Discerning God
Sermon
On our first visit to Malta many years ago, we stayed in the rural south of the island. At that time there were few hotels and those were situated farther north, in St Paul's Bay and Sliema. The south was agricultural country, where a friend of ours happened to have part share in a "villa". The "villa" turned out to be a small farm house.
Farming at the time was very primitive, with the farmer walking over his field behind a hand-held plough. All has now changed, of course, but then it was just like a throw-back to Biblical times in the Middle East.
There was something else similar to Biblical times, too. We met the neighbours who were delightful people and who insisted on sharing their hospitality with us. Our quite large party of five adults and two very small children went over for a meal and were treated royally. When we mentioned that we'd never tried prickly pears (or even heard of them, for that matter!) our hosts insisted on going out and collecting some prickly pears for us to try. But they didn't return with two or three. They returned with a whole bucketful, which they pressed upon us. The time and energy spent on following up our chance remark was quite astounding.
We had something of a taste of the hospitality for which southern Europe and the Middle East are renowned and it was a surprise, for although folk in England were friendly enough, we had never before encountered quite such generosity of time and effort spent on complete strangers.
And this was perhaps just a taste of the sort of hospitality Abraham and Sarah offered to three complete strangers who arrived at their tent one day.
Abraham and Sarah must have spent at least a day preparing for their unexpected guests. The calf had to be slaughtered before any of the preparation or cooking could begin and the cooking, of course, would have been long and slow over the camp fire.
Abraham and Sarah didn't at first realise who the guests were. It was so rare to see other human beings in that nomadic society that any strangers were welcomed with open arms The entertainment of nomads in a sparsely populated land lay in sharing a feast, and that feast was even more momentous when people turned up unexpectedly.
While Sarah cooked the meal, Abraham chatted with the unexpected guests, catching up on the news from foreign parts and exchanging information. But it wasn't until the strangers made a startling prediction that Abraham realised he had been talking to angels. And strangely, those three angels seem to be interchangeable in Abraham's mind with God. The boundaries between God, angels and men seem to be blurred.
Right at the beginning of the story in the first sentence, we're told that the Lord appeared to Abraham. But that must have been written back into the story in retrospect, because after that, Abraham thinks he is speaking with three ordinary men. It isn't until they predict something ridiculous and impossible that Abraham begins to realize that they are either God himself, or messengers from God.
And it doesn't seem at all odd or illogical to Abraham that the monotheistic God which he has always worshipped might have been manifest not in one, but in three people.
Theologians since have seen in this story an early reference to the Trinity and Rublev's famous Icon of The Trinity showing Abraham meeting with the three strangers at the oaks of Mamre, makes this point as it tries to draw the viewer into sharing the moment beneath the oak tree.
But actually, it was the message, the ridiculous, impossible message that persuaded Abraham that the visitors were either from God, or were God himself.
Sarah was not officially privy to this important man-talk. Although the message concerned her at least as much as Abraham if not more, it wasn't officially relayed to her. God only spoke to Abraham and left Abraham to tell Sarah, although as we know, Sarah was hiding in her side of the tent and listening to every extraordinary word.
Sometimes today we only discern what God is saying to us through other people. Sometimes we can only hear God when somebody else shares some uncomfortable home truths with us.
Sometimes we read a book, the Bible or some other book and something clicks. The penny drops and we hear the authentic voice of God through the pages of the book.
Sometimes we may think that we are talking to ordinary people, and fail to realise that actually we are meeting with God or with God's messenger. If we only meet with certain types of people and refuse to have much to do with other types of people, we may miss out on hearing God's voice because we narrow the field in which we allow God to work.
Sometimes our expectations of God limit our ability to hear his voice. If we detest and despise a certain type or style of worship, we are unlikely to hear God through it. And if we detest or despise a certain type of preacher, we are unlikely to hear God through that preacher. If we refuse to accept certain male priest or female priest, then we will be unable to hear God through them. The narrower our likes and dislikes in worship, the less our capacity to hear God.
Interestingly, Abraham and Sarah spent a long time entertaining and hosting their visitors before they heard the message which the strangers had come to tell them. If we are in too much of a hurry, we are unlikely to hear God. God doesn't just speak to special people. God speaks to every human being all the time, but it takes time and patience and perseverance to hear God speaking to us.
When God spoke to Abraham he gave him an unexpected message, one which seemed impossible. If we dismiss unexpected messages which seem impossible, we will dismiss God, for to God all things are possible. But if we can only hear God through our own religious or social framework, we will miss the message. Thus in previous centuries, many people failed to hear God's message about slavery being an affront to humanity, because the thought of slavery being abolished didn't fit in with their social or religious framework. It took years before sufficient people heard the message and the abolition of slavery became law.
What messages from God do we fail to hear today because those messages offend our social or religious sensibilities?
We will only find that out if we take the time to listen to God, make the effort to spot God in other people and lay aside our sensibilities to approach God with an open and enquiring mind. And if enough of us do all that, then we will hear God and our whole culture may change and surge forwards.
