Listening for God

I think it was Oprah who popularized the “attitude of gratitude.” Whoever it was, the idea of having a practice of gratitude has become part of popular culture. It’s an extension of the older idea of “counting your blessings.”

In this morning’s gospel reading, a group of ten lepers asks Jesus for help. Lepers were people with skin disease. It probably wasn’t what we know as leprosy or Hansen’s disease which is caused by a bacterial infection that can damage skin, eyes and nerves. Whatever it was, lepers were the outcasts of society. They had to stay separate from everyone else not so much because they were infectious but because they were ritually unclean, and in the event that their skin infection cleared up they had to get a clean bill of health from the priests before they could rejoin their families.

Jesus tells them to go and show themselves to the priests. They went.

Notice that they are not healed at the time they set out. They are still lepers. Yet they do what Jesus says. In the few verses before todays reading the disciples ask Jesus to increase their faith, and here we have a story about faith. The lepers are healed and restored to the potential of full engagement in society as they are doing what Jesus told them. Not before, not after, but in the process of obedience to Jesus’ command.

Our faith increases as we are obedient to God’s word to us. The Holy Spirit always speaks quietly, prompting us to follow the highest leading of Christ. I think most of us don’t usually hear a voice or get an email from God. For most of us it’s probably an inkling or an intuition. I wonder how it is for you?

Let’s just take a moment to think about it. How does God speak to you?

Now please find someone else to talk to and think together about how you hear God’s voice speaking to you. If that’s not an experience you think you have had, that’s ok, you can think about how you might hear God.

It may mean changing seats but let’s make sure everyone has someone to talk to about how you might experience God speaking to you.

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I think for me it’s a combination of things. First, I regularly ask God to lead and direct me in God’s paths, so I am actively seeking God’s direction. My days are usually pretty flexible, and so I am often asking which of the many things I could do, should I do next. And secondly I trust that God will guide me. Of course, there is a shadow side to that. I have a tendency to procrastinate and so it’s easy to think that doing the things I like to do and putting off the others is following God’s voice! Knowing my own shortcomings helps me to discern what is mine to do today.

I also hear God’s voice as I ponder the readings and prepare sermons, and in my conversations with you. I may start a train of thought which helps me to see things differently and consider my own responses in a new light. The spiritual path is one of constant re-evaluation in the light of Jesus’ teaching and the prompting of the Holy Spirit within the context of faith community. We teach one another. We are the voice of God to one another.

Our faith deepens as we dare to listen for God’s voice and then act on it.

The lepers heard Jesus’ instructions and set out to show themselves to the priests even though they were still unclean. The miracle occurred on their way. They were healed. As you know, only one of them came back to thank Jesus. He was so thrilled to be healed that he came running back hooping and hollering and praising God.

And Jesus points out that he wasn’t a good Jewish person, but a despised Samaritan. This guy was not a good Episcopalian but someone who never bothered to go to church. He wasn’t white and well educated but his family came from somewhere else and he only spoke broken English.  Not only did Jesus heal someone who wasn’t part of the in-crowd, he used him to demonstrate faith and gratitude.

Gratitude has been found to be very beneficial. It not only improves your mood but it can also lower your blood pressure, improve your sleep and improve your immune system.

But for us, as disciples of Jesus, gratitude is much, much more. We are not just generally grateful but we praise and thank God – it is an integral part of our relationship with God, our beloved.

Someone once told me that they didn’t see why God needs all this praise – like God needs us to say “good job, buddy.”  I think praising God is qualitatively different from praising a child or an employee. Our praise of God is a combination of worship, gratitude and awe. We continue to praise and worship God even when things are not going well for us, even when God doesn’t seem to be helping
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The psalms are often a good example of this.

In today’s psalm we read:
Bless our God, you peoples; *
make the voice of his praise to be heard;
Who holds our souls in life, *
and will not allow our feet to slip.  
I think we can all get behind that but then the psalmist goes on:
9 For you, O God, have proved us; *
you have tried us just as silver is tried.
10 You brought us into the snare; *
you laid heavy burdens upon our backs.
11 You let enemies ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water; *
but you brought us out into a place of refreshment.

Remember these are reasons for praising and blessing God – because we have experienced heavy burdens and life has been so hard that we have been overwhelmed by enemies and went through fire and flood, but God remained faithful and sustained us through it all.

We are called not just to count our blessings but to continue to give thanks and praise to God for who God is regardless of what’s happening in our lives. This is a real challenge for me as I tend toward depression. We are not just to be grateful for the good things -food on the table and a roof over our heads – but even when food is scarce and the roof leaks. Because that does not change our fundamental reality that we are profoundly loved by the God who is always faithful and is always love.

And the nature of our relationship with God is love. Even when we are angry with God, even when things are not going well, we are sustained by the underlying love of the living God. And for that we are grateful.

the Rev. Dr. Caroline Hall