9 Readings – God’s Voice OR Our Imagination?
/Lectionary Readings for June 13, 2021 Third Sunday After Pentecost, Year B
1 Samuel 15:34-16:13 v13 So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the flask of olive oil he had brought and anointed David with the oil. And the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on.
Psalm 20 or Psalm 72 20:4 May the Lord grant your heart’s desires and make all your plans succeed.
2 Corinthians 5:6-10 (11-13), 14-17 v17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
Mark 4:26-34 The Parable of the Growing Seed and The Parable of the Mustard Seed
Peace through Leadership Quotes
“As an 18-year-old, I really sensed the call of God. What was interesting about that time was, I come from a very conservative part of the body of Christ, so there was really nothing for a woman to do.” ~ Beth Moore
“For prayer is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God.” ~ Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)
When we are able to enjoy a friendship with God, we are more likely to be at peace with ourselves and with others. And when God, our friend, leads us – calls us – into unknown and unfamiliar territory, we can follow God’s lead knowing that God does not call us into dead ends AND wherever we go, God is always with us.
Any time I preach or lead a group, regardless of age, I start the same way. I’m going to say three short sentences. Please repeat each sentence, with enthusiasm.
God made me. God loves me. God has plans for me.
Preface to Today’s Scripture Reading
Let’s review the major lessons we’ve learned from the Biblical characters we’ve discussed over the past six weeks.
Abraham taught us to remain faithful while God’s promises unfold throughout our lives. God sometimes calls us to specific roles within extremely long-term projects.
Samuel taught us to 1) trust our spiritual mentors and 2) respond to God’s calling with, “Here I am Lord. What can I do for You?”
Esther taught us that God may call us to risk our own safety when protecting others and/or speaking truth to power.
Jonah taught us that 1) we can run but we cannot escape God’s call(s) on our lives and 2) God can work through even the most reluctant people.
Mary Magdalene taught us that 1) God may call us in the middle of our darkest days and 2) God may call us into non-traditional roles.
Peter taught us that God calls people who feel utterly unworthy of being called.
From all of these imperfect people living in a messed-up world, we learn some general lessons:
No situation nor attitude nor location can separate us from God’s presence.
God calls all people of all ages, races, and genders to participate in the Kingdom of God.
From all of these we see that “Saying, ‘Here I am’, to God’s call comes with the risk of having to say or do the difficult or uncomfortable. However, ignoring that call or saying no means missing out ... on being influencers for God’s kingdom on earth. [Ignoring, dismissing, or minimizing God’s call(s) on your life] means missing out on living out God’s purpose for our lives in the world.” Susan Robb, Called. Abingdon Press, 2019, p. 47.
Let’s open our ears, minds, and hearts as we absorb today’s readings.
Read Jeremiah 33:3, Psalm 32:8, John 10:27, Jeremiah 1:5, Jeremiah 29:11, Psalm 33:11, 2 Peter 3:9, James 1:5, and Proverbs 3:5-6.
Literally, since the day I was born, my Mom prayed out loud with me every night for many years. Somehow, I learned to think of prayer as an ongoing conversation with God. By the time I was entering my teens, my aunt would often ask me (and still does), “What are you hearing from God? How is God leading you?” Her nurturing, encouraging questions assume I’m listening and looking for God. For those of you with children in your lives, I encourage you to pray with and ask the same questions with the kids in your life. Their prayer requests and responses to your questions are openings for life-shaping conversations. And don’t be surprised if I ask you the same question. “What are you hearing from God? How is God leading you?”
With our healthy imaginations, how can we tell if it’s really God communicating with us or just our own inner voice expressing our deep (or superficial!) desires or fears?
Much like tuning a musical instrument, getting dialed in with God is an ongoing effort. As with so many skills in life, discerning God’s leading takes effort, practice, learning though “misses,” and guidance. Like Eli was for Samuel, we can all mentor and encourage each other. In fact, Proverbs 19:20 tells us to “Get all the advice and instruction you can, so you will be wise the rest of your life.”
