Walls. We see them
everywhere. They surround me as I write
the devo for this month’s newsletter.
They surround you when you sleep at night and when you go to church. Like I said, walls are everywhere. Like the boy, we build up walls around our
hearts. Fearful of letting go. Unable to do the right thing. Torn apart by the barriers we have carefully
constructed to keep us “safe” from any and all harm. The problem is that sometimes, walls keep
good things out too. If we knew how many
good things we might miss by putting up walls we may think twice about putting
them up in the first place.
Did you know that the Great Wall of China is over 13,000
miles long, and because of its enormous size it can even be seen from outer
space? It sounds like the Chinese
dynasties of history really wanted to make their presence known that their land
belonged to them and only them. They
went to great lengths (literally) to protect their lands from invasion and
destruction. Yet with all 13,000 miles
of stone, mud, and even the graves of dead laborers, they could still not keep
people from getting through the massive structure. Throughout history many walls have been
constructed to either keep people out or keep people in. These barriers were created for one
thing: protection. Whether that is protection from the enemy or conspiracy
from within, people have for centuries been trying to put up these walls of
protection. Another great wall from
history is the Berlin Wall. This wall,
though providing protection, also brought oppression. As millions and millions of persecuted Jews
faced death and horrible mistreatment due to their religion, this great wall
brought on by the vision of one terribly great and evil person changed the
history of mankind. This wall would, in
the end, turn out to be a voice of victory and triumph for those who
survived. When, Ronald Reagan said,
“Tear down this wall” a great victory was written in the annals of history. But you see, the wall had to be torn down to
receive the victory.
So what is the deal with walls anyway? Why do they continue to stop us, to not allow
us access? Walls separate us. They are built with that purpose to divide
and isolate us from the rest of the world.
These physical walls are just a representation of what we do with the
walls in our hearts. We let sin become
the barrier that keeps us from God. It
keeps us from having the relationship that He desires to have with us. Before Christ, the Temple of God was
separate; its inner workings were only for certain people. A veil was set between the altar and its
people. It was intended that way then,
but not anymore. The Temple may have
stopped us from having the relationship that God intended, but when Christ’s last
breath ripped the curtain from top to bottom, the walls between us and Christ
were abolished forever and ever. And
that is not to be forgotten, yet we do.
Christ changed the landscape of our access to Him for all eternity. The way things were having been
destroyed. These walls exist because the
sin in our lives separates us from God.
This sin brings death and destruction.
It creates alienation from the Creator and we are foreigners in a land
that was designed to be ours.
Jesus’ life, ministry, and most especially his death was all
about breaking down the walls. Everyone
that He met needed some kind of wall torn down.
It is in our natures to build a dividing wall between ourselves and
God. Jesus revealed to people that walls
weren’t necessary. He knew full well the
destructiveness of our sin. The
consequences were on His shoulders alone.
Our barriers brought His pain.
Our walls lead Him to the cross.
Jesus saw the depravity of mankind and willingly took our place so that
the barriers we built would be destroyed forever.
So why do we create these walls? Why do we let our lives be dictated by
anything other than the Savior? Our
communion with God is based on His ability to break down the walls we have
constructed so we can be in perfect union with Him. We create walls because we think we can do it
ourselves. We think we don’t need
God. That is what sin does: it tells us that we don’t need His protection
but the protection of our own constructions.
We put on the foreman’s hat, develop all the blueprints for what walls
go where, and go about making it happen.
What is wrong with this picture?
Everything.
The walls we build between ourselves and God prevent
relationship, communion, and intimacy with God.
They make us feel abandoned by God (even though it’s our own faults of
course). Like God doesn’t care what happens
to us or how we turn out. We reach out
to God, hoping our prayers will reach His ears, thinking He’s asleep in the
boat, oblivious to our need for Him and scared out of our wits because of the
stormy sea raging around us. Our faith
has gone right out the window. In the
case of the disciples, Jesus himself was on the boat with them and they were
still afraid to death. Their lack of
faith built a wall around their hearts, uncertain of what to do and who to turn
to. They felt abandoned when the one
person to keep them safe was taking a nap.
It’s not surprising that we live our lives like the disciples did. We feel
that abandonment, lacking faith to believe that He is right there beside
us. He is telling us to let go and just
believe. He may not be physically in the
boat with us, but His presence is undeniable, even when we lack the faith to
see Him. He is with us, calming the
storm with his Hands, rebuking the winds and saying to be still. We have Jesus in our very beings; the Holy
Spirit is inside of us. The power of God
is for our hands to use…for Him.
You see, it takes faith to tear down the walls that we build
for ourselves. What we see as
protection, God sees as separation. But
even our lack of faith cannot be stopped by God. He sees our hearts, the Lion of Judah, wants
to bring us near to Him, to look us in the eyes and say “Just let go…and
believe.” He nuzzles his large nose
against us and lets us find warmth and reassurance in his royal mane. He forgives and remembers no more. He lays down His life on the stone tablet,
knowing his death is not the final answer.
Remember, the stone tablet, was a place of sacrifice, a place that if
one willingly gave his life for another, that death itself would be turned
around. In the darkest moment of
history, when the great Lion felt abandoned by the Father, blinded by
suffering, yet surrendered to God’s will, He commended His spirit to the only
One who could restore. His humanness
cried out “Why have you forsaken me?” but his pain did not overshadow his
Spirit. A Spirit that would never
forsake God or be forsaken by Him. The
difference between our feelings of abandonment and Jesus’ is that there was
never a wall built between the Son and the Father. Yes, the Father turned His face in that instant
of necessary, but tragic history, but His son knew in faith that all would be
torn down and made right for all eternity.
Jesus was the example to us that He understood the feeling just like us,
like humans. He did that so we would not
let walls of guilt and grief separate us from His unconditional love and
understanding. He wanted to let us know
He had been there, in our place.
As the sun rises, the two daughters of Eve begin to dry
their eyes as they try to find warmth next to the form of the great Lion. They cannot comprehend the act they have just
witnessed. But as the rays of sunlight
begin to highlight the archway above the stone tablet, taking one moment to admire
its sad beauty on this tragic day, they look down to see the Lion’s body
gone. Disappeared. As the sun crests the horizon they look up
and see the most majestic being on earth!
He is here! He is alive! He has broken down the wall of hostility and
separation forever! He has come back as
Conqueror and King! Hope is not lost. Faith is not gone. We are not abandoned. We have seen the dividing wall crushed by the
mighty hand of the Almighty. We are free
and nothing separates us from the Love beaming brighter than the sun on the
Lion’s face. And with a great and mighty
roar all of the earth will rejoice at His Rising Again!
My God is not dead
He’s surely alive
And He’s living on the inside
Roaring like a Lion!
