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The Message for May 12, 2019Can You Hear Me Now?John 10:22-30Rob Miller, PastorA friend of mine posted this on Facebook. It’s called, “The New Serenity Prayer” by Father James Martin… (picture) It applies to all of us… 130873526162000Oh how true and what a great reminder for all of us. We are not perfect. No one is -- so let’s stop expecting the people in our lives to be perfect. We all need God’s grace and love and mercy and forgiveness. Amen? We could end the message right there. But there’s more. With God there’s always more.Since we are not God – since we are not perfect – we should turn to God for help when we need it, which is all the time. Before Christianity if you needed God’s help, you went to a priest who was seen as God’s representative on earth and the priest spoke to God on your behalf. Some churches still operate that way today. We don’t. Jesus changed all of that. When Jesus died on the cross he destroyed the curtain of the temple and made it possible for each one of us to approach the throne of God on our own. Oddly enough – God wants to be in a personal relationship with each one of us. God desires to be active in our lives every day – not for just an hour or so here on Sunday morning. Listen to how the author of Hebrews puts it…For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested?as we are, yet without sin.? Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:15-16)Our sermon title for this morning is – “Can You Hear Me Now?” So often that’s the question we ask of God in prayer. But maybe we have it backwards. Maybe the question we ought to be asking is this, “Can We Hear God Now?”In our modern world it's hard to communicate. You’d think with all our technology with texting and twitter, it would be easy for us, but it isn’t. Communication is more complicated now than ever. We humans are not very good at communicating. We share information but we stink at communicating. Deborah Tannen investigated why communication is so difficult for us. In her book, Why I Can’t Hear You, she helps people learn how to actively listen to one another. She discovered that men and women speak different languages – surprise, surprise… There are specific terms that we just don't recognize. Deborah points out that… “Fine,” means “I am right, but I’m sick of hearing you speak.”“Nothing,” always means “something.” Then there is, “Go Ahead.” This is a dare. It's not permission.What people say to us and what we hear are two different things, especially between men and women. Deborah points out that in addition to the gender gap there's the age difference, education, economics, political views, family systems, and the list goes on and on.If we have a hard time listening to each other, it’s no surprise that we have a hard time listening to God. I wish I could say it is easy, but it isn’t. Oddly enough, Jesus seems to think it is possible for us to listen and to follow the voice of God.Read Text John 10:22-30Jesus uses the sheep and shepherd image to talk about our relationship with him. It’s a great image if we are humble and if we can accept that fact that we are not perfect. Sheep certainly aren’t perfect.My sheep listen to my voice; I know them,?and they follow me.? Says Jesus… Through baptism Jesus claims us as part of his fold. Through baptism we have been given a new identity and a new purpose to be followers of Jesus, his disciples, his sheep. We are his sheep and he is our shepherd. Psalm 23 is usually shared at a funeral. I don’t know when or where or why that became a thing. It wasn’t written for a funeral. It was written to talk about a faith-filled life by King David before he became a king. Psalm 23 is about one’s relationship with the Lord who provides for our every need daily. Join me in reading Psalm 23 together out loud…The?Lord?is my shepherd,?I lack nothing.?????He makes me lie down in green pastures,he leads me beside quiet waters,?????he refreshes my soul.He guides me?along the right paths????for his name’s sake.Even though I walk????through the darkest valley,I will fear no evil,????for you are with me;your rod and your staff,????they comfort me.You prepare a table?before me????in the presence of my enemies.You anoint my head with oil;????my cup?overflows.Surely your goodness and love?will follow me????all the days of my life,and I will dwell in the house of the?Lord forever. Like a loving shepherd Jesus protects us from harm – from sin, death, and the devil. Jesus gave up his life for us. He died to protect us, his sheep, from being led astray by other religions – from religions that inflict spiritual wounds on the weak and vulnerable – from religions that hold us hostage. Jesus has set us free to live not into some kind of dead-end religion based on guilt and law – Jesus has set us free to live into a life-giving spirituality based on grace and love. That’s what Psalm 23 is all about.It’s humbling to be called a sheep. It’s not flattering, that’s for sure. Sheep are dumb, really dumb. Most of us prefer to think we are smart and too free-spirited to be associated with a herd animal. Truth be told, most of us don’t like being compared to a timid animal that follows the crowd. We’re Americans. We’re free-spirited and independent. Don’t be fooled. The truth is we are interdependent. We need Jesus and we need each other.Jesus calls us sheep, but the truth is, we act more like mules most of the time. A mule can appear to be hard of hearing, that’s because a mule has selective listening. Sheep, on the other hand, are good at one thing, listening. "My sheep hear my voice." Jesus says. Sheep can teach us a few things about our spirituality. It’s all about listening to Jesus.Story: There was a man in Australia, charged with stealing a sheep from another man’s field. The case went to court, and the judge decided to interview the sheep.He ordered the plaintiff to step outside and call to the sheep. The man walked outside and called. The sheep raised its head, looked around, but didn’t move.Then the judge told the shepherd to step out of the room and to call the sheep. The defendant called, and the sheep ran through the open door. The judge said, “The sheep knows him, case dismissed.”Jesus said, My sheep listen to my voice; I know them,?and they follow me.When it comes to listening to Jesus’ voice and following him, he tells us to do two things, to love God and to love one another. The way we treat God and the way we treat the people in our lives reveals our sheepness – our faithfulness to Jesus.What we say matters and how we say it matters even more. Might I suggest we choose our words carefully this week, doing our part to reflect the life we share in, with, and thru Christ Jesus our Shepherd. As we read in Colossians 4:6 -- this week may each one of us commit to doing this… Let?your?conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (Colossians 4:6)So be it for Jesus’ sake because we are his sheep and he is our shepherd. Amen. ................
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