Today\u2019s lessons are wonderful \u2014 Job, Psalm 107, 2 Corinthians and Mark. They are all about relationship with God \u2014 listening to God and responding to God \u2014 experiencing God, experiencing the wholeness and fulfillment and gladness that comes from that relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s look at Job first. God finally speaks. For page after page, conversation after conversation, Job and his friends have gone back and forth about Job\u2019s relationship with God. What\u2019s gone wrong that Job is in such a miserable state after having had such an abundance of worldly successes and blessings before his rapid slide into destitution, ill health, and family extinction? Job\u2019s friends come up with elaborate and elegant theologies to explain how ultimately Job has been the instrument of his own disaster, while Job insists, also eloquently and intelligently, that he hasn\u2019t done anything wrong and at this point only wants God to let him die.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
God speaks: You are talking, talking, and you don\u2019t know anything, God says. Then he gives Job two orders: one, pull yourself together and act like the human being you are; and two, listen to me and answer the questions I\u2019m going to ask you. Whereupon God goes into a magnificent litany of questions about creation and the ordering of nature, where was Job when all that was going on, and since he, Job, is so smart, surely he knows the answers to all this. God talks with power, beauty, compassion, anger, tenderness, sarcasm, understanding, brilliance. We only have part of God\u2019s talking in today\u2019s lesson, but enough to get the idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s going on? God hasn\u2019t answered one of Job\u2019s questions or those of any of his friends. God is talking way out of Job\u2019s league \u2014 asking questions about morning stars and the creation of water. And you know what? Job is listening: Job is experiencing God; and that experience of God changes his life. He realizes that he knew a lot about God and even went so far as to be absolutely faithful to the God he knew about; but until now he did not know God, had not listened to God speak in person, and therefore had not responded as a human being to God\u2019s voice. Now he can do that; now he has a relationship with God. God can speak, he will hear, he will respond. These responses of Job to God\u2019s questions are in Chapter 42, but it seems appropriate to mention them here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s go on to the other lessons, Psalm 107 and today\u2019s assigned portions. Here we have a little story: There were sailors who understood that the sea was God\u2019s and all that was in it. They understood that God created storms and calm. In a particularly bad storm, they tried everything they could to keep the ship afloat and themselves alive. When their efforts failed they called to God. God calmed the sea and brought them to the harbor they were headed for. They were glad. \u201cGive thanks and praise,\u201d says the psalmist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Whereas in Job the message was about the difference between knowing about God and knowing God, this lesson is about doing everything all by yourself until you\u2019ve exhausted that, then turning to God to be rescued and brought into safe harbor, then needing a lot of reminding to say thank you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next the Epistle, 2 Corinthians 5:14-21. Paul spells out a major point of these lessons, including the Gospel lesson, and that is, once we have a relationship with God in which we are present to God, listen to God and respond to God, we are an entirely new creation. We are substantially different, not at all like the person we were before the relationship, even though we may look the same. Same with Job, same with those sailors whose response to relationship was not so much relief as it was a profound gladness. This same gladness seems to permeate Paul\u2019s writing here. He\u2019s not fussing, he\u2019s not frothing at the mouth, he is peaceful and glad: God has restored us to relationship with God and that reconciliation makes us glad. It is as people living with, listening to and responding to God\u2019s voice that we are to walk among fellow human beings. We are ambassadors of relationship, and witness to the wholeness that can come of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s turn now to the Gospel where we have the wonderful story of the exhausted Jesus being awakened from a deep sleep and accused of not caring for anybody, otherwise he\u2019d be up and helping, not lying there. He gets up, tells the wind to stop and the sea to be still \u2014 which they do, and then turns, and asks his followers on board two questions: \u201cwhy are you afraid?,\u201d \u201cand have you still no faith?\u201d Evidently their relationship with Jesus has called forth a great deal of admiration but not yet an understanding that their relationship with Jesus is simultaneously a relationship with God. The minute they hit a crisis, they return to \u201cGo\u201d and act as if their was no relationship. Panicky, hysterical, Jesus\u2019 presence is not yet enough to keep them centered and secure, faithful and unafraid. They have heard him, but they have not recognized his voice as God\u2019s voice. The miracle has caught their attention, however, and in time they will hear and respond to the incarnate God and fully live the relationship that is God\u2019s gift to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what do all these lessons say about us, and what do they say about God? Lots and lots \u2014 lots about relationship and how we get it wrong, lots about relationship and how we can get it right, and lots about the nature of the God with whom we are created to live in relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Look at Job. How many of us are just like that. How many of us let knowing about God substitute for knowing God. It\u2019s like hearing for years about a wonderful person, but never taking the trouble to meet or be with that person even though he or she lives next door. Sometimes we\u2019ve heard so much about that person and even gone so far as to take that person\u2019s advice, second hand, that we think we do know the person. But, like God tells Job, we don\u2019t. Like Job, God calls us to be present to God the way God is present to us. Knowing about God is okay, but it is not the same as being in relationship and listening and responding to a loved one. Job realizes this after God breaks into his life and speaks, and we realize the same thing when we let God break into our own lives and speak while we listen, then respond. We must be open to relationship even if it seems