Can You Hear It?
Sermon
Sermons On The First Readings
Series I, Cycle C
There is a monastery in Europe which was built in a most difficult location. To get to it, you must climb into a basket that is connected to a long rope and be pulled up over 500 feet. It is a long way down, and the only thing that keeps you from falling is a rope. So if you are afraid of heights, it is not a very pleasant ride. Years ago, two women were making their first visit to the monastery, and while riding in the basket, they noticed the rope was frayed and torn in places. One of the women nervously asked the monk who was riding in the basket with them, "How often do you replace the rope here?" The monk replied, "After the old one breaks."1
Is this not a metaphor for our lives? The weight of sin and the gravity of pain and tragedy cause the fabric of our lives to fray and, at times, come apart. However, we believe we can hold ourselves together without any help. And even if we do fall apart, we think it is just a matter of picking up the pieces and starting all over again. But when the weight of life becomes too heavy and we snap into oblivion, putting the pieces back together becomes more difficult than we may have anticipated. Suddenly, we see the mess we have made of our lives. Yet all of it could have been prevented if we had recognized our weakness and asked for reinforcement.
Perhaps I just described you. Maybe you are frayed and on the verge of coming apart. Maybe you have been battered, beaten, and bruised and are hanging on to life by a thin, frayed rope. Maybe you have taken a frightful fall and are looking at the scattered pieces of your life asking, "How will I ever put myself back together?" Perhaps you feel ill-equipped to face your challenges and are just plain terrified.
If any of this touches you where you live, Isaiah is chomping at the bit to speak to you. In fact, Isaiah is leaping off the page to tell all of us how he has handled life and won. Isaiah eagerly desires to tell anyone who will listen how he has been able to stand victoriously amidst the booming blows of life. Listen to Isaiah's insights:
The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens -- wakens my ear to listen to those who are taught. The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward. I gave my back to those who struck me and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide myself from insults and spitting. The Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame; he who vindicated me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me. It is the Lord God who helps me; who will declare me guilty?
-- Isaiah 50:4-9a
The first thing I was struck by when reading this text was Isaiah's wisdom: his wisdom in realizing he needed more wisdom; his wisdom in knowing he needed insight; his wisdom in knowing he needed God; his wisdom in knowing that without God his life was meaningless. Now, I am sure there were times when Isaiah was tempted to forget such wisdom. After all, he knew he had the tongue of a teacher and was smart and sharp enough to sustain the weary with a wise word. He knew he had the power to impact others. He was a gifted man -- a great and mighty prophet who could inspire others to hear the word of God. But Isaiah was also wise enough to rely completely on the One who was the source of his gifts and graces. He was wise enough to listen to the One who gifted him with wisdom. For Isaiah says that when God opened his ears he was no longer the teacher; he became the student. And he did not rebel against it. He welcomed it. He allowed God to open his ears and fill his mind and heart with things that he could not provide for himself. For Isaiah it did not matter how eloquent, smart, capable, sophisticated, mature, or wise he was, there was always a time to hush, be humble, and yield to the guidance of God.
Oh, how our world needs the wisdom of Isaiah. Oh, how we need the wisdom of Isaiah. Oh, how everyone needs to embrace the source of all wisdom. But the world thinks otherwise, and, sometimes, so do we. We have become so sophisticated, so modern, so advanced, so technologically oriented that we wonder if God's wisdom has kept up. We live in an incredible age. We have witnessed unthinkable discoveries in science, medicine, psychology, and biology. We are now equipped to do the unimaginable. We can turn on a computer and talk face to face with someone who is at the other end of the world. We can walk into a doctor's office looking as one person and come out looking as a different person. We have more information on more things than we could ever master. We have medicine that enables us to live longer. We are even able to play God by cloning life forms! But the question must be asked: Are we better as human beings? Are we happier? Are we more satisfied? Are we more loving? Are we more forgiving? Are we more patient? Are we more peaceful? Are we more whole? Have we become the world which God intended? Are we reaching our destiny as people of God? The answer is an emphatic "NO!" Despite better education, we still hate. Despite availability of information, we are still impatient. Despite our sophistication, we still sin. Despite cell phones and beepers, we still find it difficult to communicate with one another.