Abraham heard God and it was good. When we hear God it will be good too. It's worth making the effort.
Farming at the time was very primitive, with the farmer walking over his field behind a hand-held plough. All has now changed, of course, but then it was just like a throw-back to Biblical times in the Middle East.
There was something else similar to Biblical times, too. We met the neighbours who were delightful people and who insisted on sharing their hospitality with us. Our quite large party of five adults and two very small children went over for a meal and were treated royally. When we mentioned that we'd never tried prickly pears (or even heard of them, for that matter!) our hosts insisted on going out and collecting some prickly pears for us to try. But they didn't return with two or three. They returned with a whole bucketful, which they pressed upon us. The time and energy spent on following up our chance remark was quite astounding.
We had something of a taste of the hospitality for which southern Europe and the Middle East are renowned and it was a surprise, for although folk in England were friendly enough, we had never before encountered quite such generosity of time and effort spent on complete strangers.
And this was perhaps just a taste of the sort of hospitality Abraham and Sarah offered to three complete strangers who arrived at their tent one day.
Abraham and Sarah must have spent at least a day preparing for their unexpected guests. The calf had to be slaughtered before any of the preparation or cooking could begin and the cooking, of course, would have been long and slow over the camp fire.
Abraham and Sarah didn't at first realise who the guests were. It was so rare to see other human beings in that nomadic society that any strangers were welcomed with open arms The entertainment of nomads in a sparsely populated land lay in sharing a feast, and that feast was even more momentous when people turned up unexpectedly.
While Sarah cooked the meal, Abraham chatted with the unexpected guests, catching up on the news from foreign parts and exchanging information. But it wasn't until the strangers made a startling prediction that Abraham realised he had been talking to angels. And strangely, those three angels seem to be interchangeable in Abraham's mind with God. The boundaries between God, angels and men seem to be blurred.
Right at the beginning of the story in the first sentence, we're told that the Lord appeared to Abraham. But that must have been written back into the story in retrospect, because after that, Abraham thinks he is speaking with three ordinary men. It isn't until they predict something ridiculous and impossible that Abraham begins to realize that they are either God himself, or messengers from God.
And it doesn't seem at all odd or illogical to Abraham that the monotheistic God which he has always worshipped might have been manifest not in one, but in three people.
Theologians since have seen in this story an early reference to the Trinity and Rublev's famous Icon of The Trinity showing Abraham meeting with the three strangers at the oaks of Mamre, makes this point as it tries to draw the viewer into sharing the moment beneath the oak tree.
But actually, it was the message, the ridiculous, impossible message that persuaded Abraham that the visitors were either from God, or were God himself.
Sarah was not officially privy to this important man-talk. Although the message concerned her at least as much as Abraham if not more, it wasn't officially relayed to her. God only spoke to Abraham and left Abraham to tell Sarah, although as we know, Sarah was hiding in her side of the tent and listening to every extraordinary word.
Sometimes today we only discern what God is saying to us through other people. Sometimes we can only hear God when somebody else shares some uncomfortable home truths with us.
Sometimes we read a book, the Bible or some other book and something clicks. The penny drops and we hear the authentic voice of God through the pages of the book.
Sometimes we may think that we are talking to ordinary people, and fail to realise that actually we are meeting with God or with God's messenger. If we only meet with certain types of people and refuse to have much to do with other types of people, we may miss out on hearing God's voice because we narrow the field in which we allow God to work.
Sometimes our expectations of God limit our ability to hear his voice. If we detest and despise a certain type or style of worship, we are unlikely to hear God through it. And if we detest or despise a certain type of preacher, we are unlikely to hear God through that preacher. If we refuse to accept certain male priest or female priest, then we will be unable to hear God through them. The narrower our likes and dislikes in worship, the less our capacity to hear God.
Interestingly, Abraham and Sarah spent a long time entertaining and hosting their visitors before they heard the message which the strangers had come to tell them. If we are in too much of a hurry, we are unlikely to hear God. God doesn't just speak to special people. God speaks to every human being all the time, but it takes time and patience and perseverance to hear God speaking to us.
When God spoke to Abraham he gave him an unexpected message, one which seemed impossible. If we dismiss unexpected messages which seem impossible, we will dismiss God, for to God all things are possible. But if we can only hear God through our own religious or social framework, we will miss the message. Thus in previous centuries, many people failed to hear God's message about slavery being an affront to humanity, because the thought of slavery being abolished didn't fit in with their social or religious framework. It took years before sufficient people heard the message and the abolition of slavery became law.
What messages from God do we fail to hear today because those messages offend our social or religious sensibilities?
We will only find that out if we take the time to listen to God, make the effort to spot God in other people and lay aside our sensibilities to approach God with an open and enquiring mind. And if enough of us do all that, then we will hear God and our whole culture may change and surge forwards.
Abraham heard God and it was good. When we hear God it will be good too. It's worth making the effort.
