Listening
“Now Yahweh came and stood there, calling as before, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ And Samuel said, ‘Yes, Yahweh, I am listening.’” — 1 Samuel 3:10.
Well, last week I made my annual trek to Bangor, Maine. I visited my alma mater, Bangor Theological Seminary, for their Convocation— three days of speakers and workshops and meetings.
Convocation got off to what I thought was a good start when the Interim President of the Seminary, the Reverend Doctor Robert Grove-Markwood, began with this anecdote. At the point when the faculty was starting to put together the agenda for Convocation, Bob, by chance, saw a bumper sticker. The saying on it became a by-word for all the presentations at the meeting. These were the words on that bumper sticker: “Change Is Inevitable. Growth Is Optional.” Change Is Inevitable. Growth Is Optional.
In short, change will happen. Therefore, how we deal with change will probably weigh more heavily than any kind of shift the actual changes might bring. (Slight pause.)
You probably noticed in the reading from First Samuel that the boy actually heard God three times before the old Prophet Eli realized what was happening and gave some very specific instructions about listening. Please notice: Samuel heard God and heard God quite clearly. But there was no recognition. What Samuel did not do was listen. (Slight pause.) So, what is listening? What does it mean to listen? (Slight pause.)
In the course of giving music lessons, our good friend, Tom Rasely, will tell student the note you don’t play can be more important than the note you do play. That statement leaves us with a similar question: ‘how do you listen for the note not played?’
[The pastor leaves the pulpit, goes and sits at the piano located in the worship space.] Let me try something to illustrate not simply hearing but both listening to sound and also listening to silence.
First, please do me a favor (and I’ve turned off the blowers so you can do this). Be as silent as you possibly can. Just listen to the fullness of the space we’re in. Did you know you can hear space, if you listen? Try it. (Long pause.) If you’re listening carefully, you realize a large space like this has a very different sound than a small space like a closet, right?
O.K. Now, I am going to come over here and try something else. (Recognizing the aforementioned Tom Rasely has said something the pastor responds:) Uh, oh! Uh, oh! Now we’re in trouble says Tom. He’s right.
O.K. I am going to play one note. I want you to listen carefully to it as it drifts into this space. And listen to see if you can hear the undertones and the overtones which give the note body. And again, listen for the movement of the note in this space, the space to which you were just listening, the space in which you could hear silence— one note. [The pastor plays one note while holding the pedal, so the sound lasts for a while.] Now, did you hear that note, all the way to the end— saw how it held and you saw how it was different as it progressed, didn’t you? (Slight pause.)
Well, chords are, generally, several notes played at the same time, right? I’m going to play several different chords. And first, I’ll play two notes which are right next to each other. [The pastor does so.] Some people call that a dissonant, right?
Now I’ll play two notes that are further apart. [The pastor does so, holding the pedal.] Two more. [The pastor does so, again holding the pedal.]
Can you hear difference in the space between the notes right next to each other [the pastor plays the dissonant notes] and the notes with space in between? [Again, the pastor plays a chord.] Can you listen to the silence between the notes? Can you hear that there’s no space between these two [the pastor once again plays the dissonant notes] and this with space in between?
[The pastor plays notes again.] No space. Space. No space. Space. [The pastor returns to the pulpit.]
So, you can listen to silence among noise, the silence between the notes. (Slight pause.) Is it possible the voice of God is there, both in the midst of the silence and in the midst of noise? (Slight pause.)
Let me go back to Bangor for a moment. Two of the presenters last week were Betty and Noel Paul Stookey. Needless to say, Noel Paul Stookey is Paul of Peter, Paul and Mary fame.
Betty is actually the Rev. Ms. Betty Stookey. Her Master of Divinity Degree was granted by Harvard, but she did a semester at Bangor Seminary, Bangor being about 35 miles from where Paul and Betty live, in Blue Hill, Maine.
Both Paul and Betty clearly identify themselves as Christian— I say that because Wikipedia doesn’t and they insist they are. Their presentation mixed Paul’s music making with personal stories and readings from an array of faith traditions.
If I had to characterize what they said, I’d sum it up this way: they addressed the reality of God. And, to be clear, that reality says ‘we need to listen for God and we need to listen to God.’— for God and to God— two steps.
And so, where did the presentation end? It ended with Paul singing these well known words: “How many roads must a man walk down, / before you call him a man? / How many seas must a white dove fly, / before she sleeps in the sand? / And how many times must a cannon ball fly, / before they’re forever banned? / The answer my friend is blowing in the wind, / the answer is blowing in the wind.” (Slight pause.)
