Intro – My wife and I are now ‘expecting the unexpected’… pregnant with our fourth child
> Once again pondering the mystery and magnitude of such life being conceived within… I’m reminded that we all have a new life
> “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
The Holy Spirit…
Big picture - Unlike any religious system of thought… where man has developed myths to codify morality…. We are gathering to worship a God for whom revelation has been
Made in the very time and space of history… beginning with Abraham…
Discover one God manifest in three-persons… mystery… but a mystery that fulfills what deep down the human soul longs for
Father… establishes… calls us out… all becoming clear in our often fatherless times.
Son… meets me in my flaws and failures… bears the shame and consequences.. provides eternal life
Holy Spirit… not left as orphans…empowering presence… new work
Lead us…
BEING LED BY SPIRIT IS LIKE FLYING BY INSTRUMENTS
Shortly after John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife and an-other passenger died when he lost his bearings and flew his private plane into the Atlantic Ocean, the Chicago Tribune ran an article about flying. In it, amateur pilot Stephen Hedges writes about the difficulty of flying a plane by instruments alone. It’s a necessary skill if you want to survive while flying at night or in fog. Without the ability to fly by instruments the pilot will fall into an uncontrolled bank and crash.
During one instrument lesson, Hedges noted, "I flew the headings and turns as instructed, but even with 10 hours of instrument flying experience already in my log-book, I was amazed at how quickly the plane slid into a banking turn if I diverted my attention for just a few moments. The first time it happened, panic shot through me, a momentary fear that made it even more difficult to comprehend what the plane was doing."
But when he heard his instructor next to him calmly say, "Watch your instruments," he quickly leveled the plane.
Many times life forces us to fly in the fog or in the dark, when we can’t seem to get our bearings, we can’t see the horizon and can’t figure out how to fly straight and level.
We need an inner connection to reality…
Spirit serves such a role…
Ezekiel 36:27
And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
Galatians 5:25
If we are living now by the Holy Spirit, let us follow the Holy Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.
God is spirit… we have a spirit within us.
· As such … ‘the Spirit bears witness to our spirit”… guiding peace.
· Hearing… generally an inner voice… just as we can hear your own thoughts… except it speaks into your mind… clearly not formed by it.
· May be a word… image…
> Couple weeks consider how to discern the Spirit speaking to us… today affirm that indeed he does lead… and some foundations for enjoying that process.
Foundations for a Spirit Lead Life
1. Ongoing Expectation…
One of the primary challenges is simply maintaining our expectations… attentiveness… staying tuned into that inner connection.
Isaiah 50:4 (NIV)
The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue,
to know the word that sustains the weary.
He wakens me morning by morning,
wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.
Proverbs 8:34 (NIV)
Blessed is the man who listens to me,
watching daily at my doors,
waiting at my doorway.
Defines the life of Christ… the very life that now is alive in us.
Most of us would agree that the earthly life of Christ was quite an adventure…. Unexpected revelations…. Encounters.
Ø “I only do what I see the Father doing>’ (John 5:19)… He making it clear…’I haven’t been following some guidebook called pathways to adventurous ministry… just following what I see and sense from above.’
Ø Said his adventure is to be ours.
Goes on chapter 15, ‘I know longer call you servants but friends… because what God the father had revealed, he showed them, …. And then introduces the Spirit who would continue to unfold ‘what is to come,’ = ad (to) / vent (Come) = adventure.
Often lose that quality of adventure…
- from “Lord, what’s up today” to “Lord, get me through the day”
After all…
Meetings at work…Errands to run…. Surrounded by kids.
> How can I anticipate hearing God in the midst of all this?
We see in Christ… he did rise early to spend time in prayer… certainly a part … but we find he wasn’t so much being lead BEYOND his daily activity and apparent distractions…. but in the midst.
What we perceive as distractions… God may consider to be DOORS to adventure.
The Spirit’s leading will involve our sense of ongoing expectations…
· Meeting with boss and co-workers > Creator of the universe entered humanity and died on their behalf. Today is an opportunity to reflect that in some way.
· Time with spouse and children. > Today I have an opportunity to learn more about how to love my spouse and children.
· Running errands…. > Down time while driving > reflect…. I’ll be meeting people…if shopping… its an opportunity for God to teach me some more about values along the way..
> Many of us will discover the Spirit leading if we simply carry an ONGOING EXPECTATION… as Jesus did when among us.
2. Active Familiarity With God’s Voice (Word)
We all become more or less sensitive to certain things depending upon whether we’ve been exposed to them.
Ø We see and sense according to our previous patterns of perception..
Ø Astronomer… botanist…. Better… the new parent. You may sleep through many sounds… but develop an acute familiarity for one voice you heard all day… so that when it calls out to you at night…
I can be at the park amidst a lot of children… hear my child cry… or yell ‘daddy’… it stands out. The voice and words of God can stand out amidst the many voices that surround us, as we become more familiar.
Patterns or images that I receive as such… movies with the violent heroics… love affair that sweeps up the whole theater into it’s grasp…. Or the news that can sometimes desensitize us to real compassion for our neighbor.
