3-2-2020

Good Morning All, 

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

     I read a story the other day about a young girl of about 4 years old.  She had been deaf since birth, but they were going to try cochlear implants.  After they had completed the operation, the first voice she heard was her mother waking her up.  Given that almost everybody has a cell phone with a camera on it; they caught the expression on the little girl’s face.  It showed surprise and excitement; it showed happiness and delight.  She had heard her mother’s voice for the first time, and she was ecstatic.

    Watching people respond when they hear a voice that they know is just as interesting.  I enjoy watching the congregation, especially the little ones as they begin to recognize my voice and; for a moment or two anyway, they look up and look at me.  They hear a voice and they are beginning to connect to “church”; hopefully, they will eventually connect it to the Gospel and to Jesus.

     When Jesus speaks the words of our verse to the Jews who did not believe in him, he was explaining to them that the reason they didn’t understand his teachings was because they had no faith.  Without faith, they could not hear Jesus.  Without faith, we can’t either.  That is what Jesus is telling us as well; without faith we won’t hear his wonderful words of grace and forgiveness.  Those words will only be so much mumbling.

    It is by faith that we hear and accept those wonderful words.  It is through faith that we receive the blessings of God’s grace in Holy Communion.  It is faith that lets us hear.  Without faith we are deaf to God’s beautiful sounds of love and mercy.  It is faith that allows us to follow Him. 

    Yet even this faith is a gift from God.  He gives us the desire to cling to his promise with hope.  That is what faith is; it is the desire to cling to God’s promise.  It is the desire to trust the Words of Jesus, “He that believes shall live.”  Isn’t that what we all desire?  Isn’t that what we all want, to know that we are forgiven of our sins?  God tells us over and over, “Your sins are forgiven.”  All we need to do is trust this saying, trust in this promise.  We don’t have to do anything especially hard, like climb a mountain, we only have to believe, to trust those words to be true.  When we do, we will be like that little girl who heard her mother’s voice for the first time.  We can be excited that we are saved; we can take comfort in the certainty of our salvation.  We can find our contentment as we follow Jesus down the path that he leads us.

Dearest Father, we hear the voice of Jesus and we rejoice in the love that we have.  Comfort us with your words of hope and forgiveness.  Keep us mindful of our salvation in you.  Reach out to those who do not hear your words and do not know you.  Help them to leave their pain behind and to trust in your gracious love.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret