Henrietta United Church of Christ

Rev. David Inglis 1 Samuel 3:1-10

January 13, 2006

“Is God Still Speaking–to You?”

“The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread.” This story took place during a time of social chaos, when Israel was nothing more than a loose amalgamation of tribes who sometimes cooperated with each other and sometimes competed against each other. But then, in the middle of the night, God kicked off the first “God is still speaking campaign.” He woke up a young lad named Samuel, and told him to relay God’s displeasure that Eli had allowed his sons to blaspheme against God without restraining them. God continued speaking to Samuel, and eventually directed him to anoint a young shepherd named David to become Israel’s king. David eventually unified all the tribes of Israel into a true nation. God really was doing a new thing. And it began with Samuel saying, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”

Usually we feel like we also live in a time when “the word of the Lord is rare, and visions aren’t widespread.” The UCC has launched a ‘God is still speaking” campaign to remind us that the Christian faith, though rooted in the past, continually expresses itself in new ways in the present, and it calls us to create a new future based on God’s continual revelation. For this catchy campaign motto to move from the level of a PR slogan to a way of living our faith, each of us needs to learn what Samuel learned–to distinguish God’s voice from all the other voices that compete for our attention, and to have that open, expectant attitude that says, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”

So today, I’d like to share with you a few examples of contemporary people who have heard God speaking in a variety of ways, in hopes that this will help each of us to learn how to listen to our still-speaking God.

The first example comes from a man named Roy Patterson, who shares numerous examples of how God has been speaking in his life in his book The Soul’s Remembrance. When Roy was a kid, he and his friend used to race their bikes and jump them off a mound of dirt onto the road. Roy was determined he was going to actually jump all the way across the road, so he built the mound extra high, put a plank of wood on it as a ramp, and added a few more yards to the beginning of the path so he could hit the ramp at top speed. He took off peddling faster and faster towards the ramp. Roy’s mother was nowhere in sight to say, “Now really, Roy, do you think this is a good idea?” But God was there. As he was approaching the ramp, he suddenly heard a voice in his head yelling, “Stop!” The voice was so clear and pure and commanding that he slammed on the brakes. As he was sliding to a stop in front of the ramp, a car went speeding past. He watched as the car disappeared in the dust, knowing that if he hadn’t stopped, he might well have been looking down on a stopped car and a dead boy–himself.

Another time when Roy was in his teens, he was driving his big 1966 Ford Galaxy 500 at 80 mph down a country road. All of a sudden, a sense of impending doom came over him. He couldn’t see any danger, but he had learned to trust those messages, and he quickly slowed down to 20. Just then, the tie-rod came loose and the car’s steering went out. The car ran off the road and into a ditch. If he had still been going 80, it’s unlikely he would have survived.¹

Roy says we all have guardian angels that send us messages like that. If our attitude towards these hunches is, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening,” the guidance tends to get clearer.

Another way God speaks to us in through “coincidences,” which some people call “God-incidences.” In his book How to Know God, Deepak Chopra tells about a project he was working on recently that needed some cover art, but he didn’t know a professional illustrator. As he was wondering how to find one, his own daughter called him from India. He mentioned his dilemma, and she immediately mentioned an Irish artist named Suzanne Malcolm (not her real name). But she didn’t know Suzanne’s address or phone number. That afternoon, a publisher friend called Deepak from London, so Deepak asked if by any chance he knew Suzanne Malcolm. No, he didn’t. But an hour later he was at a cocktail party when the person next to him got a call his cell phone. “Suzanne?” he said. Deepak’s publisher friend gave into his impulse and asked, “Could that possibly be Suzanne Malcolm you’re talking to.” Amazingly, it was. He relayed the message to call Deepak. That same afternoon, Deepak had flown to Los Angeles to give a talk. He rented a car, and pulled over to figure out where he was. He had some extra time, so while he was pulled over, he checked his cell phone messages and found one from Suzanne Malcolm. Great! He called up her number. He asked if he might fly over to Ireland to talk about his project.

“Well, actually, I’m not in Ireland at the moment. I’m in Los Angeles.”

“Really?” asked Deepak, quite surprised. “Where in Los Angeles are you staying?”