However, we go on believing that if we just have the right possessions, the right data, the right advancements, we will be happy. Will we ever learn that this thinking is just plain false? Remember what the experts said about space exploration? It was supposed to be the last great frontier. Later, we were told that the ocean was supposed to be the last great frontier. Yet now, more than ever, many people have realized that the last great frontier is not the outer space or under space but the inner-space. The last great frontier is our souls.
We discovered the last great frontier when 9/11 occurred. When the towers tumbled before our eyes and terror covered us like the night, what did our nation reach for? Not bank accounts! Not portfolios! Not fancy cars! They reached for God and each other. Suddenly, it was politically correct to cry out to God and acknowledge that we are unable to fix ourselves. Suddenly, it was politically correct to confess that we needed God. Suddenly, our smugness of believing that we had all the answers left us. Finally, only one word was adequate: "Help!" Oh, how September 11 taught us the wisdom of Isaiah -- his wisdom in needing God.
Some time ago, I watched an executive of a major car company being interviewed on television. The interview focused on the advanced technology of modern automobiles. There was extensive conversation on computer chips, gadgets, and all the bells and whistles that accompany cars of today. At the conclusion of the interview, the car executive was asked, "Can you fix these cars?" He responded, "No. There was a time I could take a wrench and fix anything under the hood. Now, I don't even try. These cars are made in such a way that even I cannot fix them."
We like to believe we can tinker with ourselves and fix what's wrong. We like to believe that all we need is to find the right education, the right pill, the right position, the right relationship, and we will be satisfied. Yet the truth is that it does not matter how many degrees you have, how much money you possess, how much power you control, how much influence you express, how many cars you own, how many stock options you hold. If you don't have God, you possess nothing. We are created in God's image. Therefore, it is ludicrous to believe we can know meaning without a relationship with the "One who has made us for himself."
Remember the story of the agnostic who fell off a cliff? Halfway down, he caught hold of a bush. As he hung high above the ground, he shouted, "Is anybody up there?" Again, he shouted desperately, "Is anybody up there?" A voice answered, "Yes, this is the Lord." The man yelled frantically, "Help me!" There was a moment of silence. Then the Lord answered: "Let go of the bush and I will save you." There was another long silence as the man looked down at the ground far below. Finally, he yelled, "Is there anybody else up there?"2
How funny we must look to God, hanging on to what we believe will save us, searching for help outside of God. But there is no one else. There is only God -- who knows us better than we know ourselves -- who has made us for himself -- who has designed us to communicate with him -- who has called us to be in relationship with him. Anything else leaves us empty. As Billy Graham has said, "There is a God-shaped void in all of us that only God can fill."
Isaiah understood the God-shaped void completely. This is why, in verse 4, Isaiah says that he went to God each morning -- not once a week, not once a month, not twice a year, but every morning. Every morning he knelt before the throne of God, knowing he could not face the day without God's leadership. He cocked his ear toward God and waited for guidance to face the day. No matter how important or mature he became, he knew that he needed God's grace like flowers need rain. He knew that he needed God's wisdom like he needed breath to live. He knew that he needed God as much as he needed the blood coursing through his veins. He knew that he needed God as much as a baby needs the security of a parent's arms. Oh, how we need the same kind of wisdom -- the wisdom to recognize our need for God.
So why don't we recognize this crucial need more? Why don't we pay more attention to the vacuum within which yearns for the Spirit of God? The truth is that we drown it out. For some of us, this drowning out is innocent enough. We overbook our days and schedules with activities in order to satisfy a culture which rewards a breakneck pace. But we pay so great a price. For it is as Fosdick has written:
We hammer so busily that the architect cannot discuss the plans with us. We are so preoccupied with the activities of sailing, that we do not take our bearings from the sky. When the Spirit stands at the door and knocks, the bustle of the household drowns out the sound of his knocking.3
How painfully true.
In addition to those whose chaotic schedules drown out God, there are some who intentionally drown out their need for God. They stay busy, knowing that if they are quiet too long, they may discover the existential pain within -- the pain of being disconnected to God. They may discover a large gap between what they are and what God has created them to become. They may discover the discontent within their hearts. Their silence will be so deafening it may just be too much to bear. So you will witness people plugging their ears with the numbing sounds of television, cell phones, CDs, and mindless chatter in order to drown out their wounded cries for God. But we must come to terms with the fact that our need for God does not die nor does God die when we cease to believe in him or turn away from him. But we begin to die the very moment our lives cease to be illumined by the steady radiance of God.4
This is why we need Isaiah's experience. The text expresses it well for us, but our English language does not do it justice. When Isaiah says, "God wakens my ear," it literally means in the Hebrew, "God dug out my ear."5 Imagine what would happen if we allowed God to dig out our ears! Bishop Richard Trench eloquently tells us what might happen, when he prays:
Lord, what a change within us one short hour
Spent in thy presence will avail to make!
