Hear God's Voice
A Sermon of The Rev. Dr. David A. Killian, Rector
All Saints Parish
Brookline, Massachusetts
December 7, 2003
Second Sunday of Advent
Text: Luke 3:1-6
I
For those who were wondering when winter was coming, I think we know. Whether it's Mother Nature or Old Man Winter who is giving us the message, they did a pretty good job. Their message has come through loud and clear and the impact is felt all over the region. My son's SAT II examination was canceled yesterday; Church School, Schola, Julie's farewell, the Boston Cecilia Concert, and Beacon Street Fellowship have been canceled here today. Mother Nature and Old Man Winter are speaking and we hear clearly.
John the Baptist in today's Gospel passage is not so effective in getting his message across. He is a voice crying in the wilderness. He speaks but people don't listen. He offers an astonishing hope, the transformation of all that is into something better, and still people wonder why they should have to give up the secure present for this bold future.
Advent is that special time before Christmas when God wants to speak the message to us that will transform our lives, if we can only listen amidst the din and bombast of the commercial frenzy all around.
How is God trying to get our attention this Advent season? Let me suggest three ways: first, by disrupting ordinary routines; second, by giving voice to the voiceless; and third, by inviting us to give of ourselves for others.
First, by disrupting ordinary routines. We can take an example from the Celtic saints. Saint Brendan, the Navigator, was a great explorer; he sailed far and wide and found Christ by bringing the good news of the Gospel to new lands. Columba and his twelve companions left their familiar homeland of Ireland to journey across the waters to establish a new community in Iona. The monks at Skellig Michael off the west coast of Ireland found a remote crag where they could pray and ponder God's mysteries undistracted by the cares of ordinary life.
So, I wonder if this Advent snow storm, which disrupted our lives, isn't really a gift from God to slow us down, to force us to stay inside, and thus to give us peace and quiet to ponder and listen for God's voice. God needs to slow us down because God speaks to us first in a whisper, not a shout, as St. Ignatius of Loyola said: "It is true that the voice of God, having once fully penetrated the heart, becomes strong as the tempest and loud as the thunder; but before reaching the heart it is as weak as a light breath which scarcely agitates the air. It shrinks from noise, and is silent amid agitation."
II
Second, we hear God's voice when we give voice to the voiceless and help those who do not have a voice. Erin Brockovich, in the film of the same name, is a "voice crying in the wilderness" at first. Like John the Baptist, she dresses bizarrely--not in animal skins, but in revealing miniskirts and tight blouses. Thus, unlike him, she is anything but ascetic. But when she goes to work for a lawyer and discovers that a huge utility company is trying to cover up its responsibility for the death and illness of a large number of people, she becomes a passionate proclaimer of justice and compassion. Because of her clothing choice no one takes her seriously at first, especially her boss and fellow office employees. They figure she is best suited for filing briefs and papers. However, Erin discovers that she has the gifts of a good investigator. Add that to her native compassion, enhanced by her being a mother, and we have a modern prophet whose voice in the wilderness demands to be heard. When she brings in the results of her painstaking research of the utility company and the chemical analysis of the effulgents from its plant, as well as the desperate medical situations of the people living next to the plant, Erin's boss agrees to pursue a class action suit against the industrial giant.
Closer to home, the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization gives voice to the voiceless by leading the effort to obtain affordable housing -- a great need in our area. And most recently GBIO has given voice to the unemployed and underemployed, bringing them together to offer support, to network, and to strategize about finding jobs.
III
Third, God gets our attention by inviting us to give of ourselves for others. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, certainly used his voice to call out to people on God's behalf. Historians estimate that during the 52 years of his ministry, Wesley preached approximately 54,450 sermons. On an average day he preached two times, and very often he would preach four or five times in one day. Wesley was like a single acorn that sprouted to become a mighty oak that gave forth 54,450 acorns.
In our lives, we are each meant to grow and multiply, to give back to God abundantly for the gift that God has given us, to be an acorn that becomes an oak that sprouts thousands of acorns. When we give to others we imitate the bountifulness of God.
When we give to others, we counteract despair and disillusionment, especially if we have goals that are difficult to achieve. Dorothy Day, in the 1930s, founded the Catholic Worker movement that espoused pacifism and agrarian reform. The noble goals of her movement seemed almost impossible to attain. The world was not moving toward pacifism and it wasn't moving toward agrarian reform. How did Dorothy and her followers keep from falling into discouragement and despair? Each day she and her followers did a concrete action to embody the presence of Christ. They provided shelter for the homeless in New York and three meals a day to the poor on the Bowery. So even though the world was not moving toward pacifism, Dorothy and her followers did not become disillusioned because they daily experienced God in their midst. This is how we also can hear God's voice: each day, do some concrete action of love for a fellow human being.
Let us pray. O God, help us to hear your voice as you disrupt our ordinary routines; as you give voice to the voiceless; and as you invite us to give of ourselves for others. As Saint Augustine said, "He who loves the coming of the Lord is not she who affirms it is far off, nor he who says it is near. It is the one who, whether it be far or near, awaits it with sincere faith, steadfast hope, and fervent love." Amen.