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Knowing God's Will,
Sermon #2 -"Hindrances to Listening to God" Part 1
John 10:27
by The Rev. Clancy Nixon
April 17, 2005
Church of the Holy Spirit
Ashburn, Virginia
Gary Larson has a memorable "Far Side" cartoon on the subject of listening. The
caption on the cartoon is "What we say vs. what they hear." In the drawing, a man wags
his finger and tells his dog, "Be careful, Rover! Don't dig at the carpet like that, Rover,
you might rip a hole in it!" The thought balloon above the dog, what the dog hears, is
this: "Blah blah Rover, blah blah blah Rover, blah blah.
Let's memorize a scripture this morning: John 10:27 "My sheep hear my voice."
John 10:27. Let's say that together: John 10:27 "My sheep hear my voice." John 10:27.
Creatures don't always receive messages the same way their master intends for them to
hear. Neither do human creatures. Clay McLean told the men on retreat that some
teenagers are particularly susceptible to this phenomenon. When he asked his son, "Are
you listening to me, son?" he might have said yes, but what he meant is that he is aware
that there are sounds coming out of his mouth. Here are two hindrances to listening up
front: first, because we can't understand, like the dog in the Far Side cartoon, and
second, because we don't want to understand, like Clay's son. Since you are here to
worship God this morning, I will assume that you do want to hear from God. God is
more loving and powerful than any human parent could ever be why would anyone not
want to hear from God? Well, some people are rebels, they don't want to change their
lifestyle, so they plug their ears tighter than a window on a 747. If you have not yet
invited the Holy Spirit to dwell inside of you, then you are like Rover, and you are unable
to hear. I encourage you to receive the Holy Spirit in prayer today. Don't go through
life without divine guidance! It is a pearl of great price, a Rosetta stone of life, and it is
the privilege of every believer - God in you, speaking to you.
Unlike Rover, if we are born again, you and I already have the capacity to listen
to God speak to us, even if we don't have all the tools we need yet. If you are born again,
you are remade for relationship with God. The Holy Spirit dwells within you. You have
similar potential to hear God as Moses did or any prophet. Even if you may not currently
manifest a prophetic gifting, doesn't it make sense that God wants to guide every child of
his into his plan for them? He loves you just as much as he loves any other believer, and
he wants to see you come into his plan for you. He is the Holy Comforter, not the holy
confuser! Amen? Let's say our verse again together: John 10:27 "My sheep hear my
voice." John 10:27.
In the gospel of John chapter ten, Jesus paints a picture of himself as the good
shepherd. We can have a picture of shepherding in our own minds from watching western
movies that clouds this picture for us. In the movie Babe, when modern shepherds want
the sheep to move to a new pasture, they drive the sheep ahead of them with sheepdogs,
or with their voice. That is exactly the opposite of the picture Jesus paints. In Biblical
times, several shepherds would come to the same watering hole for the night, and all the
sheep would mix together. In the morning, when it was time to go to the pasture, the
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shepherd would call out to his sheep, and the sheep belonging to that shepherd would
follow behind him, because they knew his voice. They learned the way their shepherd
spoke, his particular way of calling them, how their master's voice is different from that
of others. The sheep knew the shepherd very well, because the shepherd lived with the
sheep in the fields. The good shepherd does not want to drive you to do his will or yell
at you as though you were an ignorant sheep. Jesus calls you to come follow him to green
pastures, and in order to do that, you need to learn how to distinguish his voice from the
other voices that are in your head.
