The Voice

1 Kings 19:1-15a    Psalms 42,43    Galatians 3:23-29    Luke 8:26-39

One of the most watched videos on YouTube is surely the audition of Susan Boyle on the Britain’s Got Talent show. The image of the woman that walked onto the stage looked like a bad practical joke…a sack of potatoes would have worn that dress better than she did. The judges and the audience unashamedly showed their dislike and their disbelief and everyone thought this was going to be a short but painful event. But when she opened her mouth to sing, the initial shock changed into a roar of applause as Susan Boyle gave voice to her dream…a dream that turned her into an instant global celebrity. Her physical image had fooled them all.

Some in the industry thought that this could be a problem…that the first impression gained from what was seen prior to what was heard could negatively influence the judges and that their reaction might negatively influence the performer…so they started a show that had the judges facing the audience with their backs to the performer. This way they would judge the voice, not the appearance. If they liked what they heard they would turn around to face the contestant for the first time. It was what they heard, not what they saw that had the greatest impact on them and they judged that accordingly.

There is a spiritual lesson in this for us. When we focus on what we see in life rather than on what we hear when we listen to the voice of God, we too tend to make an error in judgement.

The story of Elijah is a great example of how adverse circumstances can lead us astray. If we went back one chapter in 1 Kings, we would have seen Elijah at his best…hearkening to the voice of God and obeying without question and without fear of what the wicked king and queen could do to him. On Mount Carmel, the prophet challenged the false prophets of Baal to a spiritual duel, as it were…each party, Elijah and the false prophets, was to offer a bull of their choice as a sacrifice, but were not to set fire to it. The God who answered by sending fire to burn up the offering would be considered the true God.

Most of us know the story from Sunday School lessons…the false prophets of Baal did their thing, but to no avail. Elijah went out of his way to make sure no one could ever say he cheated…precious water (remember there had been a three year drought at the time) was poured over his sacrifice and the wood three times, once for every year of drought, until everything was drenched. Then as Elijah prayed, fire fell from heaven and consumed everything…not just the sacrifice, but also the water and the stones and the dust.

Elijah at his best…obedient…fearless…faithful…

But when the queen threatened to have him killed in the very next chapter, what happened to Elijah? Verse three says, “Elijah was afraid and fled for his life.” He had just stood alone against 850 false prophets as well as the king and no doubt his officials and guards and soldiers. But now? In verse 4 he whimpers, “I have had enough Lord. Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.” So God sent him on a journey…on a retreat, as it were…to regain perspective. He had to travel all the way to Mount Sinai…the same mountain on which Moses had received the 10 commandments.

But there were quite a few differences between the time when Moses was there and this time with Elijah. When God spoke to Moses, He spoke like thunder so that the whole nation heard the voice of God. In both cases God sent wind, an earthquake, and fire…but unlike Moses, God’s voice came to Elijah in a whisper…a still, small voice…

Elijah had been witness to God’s power…he really didn’t need to see more miraculous manifestations…he had seen God send fire from heaven and consume the entire sacrifice and altar and all. No, what Elijah needed now more than anything was that inner conviction that God was present…that He cared…that He was personally involved in the prophet’s life. A still, small voice was what Elijah needed…a gentle reminder that he was not alone.

The descendants of Korah obviously also needed a gentle reminder of God’s character. In Psalms 42 and 43, the Psalmists asked a reflective question: “Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad?” The reason they were asking themselves these questions was because the answer was obvious. Why be cast down when your hope is in God? Circumstances were clouding their judgment. Their enemies taunted them, lied about them, and oppressed them. If they focused on these things, they would be discouraged and disheartened…but as they recounted the great things God had done in their past…as they reflected on the fact that He had never let them down before…that He had always been there for them when they had needed Him…they confidently answered their own question with a great statement of faith: “Why am I so discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my trust in God! I will praise Him again – my Saviour and my God!”

The still, small, inner voice of God gave them the ability to look past their dire and difficult present to see the Person of the one who was there through thick and thin, working out His great and wondrous purposes for His glory.

For Paul it was the voice of freedom through faith in the finished work of Christ that helped him face the Judaisers in Galatia…those who felt they needed to earn their salvation through obedience to the Law…and not only God’s Law, but the traditions of the elders that were put in place during and after the exile to ensure that no one could ever again provoke God to anger through disobedience…and in so doing they missed the whole point of the Law. The Law was only a custodian…a guardian that served to protect them until they had been put right with God. Since Jesus came and made us right with God by taking away the barrier of sin, the Law was no longer needed as a guardian. Trying to obey out of our own strength in an attempt to earn God’s favour could only lead to frustration and discouragement. It is only in Christ that we are able to be obedient in His strength…not ours.

We do not even approach His Table trusting in our own righteousness, but in His great and manifold mercies…that’s what we say every time prior to coming to meet with Jesus in and through the Eucharist, right? It is in the stillness of our hearts that we hear His voice of favour as we receive the symbols of His love and acceptance in Christ.

But there is another voice that we read about this morning…the voice of command…a stern and powerful voice…the voice Jesus uses when addressing our enemies. “Come out of him!” No argument, no compromise…a concession, perhaps, by allowing the demons to flee into the pigs, but still a voice of absolute authority. It is the same voice Jesus used to still the storm. “Peace! Be still!” It is the same voice Jesus used to stop Saul of Tarsus, the persecutor of the Church, in his tracks. “Saul! He thundered, “Why are you persecuting Me?”

When Jesus told His disciples that all authority in heaven and on earth had been given to Him, He was not engaging in idle chatter. He meant what He said. This is very comforting to us, as we know that when He speaks, He always has the final word. Just as He spoke creation into existence, so He speaks new life into those who confess faith in Him…and He promises that nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is ours in Christ Jesus…that no one will be able to snatch us out of His hand…that we are His and He is ours.

The voice that put the planets into orbit still speaks today. We hear Him clearly in His Word…and we hear Him in His Sacraments. His promises are true…He is not a human being that He should try to impress us with empty words or lies…no, He is the truth and when He says it He will do it. Humanity may have many plans in their hearts, but it is the Lord’s will alone that will be established.  

Our response to this depends on our focus…what are we looking at? Our circumstances? Our trials? Or struggles? Our sickness? The state of our fallen, broken world? If that is our focus we will be as negative as the judges and the audience at Britain’s Got Talent when Susan Boyle walked out on the stage…and we too will be proved wrong…when our Lord speaks…when His voice is heard.

The Eucharist reminds us that there is a cost to living holy lives in a sinful world. Wicked rulers may oppose us, our enemies may oppress us, demons may challenge us, and heretics may plague the Church…but the same still small voice, the unchanging Word, the authoritative command, is still heard…and we hear it here…at His banquet table. Can you hear it? It is finished! In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.

So as you come to our Lord’s Table once again this morning, lift up your hearts and be encouraged. God is not silent. The same voice that calmed the fearful heart of Elijah speaks to you today. Open your ears…and listen…

© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2019-06-18