What heavy burdens from our bosoms take!
What parched grounds refresh, as with a shower!
We kneel and all around us seems to lower;
We rise, and all the distant and the near,
Stands forth in sunny outline, brave and clear;
We kneel, how weak! We rise, how full of power.6
A tremendous transformation occurs when we spend time with God, when we are in tune with God, and when we are aligned with God. We find resources beyond ourselves. God receives us with love, wisdom, and courage. God breathes new life into our nostrils and we begin to breathe normally again. We begin to see, taste, feel, hear, and smell the world the way God desires for us to experience it. We begin to stand up to life because we intimately know the one who is standing behind us. We have a peace that passes all understanding because we begin to recognize God's presence in the midst of our daily lives. We no longer see ourselves as victims but as victors. And we finally arrive at the place where we can say with Isaiah: "Who will contend with me? ... Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me. It is the Lord God who helps me" (vv. 8-9).
There is an old story about a Christian in ancient times who was standing charges before an angry Roman Emperor:
"I will banish you," raged the emperor. "You cannot," the Christian replied, "for the whole world is my Father's house." "Then I will slay you," said the emperor. "Neither can you do that, for my life is hid with Christ in God. I fear not them who have power only to destroy the body but have no power to destroy the soul." "Then," retorted the emperor, "I will take away your treasure." The Christian responded, "You cannot do that, for my treasure is in heaven where moth and rust do not corrupt." Frustrated, the emperor finally said, "I will drive you away from man, and you shall have not a friend left to be near you." The Christian quietly affirmed, "No, you cannot do that either; for I have a Friend from whom you cannot separate me. There is nothing you can do to harm me for neither life nor death nor things present nor things to come can separate me from his love."7
This is the attitude we embrace. This is who we become when we allow God to saturate us with wisdom and love. So why don't we go to God more often? There is no good reason why we should neglect God. For God is closer to us than our very breath, always ready and willing to give us everything we need for life.
Wallace Chappell used to tell a story of a farmer who had two sons. His wife, who was a Christian, had died, and he was making every effort to guide his young sons to the Lord. Each morning, just before they started the morning chores, they noticed that their father disappeared. They always wondered where he went but never knew the secret of his disappearance. Months after his death, his two sons were working in the barn. Suddenly, one of them discovered a small room in the rear of the barn. They thought it was just filled with hay. But when they opened the door, they discovered a bale in the corner with an open Bible on it. In front of the bale were two worn out places on the ground, indentations which had taken a long time to depress. The two sons, caught by surprise, just stood there in reverent silence. Then one said, "So that's where he was and what he was doing." The other answered, "I am just wondering how many of those prayers were said for us." Then the first son knelt in one knee print and the second in the other. And a few minutes later when they got up, they rose with their father's Lord within their hearts.8
Where is your special place? Do you have one? If and when you do, you will be able to experience what Isaiah experienced. In fact, if you are quiet in your place, you will hear the steady beat of your heart beckoning you to kneel before God. You will hear God's heart beating faster as you come into his presence. You will hear the deep, mystic sigh coming from the depths of your soul as you commune with God. You will hear God's deafening cry of joy echoing through time saying, "My child has finally come!"
Do you hear God's call for you? Or maybe I should ask, "Will you hear it?"
____________
1. Bill Floyd, Stories I Love to Tell (Decatur, Georgia: Looking Glass Books), pp. 100-101.
2. Just for Laughs (The Christian Communications Laboratory, 1982), p. 130.
3. Quoted in Abingdon Preacher's Annual 1994, ed. by John K. Bergland (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1993), p. 371.
4. Based on a quote by Dag Hammarskjold quoted in John A. Stroman, God's Downward Mobility (Lima, Ohio: CSS Publishing Company, 1996), p. 13.