Even though all believers have the capacity to hear God, I know that many of you
have not yet experienced hearing the voice of God. I read of one elderly woman who is
an undisputed saint godly, pious, wise in the Lord, a trusted counselor. She heard her
pastor say that God had spoken to him about the direction the church should take. She
lamented aloud, "I wonder why God never speaks to me like that." [pause]
Have you ever wondered that? The truth is, many, many sincere Christians feel
like they are on the outside looking in, when it comes to hearing God. If you fall into that
category, there is good news for you today. This sermon series is for you - you can learn
how to listen to God, just like you can learn other spiritual disciplines, like fasting or
tithing. It takes study; it takes discipline; and it takes faith. Stay with me, and put into
practice what you learn. The second piece of news for those feeling like they're on the
outside looking in is this. If you have been a believer for some time, most likely you
have already heard God speak to you in the past, but your problem is that you don't yet
understand how listening to God works. Maybe you don't know enough yet to name
what you are experiencing as listening to God. Maybe you don't have enough faith to see
your experiences as guidance from God. In this series, we will learn how to identify and
name these experiences so you can be confident that you do indeed hear God.
Let me give you just one example now. Have you ever read the Bible in which the
words read just leaped off the page into your heart, because they seemed to be just for
you in your situation? Have you ever heard the word preached, or sung a spiritual song,
when something there seemed to be just for you? If you have ever had this experience, I
believe that you have heard from God. When I prepare my messages, I always pray and
ask God to give me the words that this congregation needs to hear. Sometimes I'll get
something that is not directly on point with my theme, but God makes it clear that I must
include it. I have to trust that God is speaking to me in this way.
Because God is infinite spirit, God can have billions of separate conversations
with us all. That is not too hard for God. Nothing is too difficult for God. He spoke a
word, and the universe leapt into existence. He is all powerful. God is not to busy to talk
to you when he wants to. "Nothing is too difficult for God." Turn to someone and tell
him that.
Another hindrance to Listening to God is unbelief. We've been looking at some
ways that unbelief can manifest itself. Some people lack faith that God wants to speak to
them personally, because they don't feel worthy enough for that privilege. Some others
don't believe that God speaks to anybody at all anymore; and others believe that God
speaks to some people, maybe leaders or to those with prophetic gifts, but don't believe
that God speaks to them. If they are in the second category, that is, they don't believe that
God speaks to anybody any more, and they believe the Bible is true, they must believe
that God used to speak to people in Biblical times. God spoke to Noah, and told him to
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build an ark. Turn with me to Genesis 6, verse 13, page 6 of your blue pew Bibles.
Verses 13 and 14 say this: "So God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people,
for the earth is full of violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy them and
the earth. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood...." Skip to verse 22: "And Noah did
everything just as God commanded him." Noah had faith that God was speaking to him,
so he obeyed. But what God asked Noah to do probably did not endear him to his
neighbors. The story does not tell us these details, but most likely, Noah's neighbors
thought he was crazy. Building an ark? Come on! Is this a publicity stunt? Trying to get
a spot on Charles Kuralt's "On the Road?" or Andy Rooney? Then as now, people think
it is perfectly reasonable to talk to God, but many think it is crazy to think that you can
hear from God. People who hear voices can get sent to St. Elizabeth's hospital. One
indicator of insanity is hearing voices.
My father used to drive my family to the beach in the summer when I was
growing up. The drive from Pittsburgh to Fenwick in those days before air conditioning
was 8 sweaty hours. If my sisters and I were too rambunctious in the car, he'd tease us
and frighten us the same way every year. In a playful, not-quite serious way, he'd
threaten to drop us off and leave us at a mental institution near Georgetown, Delaware.
What's worse, he wouldn't just threaten us. He'd get in the left turn lane, and slow
down, put his blinker on, and point out barbed wire and read the sign to us: "Hospital for
the Criminally Insane." We'd scream even louder, but he wouldn't actually turn in, he'd
drive on, and he'd share a chuckle with my mother. This possibility scares us, because
but for the grace of God, there go I. Crazy people don't know that they are crazy. How
can we know we're not crazy?