After their presentation, Betty and Paul took some questions. Perhaps prompted by that song, an older pastor, likely retired, said: “I’ve been working for peace since 1963. And I’ve seen a lot of fine people die over the years. How do you stay positive?”
Betty said: “Do you have a choice?” (Slight pause.) The answer is blowing in the wind. (Slight pause.) And perhaps the answer also means listening to the wind. (Slight pause.)
In a couple of minutes, you will be invited to participate in a litany which remembers the life and the work of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. As we know, King died working for the cause of justice and peace. And so, yes, the statement that pastor made is probably true for us all: “I have seen a lot of fine people die over the years.” [1]
But it is also true that “change is inevitable while growth is optional.” And I believe a path to growth exists when we cultivate a habit of listening to God.
I believe we need to cultivate a habit of listening to God amid the cacophony of noise in the society around us. Indeed, I believe we especially need to hear God in the space, in the silent places too filled with God to allow for noise.
And if we do that, if we cultivate a habit of listening for the voice of God, God who is still speaking, then growth is no longer optional. If we listen for the voice of God, growth becomes for us a way of life.
And any answers to which we come will not simply or only be “blowing in the wind.” Any answers to which we come will happen because we realize God— God who is present at all times and in all places, in the noise and in the silence— God will stand at our side. God will stand in solidarity with us.
Indeed, God still speaks to us today. And God will speak to us tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. But we need to not just hear. We need to listen. Amen.
01/15/2012
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York
ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction. This is an précis of what was said: “A couple of weeks ago I noted the passing of Václav Havel. These are the words of Havel, who was at one time incarcerated by Czechoslovakia for his belief in freedom but later became its President: ‘Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.’ I believe unless we strive to listen for God and to listen for God in our lives, as did the Rev. Dr. King and Václav Havel, then we will be confined to being only optimistic. If we are hopeful, it probably means we’ve learned to listen to God and listen for God.”
BENEDICTION: We do not always know where the voice of God will lead us. But when we hear the call we need to follow. May the voice of the still speaking God be open and clear. May our sense of God’s purpose be keen and true. May we be aware of God’s promise to be with us in our journey. And may the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, and the presence of the Spirit of Christ which is real and available, keep our hearts and minds in the knowledge, love and companionship of the Holy Spirit, this day and forever more. Amen.
[1] The litany below was used during the Prayer of the People.
A Litany Honoring the Observance Of the
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday
LITURGIST:
“By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion.... For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion.’” — (Psalm 137:1, 3)
PASTOR:
“I have stood in a meeting with hundreds of youngsters and joined in while they sang Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Round. It is not just a song; it is a resolve.... These songs bind us together, give us courage together, help us march together.” (The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. — Why We Can’t Wait)
ALL:
For the power of songs and songs of power, we give you thanks, O God.
LITURGIST:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of God; for God makes the sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.” — (Matthew 5:43–44 [ILV])
PASTOR:
“Let us therefore not think of our movement as one that seeks to integrate into all the existing values of American society. Let us be those creative dissenters who will call our beloved country to a higher destiny, to a new plateau of compassion, to a more noble expression of humanness.” — (The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go from Here?)
ALL:
For your realm, which stands beyond and against all nations, and your justice, which judges all people, we give you thanks, O God.
LITURGIST:
“Cain said to his brother Abel, ‘Let us go out to the field.’ And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him. Then God said to Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’ He said, ‘I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?’ And God said, ‘What have you done? Listen; your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground!’” — (Genesis 4:8–10)
PASTOR:
“The person who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as the one who helps perpetrate it. The person who accepts evil without protesting against it, is really cooperating with it.” — (The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., adapted from the speech, Stride Toward Freedom.)
ALL:
For the continuing witness of the life and ministry of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to us, we give you thanks, O God.
(The following is adapted from Dr. King’s I Have a Dream Speech.)
PASTOR:
“Even though we must face difficulties times to today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed— for we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women are created equal.”
“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons and daughters of former slaves and sons and daughters of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at table.”
“I have a dream my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
“I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places shall be made plain, and the crooked places shall be made straight and the glory of the Lord will be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”
“This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning— ‘my country, 'tis of thee; sweet land of liberty; of the I sing;... from every mountainside, let freedom ring.’”
“When we allow freedom to ring from every town and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children— black... and white... Jew and Gentile, Catholic and Protestant— will be able to join hands and to sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual”:
ALL:
“Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!” Amen!
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