This sermon came out of a
presentation to the Team at a recent Kairos Prison
Ministry, in Victorville, California. Before you
and I can be useful to prisoners or to anyone else,
WE must first be changed by the Lord – inside, where
it counts.
The Walled City
“They
run like mighty men, they climb the wall like men of
war; everyone marches in formation, and they do not
break ranks. They do not push one another; everyone
marches in his own column. And when they lunge
between the weapons, they are not cut down. They
run to and fro in the city, they run on the wall;
they climb into the houses, they enter at the
windows like a thief. The earth quakes before them,
the heavens tremble; the sun and moon grow dark, and
the stars diminish their brightness. The Lord gives
voice before His army, for His camp is very great;
for strong is the One who executes His word. For
the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; who
can endure it?” (Joel 2:7-11)
Today’s Scripture seems obscure
until you look at the Day of Pentecost in Acts
Chapter 2, where the Apostle Peter’s sermon linked
the amazing acts of the Holy Spirit to the Book of
Joel, written hundreds of years earlier. Those who
are filled with God’s Spirit are the “mighty
men” (and women - Joel 2:28-29), of these
verses, though the “army of
the Lord” is just people like you and me.
But from His perspective, we storm the walled
cities, the camps of the enemy and take spoil from
him. God does wonders through our human
limitations. Notice that the “mighty
men” in His imagery don’t criticize or find
fault with one another. In a human war, some carry
guns, others have medical kits, still others have
radios, but all are the same army. In the church,
some are evangelists, some teachers, others are
comforters, but all are one. It’s time to respect
and love one another – “They” are US! We are one
army “in formation”
and victorious armies do “not
push one another!” We are ONE in our Lord
and Savior.
When we were in Israel, a few
years ago, we saw crusader forts from a thousand
years ago, built from blocks of stone. Some of them
are surprisingly intact, and we saw double walls,
where if you managed to punch through the first
wall, you would be instantly in great trouble for
there was another wall right behind it. Men would
be shooting arrows and rolling stones down and
pouring hot oil on you. Not a pretty picture.
Invaders would cheer when the outer defenses fell,
only to suffer in relation to the second wall, just
moments later.
When I look back on my life, I
realize that in the past, I have been like one of
those “walled cities.” I had strong defenses to
keep people out; to keep them from really knowing
me. The “walls” we create are made out of
superficiality, shyness, fear, anger, prejudice and
pride. These are pretend walls of indifference and
haughtiness. I wondered why I didn’t have friends,
and it was me who was the problem. Before we can be
effective in God’s service, OUR walls must be
breached and we must LOSE the battle before we can
win the war.
Those who meet us, see us more
clearly than we see ourselves. If you have strong
double walls, places to shoot out “arrows” onto
those who get too close, and a moat around you,
along with other defenses, others will know. They
may not understand what it is about you that bothers
them; they just sense a “distance” in you. The fact
is, your “walls” have already been breached, or it
is unlikely you would be listening to these words.
The Lord has crossed the moat and has broken through
your double walls. He is inside you, right now.
Our tendency, all too often,
has been to run from the Lord’s victory in us to
some other part of our fortress, to prolong the
illusion that we somehow are in charge of our
lives. Our “walls” made us feel safe and we have
tended to cling to them.
It’s time to take down whatever
remaining barriers we have in our lives and open up
to those we have considered the “enemy” (other
people). We can’t do this alone – It’s the Lord who
knocked down our defenses in the first place, and it
is Him who also will defend us and cover us when we
feel naked and exposed to the world.
If our walls actually do come
down, it’s possible, even likely that people around
us may not like us. Isn’t that why we hid behind
those walls in the first place? But it’s even more
likely they won’t see us at all. God will take the
“ruins” of our lives and REBUILD what we are into
God’s temple. All they will see is Him, and He is –
beautiful!
Do you trust Him to defend you
and protect you from shame, if you let your defenses
down and allow Him to be your security? I have seen
that He has great resources, along with great love
for those who say: “Yes Lord, I will not resist
anymore. I am Yours.”
Today’s Scripture reveals that
those who are in God's “army”
are actually more effective than we think.
Outwardly, one group doesn’t like another and it
seems like we all too often pull in different
directions. But from His perspective, we are “mighty
men” who “do not
break ranks” - He protects us, and we “are
not cut down.” We enter the camp of the
enemy, run on his walls, and enter his “windows,”
taking spoil – Because GOD is the One who makes it
happen! He remakes our puny efforts, these feeble
attempts and turns them into great coordinated
triumphs for His Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ.
The Scripture in Joel continues
with God telling us HOW our walls come down. He
says, “’Now, therefore,’
says the Lord, ‘Turn to Me with all your heart, with
fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.’ So rend
your heart, and not your garments; return to the
Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow
to anger, and of great kindness and He relents from
doing harm.” (Joel 2:12-13). His victory in
us is not won with the weaponry of this world - and
the enemies’ stronghold is not taken through our
strength at all. We tend to merely build “walls”
and “tilt at windmills,” but it’s God who ultimately
wins – every time! In the imagery of Joel’s words,
to “rend…
your garments” was a
phrase that described the religious acts WE perform
– and we are not to rely on such acts. We are to
turn to the LORD and trust in Him, for only HE can
have the victory over the “walled cities” that are
built everywhere within this people we call the
“human race.” To “rend
your heart” is to give up defending yourself,
and trust in HIM that He can (and will) turn stony
hearts like yours and mine into hearts that love.
To give up, to lose, sounds
backwards to everything we have ever learned. But
our “walls” MUST come down. “Your” church might
actually not like “my church” – but it’s time to “rend
your heart” and understand you’re not the
only one who loves and serves the Lord. In order
for others to look at us and want the Lord in us, He
teaches us to fight this war against the sinful
nature that besets us, “not
by might, nor by power, but BY MY SPIRIT, says the
Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6). He said to
Paul the Apostle and He says it to you and me: “My
grace is sufficient for you, for MY STRENGTH IS MADE
PERFECT IN WEAKNESS” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Your weakness and mine, reflected in our RESPECT for
one another, and in love, is an opportunity for the
LORD’S strength to be manifested within us. And it
is HIM the world needs. Not your religion or mine.
Not our strength. We need Him! Let’s pray
together:
Lord, I do not know how to let
down my walls and trust in You. But I see that what
I cannot do, You can. I trust in You now, Lord. I
give my heart and life to You. In Jesus Name.
Amen.
