1 Samuel 3:1-10, Romans 1:16-17, Luke 19:1-10
What I learn from
detective Harry Bosch
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
-Amen
1.
We live in a time when people are often shouting, yelling and insisting on
something. A considerable number of so called “You Tubers” compete daily for
the number of views they can get for their video shows on the net.
In the same way, a great number of people are twittering and twittering every
day so that they can obtain as many followers as they can. People naturally
think that videos which have been viewed thousands of times are worth watching,
and opinions that have been followed by thousands of people are worth listening
to. Indeed, when some video or twitter becomes very popular, it even gets on
the news. As a consequence, the competition of shouting and insisting escalates
even more.
Living in such a time, people seem hardly to be interested in listening to
small voices, or opinions that are not followed by mass media. People begin to
believe that the voices deserving to be heard are those getting the most
praise. They might also start believing that listening is basically in a
passive action, just a supporting role, not in a leading role.
Does listening to the small voices around us mean little? Is listening to
others a passive thing?
Every now and then I hear asylum seekers complain that representatives of the
authorities don’t show any interest in listening to their stories. Sometimes
these civil servants exhibit the attitude that they meet with asylum seekers
just because it is their obligation to do so, one of the items on their “must
do list”. Do the stories of the asylum seekers not deserve attention? Or is
listening to others itself unmerited? We need to question this assumption.
2.
To be fair, I would like to point out that in some fields, there are still
people who understand the importance of listening and make an effort to listen
carefully. I love reading books by Michael Connery, a contemporary American
author. And among his works, I love the Harry Bosch series most. They are
detective novels, and the protagonist is a detective on the LAPD.
Harry once belonged to the section that investigates unsolved murder cases,
“cold cases”, and there he tries to solve murders that happened 15- 20 years
ago. And his mission is “to listen to the voices of the victims”. Therefore,
detective Harry Bosch reviews all the evidence and reports in the case file one
by one very carefully, and finally solves the case.
Of course, this is fiction. And the novels are really exciting and fun. The
attitude of Harry, how he tries to listen to the voices of the victims who died
long time ago, is almost religious. Honestly, I leaned many things for my
pastoral work from this fictional character, detective Harry Bosch. His way of
trying to listen to a small voice is the thing that every pastor should
practice as well, in my opinion.
I think this phrase “to listen to the voice of the victim” is often heard in
crime novels or detective movies. And there, “listening” is not at all a
passive attitude or a supporting role. Listening to the voice of the victim, or
finding the voice, is the leading role and it requires an active attitude, a
very active attitude.
Listening has a direct meaning for the detectives, and a strong meaning at
that. The detectives know it with their bodies and souls that listening is the
key to the truth.
3.
Now we turn ourselves to the Bible.
Our God is the God who addresses us. Our God is the God who calls us by our
names. Our God is the God who seeks us. When Adam and Eve hid themselves after
they ate the apple against God’s command, God sought them: “Where are
you?”(Gen. 3:9)
When Elijah escaped into a cave among the mountains, God asked him quietly:
“What are you doing here, Elijah?”(1 King.:19:13)
Today’s text from the Old Testament relates how God addresses Samuel. “The Lord
came and stood there, calling as at the other times, ‘Samuel! Samuel!‘” (1 Sam.
3:10)
This is one of the distinguishing features of our God, that appears throughout
the whole Bible. God is not just an abstract and philosophical being, but is a personal existence, and cares about us. That is God our Father.
This nature is also apparent in Jesus. In today’s Gospel, Jesus is approaches
Zacchaeus and addresses him: Jesus “looked
up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your
house today.’” (Lk. 19:5)
Another characteristic of Jesus also becomes clear. It is that Jesus actively
addresses those who are considered sinners, just like Zacchaeus is.
So, what do we learn from those Bible texts? We learn that the call of God is
not at all some supernatural incident that could never really happen to us. It
can happen to us, too. Actually, it is happening to us, to me and to you. It is
more than it “can happen” to us. It is really happening to all of us, in our
lives.
But we do not hear the voice of God very well, maybe. As the episode of Samuel
in today’s text shows, it is sometimes not so easy to notice that
God our Father is addressing us, or to catch his voice reaching to us. Samuel
could answer God’s call only by the fourth try, and with the help of priest
Eli, his master.
4.
Then how can we avoid missing the call of God? What should we do in order to
receive his voice? I think there are some guidelines that may apply generally
to all of us who wish to listen to God’s word.
First of all, we need to be aware of that God calls to us, to recognize that he
really addresses us in our lives. Uncertainty about this fact makes it more
difficult to catch the voice of God.
Secondly, we need always to pay attention, so that we notice when God calls to
us. God our Father can speak aloud from heaven if he wants to do, just like
when Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. People heard the voice from
heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”(Lk. 3:22)
But it is also quite possible that God speaks in a low voice, almost like whispering.
The prophet Elijah heard “a gentle whisper” in his cave, and it was God. (1
King. 19:12) We need to distinguish the voice from God from the noise around
us.
Thirdly, we need to understand that God has various ways of sending us his
message. The Holy Bible is a solid source through which he gives us his
message, but it’s not the only way he addresses us. God might use a dream to
reach us. He might speak through the splendor of nature, giving us a vision as
his message for the future. But I would like to place special emphasis on the
possibility that God addresses us through other people, through other human
persons in our society.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that the person who carries the message from God
is an angel or a Godly person. It doesn’t matter who the person is. The Holy
Spirit of our God can work through any of us and let us carry his message. So,
every single time we meet our brothers and sisters in the church, we may find a
message from God.
The other day, I was listening to a testimonial talk by a Christian lady here
in this church. She spoke among other things about “the time to step one more
step forward”. And those words resonated in my mind. I thought it
meant a lot in my life right now. I took it as a message from God to me personally,
and it became my New Year’s resolution: to step one more step forward. I am
really thankful to the lady who brought the message for me.
Finally, it is important for us to understand that there is always a danger
that we might mistake what is not from God as if it comes from God. A message
from God is not necessarily the same as what we want to hear.
We should remember that a message from God is always in accord with Jesus’ life
and his teachings. This is a very simple, practical norm when we need to
distinguish whether something comes from God or from somewhere else.
5.
We live in a part of Western Europe in the present age, and one of the aspects
of living in this time and place is that certain people shout loudly, yelling
harshly; often claiming that there is no God, or the church is no longer needed
by the majority of society.
We might mistake such chaotic noise for God our Father being silent, accepting
whatever these people shout. But that is not true. God does address us, but
likely in a gentle voice. Then we need to concentrate on trying to catch his
voice, trying to receive his message properly.
The former bishop of Iceland, the Right Reverend Sigurbjörn Einarsson, preached
the following, fifty years ago: “Who can hear a voice when everybody else is
talking? Who will listen to a quiet man in tumult and roaring. (…) You hear
that one voice that offers you help, though all others talk about something
else. You hear the voice that expresses love, even though it is whispered while
all the drums are rumbling.” (Sannleikans megin? 1968)
God seems to prefer to speak in a gentle voice, and each of us makes an effort
to distinguish it through the noise. Maybe because it is a better way to build
up a mutual trust between us. Perhaps seeking the voice of our Lord Jesus
should be a part of our everyday lives.
But even should we be plunged into disturbing noise, cacophony – if we only
wish to hear, and try to focus – then we will surely hear the voice of God. We
can count on it, since our God is not only a God who tries to reach us: more
than that, our God is the God who listens to us carefully.
The Grace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your
hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. –Amen.
