Time after Pentecost (Lectionary 27)
October 4, 2009
God’s Son Speaking
Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12
Can You Hear Me?
Can You HEAR Me?
And I remember distinctly that we went into the home of one elderly woman who was extremely hard of hearing. And so, the pastor sat next to her as close as he could. And he got his mouth right up to her ear. And then, he shouted loudly this amazing bit of opening liturgy: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit….CAN YOU HEAR ME?”
And I began to giggle. Uncontrollably giggle. I mean no disrespect to this dear woman. But in my head, this moment suddenly turned into a “snapshot” of us and God. In my pastor shouting at this woman, I saw a picture of us and God.
A Picture of Us & God
I could see God sitting down next to us every single day of our life. Snuggling up to us as close as he can. Putting his lips right next to our ear. And shouting out his love for us in the clear, loud words of the Christian Gospel. God’s love for us in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Every day … every day … God is sitting right next to us … talking … talking … talking … until God is blue in the face. “I love you. I love you. I love you.” That’s what God is saying.
And yet, God looks at the blank stares on our face…or sees in our eyes that our attention is else where…or God hears us mumble and grumble that God is nowhere to be found. And God must just want to scream at us, “CAN YOU HEAR ME?”
And so, it hit me as a kid in high school. Maybe in our liturgy on Sunday morning … maybe a number of times throughout the service, we should have the pastor shout out in the name of God, “CAN YOU HEAR ME?” Maybe this should be part of the standard liturgy, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. CAN YOU HEAR ME? Amen.” Maybe we should all propose that for our next Lutheran book of worship.
God Speaks in Many & Various Ways
If we cannot “hear” God,… if we don’t feel that God is close at hand, it certainly is NOT because God isn’t speaking. “In many and various ways God spoke to people of old by the prophets,” the book of Hebrews tells us.
Go back into your bible starting from the book of Genesis and you will see that God snuggled up and spoke to his people in many and various ways. God had some very intimate conversations with Adam and Abraham.
And God spoke through dreams and signs and visions and spoken messages. God spoke to Moses through a burning bush and cloud of fire and through a thunderstorm on Sinai. And God spoke to Elijah through a small still voice. And God spoke to all his people through prophet after prophet.
Jesus is God’s Loudest, Clearest Way of Speaking
“But now in these last days, God has spoken to us by a Son.” Which is to say that with Jesus we sense a change in God’s M.O. God’s modus operandi. God’s way of operating.
Jesus isn’t just another prophet or another angelic messenger boy. And he isn’t just another preacher or teacher. And he certainly isn’t just another healer. Jesus is The Message. Jesus is the One. He is the Son. He is God in human flesh to get so close to us that he crawls into our skin himself.
And his megaphone becomes the cross. Through Jesus on the cross God does his loudest, clearest form of speaking.
God takes the loudspeaker of the cross. And he aims it right at us. And God turns up the amp. And God says to each one of us, “This is my beloved Son. He is the one who is the closest to my heart. Listen to him. Listen to what he is telling you about me. I love you. I love you. I love you. I want you to be one of mine.”
The Christian faith is so simple: There is a God. And we’re not it. What we are not, Jesus is. What Jesus is, we become…when we take Jesus at his word and trust his word of promise.
Jesus is the Scapegoat
Last Monday was the Jewish festival of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It is the holiest day of the year for Jewish people.
Jesus is our scapegoat
And then they drove that goat out in the wilderness to let it die there along with all the sins that had been laid on it.
Well, the book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus was the scapegoat to end all scapegoats. Jesus was that one perfect sacrifice for sin that never has to be repeated. And isn’t that so fitting? Isn’t that so much in keeping with the loving character of God? That God should take pain and agony upon himself and suffer it away?
Jesus is our High Priest
And now this same Jesus has been raised to become our great High Priest who intercedes for us with God. He speaks to God for us. And he speaks back to us for God. And in the process he is not ashamed to call us his brothers and sisters.
And that’s much better isn’t it? That God should speak to us through his Son. The one who is closest to his heart. It’s much better than a dream or a vision, which might be true or might be not. It’s better than a sign of nature, which shows God’s power but does not tell us whether God is for us or against us.
It’s better than a command from Moses that tells us “what” to do, but does not give us the power to do it. Or an angel that stands above us, but is not us, one of us, the way that Jesus is. Or, the promises of a prophet, which are only hoped for but not yet fulfilled. Jesus is the deed done. The love of God accomplished. Sealed with God’s own Spirit.
We Can Hear You Loud & Clear
“In many and various ways God spoke to people of old by the prophets, but in these last days God has spoken to us by his Son.” The cross of Jesus Christ is God’s megaphone. Through Jesus crucified and raised God does his loudest, clearest form of speaking.
And what a joy it is when we open up our ears and look Jesus speaking from the cross and from the empty tomb and say back to God: “Yes God, we can hear you. Boy, can we hear you. Yes, we can hear you. Loud and clear.”
© 2009 Pastor Paul Jaster