Click to hear the sermon  sermon090118

I've been told that the NFL playoffs continue on to the Super Bowl even after the New York Giants have been eliminated.

How God Speaks - John 1: 43-51 - January 18, 2009 - Cicero United Methodist Church - Everett J. Bassett

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            I've been told that the NFL playoffs continue on to the Super Bowl even after the New York Giants have been eliminated. I don't know why they would, or should, but I guess they do. So, since football continues, I'll start my sermon with a football story. Several years ago, Reggie White, who was the best defensive end in football, was changing teams. There was little doubt that whichever team Reggie chose was going to take a major step forward - he was that good. Reggie is a deeply devout Christian - in fact, a preacher - and he announced that he would wait for God to tell him where to move.

            Years later, Reggie told how during that decision-making period he got home one day, and there was a message on his answering machine that sounded mysteriously like the coach of the Green Bay Packers. The message said, "Reggie, this is God. Go to Green Bay." And surely Reggie wasn't fooled, but he did, in fact, go to Green Bay; and his presence did, in fact, help transform Green Bay from a losing team to a winner.

            Wouldn't it be great if the next time you had a major decision to make, God's voice came on your answering machine and told you what to do? Told you just what you needed to know? This morning I want to talk about how God speaks.

            That is something we might talk about in the church at any time, but it certainly fits in with this season of Epiphany. In general usage, the word 'epiphany' means a 'sudden realization or understanding.' In Christian usage, it means those moments when God is clearly heard or seen. And, particularly at this time of year, it means the ways in which people carne to understand that in Jesus Christ, the Son of God had come to earth on a divine mission of salvation. The voice of God at Jesus' baptism. Jesus turning water into wine. The star leading the Wise Men to the Christ-child. Jesus transfigured in radiance on top of a mountain - those were all moments of epiphany when people began to understand that God was speaking powerfully. That's what this season is about.

            In some ways, Epiphany is the Rodney Dangerfield of Christian seasons - it tends not to get much respect. It is kind of like the breather we take between the hectic Christmas season, and the deeply spiritual Lenten season. But I think Epiphany should be more than just a breather. It raises some of the key questions of our faith: How do we hear the voice of God? Certainly not on the answering machine - but where? How do we know it really is God? What is God trying to tell us? How do we learn what God would have us think, and do? How are the ways of God revealed to us? What epiphanies await us? These are all essential questions - especially when so many people today are having trouble hearing God, or following all kinds of voices in the name of God.

            Today's lesson from the Gospel of John is a great epiphany text, I think, because it illustrates at least three different categories of ways God can be known. And I'm going to start at the end of the scripture and work backwards, because I think that is the most helpful. The scripture lesson ends with Jesus saying these words: "Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." That's the first category of ways to see God, and that is in the spectacular.  Heavens opening. Angels going up and down. In the Christmas story we read a few weeks back, the shepherds saw the sky filled with singing angels - a spectacular sign. And the Bible is filled with examples of the spectacular - the burning bush; the sea dividing, or, as David Underwood described last Sunday, the sky being tom apart and the Holy Spirit descending at Jesus' baptism.

            In my own experience, I have not had supernatural experiences like burning bushes or parting seas; but I have seen spectacular things. The light coming through this window as the sun sets; looking down in every direction from the top of an Adirondack peak; the Northern Lights on a winter night; a great cathedral, and recognizing the immense human effort that went into building it; the changing colors of the leaves on the hills in the Southern tier in October. The fact that these are natural, or human-engineered events doesn't diminish the awesome quality of them. They are moments of epiphany, God put them there to lift your eyes to God, and they are all around us, and they are grace. Don't miss the opening skies and angels in your life - the spectacular messages from God.

