Sermon – God’s Speech Rev. Sandy Lacey World Communion Sunday – October 06, 2024
There are many ways I could talk about these passages we have read this morning, but I am going to focus on how God speaks – from what we heard in the Genesis and Hebrews passages today. And then from there, we can wonder together how God speaks these days. We’ve had these conversations occasionally in Bible studies, prayer meetings, and on Sunday mornings. In a world in which noise permeates our lives, whether it is the noise of irritating music on elevators (or the phone “on hold” messages) that we are forced to listen to but do not like, or the noise of news that increases our blood pressure, or the noise of movies/television that glorify violence, or the noise of arguments with family members, or stress from illnesses or financial worries, or busy schedules that keep us from resting and connecting with those we love; whatever constitutes the noise in our lives, we find it difficult to hear God’s voice. And because of that it is easy for our anxiety levels to increase, our overall health to decrease, our perspectives to become cynical, and our energy level to wane. Just judging from my observations, I am far from being the only one struggling these past few weeks/months/years as we listen to one problem after another with the upcoming election, with a congress who struggles to accomplish important things, with general rudeness toward those with whom we disagree, and with the violence in our world. And the more we try to analyze and fix what is wrong, the more overwhelmed and cynical we get. That is always the first problem – relying totally upon ourselves – instead of choosing to be still and listen for God’s direction and God’s voice for how to proceed. My Pastor colleagues have discussed this in the past – how to clearly hear God’s voice. One of my colleagues reminded me that sometimes you need to engage the other side of your brain to reduce the noise so that you can more effectively listen for God’s voice. One of my colleagues enjoys pottery and creating a new piece from clay. She says this engages a different part of her brain and she can hear with different “ears.” Another fishes anytime he possibly can while another visits with family and plays with his grandchildren as often as possible. Another colleague plays a musical instrument, and another takes short trips to the mountains on a regular basis. Some of you have told me that God calms you, gives you peace, speaks to you when you work in the garden and have your hands in the dirt. Others of you have told me that when you take 30 minutes or an hour in the morning to be still, read a devotion or Scripture, and listen for God’s voice – that that makes all the difference for your day. How do you hear God’s voice? And are you putting yourself in the position or space to hear God’s voice? The writer of Hebrews reminds us that God spoke long ago through God’s act of creation. In Genesis we are told that God spoke into existence light and darkness, the sun and the moon, the world and all the creatures in it, including you and me. God’s speech is powerful, expansive, all encompassing – if we’ve only the ears to listen. Hebrews also reminds us that God spoke through the prophets. They boldly chastised the people for their complacency, for their refusal to follow God’s law, for their callous disregard for the poor in their midst, for their wealth building at the expense of those less fortunate. The prophets encouraged trust and reliance upon God, rather than upon human leaders/kings. God’s speech is powerful, expansive, all encompassing – if we’ve only the ears to listen and the courage to follow. More recently, God has spoken through God’s Son, Jesus, according to the writer of Hebrews. “God’s very imprint” is how the writer of Hebrews describes Jesus. In other words, when you look at Jesus, you see who God is and what God cares about. In looking at Jesus, God cares about you and me and all people. When Jesus speaks in the Gospel accounts, God speaks through him. So, when Jesus speaks on the mountain in the Gospel of Matthew, we hear that God honors the grieving, the poor, the humble, those who search for righteousness, those who give mercy, those who are honest, those who pursue peace, and those who receive ridicule for doing what is good and right in Jesus’ name. God’s voice through Jesus says we are to live in God’s world and add salt flavoring to it and we are to help bring light where there is only darkness. God’s voice through Jesus says we are to love even our enemies. God’s voice is powerful, expansive, and can be surprising. Where have you heard God’s voice recently? Or have you only been hearing “noise”?