“I’m not sure. Oh yes, it’s 3312 Dominic.”

Deepak looked outside his car window, and a shudder passed through him. He was parked right in front of 3312 Dominic.²

How do you account for that? Deepak says that when our lives are attuned to God, we join in partnership with God as co-creators. God works with the ordinary stuff of our lives, including our intentions, our needs, our abilities, and the people in our lives to create our reality in ways we couldn’t pull off by ourselves. Sometimes it’s “God-incidences” like that that result in our meeting our spouse or finding someone who gives us the support or guidance we need. Some of you have come to this church from “God-incidences” like that.

A good friend of mine lives a life of faith and generosity that puts him constantly on the edge of financial insolvency. But whenever he has a need, it is answered. Recently he and his son were cleaning out a dingy basement room to make room for his daughter and her baby, who needed to stay there while her husband was in Iraq. When they had emptied the room except for the sofa, they were staring at the carpet that was filthy and moldy, not suitable for a baby to crawl on. But he didn’t have the money to replace it. Just then, the doorbell rang. I couple of young guys were selling vacuum cleaners, and wondered if they could demonstrate their powerful vaccum that deep cleaned carpets, including molds. No obligation–just sit back and watch. Which is what my friend and his son did, as these two guys cleaned not only the carpet, but also the ceiling and walls.

We can’t engineer “God-incidences” like these. But when our attitude is open and expectant, like Samuel’s, God can do things we never would have even thought of.

Another way God speaks to us is illustrated by Anne Lamott in her book Plan B. Some first and second graders at her son’s school were outside during the “shock and awe” portion of the war in Iraq. They were frightened when a few military planes flew overhead. Their teacher told them that they were safe, that the planes were going to the Middle East, across the ocean. The kids relaxed. Then more planes flew over. One child began to worry that there might be children in the Middle East too, but maybe the pilots didn’t know that. The other kids started to fret. Their teacher couldn’t lie and tell them there weren’t any children in the places the planes were going. So she and the children got a big piece of paper, drew lots of children on it, and drew a peace dove flying over the top of them. They signed it, along with lots of older kids, and sent it to the Air Force Base, to remind the pilots not to bomb any places there might be children.

These children were sadly naive about the realities of war. But on their own level, weren’t they amazingly mature in wanting to answer God’s call to stand up and do what they could to stop injustice or suffering when they saw it happening? Isn’t this the voice that motivated the prophets of old like Jeremiah, and the prophets of late, like Martin Luther King, whose birthday we celebrate tomorrow? Isn’t this the voice that called us here to give so generously to the hurricane and tsunami victims last year, and that called the youth to build a shantytown last fall and to go to the Fast that Lasts at Salem UCC this weekend?

Many of you are living a life that says to God, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” When you see someone here in church that you don’t know, some of you imagine what it must be like to be in a place where you don’t know anybody, and you embody Christ’s welcome of them. A newcomer told me this week that when she came for the first time, one of our members saw her and invited her to sit with her. That touched and impressed the newcomer so much. She was reading a book by spiritual writer Marva Dawn, who has visited many churches. Marva said in the book that of all the churches she has ever visited, only one person has come up to her and invited her to sit with them. And here it happened to this person her first time at HUCC. That was a “God-incidence” that required our member to respond to God’s call to reach out to a stranger.

When you send a card to someone who is sick, or call up someone who has lost a loved one, or volunteer to help with a job here at church, you are answering the call of our still-speaking God. When you volunteer time to the refugee family or work for the food cupboard or drive for FISH, you are answering the call of our still-speaking God. When you see your children or grandchildren not only as wild animals to tame but as precious souls to guide and nurture, when you look at your job as an opportunity for ministry, when you live in a way that seeks to create a more hopeful future for everyone, you are answering the call of our still-speaking God.

So this brings us to the final mystery about God’s active presence in our world. Our still-speaking God does not only speak to us. God also speaks through us. God not only acts in our lives and on our lives. God also acts through our lives, to create a new order, a new kingdom in our midst. May we all listen, like Samuel, with an attitude of trust, hope, and expectation: “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.”

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