Tim Harrison
Senior Pastor,
Crescent City Foursquare Church
February 4, 2001
Title: Loving our Neighbor: Breaking down the walls
If you have your bibles, turn to John chapter 1
My son Tyler is 4 and ½, and my daughter Lacie is 18 months old
My wife and I are thoroughly enjoying this stage in each of their lives. We just wish we could hit the pause button and freeze them right where they are for a few decades.
What I love about little children, in general, is their innocence, honesty, and their sheer delight in life.
Unfortunately, this innocent stage is often short lived.
Give them a little time, a little rejection, a little ridicule, and a little guilt and shame, and their innocence begins to dissipate, and be replaced with emotional walls. These walls tend to grow in direction proportion to pain.
To be sure, these walls wear many disguises:
- indifference
- self-reliance
- pride
- anger
Whatever form these walls take, they usually lack the ability to discriminate between what they keep out and what they allow in.
In their attempt to protect our heart from pain and rejection, they often diminish our capacity to receive and release love.
And at times, these walls can become so sturdy that even God has a hard time breaking through them
The bible says that when we receive Christ, we become new creations, the old is gone, the new has come
Part of what it means to become a new creation, is that Jesus begins to help us dismantle our emotional walls, thereby restoring our ability to trust.
As Christians, we tend to take this all in stride, but on occasion, I’ve seen the look of surprise or even shock on the faces of the unsaved, in response to the expressions of love we show our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Not too long ago – I was golfing with some unsaved friends.
I ran into another friend on the course that is a brother in Christ. He came up to me and we greeted each other with a hug, and as we did, I couldn’t help but notice the look on the face of one of the unsaved guys in my foursome.
It was obvious that he was unaccustomed to seeing two men hug each other, unless they are blood relatives.
I was tempted to tell him that we were in fact blood relatives, sharing Christ’s blood, but didn’t.
The love we share for our brothers and sisters in Christ is expressed in many ways, and it’s always one of the strongest evidences of the common faith we share.
John 13:34-35
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
I suspect that what my unsaved golfing partner was responding to, but probably couldn’t articulate, was the lack of walls he witnessed in that brief hug.
When Jesus offers us abundant life – he’s offering to help us remove some of the walls around out heart
In the place of these walls – that can be so restricting – he begins to give us freedom
The more the walls crumble, the more we are able to enjoy the freedom Jesus offers
This process of tearing down walls is an ongoing, lifelong endeavor
Not until we get to heaven, and receive our perfect, glorified bodies, will these walls completely be gone
This is why Paul can say:
1 Cor 13:12
Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
In order for another person to fully know us, these walls would have to be completely removed
Aside from God, the closest we come to being fully known by another is with our spouse, or perhaps our children
But the best of these relationships are somewhat hindered by walls
The Apostle Paul tells us that we have some walls that are so well concealed - we don’t recognize them
1 Cor 4:4-5
My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.
In the end, God is the only one who able to see behind our defenses, and fully know us
Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve stated that I believe our primary purpose for being left behind, and not immediately taken to heaven when we receive Christ, is because God wants us to represent him to those who have yet to discover his love and grace
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.
And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.
2 Cor 5:17-20
One of the greatest challenges you and I face in reaching others with God’s love - is getting past their walls - walls often produced by guilt and shame
Jesus was a master at this
He was able to diffuse the defenses of the unsaved, and once lowered, penetrate their heart with his love
How did he do this?
That’s the question we will consider today
Let’s take a few minutes and look at two things that were present in the life of Christ that lowered their walls and compelled them to follow him
Let’s pray
Let’s read from John Chapter 1
John 1:1-2, 14-18
1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, ’He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’" 16 From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.
NIV
Did you recognize what is about Jesus that penetrated walls?
He was full of grace and truth
The word grace – means graciousness in attitude and act
He was kind, merciful, gracious, doing good to all, and seeking man’s welfare by great sacrifices and love; so much so, that it might be said to be characteristic of him, or he "abounded" in favors to mankind.” (Barnes’ Notes)
1. How did people recognize Jesus’ Grace?
Read through the gospels, and you will encounter over and over again the grace of Christ being released into the hearts of those around him
Some of the first evidence we have of Jesus’ grace, is found in his Mission Statement
Companies, organizations, and churches write mission statements to answer the questions, Why are we here, why do we exist?