5. I am grateful to Dr. Fred B. Craddock for this insight.
6. Quoted in Benjamin P. Browne, Illustrations for Preaching (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1977), pp. 78-79. Used by permission.
7. Browne, pp. 22-23. Used by permission.
8. Wallace D. Chappell, All for Jesus (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1975), pp. 66-67.
Is this not a metaphor for our lives? The weight of sin and the gravity of pain and tragedy cause the fabric of our lives to fray and, at times, come apart. However, we believe we can hold ourselves together without any help. And even if we do fall apart, we think it is just a matter of picking up the pieces and starting all over again. But when the weight of life becomes too heavy and we snap into oblivion, putting the pieces back together becomes more difficult than we may have anticipated. Suddenly, we see the mess we have made of our lives. Yet all of it could have been prevented if we had recognized our weakness and asked for reinforcement.
Perhaps I just described you. Maybe you are frayed and on the verge of coming apart. Maybe you have been battered, beaten, and bruised and are hanging on to life by a thin, frayed rope. Maybe you have taken a frightful fall and are looking at the scattered pieces of your life asking, "How will I ever put myself back together?" Perhaps you feel ill-equipped to face your challenges and are just plain terrified.
If any of this touches you where you live, Isaiah is chomping at the bit to speak to you. In fact, Isaiah is leaping off the page to tell all of us how he has handled life and won. Isaiah eagerly desires to tell anyone who will listen how he has been able to stand victoriously amidst the booming blows of life. Listen to Isaiah's insights:
The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens -- wakens my ear to listen to those who are taught. The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward. I gave my back to those who struck me and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide myself from insults and spitting. The Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame; he who vindicated me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me. It is the Lord God who helps me; who will declare me guilty?
-- Isaiah 50:4-9a
The first thing I was struck by when reading this text was Isaiah's wisdom: his wisdom in realizing he needed more wisdom; his wisdom in knowing he needed insight; his wisdom in knowing he needed God; his wisdom in knowing that without God his life was meaningless. Now, I am sure there were times when Isaiah was tempted to forget such wisdom. After all, he knew he had the tongue of a teacher and was smart and sharp enough to sustain the weary with a wise word. He knew he had the power to impact others. He was a gifted man -- a great and mighty prophet who could inspire others to hear the word of God. But Isaiah was also wise enough to rely completely on the One who was the source of his gifts and graces. He was wise enough to listen to the One who gifted him with wisdom. For Isaiah says that when God opened his ears he was no longer the teacher; he became the student. And he did not rebel against it. He welcomed it. He allowed God to open his ears and fill his mind and heart with things that he could not provide for himself. For Isaiah it did not matter how eloquent, smart, capable, sophisticated, mature, or wise he was, there was always a time to hush, be humble, and yield to the guidance of God.
Oh, how our world needs the wisdom of Isaiah. Oh, how we need the wisdom of Isaiah. Oh, how everyone needs to embrace the source of all wisdom. But the world thinks otherwise, and, sometimes, so do we. We have become so sophisticated, so modern, so advanced, so technologically oriented that we wonder if God's wisdom has kept up. We live in an incredible age. We have witnessed unthinkable discoveries in science, medicine, psychology, and biology. We are now equipped to do the unimaginable. We can turn on a computer and talk face to face with someone who is at the other end of the world. We can walk into a doctor's office looking as one person and come out looking as a different person. We have more information on more things than we could ever master. We have medicine that enables us to live longer. We are even able to play God by cloning life forms! But the question must be asked: Are we better as human beings? Are we happier? Are we more satisfied? Are we more loving? Are we more forgiving? Are we more patient? Are we more peaceful? Are we more whole? Have we become the world which God intended? Are we reaching our destiny as people of God? The answer is an emphatic "NO!" Despite better education, we still hate. Despite availability of information, we are still impatient. Despite our sophistication, we still sin. Despite cell phones and beepers, we still find it difficult to communicate with one another.
However, we go on believing that if we just have the right possessions, the right data, the right advancements, we will be happy. Will we ever learn that this thinking is just plain false? Remember what the experts said about space exploration? It was supposed to be the last great frontier. Later, we were told that the ocean was supposed to be the last great frontier. Yet now, more than ever, many people have realized that the last great frontier is not the outer space or under space but the inner-space. The last great frontier is our souls.
