Advent 4 - Listening Part III - December 24, 2011

Text:  Matthew 1:18-25 (See below)

As we come to the morning of Christmas Eve, ending our Advent observance, we prepare our hearts to worship God tonight in church’s all over the world, I offer to you the third and final segment of Brother Kevin Hackett’s sermon on active listening. Kevin concludes his thoughts by stating,

“We Brothers do a fair amount of listening in our ministries of hospitality and spiritual formation. It’s good work, meaningful work, and very hard work, and it is really only possible because we spend as much our day as we do in silence. In our Rule of Life we read in Chapter 27,

“Silence is a constant source of restoration. Yet its healing power does not come cheaply. It depends on our willingness to face all that is within us, light and dark, and to heed all the inner voices that make themselves heard in silence.

“Listening—even to things we’d rather not hear—has been central to the monastic tradition from the beginning. The desert fathers and mothers were men and women of few words, which is why when they did speak, it was worth your while to give ear and pay attention. Why else would pilgrims venture into the hostile desert that was their home? And why else did those who came to see them write those words down so they would not be forgotten? St. Benedict builds on this tradition in his Rule, beginning, “Listen, my child, to your master’s precepts, and incline the ear of your heart.”

“I’m convinced that the primary reason so many of us fail to hear the voice of God speaking to us—whether that is in the sanctuary of our own hearts, in the homes we inhabit, or in the places we worship—is that we are assaulted by noise, literally and figuratively. Most of us don’t have a clue how to really listen, to God or anyone else. And the remedy for that is simple—but oh so challenging—and does it ever require patience—and a whole lot of practice!

“We try to get it right. But most of the time we don’t. But we still keep practicing. God comes and meets us where we are. And God still speaks. And sometimes we even hear it! And you know what else? We don’t have to wait until the end of time for Jesus to show up. We don’t even have to wait until Christmas. If he’s not already here, he will be in a moment. Seriously. Right now. Tonight.

“Listen. Could that be God speaking through the Occupy Movement? Listen. Could that be God speaking through the color of that glorious sunset we had earlier this afternoon? Listen. Could that be God speaking to you through that friend who had the courage to ask you about that annoying little “problem” that you’ve thought you kept so well hidden? Listen. Could that be God speaking through that phrase from psalm, oh, I don’t know which one—but I just can’t get it out of my mind? Could that be God speaking in that oh-so-uncomfortable silence that scares me so much? Listen. Be still. Listen. Listen. Listen.

“Speak, Lord, your servants are listening.”

Have a blessed Christmas. Watch this site daily over the next twelve days of the Christmas season as I share a musical offering each morning. Lots of fun and joy as we celebrate together the birth of our Lord, Jesus.

Love One Another - Brian

Incarnation

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

No priest, no theologian stood at the cradle in Bethlehem. And yet all Christian theology has its origins in the wonder of all wonders that God became man. Alongside of the brilliance of the holy night there burns the fire of the unfathomable mystery of Christian theology.

Source: quoted in Bonhoeffer: Pastor Martyr Prophet Spy by Eric Metaxas

Matthew 1:18-25

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:  ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,  and they shall name him Emmanuel’, which means, ‘God is with us.’ When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.