In his mission statement, Jesus says, this is why I am here:
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor."
Luke 4:18-19
Let’s notice two things:
1. His Motivation: Why He Came
He came to give good news, freedom, recovery of sight, and release
2. His target group: To whom Jesus came
He came to help the poor, prisoners, the blind, and the oppressed
Jesus’ grace in seen in his motivation for coming, and in his choice of those he came to bring wholeness to
In Matthew, we see Jesus carrying out his mission statement
Matt 9:10-13
While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ’sinners’?"
On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ’I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’
For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
NIV
Jesus came to people with walls – in order to set them free
1. The Samaritan woman
We see his extend his grace to the Samaritan woman at he well
He let’s her know that he’s well aware of who she is
He knows all about her lifestyle – her five ex husbands – and the man she is now living with but not married to
But when he offers her life – Living Water – instead of condemnation – her walls come tumbling down – and her destiny if forever changed
2. The Woman caught in Adultery
Another example of Jesus’ grace – is seen in his encounter with the woman caught in adultery
The Jewish rulers drag her out into the street – having already tried and convicted her in their heart –
She was guilty as charged
As they prepared to carry out justice – and stone her to death
Jesus Intervenes
And challenges them with a question
Let the one who is without sin throw the first stone
As they all drop their stones, and walk away, Jesus grace is released in a most remarkable way
Let’s pick up the narrative in John 8:9-11
At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
"No one, sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
Only when we understand that this woman’s sin deserved death under Jewish law – and they had every right to kill her
Do we see the magnitude of Christ’s Grace?
It’s the same grace he offers us
We too deserved eternal punishment because of sin – but Jesus took our penalty upon himself on the cross
And set us free
When I think of God’s grace, John 3:16 comes to mind
16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16
But notice the grace that flows through the verses that follow
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
NIV
Let’s not assume that Jesus simply turns his eyes away and acts as if he doesn’t see our sin – and in the process – let’s us off the hook
God’s justice doesn’t allow him to overlook sin
Someone has to pay for it
This is precisely why Jesus came and traded places with us – taking our sin and giving us his righteousness
But this trade is always voluntary
He never forces himself upon us – as if we have no choice but to accept Him –
Instead, he invites us to come to him, and receive forgiveness and wholeness
And then loves us in such a way that his grace makes his invitation compelling
If we want to break down the walls of those we are trying to reach for Christ – we need to ask Jesus to show us how to let his grace flow through us into their lives
Only after the lost had experienced Jesus’ grace, were they ready to receive his truth, and be set free
Not only does John say that Jesus was full of grace; he also says he was full of truth
“Grace must lower the walls before truth can change the heart”
People want to know that we care – through showing them grace - before they care what we know – through giving them truth
We hear a lot these days about the importance of living a balanced life
No one has ever lived a more balanced life than Jesus
He had every area of his life under complete control – and therefore in perfect balance
And two of the hallmarks of his balanced life – were grace and truth
I suspect we are all acquainted with some who live on either end of this scale
There are those who are totally committed to truth, integrity, and discipline, but possess little grace
Like sergeant Carter on the Gomer Pyle show – they tend to be harsh on themselves and on those around them – and therefore hard to get along with
At the other end of the scale, we have those who major on Grace, but downplay the idea of truth as a guiding principle in their lives
The mellow poster child of the 60’s – with flowers in her hair, standing in front of the fluorescent painted VW bus, and waiving the peace sign, comes to mind
Excuse me for those flash backs
Without Grace, truth produces legalism
Without truth, grace produces a license to sin
Jesus was full of grace and truth
How about us?
Where do we find ourselves on this scale?
How is the balance between grace and truth
If we find ourselves on either end of the scale – we need to ask Jesus to help us develop what’s lacking
For our sake, and for the sake of those Jesus wants us to influence with his love and forgiveness
We need to ask Jesus to help us extend his grace others, so their walls can be lowered
Then we need to ask him to help us articulate his truth, so they can discover his forgiveness, freedom and healing
Let’s pray
