else and thus you are hindered experiencing the Awe of God.
Maybe you are in a spot that fear has such a stronghold in your life that you have become comatose.
Maybe it is even a combination of these thing going on in your life.
Whatever it is that has you in a spot that is keeping you from experiencing the awe of God, I am going to ask you to come up to the alter and to
lay that burden,
lay your busyness,
lay your circumstance,
lay your fear
at the feet of Jesus.
It is at the feet of Jesus that we are going to find the ability to again experience the Awe of God.
The worship team is going to come up and do a special as we have this opportunity to come before the Lord.