You have probably met some loopy people who use charismatic spirituality as a
cover for their loopiness. I have. I call them charismaniacs. One woman asked God to
tell her how to dress in the morning, about each article of clothing, and often ended up
wearing different color socks, or only one sock, totally inappropriately dressed. Ladies, I
don't have a problem asking God to help you choose an outfit, but if you are hearing to
wear only part of the outfit, that is not God. Charismaniacs go in for things like setting
dates for the apocalypse. Neither of those things is from God, because the Bible says we
are to dress modestly, and that no one knows the date or time when the end of all things
will come. One man I know heard what purported to be a "prophetic" word in a meeting
that he and another girl, both named in the word, were to be married. They were not even
courting, but the man tired to pressure the woman that it was clearly God's will for them
to marry! I told him that prophetic words from God need confirmation, and she was not
confirming it! There is that part I the marriage service where she has to say, "yes, I will."
We don't want to be like that. It is easy to hear our own vain imaginations. A hindrance
can be a Lone Ranger mentality it's just me and God. No, we learn to hear God in the
body. Let those more mature in the faith guide you. Ask people you trust, do you think
this word I just got could be from God? God gave you your common sense; continue to
use it. God gave you a spouse and parents; ask them what they think. God gave you
prayer partners, and home group pastors, and mentors, and pastors.
Amid these cautions, don't forget the primary truth here about listening to God.
It's not crazy to hear God; it's the most natural thing in creation to hear the Creator. Our
benevolent father wants us to know his voice. When Jesus told us that no loving father
would give his son a stone when he asked for bread, he was speaking about hearing God
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in prayer. God is a person, and he wants relationship with us. Let's say our verse again
together: John 10:27 "My sheep hear my voice." John 10:27.
My guess is that most of us here do not suffer from an oversupply of credulity. If
we lack something, it is more likely faith we lack, than it is good judgment. If you need
to obey the command to love your neighbor, you don't waste time bothering over whether
you feel love for him; instead, you act as if you did. When you behave as if you love
someone, soon enough, you will grow to love them. Now listen: this is the way you
begin to listen to God. Decide to trust God in you. Trust that when you ask God to speak
to you in prayer, and you pause to listen; then you think a thought, trust that that thought
is from God. After all, you just asked God to speak to you. Dare to believe that it might
just be God speaking through your thoughts. Now you might be wrong. It will likely take
you some time before you know for sure how to recognize that it is God whose voice you
are hearing, and not the voice of your mother, or your ego. Begin by having faith, and
acting on a prompting, as long as it is relatively safe. For example, when you are just
learning how to listen to God, if God were to tell you, as he told Noah, to spend your life
savings to build an ark - that is something that you should be very skeptical about. Be
wise, and get counsel to confirm that word. If it is safe enough, just trust the word, and
you will grow in discernment as you see God use you. You will also grow as you fail
from time to time as you hear wrong. There is no guarantee in this business. Listening to
God is not a technique or a method; it is a walk with a person. It is your heritage; it is
more than possible for you; it is your destiny in eternity to see God face to face. Hearing
him now is a foretaste of Heaven.
What if the voice you are hearing isn't God at all? What if it's just you? There is
reason for caution here, so we don't fall into loopiness, or listening in contradiction to the
Bible. On the Men's Retreat, Clay McLean addressed this for us. He told us, "So what if
it is just you? God can use just you, and he wants you to step out in faith." If the you is
in Christ, why do you fear it? Most of us can benefit from knowing what our deep heart
knows, what "just you" knows. Over time, you can learn to distinguish these things.
A servant stood at the edge of a great chasm, twenty yards wide. He was afraid of
heights, and this was a one thousand foot drop. A single plank was set across the chasm,
with only a single guard rope on one side. He wasn't sure he could make it across, but he
knew that on the other side was the purpose for which his master created him. His faith
was weak, but the plank was strong. Trembling, halting, he walked across the chasm of
his fear, and entered into his master's joy.
Unbelief is a great hindrance to listening to God. Weak faith in a strong plank
will get you across the chasm. It's not that your faith must be so strong; it's that you
remember how strong God is, and you allow him to carry you across your chasm of
doubt. When your faith is weak, simply obey.
To begin, you must start with the faith of a child. Let's say our verse again
together: John 10:27 "My sheep hear my voice." John 10:27. Amen.
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