The very imprint of God says there is power, not in wealth or prestige, but in suffering. And Jesus did exactly that. He could have brought angels and great physical power to demonstrate just how big God is; but instead, he chose to demonstrate God’s self-giving love. According to God’s voice through Jesus, love is greater than any physical strength, any military strategy, and any empire or political strategy. Physical strength, wealth, military strategies, empires come and go . . . but love remains forever. God’s voice is strong, expansive, and powerful, but often in a surprising way. Whose voice are you listening to? I have to be honest. The loudest voices we hear around us these days are not the voice of God: “might equals right”, “get them before they get you”, “step over them to achieve your dreams”, “you deserve to be on top”, “my individual rights are more important than what is best for all”, “the end justifies the means”, “truth is relative”, “we do not have to take care of the environment”, “there is not enough”, etc. These are the loudest noises, and the noise is deafening at times. But the very imprint of God says, “You are God’s child, made in the image of God, I am enough, and you are blessed so that you might be a blessing to others.” What is more, Jesus calls you brother and sister – siblings to the very imprint of God. Are you listening? You are important and you can make a difference. Today, all across the world, followers of Jesus are celebrating God’s one big family. And we do that through being transported into God’s presence here at this Table. The Spirit lifts us into God’s presence as we remember Jesus and his great love for us. God’s voice is speaking to you and me today. Can we slow down and quiet down enough to hear it? Can we suspend our everyday worries enough to hear it? Can we distinguish between God’s life-giving voice and the life-draining noise of the Adversary? However, we hear God’s voice, of note in this passage, is the suggested response. The writer of Hebrews reminds us to proclaim God’s name to all, and to praise God’s name. Friends, we are to live our lives in praise, in doxology to the God who created us, who redeems us, and who even now sustains us. As my friend suggests, when we feel the weight of the world on our shoulders, or when we cannot hear anything but noise, we may need that other part of the brain to kick in. That is why we gather for worship each Sunday. Whether it is through the music or the words or both, let us listen for God’s voice so that we can be more like Jesus even in the midst of the noise of our culture. The good news is that God does speak and as we learn to listen more faithfully for God’s voice, we will find ourselves in the middle of a song that we cannot help but sing. It is a song that all of creation sings: “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” It is time for us to listen carefully for the tune and join the world’s chorus in singing praise to our Creator. AMEN.
There are many ways I could talk about these passages we have read this morning, but I am going to focus on how God speaks – from what we heard in the Genesis and Hebrews passages today. And then from there, we can wonder together how God speaks these days. We’ve had these conversations occasionally in Bible studies, prayer meetings, and on Sunday mornings. In a world in which noise permeates our lives, whether it is the noise of irritating music on elevators (or the phone “on hold” messages) that we are forced to listen to but do not like, or the noise of news that increases our blood pressure, or the noise of movies/television that glorify violence, or the noise of arguments with family members, or stress from illnesses or financial worries, or busy schedules that keep us from resting and connecting with those we love; whatever constitutes the noise in our lives, we find it difficult to hear God’s voice. And because of that it is easy for our anxiety levels to increase, our overall health to decrease, our perspectives to become cynical, and our energy level to wane. Just judging from my observations, I am far from being the only one struggling these past few weeks/months/years as we listen to one problem after another with the upcoming election, with a congress who struggles to accomplish important things, with general rudeness toward those with whom we disagree, and with the violence in our world. And the more we try to analyze and fix what is wrong, the more overwhelmed and cynical we get. That is always the first problem – relying totally upon ourselves – instead of choosing to be still and listen for God’s direction and God’s voice for how to proceed. My Pastor colleagues have discussed this in the past – how to clearly hear God’s voice. One of my colleagues reminded me that sometimes you need to engage the other side of your brain to reduce the noise so that you can more effectively listen for God’s voice. One of my colleagues enjoys pottery and creating a new piece from clay. She says this engages a different part of her brain and she can hear with different “ears.” Another fishes anytime he possibly can while another visits with family and plays with his grandchildren as often as possible. Another colleague plays a musical instrument, and another takes short trips to the mountains