            It happened differently for Nathaniel. Nathaniel's epiphany came not in the spectacular, but in the circumstantial. Here were his circumstances. He was sitting under a fig tree, when his friend Philip came and persuaded him to come and see Jesus. Filled with skepticism, but urged by his friend, he approached Jesus and then realized after a few words that Jesus had known him before they met. There was no explanation for it, except this was the Son of God who knows all things. The astonished Nathaniel asked Jesus, "Where did you get to know me?" And Jesus said, "I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you." And Nathaniel said, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!"

            And it's not as spectacular as an opening sky or a parting sea, but there are circumstances in our lives that can only be explained by the gracious presence of a loving God. Again, looking back to the Christmas story, the person we'd point to here is Mary. After the trip to Bethlehem, after the birth, after the shepherds came and worshipped, Mary could only say, "This must be God. There is no other explanation."

            I think about my own life. I think about my strange thoughts, and my shyness as a youth. I think about the times I strayed from God, the shortcomings and doubts that have always been there, the times I denied God, the times I chose other things - the times I wondered if I would live. And then here I am standing at this pulpit preaching. There are people who knew me who would laugh at the thought of it. And there is just no other explanation for these circumstances apart from God. That's my epiphany. And I suspect that all through this congregation there are people who know that they could not be here, they could not be alive today, they could not be doing what they are doing today - there's no explanation for the circumstances - except for the grace of God. That's what Nathaniel knew. "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!"

            And then there is Philip. Philip is an example of a third category of epiphany, and, I suppose, in some ways the most pure epiphany. Because Philip didn't need to witness something spectacular. Philip didn't need the verification of some unusual circumstances in his life. Philip's epiphany came through the voice in his heart. All we know is this: "(Jesus) found Philip and said to him, 'Follow me.''' And that was all it took. Next thing we know, Philip is excitedly evangelizing his friend Nathaniel. He simply heard the voice in his heart when he heard Jesus speak. Jesus said, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe." And if we looked again in the Christmas story for an example, it might be Simeon and Anna, devout people who worshiped daily at the temple, waiting for the Messiah. And then when the baby Jesus was brought, they praised God because the eyes of their hearts knew they had seen who they were waiting for. They had epiphanies of the heart. There was no great vision - they simply knew.

            I believe there are times when God simply speaks within us. I know people who have heard that voice as clearly as you are hearing mine right now - a voice within them that said, "I love you," or "You are my child," or, "I choose you for this task," or "Pick up the phone and call the one you've been praying for," or "This is not for you," or "Now is not the time," or "Be at peace, for I am with you." Other times, it was not so much a clear voice as it is a gentle nudge, or a strong feeling, or a dream, or a peaceful feeling with an idea or a decision, or, as with Nathaniel, the urging of a friend. Suddenly you just realize: God is speaking. May heart is hearing something for God.

            Now, this is tricky business, because there are a lot of voices we hear, including our own. As I said before, people have been convinced they were following God's voice, and done some terrible things. How do we know that the voice that is speaking to us is really God? This is why being part of a sincere praying church is so important; because the church is where we can go to test the voice. The church is where we interpret the words of scripture together, and test the call of God for each person, to make sure we don't stray away from the path that God has had His people on for thousands of years.

            I believe God speaks to us. We are not always listening. Sometimes we have a lot of static on the line. Sometimes the voice sounds different - maybe it's the voice of a child, or of a close friend, or of a neighbor, or of a stranger on the street. But God speaks. And if we are listening, great epiphanies await.

            A friend of mine, Mary Lee Armour, has written about the beauty of the phrase - 'it dawned on me.' That is a great Epiphany theme. Epiphany is when it dawns on us like the sun suddenly coming over the horizon that God is here. And, just as our sign front sign says this week, that 'God is up to something good.' Sometimes we see it in spectacular fashion; sometimes we know it in the way the circumstances of life play out; sometimes it is a voice in our hearts. God is speaking; and when God speaks, it is a new day. And when that dawns on us, then blessing and hope follow.

            You may not be feeling much blessing and hope today. We certainly need more of it in this world. But be assured, a new day is dawning. Jesus is here to speak beautiful things from God to you. Listen. Listen ...