unknown and scary; but we must remember that we have a God who wants us to live and be whole, not crippled and destroyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What do we learn about God from the Job story? We learn that God has many voices \u2014 sometimes angry, sometimes loving, always compassionate \u2014 even when tough, always with us. We have no monochromatic God, always the same; we have a God who is involved in our lives the many different ways that we are involved with other lives. A many-voiced God, as each of us is a many-voiced human being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And from Psalm 107? We see ourselves again \u2014 try it by ourselves first, then when that doesn\u2019t work and we are about dead from trying, call on God. It\u2019s bit like not asking directions even though there are people standing around who know the way. Only when we\u2019re thoroughly lost do we ask for help, which is immediately and simply given. We need to remember that getting to the harbor we are bound for is the goal, and that there is no humiliation in asking someone who knows the way and is going there also, in this case the Christ, to be with us and enable us to make a safe arrival at our destination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what do we learn about God in Psalm 107? That God listens to us and will take us home. And more, we learn that God is glad when we are pleased in the relationship together, and is happy to hear our thank- you\u2019s and our praise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2nd Corinthians. We have a mini-review of what God accomplished in Jesus. Our relationship with God is more accessible than ever because of Jesus\u2019 life among us, his dying, his rising again, his ascension, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Human beings can now live in relationship to God by living in relationship to a human being who is God, and that should be easier for us. And, living in that relationship, committed to it, hearing God, seeing with God\u2019s eyes, we become entirely new \u2014 not human beings alone, but human beings in relationship with God. We become witness to new life, to a new and available wholeness that before seemed far away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What we learn about God is that God cares passionately for us, God\u2019s children. God has made it possible for us to become whole, to develop in every way so that we become Christ, God\u2019s life among us. God has committed to relationship with us forever and made that relationship accessible; it is our privilege to commit also, and to be as accessible to Christ as Christ is to us. A privilege, and honor, and opportunity to be the completed persons we were meant to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the Gospel. Here we are again: learned a lot, been with God, enjoyed the association, and have thrown it all overboard the minute a crisis enters our lives. Working hard all by ourselves, getting mad at God for not helping, accusing God of not caring. What we learn about us is that if we honor and have confidence in our relationship with God rather than dumping it when things get bad, we will be okay \u2014 we will have no fear and our faith in that relationship will sustain us and keep us whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What we learn about God is several. We learn that even if God is exhausted, God is present. We learn that even if God gets annoyed, God is still present and still hears us. In terms of relationship, we learn that even if we get annoyed at God we should still be present and still listen, just like God. Finally, we learn the honor with which Jesus addresses God\u2019s creation. He quietly rebukes the wind, then says to the sea, \u201cPeace, be still.\u201d And the sea responds. This is the \u201cPeace, be still,\u201d with which Jesus addresses all those he lives with. It is the \u201cPeace, be still,\u201d with which he asks us to greet each other, friend or foe. It is the \u201cPeace, be still,\u201d that is with us every step as we learn to live in relationship with God and become God\u2019s new creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We have a great God. A God who listens to us, who speaks to us, who brings us into relationship, who loves us and cares for us and rejoices in our presence and companionship. From today\u2019s lessons, we see that we have a God who knows our principal handicaps to relationship: relying on knowledge about God rather than experience of God, waiting until all is lost before honoring the relationship with God, dumping God at the first sign of hard times, accusing God of not caring, even though God is right there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps it is time for us to get healed from those handicaps. Perhaps it is time for us to enter or renew our relationship with God. Scary, fearful, new? Maybe so. But listen: Hear the voice in the whirlwind saying \u201cPeace, be still!\u201d Hear God\u2019s voice, know it, respond to it. Live the new life of relationship with God. \u201cPeace, be still: I am with you always to the end of the age.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This sermon was written by Jane Wolfe<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today\u2019s lessons are wonderful \u2014 Job, Psalm 107, 2 Corinthians and Mark. They are all about relationship with God \u2014 listening to God and responding to God \u2014 experiencing God, experiencing the wholeness and fulfillment and gladness that comes from that relationship. Let\u2019s look at Job first. God finally speaks. For page after page, conversation…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":201212,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[43,52,33,3],"tags":[371],"class_list":["post-511870","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sermons","category-sermons-that-work","category-the-season-after-pentecost","category-worship-and-prayer-menu","tag-proper-7b"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":43,"label":"Sermons"},{"value":52,"label":"Sermons That Work"},{"value":33,"label":"The Season After Pentecost"},{"value":3,"label":"worship_and_prayer_menu"}],"post_tag":[{"value":371,"label":"Proper 7B"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/511870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/sermon"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/511870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3477307,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/511870\/revisions\/3477307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=511870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=511870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=511870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}