Identifying God's Will
Sermon
Galileo was born in 1564 and became a professor of astronomy. In that post, Galileo was required to teach the accepted theory of his time that the sun and all the planets revolved around the Earth. But he was convinced of the truth of Copernicus's theory that the earth revolved around the sun, and his support for this theory got him into trouble with the Church. In 1633 the Inquisition convicted him of heresy and forced him to recant his support of Copernicus. They sentenced him to life imprisonment, but because of his advanced age allowed him serve his term under house arrest at his villa outside Florence. He died nine years later at the age of seventy-eight.
Like the Church, most people at the time considered Galileo to be either mad or bad or both. It was obvious that the sun moved around the earth, because people could see that happening. It was also obvious that the earth was completely still, because people were unable to feel any movement. How could the earth be spinning on its axis and people not feel it?
Now, of course, we know that Galileo was right, and in 1992 even the Church admitted that errors had been made by the theological advisors in the case of Galileo. During his lifetime Galileo was ridiculed and hunted and made to suffer for his beliefs, and this is so often the lot of those who tenaciously cling to what they believe to be the truth in the face of public opposition.
Those opposed to slavery were ridiculed and made to suffer, as were the suffragettes, those who first made claims about global warming and in our own time, supporters of gay and lesbian priests. It sometimes seems as though we human beings prefer to stick with the comfort of traditionally held beliefs even though those beliefs may be false, rather than facing the suffering and challenge of seeking the truth.
Yet God is truth, so if we deliberately close our minds to any new or revolutionary ideas, we are deliberately closing our minds to God. Are we prepared, as St Paul so aptly put it, to be a fool for Christ?
The story of the flood is a story of a human being who was prepared to be a fool for God. When we read the account of the dimensions of the ark and realize it was large enough to hold not only all Noah's extended family presumably complete with servants, but also to hold all known species of animal, we become aware that it must have taken a very long time to build.
God spoke to Noah when there were no signs of rain or flooding. God spoke to Noah perhaps a year or more prior to the flood. God spoke to Noah when the sky was blue, the sun shone and there had never been a huge flood in living history.
It's amazing that Noah responded. Perhaps God also spoke to other people, who were unable to hear his voice or to identify his words and who therefore ignored him. We can perhaps imagine the ridicule and scorn heaped upon Noah as he built his ark. Without the benefit of hindsight, it sounds like a really stupid thing to do, so perhaps like Galileo, Noah was regarded as mad or bad or both.
Because God can see so much further into the future than we can see, God's quiet suggestions and words can sound ridiculous. Why build an ark when the sun is relentlessly shining day after day after day and the land is always prone to drought, never to flooding? Why posit a theory that the earth spins on its axis and moves around the sun when everyone can see for themselves that that cannot be so? Why hold out for votes for women when everyone knows that women can't understand politics? Why support gay and lesbian priests when everyone knows that God is opposed to them because it says so in the Bible?
It is hard to stand alone when the whole world stands against you. It's even harder to stand alone when the Church -- Christ's body on earth -- stands against you. It's hard to continue to believe in yourself when you're subject to unremitting ridicule and social ostracism. It's hard to know whether or not you really are hearing God's voice, or whether it's just your own ego and imagination which are speaking.
How can we know for sure that what we think we believe comes from God? Perhaps we can never know for sure. Perhaps we need to cling onto faith. But perhaps one way of identifying God's will is to listen to that still, small voice within and then act upon it, especially if those actions provoke ridicule and ostracism.
Just like he called Noah, God calls us to courage, determination and endurance. And if we hang on in there, believing in God and in his truth whatever it might be, then like Noah we too will survive the floods and storms of life and end up safely on dry land.
http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96feb/galileo.html
Like the Church, most people at the time considered Galileo to be either mad or bad or both. It was obvious that the sun moved around the earth, because people could see that happening. It was also obvious that the earth was completely still, because people were unable to feel any movement. How could the earth be spinning on its axis and people not feel it?
Now, of course, we know that Galileo was right, and in 1992 even the Church admitted that errors had been made by the theological advisors in the case of Galileo. During his lifetime Galileo was ridiculed and hunted and made to suffer for his beliefs, and this is so often the lot of those who tenaciously cling to what they believe to be the truth in the face of public opposition.
Those opposed to slavery were ridiculed and made to suffer, as were the suffragettes, those who first made claims about global warming and in our own time, supporters of gay and lesbian priests. It sometimes seems as though we human beings prefer to stick with the comfort of traditionally held beliefs even though those beliefs may be false, rather than facing the suffering and challenge of seeking the truth.
Yet God is truth, so if we deliberately close our minds to any new or revolutionary ideas, we are deliberately closing our minds to God. Are we prepared, as St Paul so aptly put it, to be a fool for Christ?
The story of the flood is a story of a human being who was prepared to be a fool for God. When we read the account of the dimensions of the ark and realize it was large enough to hold not only all Noah's extended family presumably complete with servants, but also to hold all known species of animal, we become aware that it must have taken a very long time to build.
God spoke to Noah when there were no signs of rain or flooding. God spoke to Noah perhaps a year or more prior to the flood. God spoke to Noah when the sky was blue, the sun shone and there had never been a huge flood in living history.
It's amazing that Noah responded. Perhaps God also spoke to other people, who were unable to hear his voice or to identify his words and who therefore ignored him. We can perhaps imagine the ridicule and scorn heaped upon Noah as he built his ark. Without the benefit of hindsight, it sounds like a really stupid thing to do, so perhaps like Galileo, Noah was regarded as mad or bad or both.
Because God can see so much further into the future than we can see, God's quiet suggestions and words can sound ridiculous. Why build an ark when the sun is relentlessly shining day after day after day and the land is always prone to drought, never to flooding? Why posit a theory that the earth spins on its axis and moves around the sun when everyone can see for themselves that that cannot be so? Why hold out for votes for women when everyone knows that women can't understand politics? Why support gay and lesbian priests when everyone knows that God is opposed to them because it says so in the Bible?
It is hard to stand alone when the whole world stands against you. It's even harder to stand alone when the Church -- Christ's body on earth -- stands against you. It's hard to continue to believe in yourself when you're subject to unremitting ridicule and social ostracism. It's hard to know whether or not you really are hearing God's voice, or whether it's just your own ego and imagination which are speaking.
How can we know for sure that what we think we believe comes from God? Perhaps we can never know for sure. Perhaps we need to cling onto faith. But perhaps one way of identifying God's will is to listen to that still, small voice within and then act upon it, especially if those actions provoke ridicule and ostracism.
Just like he called Noah, God calls us to courage, determination and endurance. And if we hang on in there, believing in God and in his truth whatever it might be, then like Noah we too will survive the floods and storms of life and end up safely on dry land.
http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96feb/galileo.html