Romans 12:2
“… be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Jesus wasn’t passive about this process…. Luke - found in the Temple … listening, asking questions… grew in wisdom and stature
Such active pursuit of familiarity is portrayed by the Berean community…and praised by Paul
Acts 17:11
“Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”
Received with EAGERNESS and EXAMINED
3. A Quieted Soul
Psalm 46:10
"Be still, and know that I am God…”
Important to understand that the quietness that enables God’s leading is more than the absence of external noise.
Far from any notion that God speaks only to monks… the Spirit will lead any who will follow… and particularly those who are going somewhere.
The Book of Acts shows that He spoke to those quite active.
Ø They couldn’t always quiet the world outside, but I believe they developed a quieter world inside.
While a quiet soul is not limited to quiet places, it may be developed there.
Ø In the same way that we may go to a gym to develop our muscles through the disciplined time of using weights and machines that isolate those muscles, spiritual disciplines can help us exercise and focus our inner spiritual lives.
4. A Clear Conscience
As we all know, true hearing is more than just a physical phenomenon.
Ears hear sound… but only the heart can choose to hear the message.
As Jesus said, Matthew 5:8 (NIV)
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Word translated “pure” (katharos) referred to ‘clean’… used in speaking of clothes clean from dirt, corn sifted and cleansed from all chaff.
Ø This points to the issue unconfesed sin in our lives.
If I begin to consciously lie, cultivate lust, hold onto contempt toward another… I will be trying to ignore and insolate the spirit within me.
Only honest confession will release the sensitivity of our spirit again.
Another use of the word used for purity of heart was that of an army purged of all unwilling and contentious soldiers. Points to the hardening of the heart.
Hardened heart is more than one which feels anger…it’s one which uses anger… and refuses to hear.
This naturally leads to a similar quality of humility…
5. Humility to Respond
The things of God will inevitably lead to a point of placing our pride on the alter.
Every prophet in Israel’s history learned the truth of Proverbs 18:12 – “Humilty comes before honor.”
I have found this to be the most important factor in being lead by the Spirit.
We do well to remember the story of Naaman…
2 Kings 5:1-16
We too can find God’s plans unfitting from our own point of view…determine that we’d like to choose our own plan … our own path for healing… proudly refusing what we deem to be unsophisticated.
> The Holy Spirit may come as the servant girl and confront the pride that will kill us… lead us to the humility to respond.
As those who followed Christ discovered, God will choose what is foolish and simple from man’s point of view, to confound the wise…
As JW often would say… “God will confound the mind to reveal the heart.”
He may lead our pride and popularity to the alter of His leading
Illustration : Needing Trust over Clarity
When the brilliant ethicist John Kavanaugh went to work for three months at "the house of the dying" in Calcutta, he was seeking a clear answer as to how best to spend the rest of his life. On the first morning there he met Mother Teresa. She asked, "And what can I do for you?"
Kavanaugh asked her to pray for him. "What do you want me to pray for?" she asked.
He voiced the request that he had borne thousands of miles from the United States: "Pray that I have clarity."
She said firmly, "No, I will not do that."
When he asked her why, she said, "Clarity is the last thing you are clinging to and must let go of."
When Kavanaugh commented that she always seemed to have the clarity he longed for, she laughed and said, "I have never had clarity; what I have always had is trust. So I will pray that you trust God."
Citation: Brennan Manning, Ruthless Trust (HarperCollins, 2000);
John 14:21 (ESV)
Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him."
6. A Climate of Acceptance and Freedom
If we’re to develop our sensitivity to the Spirit’s leading, both for ourselves and in praying for others, I believe one of our greatest needs is to overcome tendencies to be too certain… or too cynical about such leading.
There is a subjective nature to experiencing the leading of the Spirit.
There appears no need to presume certainty… but rather a freedom to sense… and share… and discern together.
1 Thes. 5:19-21
Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; 20do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21Test everything. Hold on to the good.
This reflects a significant shift from the role of the prophet in the Old Testament… before Christ…Upon the coming if Christ and sending if the Holy Spirit, the Spirit’s leading... particularly ‘prophet’ is spoken of in terms of edifying and encouraging others.
Nothing about killing false prophets… probably because in the period of the OT, the prophets served as God’s definitive Word.
When Christ comes as the Living Word… and the full testimony of Scripture is established… it serves as that which will govern and guide all that follows. Scripture serves as the Constitution to which later specific legislation must be understood and line up with.
We do well to receive and share what we sense to be the Spirit’s leading in an open fashion… allowing others to help bring confirmation.
I’ve mistaken God’s leading along the way… and still can…. But the Spirit is still speaking so I’m going to keep learning to listen…. The Spirit is at work to lead so I’m going to keep seeking to be led.
Closing story:
Erik Weihenmayer is blind, yet on May 25, 2001 (Nepal time), he reached the peak of Mt. Everest. Suffering from a degenerative eye disease, he lost his sight when he was 13, but that didn’t stop him. On a mountain where 90 percent of climbers never make it to the top—and 165 have died trying since 1953—Erik succeeded, in large measure because he listened well.
He listened to the little bell tied to the back of the climber in front of him, so he would know what direction to go.
He listened to the voice of teammates who would shout back to him, "Death fall two feet to your right!" so he would know what direction not to go.
He listened to the sound of his pick jabbing the ice, so he would know whether the ice was safe to cross.
When we take a perilous journey, listening well can make all the difference. Citation: Bill White, Paramount, California; source: Time (6-18-01)