on a regular basis. Some of you have told me that God calms you, gives you peace, speaks to you when you work in the garden and have your hands in the dirt. Others of you have told me that when you take 30 minutes or an hour in the morning to be still, read a devotion or Scripture, and listen for God’s voice – that that makes all the difference for your day. How do you hear God’s voice? And are you putting yourself in the position or space to hear God’s voice? The writer of Hebrews reminds us that God spoke long ago through God’s act of creation. In Genesis we are told that God spoke into existence light and darkness, the sun and the moon, the world and all the creatures in it, including you and me. God’s speech is powerful, expansive, all encompassing – if we’ve only the ears to listen. Hebrews also reminds us that God spoke through the prophets. They boldly chastised the people for their complacency, for their refusal to follow God’s law, for their callous disregard for the poor in their midst, for their wealth building at the expense of those less fortunate. The prophets encouraged trust and reliance upon God, rather than upon human leaders/kings. God’s speech is powerful, expansive, all encompassing – if we’ve only the ears to listen and the courage to follow. More recently, God has spoken through God’s Son, Jesus, according to the writer of Hebrews. “God’s very imprint” is how the writer of Hebrews describes Jesus. In other words, when you look at Jesus, you see who God is and what God cares about. In looking at Jesus, God cares about you and me and all people. When Jesus speaks in the Gospel accounts, God speaks through him. So, when Jesus speaks on the mountain in the Gospel of Matthew, we hear that God honors the grieving, the poor, the humble, those who search for righteousness, those who give mercy, those who are honest, those who pursue peace, and those who receive ridicule for doing what is good and right in Jesus’ name. God’s voice through Jesus says we are to live in God’s world and add salt flavoring to it and we are to help bring light where there is only darkness. God’s voice through Jesus says we are to love even our enemies. God’s voice is powerful, expansive, and can be surprising. Where have you heard God’s voice recently? Or have you only been hearing “noise”?
The very imprint of God says there is power, not in wealth or prestige, but in suffering. And Jesus did exactly that. He could have brought angels and great physical power to demonstrate just how big God is; but instead, he chose to demonstrate God’s self-giving love. According to God’s voice through Jesus, love is greater than any physical strength, any military strategy, and any empire or political strategy. Physical strength, wealth, military strategies, empires come and go . . . but love remains forever. God’s voice is strong, expansive, and powerful, but often in a surprising way. Whose voice are you listening to? I have to be honest. The loudest voices we hear around us these days are not the voice of God: “might equals right”, “get them before they get you”, “step over them to achieve your dreams”, “you deserve to be on top”, “my individual rights are more important than what is best for all”, “the end justifies the means”, “truth is relative”, “we do not have to take care of the environment”, “there is not enough”, etc. These are the loudest noises, and the noise is deafening at times. But the very imprint of God says, “You are God’s child, made in the image of God, I am enough, and you are blessed so that you might be a blessing to others.” What is more, Jesus calls you brother and sister – siblings to the very imprint of God. Are you listening? You are important and you can make a difference. Today, all across the world, followers of Jesus are celebrating God’s one big family. And we do that through being transported into God’s presence here at this Table. The Spirit lifts us into God’s presence as we remember Jesus and his great love for us. God’s voice is speaking to you and me today. Can we slow down and quiet down enough to hear it? Can we suspend our everyday worries enough to hear it? Can we distinguish between God’s life-giving voice and the life-draining noise of the Adversary? However, we hear God’s voice, of note in this passage, is the suggested response. The writer of Hebrews reminds us to proclaim God’s name to all, and to praise God’s name. Friends, we are to live our lives in praise, in doxology to the God who created us, who redeems us, and who even now sustains us. As my friend suggests, when we feel the weight of the world on our shoulders, or when we cannot hear anything but noise, we may need that other part of the brain to kick in. That is why we gather for worship each Sunday. Whether it is through the music or the words or both, let us listen for God’s voice so that we can be more like Jesus even in the midst of the noise of our culture. The good news is that God does speak and as we learn to listen more faithfully for God’s voice, we will find ourselves in the middle of a song that we cannot help but sing. It is a song that all of creation sings: “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” It is time for us to listen carefully for the tune and join the world’s chorus in singing praise to our Creator. AMEN.