We discovered the last great frontier when 9/11 occurred. When the towers tumbled before our eyes and terror covered us like the night, what did our nation reach for? Not bank accounts! Not portfolios! Not fancy cars! They reached for God and each other. Suddenly, it was politically correct to cry out to God and acknowledge that we are unable to fix ourselves. Suddenly, it was politically correct to confess that we needed God. Suddenly, our smugness of believing that we had all the answers left us. Finally, only one word was adequate: "Help!" Oh, how September 11 taught us the wisdom of Isaiah -- his wisdom in needing God.
Some time ago, I watched an executive of a major car company being interviewed on television. The interview focused on the advanced technology of modern automobiles. There was extensive conversation on computer chips, gadgets, and all the bells and whistles that accompany cars of today. At the conclusion of the interview, the car executive was asked, "Can you fix these cars?" He responded, "No. There was a time I could take a wrench and fix anything under the hood. Now, I don't even try. These cars are made in such a way that even I cannot fix them."
We like to believe we can tinker with ourselves and fix what's wrong. We like to believe that all we need is to find the right education, the right pill, the right position, the right relationship, and we will be satisfied. Yet the truth is that it does not matter how many degrees you have, how much money you possess, how much power you control, how much influence you express, how many cars you own, how many stock options you hold. If you don't have God, you possess nothing. We are created in God's image. Therefore, it is ludicrous to believe we can know meaning without a relationship with the "One who has made us for himself."
Remember the story of the agnostic who fell off a cliff? Halfway down, he caught hold of a bush. As he hung high above the ground, he shouted, "Is anybody up there?" Again, he shouted desperately, "Is anybody up there?" A voice answered, "Yes, this is the Lord." The man yelled frantically, "Help me!" There was a moment of silence. Then the Lord answered: "Let go of the bush and I will save you." There was another long silence as the man looked down at the ground far below. Finally, he yelled, "Is there anybody else up there?"2
How funny we must look to God, hanging on to what we believe will save us, searching for help outside of God. But there is no one else. There is only God -- who knows us better than we know ourselves -- who has made us for himself -- who has designed us to communicate with him -- who has called us to be in relationship with him. Anything else leaves us empty. As Billy Graham has said, "There is a God-shaped void in all of us that only God can fill."
Isaiah understood the God-shaped void completely. This is why, in verse 4, Isaiah says that he went to God each morning -- not once a week, not once a month, not twice a year, but every morning. Every morning he knelt before the throne of God, knowing he could not face the day without God's leadership. He cocked his ear toward God and waited for guidance to face the day. No matter how important or mature he became, he knew that he needed God's grace like flowers need rain. He knew that he needed God's wisdom like he needed breath to live. He knew that he needed God as much as he needed the blood coursing through his veins. He knew that he needed God as much as a baby needs the security of a parent's arms. Oh, how we need the same kind of wisdom -- the wisdom to recognize our need for God.
So why don't we recognize this crucial need more? Why don't we pay more attention to the vacuum within which yearns for the Spirit of God? The truth is that we drown it out. For some of us, this drowning out is innocent enough. We overbook our days and schedules with activities in order to satisfy a culture which rewards a breakneck pace. But we pay so great a price. For it is as Fosdick has written:
We hammer so busily that the architect cannot discuss the plans with us. We are so preoccupied with the activities of sailing, that we do not take our bearings from the sky. When the Spirit stands at the door and knocks, the bustle of the household drowns out the sound of his knocking.3
How painfully true.
In addition to those whose chaotic schedules drown out God, there are some who intentionally drown out their need for God. They stay busy, knowing that if they are quiet too long, they may discover the existential pain within -- the pain of being disconnected to God. They may discover a large gap between what they are and what God has created them to become. They may discover the discontent within their hearts. Their silence will be so deafening it may just be too much to bear. So you will witness people plugging their ears with the numbing sounds of television, cell phones, CDs, and mindless chatter in order to drown out their wounded cries for God. But we must come to terms with the fact that our need for God does not die nor does God die when we cease to believe in him or turn away from him. But we begin to die the very moment our lives cease to be illumined by the steady radiance of God.4
This is why we need Isaiah's experience. The text expresses it well for us, but our English language does not do it justice. When Isaiah says, "God wakens my ear," it literally means in the Hebrew, "God dug out my ear."5 Imagine what would happen if we allowed God to dig out our ears! Bishop Richard Trench eloquently tells us what might happen, when he prays:
Lord, what a change within us one short hour
Spent in thy presence will avail to make!
