WHAT DOES GOD’S VOICE
SOUND LIKE?
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for this Fourth Sunday of Easter C is, “What Does God’s Voice Sound Like?”
The preacher’s job is to read the readings for the day -
ponder them - pray them - and then preach. As I juggled today’s three readings
- I kept on dropping the three readings - especially the first two - on the
floor. I wouldn’t make a good juggler.
FIRST READING
The first reading from the Acts of the Apostles had Paul and Barnabas preaching on two
Sabbaths in a row to crowds in Antioch - in
ancient Syria .
A word fight breaks out. It’s a yelling
match. Paul is Jewish. He is speaking in a voice - with messages - that intrigue the Gentiles - but the Jewish
folks don’t accept what they are saying.
In the end, Paul says to the Jews: “It was necessary that
the word of God be spoken to you first, but since you reject it and condemn
yourselves as unworthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. For so the
Lord has commanded us, ‘I have made you a light to the Gentiles, that you may
be an instrument of salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
What did Paul’s voice sound like - when he said that? Listen
carefully: he is saying what he hears God saying to him - that’s what God wants
these other people to hear. That’s quite a statement. Remember before his name
was Paul, his name was Saul. At that time he thought it was God’s will and
voice to hunt down and get rid of Christians. He was in on the killing of
Stephen. At different times in the scriptures he says he was wrong then, but
right now. Is he?
The Jewish community there in Antioch reject Paul and Barnabas. They
organized the prominent women and leading men of the city and throw Paul and
Barnabas out of the area. Paul and Barnabas shook the dust from their feet as
Jesus used to say - and then moved on to Iconium. [Cf. Acts of the Apostles 13:14, 43-52.]
The title of my homily is: “What Does God’s Voice Sound
Like?”
Notice Paul is telling folks what God’s mind and intentions
are!
SECOND READING
Today’s second reading from the Book of Revelation has John telling his listeners and readers about
a vision he had - one of many about what’s going to happen in the future - what
God is like and who God is. He pictures God as the Lamb. He pictures a vast
crowd of people who have survived the time of the great distress. They have
washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. [Cf. Revelation 7:9, 14b-17]
This is very dream like stuff. It’s very dramatic. It’s
language with mixed colors and mixed images. There is the Lamb on the throne in
the center. And the Lamb will shepherd them and lead them to springs of life
giving water - and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
What are these dream like voices saying? What are they
telling us about God’s mind and God’s voice and God’s plans?
From time to time we’ve seen these images of the lamb and shepherds
on church walls and ceilings, in pictures, and on vestments.
They are mysterious. They are mythic: touching deep inside
stuff in our minds and hearts. They can also be very foreign and have no grab.
These images are very Jewish. The smallest child - as well
as the oldest member of every Jewish family knew about the slaying of the lamb
that night before they made their escape - their Exodus, their Exit out of Egypt .
Moses was their leader. Their shepherd. Follow him. They did it all very
quickly - so quickly that their bread was unleavened.
Down through the years the Israelites knew the image of blood being put on doorposts - so the angel
of destruction that killed the first born of the Egyptians knew what homes to
skip. They knew about going through the waters of the Red or Reed Sea
These images then become very Christian: Jesus the Jew celebrates the Passover Meal - Lamb, unleavened bread, wine, bitter herbs - in
This is mysterious head scratching stuff. It’s also code language from the early church - during times of persecution to give people hope.
Question: How do any of these things help us hear and
understand the voice of God in our life?
THE GOSPEL
The title of my homily is, “What Does God’s Voice Sound
Like?”
Of the three readings for today, the Gospel is the one which triggered the word "voice" as in the title of my homily about what God's voice sounds like. [Cf. John 10: 27-30.]
And here is where I can possibly give some food for
thought for this week.
On my wall - on a white piece of paper - above my desk and
computer where I write homilies, I have
Francis Chan’s "Seven Questions to Ask before You Preach." He is a Chinese
Christian preacher in California - who comes
from Hong Kong . Besides saying a prayer I read these 7
questions before and while putting together a homily.
1) Am I worried about what people
think of my message or what God thinks? (Teach with fear)
2) Do I genuinely love these
people? (Teach with love)
3) Am I accurately presenting this
passage? (Teach with accuracy)
4) Am I depending on the Holy
Spirit’s power or my own cleverness? (Teach with power)
5) Have I applied this message to
my own life? (Teach with integrity)
6) Will this message draw attention
to me or to God? (Teach with humility)
7) Do the people really need this
message? (Teach with urgency)
Those are tough questions - but I need the challenge. I also
know I fail some or all of them every week - over and over again.
That’s homework for me. Here is homework for you this week.
Here are 7 questions for you on the title and theme of this
homily entitled, “What does God’s Voice Sound Like?
What does God’s voice sound like to you? Listen. Listen.
Listen. Then ask:
Is it angry?
Is it silent?
Is it gentle?
Is it powerful?
Is it frequent?
Is it forgiving?
Is it loving?
Here are 7 more questions - more homework - for you to ask yourself this week.
What does your voice sound like - when you are talking to your spouse, or kids, or family, or co-workers, or friends?
Is it angry?
Is it silent?
Is it gentle?
Is it powerful?
Is it frequent?
Is it forgiving?
Is it loving?
This week, listen, listen, listen, carefully to yourself.
This week, listen, listen, listen, carefully to God.
What do you and God sound like?
Do you hear any interconnections?
If you want more homework, do the same questionairre with regards your father and/or mother as you were growing up.
Do you hear any interconnections?
If you want more homework, do the same questionairre with regards your father and/or mother as you were growing up.
CONCLUSION
There are lots of people telling us what God sounds like - who the good guys are - who the bad guys are - how to think - how to vote - how to be - why there is bad weather and bad experiences - and why what happened, happened - as for example in Boston last week.
Listen carefully - carefully - carefully - to who they are and to what they sound like.
As Christians, we have church - listen carefully to church as
well. We have our scriptures - listen carefully to them - as well. The more we read
and pray and are one with the community - the more we should be with
Christ. Realizing this - the last sentence in today’s gospel jumped off the
page for me.
The title of my homily is: “What Does God’s Voice Sound
Like?” The last sentence is: “The Father and I are one.”
Know Christ’s voice and you will know God the Father’s
voice. Amen.
OOOOOOO
Painting on top: John Martin, UK, Adam Listening to the Voice of God the Almighty, c. 1827
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