Hearing God

2021-01-17 – Year B – Epiphany 2 – The Rev. Canon Christopher Klukas
1 Samuel 3:1-20; Psalm 63:1-9; John 1:43-51

• We take clean water for granted – we drink it straight from the tap, but we also shower with it, clean with it, and wash our hands with it.
  • Honeymoon in the Domincan Republic – brushing teeth with bottled water
• “Nearly 1,000 children under age 5 die every day from diarrhea caused by contaminated water, poor sanitation, and unsafe hygiene.”

Hearing God is a Gift Available to All Believers

• Hearing God is something we can take for granted as well.
• 1 Samuel 3:1 – “…The word of the Lord was rare in those days…”
• The gift of the Holy Spirit – John 14:25-26 – “He will teach you all things…”
• John 10:3-5 – The voice of the Shepherd
  • John 10:27
• Some of us know how to hear but forget to listen or get too busy to listen.
• Other’s never learned how to hear in the first place.
• What does the voice of God sound like?
  • Dallas Willard story about grandmother-in-law
  • Audible voice, impression, picture, dream, scripture, voice of a fellow believer

Hearing God Takes Practice

• Reflections on Psalm 63
  • v. 2 “my soul thirsts for you…” we all have an innate spiritual thirst
  • Corporate – v. 3 “looked upon you in your holy place” – Temple, Church
  • Private – expect that God is speaking to you all the time – radio broadcast
    • v. 1 “early will I seek you”
    • v. 7 “remember you on my bed”
    • Practicing the presence of God – Brother Lawrence
• How can we be sure that what we think we are hearing is actually from God?
  • Test what you hear with other believers
    • Eli helped Samuel to learn God’s voice – 1 Samuel 3:8-9
    • Invitation to participate in the Hearing God Group
  • Test what you hear with the Scriptures
    • If you don’t fell like you know the Scriptures well enough, get another believer to help you.
  • Take action on what you hear and see what happens
    • Amelia Bedilia – Enthusiastic helper doing the wrong things
      • Make a date cake “Amelia finds a calendar, clips out all of the dates and dumps them into her cake batter.”
      • Dust the furniture “She locates the dusting powder in the bathroom and carefully spreads it over all of the furniture in the house.”
      • Draw the drapes, “She gets out her sketchbook and pencil.”
    • It is OK to make mistakes along the way, it is part of learning the voice of the Shepherd.

To be an Effective Light You Must Listen

• Isaiah 49:6 – “I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
• Philip was able to be a light to Nathanael because he listened to Jesus
• Samuel was able to be a light to Eli and to the whole nation because he listened to the voice of God – 1 Samuel 3:19-20
• God has a mission for you, but you don’t want to guess at what it is. We are most effective and most fulfilled when we are doing the work that God has called us to in the strength of the Holy Spirit.
  • So listen for the voice of the shepherd
  • Start an ongoing conversation that never stops

“There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God.” Brother Lawrence