Today, I offer you several suggestions to help you discern God’s voice, God’s leading, in your own life.
First and foremost, a core belief of nearly every religion is that the creator of the universe created humanity, loves everyone, and wants good things for ALL people. To be clear, all of today’s guidance comes from the Christian Bible which give us a framework for living within our Christian faith. Can God give us wisdom and direction through other sacred texts? Certainly. But as Christians, ideally, we use our Bible as the primary source for “getting the conversation going” with God. (I once remember asking God to “give me a word.” God responded, “I’ve given you a few 100,000; let’s start there.” Within a few verses, God and I were discussing the text and how it applied to me. Cool.)
“There are countless ways in which we can encounter Jesus and hear his voice. The point is, the more we immerse ourselves in ways of spending time with Jesus, the more likely we are to recognize the voice of the Good Shepherd when he calls our name.” Susan Robb, Called. Abingdon Press, 2019, p. 115).
We can start with those famous verses, John 3:16-17 (NRSV): “For God so loved the world that he sent his only Son, [Himself in the flesh] so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
In Matthew 5:43-48 (NLT), Jesus tells us that God “gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.” From these verses, we have Guidance #1: God’s message / communication with you will sound like it comes from a place of love.
People often wonder what our loving God may be calling them to. Throughout Scripture, God has given us some big-picture, general, “life purpose” direction. I call these the “Meaning of Life Verses.”
First, Jesus gave us the Great Commandments (Matthew 22:34-40) as both direction and constraint: Love God, love yourself, and love others. We are ALL called to do those three things. Thus we have Guidance #2: God’s voice will help you understand how to better love God, love yourself, and love others.
The Second “Meaning of Life Verses” come from Matthew 25; this is where Jesus urged us to address the basic needs of the most vulnerable people in our community (Matthew 25:34-45 NLT): “For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.” From this we glean Guidance #3: God will lead you to places of need where you can serve others – whether that’s Skid Row or Wall St (there is great need for the Good News of God’s love everywhere).
The Third “Meaning of Life Verse” comes from Micah which tells us the proper methodology of approaching this work (Micah 6:8 NRSV): “The Lord has told you, O mortal, what is good. What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” This gives us Guidance #4: God will draw you to be a light of justice, kindness, and humility. I understand humility as an approach that puts the spotlight on God, not myself – an approach that runs counter to our current American culture.
As a loving creator, God wants the best for us which includes wanting us to succeed. God never sets us up for failure and never delights in our suffering. I Corinthians 12:8-10 and Romans 12:6-8 tell us that God has given each of us a unique collection of spiritual, intellectual, and social talents, i.e. gifts. Guidance #5: God’s leading often appeals to our “natural” (i.e., God-given) interests and abilities. NOTE: As I’ve said before, feelings are great indicators, but are lousy compasses.
When we perceive... OK, sidenote.
I use the word perceive a lot when talking about communicating with God. This is because – as we’ve seen over the past six weeks – God communicates directly and indirectly with people in a variety of ways: from a burning bush plus the booming voice (Moses); from a quiet, still voice (Elijah); through dreams (Jacob); through friends (Mary to Peter), and through relatives (Mordecai to Esther) just to name a few. Each of us likely has a primary way that we’re “wired” to perceive God, but we must all “have our radar up” so-to-speak so that we are constantly open to God’s leading.
When we perceive that God is leading us, calling us – individually and as a faith community – we need to share what we’re sensing with our spiritual family so that we can affirm, encourage, and sometimes correct each other. This is part of what it means to be a faith community.
All of this is important because when we choose to follow God’s callings, we can become salt and light in a world that desperately needs flavor and warmth. The Good News of the Kingdom of God is that we’re all invited, we’re all capable, and we’re all needed.
In the coming months, I look forward to sharing with you how I perceive God continues to “call” and lead me, and I hope that you will share with me (and each other) how you perceive God may be calling / leading you. As we do this, I sincerely believe God will deepen our faith and grow our relationships with each other as God leads us to serve our community.
Amen? Amen!