12-30-2016

Good Morning All,

            John 10:27; “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

          Have you ever committed the social faux pas of speaking to people you do not know?  I try to avoid it but still do it.  I’ll see someone in the store or at a restaurant and think “I know them”  I’ll go up and talk to them and, at first, they are polite and visit back until it becomes clear that neither of us have a clue who the other one is.  I was at a Campbell’s Supply Store one time and asked a young man in a red shirt where fencing tools were.  He told me in a perturbed voice that he didn’t work there.  Just the other day, while waiting in line at a store, I heard a man laugh and I thought “that’s Bill, I haven’t talked to him for a long time.” I tapped him on the shoulder and said, “Bill, how are you?”  I’ll never know; it wasn’t Bill. 

    I’ve learned to say “I’m sorry” or “you sound exactly like him” or “you look exactly like him” and then scurry away as quickly as I can.  I am sure there are a lot of people who have just stood there and shook their head and wondered what planet I came from.  It happens, to me anyway.

    Fortunately, Jesus knows you; he knows your voice.  He knows your voice when you cry in pain or you sigh in sorrow.  He knows your voice when it trembles in fear.  He knows your voice when it thunders in joy.  He knows your voice; he knows you.  He knows before you speak what is in your heart and he comes to you with hope and comfort.  He knows you; he knows the road you walk, the challenges you face.  He knows you and will never abandon you.

    We are often tempted and sometimes try to follow other voices.  The world tells us these new voices are wiser and more compatible to the world as it is today.  But when it matters, when you cry out, those new, untested, unworthy voices do not know your voice.  They offer no answers; they offer no hope.  They are deaf to your cries, uncaring to your pain.  Yet we know that God shows us his love for us through Jesus.  The Jesus who died for you and rose again with the promise to never abandon you knows you; he knows your voice.  He hears your cries and he has compassion on you.  His love covers your pain and is balm for your soul. 

     This is what we receive because of Christmas.  We have a living breathing God who has experienced our life, our pain, our struggles.  He is a God who knows us and laid down his life so that you and I can live.  He laid down his life so that you and I would know hope.  By calling on his name, by us knowing his voice, we can hear his words of comfort and his words of hope.  Jesus came to bring us back into his family.  Jesus knows you; know Jesus that you might have the hope of his resurrection and his salvation.

Father of all mercy, you nurture us with your love and grace.  Hear us as we cry to you and give us the ear of faith to hear your voice and to know your comfort.  Keep us in your loving arms and give us the courage to face the challenges of this life knowing that this temporal life is a short time and your eternal grace is forever.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret