1 Epiphany
January 11, 2009
Genesis 1:1-5, Mark 1:4-11
I feel a little bit left out this morning. How about you all?
Raise your hand if you have heard God’s voice speaking to you. So don’t you feel a little bit left out this morning too?
In our Old Testament reading we hear God beginning to speak the world into creation. “Let there be light,” says God, and then, there it was.
Then in our Psalm the powerful, splendorous voice of the Lord is everywhere – upon the waters, shaking the wilderness, splitting the flames of fire.
And in the Gospel reading, you heard God’s voice boom from heaven during Jesus’ baptism.
God is speaking to people all over the Bible. In the Old Testament, God conversed with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. God even spoke to Cain who had just killed his brother. God talked to Moses and Aaron and Miriam as they helped lead the people out of exile. God spoke to the patriarchs and matriarchs of the great Old Testament stories, people like Abraham and Sarah. God spoke to prophets (like Jeremiah and Isaiah and Elijah) and to kings (like David and Solomon) and even to obscure folks whose names don’t sound so familiar (like Ahijah and Gad and Jehu). And while the conversations take different forms, there God is still talking to people in the New Testament. First through other divine agents, like those angels who speak to Mary and Joseph and the shepherds in the Nativity story from a few weeks ago. Then through God’s own incarnate voice as Jesus tells stories, builds relationships, eases fears. Even after Jesus has ascended into heaven we hear reports of the Lord talking to Philip and Paul and Ananais.
So what about us? How come we don’t get to hear God talking to us all the time like these folks did? Why did no one raise their hand just then?
I may have mentioned before the recurring discussions my 5 year old and I have on this subject. We’ll read stories where folks from the Old Testament are having these one-on-one conversations with God. And afterwards she’ll say something like, “We can’t talk to God like that, can we?” And if I counter by bringing up the idea of prayer as our conversation with God, she’ll say, “But we don’t hear God’s voice like they did, right?” And it happens after reading stories from the New Testament too. Especially stories where Jesus is hanging out with his disciples, eating with them, teaching them, sometimes even chastising them. Again, Sophie will say, “We can’t be with Jesus like that, can we?” And I’ll try to talk about how Jesus is in our hearts and all around us and she’ll say, “But we can’t touch him and hear him talking like that, right?” It’s sort of a conundrum. I don’t want to set her up for disappointment by promising that she’ll hear a voice from Heaven. I know there are some people who say that it’s happened to them, but the fact is that very few of us will actually hear God or Jesus talking to us in the way they did in these biblical stories.
And yet I’m confident that we can still hear God’s voice. It may not be as easy to hear and discern as it is in some of those Bible stories, but I’m certain that God still speaks to us in ways that are tangible and real. And I think our readings for this morning may give some clues for how we might hear God speaking - beyond words - in every aspect of our lives.
In Genesis, God speaks everything into being. From nothing, God speaks new and extraordinary things into existence - light, sky, earth, sea, plants, animals, and people. And each new thing God pronounces good. And God is still speaking that way, don’t you think? Through everything in creation; and through all things that are good. When we were on our post-Christmas cruise, I was diligently on the stairmaster as part of my half-hearted attempt at a New Year’s resolution, when suddenly I looked out the window and saw this perfect double rainbow arc-ing above the waves. Granted, I was eager for an excuse to end my misery, but I just couldn’t bear to keep that kind of beauty to myself. I rushed from the gym to the pool and dragged my family and anyone else who would listen to the side of the ship to take it in with me. Sometimes nature is, as Kathleen Norris puts it, “an experience of the holy.”
In the beginning of today’s Psalm, God’s voice comes through what begins as a chaotic storm but ends as a bestowal of strength and peace. God still speaks that way as well. God takes pieces of our lives that are dangerous or scary or out-of-control, and turns them into opportunities for blessing. One place in life where I’ve consistently experienced that is in forgiveness. When I’ve done or said something dreadful and been truly forgiven, or when someone else has done something dreadful to me and I’ve been able to truly forgive and let go, that blessing is not far behind.
In today’s Epistle reading from Acts, the Holy Spirit speaks through certain disciples after Paul baptizes them, and they began to talk in tongues and prophesy. And for me, other people’s words and actions are still one of the loudest ways God speaks. We’re full of examples here at St. Aidan’s. God speaks through the loving attention to detail of our altar guild, through the hospitality of the people that bring food for coffee hour, through the music from our choir, through the kind words of care and concern this parish family bestows on one another, through the dedication and love of the adults who work with our education programs, and through the energy and creativity of our youth. And of course, through the wise and insightful words of John’s sermons.
Both the Epistle and the Gospel show God speaking during a baptism. And God is still breaking in during baptisms, where we are born into God’s family. And in the Eucharist, where we unite in our diversity to join with the whole Church – the whole creation even – to lift up our hearts and offer our lives to God. Jesus promised his disciples that “[w]henever 2 or 3 are gathered in my name I am in the midst of them.” Which means God is present whenever and wherever we gather as the Body of Christ.
And what is God saying? In my opinion probably the best words God speaks to anyone throughout the entire Bible are those words spoken by the voice from heaven after Jesus’ baptism: “You are my son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” I think the current running through every experience we have of “hearing” God is that same assurance: “You are my child, my Beloved.” We too are accepted and loved, adopted as children of God, and worthy of hearing God’s voice.
Now back to my original question to you all. When have you heard God speaking in your life? Amen.
Elizabeth Rees