What heavy burdens from our bosoms take!
What parched grounds refresh, as with a shower!
We kneel and all around us seems to lower;
We rise, and all the distant and the near,
Stands forth in sunny outline, brave and clear;
We kneel, how weak! We rise, how full of power.6
A tremendous transformation occurs when we spend time with God, when we are in tune with God, and when we are aligned with God. We find resources beyond ourselves. God receives us with love, wisdom, and courage. God breathes new life into our nostrils and we begin to breathe normally again. We begin to see, taste, feel, hear, and smell the world the way God desires for us to experience it. We begin to stand up to life because we intimately know the one who is standing behind us. We have a peace that passes all understanding because we begin to recognize God's presence in the midst of our daily lives. We no longer see ourselves as victims but as victors. And we finally arrive at the place where we can say with Isaiah: "Who will contend with me? ... Who are my adversaries? Let them confront me. It is the Lord God who helps me" (vv. 8-9).
There is an old story about a Christian in ancient times who was standing charges before an angry Roman Emperor:
"I will banish you," raged the emperor. "You cannot," the Christian replied, "for the whole world is my Father's house." "Then I will slay you," said the emperor. "Neither can you do that, for my life is hid with Christ in God. I fear not them who have power only to destroy the body but have no power to destroy the soul." "Then," retorted the emperor, "I will take away your treasure." The Christian responded, "You cannot do that, for my treasure is in heaven where moth and rust do not corrupt." Frustrated, the emperor finally said, "I will drive you away from man, and you shall have not a friend left to be near you." The Christian quietly affirmed, "No, you cannot do that either; for I have a Friend from whom you cannot separate me. There is nothing you can do to harm me for neither life nor death nor things present nor things to come can separate me from his love."7
This is the attitude we embrace. This is who we become when we allow God to saturate us with wisdom and love. So why don't we go to God more often? There is no good reason why we should neglect God. For God is closer to us than our very breath, always ready and willing to give us everything we need for life.
Wallace Chappell used to tell a story of a farmer who had two sons. His wife, who was a Christian, had died, and he was making every effort to guide his young sons to the Lord. Each morning, just before they started the morning chores, they noticed that their father disappeared. They always wondered where he went but never knew the secret of his disappearance. Months after his death, his two sons were working in the barn. Suddenly, one of them discovered a small room in the rear of the barn. They thought it was just filled with hay. But when they opened the door, they discovered a bale in the corner with an open Bible on it. In front of the bale were two worn out places on the ground, indentations which had taken a long time to depress. The two sons, caught by surprise, just stood there in reverent silence. Then one said, "So that's where he was and what he was doing." The other answered, "I am just wondering how many of those prayers were said for us." Then the first son knelt in one knee print and the second in the other. And a few minutes later when they got up, they rose with their father's Lord within their hearts.8
Where is your special place? Do you have one? If and when you do, you will be able to experience what Isaiah experienced. In fact, if you are quiet in your place, you will hear the steady beat of your heart beckoning you to kneel before God. You will hear God's heart beating faster as you come into his presence. You will hear the deep, mystic sigh coming from the depths of your soul as you commune with God. You will hear God's deafening cry of joy echoing through time saying, "My child has finally come!"
Do you hear God's call for you? Or maybe I should ask, "Will you hear it?"
____________
1. Bill Floyd, Stories I Love to Tell (Decatur, Georgia: Looking Glass Books), pp. 100-101.
2. Just for Laughs (The Christian Communications Laboratory, 1982), p. 130.
3. Quoted in Abingdon Preacher's Annual 1994, ed. by John K. Bergland (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1993), p. 371.
4. Based on a quote by Dag Hammarskjold quoted in John A. Stroman, God's Downward Mobility (Lima, Ohio: CSS Publishing Company, 1996), p. 13.
5. I am grateful to Dr. Fred B. Craddock for this insight.
6. Quoted in Benjamin P. Browne, Illustrations for Preaching (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1977), pp. 78-79. Used by permission.
7. Browne, pp. 22-23. Used by permission.
8. Wallace D. Chappell, All for Jesus (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1975), pp. 66-67.
