Loving God, you call us from death to life and from fear to love as you continue to speak to us through your Son, Jesus.  Fill our hearts with your love this day by the power of your Spirit, and help us to continue to grow up into Christ, for in his name we pray.  Amen.

    A story you may have heard before:

A very religious man was once caught in rising floodwaters. He climbed onto the roof of his house and trusted God to rescue him. A neighbour came by in a canoe and said, “The waters will soon be above your house. Hop in and we’ll paddle to safety.”
“No thanks” replied the religious man. “I’ve prayed to God and I’m sure he will save me”
A short time later the police came by in a boat. “The waters will soon be above your house. Hop in and we’ll take you to safety.”
“No thanks” replied the religious man. “I’ve prayed to God and I’m sure he will save me”
A little time later a rescue services helicopter hovered overhead, let down a rope ladder and said. “The waters will soon be above your house. Climb the ladder and we’ll fly you to safety.”
“No thanks” replied the religious man. “I’ve prayed to God and I’m sure he will save me”
All this time the floodwaters continued to rise, until soon they reached above the roof and the religious man drowned. When he arrived in heaven he demanded an audience with God. Ushered into God’s throne room he said, “Lord, why am I here in heaven? I prayed for you to save me, I trusted you to save me from that flood.”
“Yes you did my child” replied the Lord. “And I sent you a canoe, a boat and a helicopter. But you never got in.”

    The man in this story - it seems - was expecting a miracle.  He was expecting a voice from heaven saying, “Son - here is your ride!”  However, God speaks - and shows up - “in many and various ways” (Heb. 1:1).  In fact, only very rarely is a voice from heaven involved.

    I had a conversation this week with somebody who happens to be in her nineties about the ways in which God speaks to us.  Her response to this was to point to her heart and to say, “in here.”  In my experience, that is definitely true.  What about in your experience?  Are there other ways that God still speaks to us?... [little nudges; dreams; things that show up at exactly the right time; Word & Sacrament; Scriptures; visions?; others who speak God’s Word to us]

    The beginning of the letter to the Hebrews points out how God spoke in ancient times through the prophets.  Over the years, many have tried to imagine how, exactly, the prophets knew what to say.  There were false prophets who simply told the people what they wanted to hear, and then there were the prophets who actually did speak God’s word.  My suspicion is that God spoke to the prophets in many of the same ways that we have already mentioned.  While some might have heard God speaking from the midst of a burning bush or might have encountered angels, most probably tuned in to the Spirit of God and watched and listened for what God wanted them to say.

    It is perhaps similar in some ways to writing a sermon.  Trying to come up with a sermon is always a process of listening to the Scriptures and praying and staying open to the prompting of the Holy Spirit.  My prayer is always that it would be God’s Word that I speak and not my own.  Some weeks I probably listen better than others.  Some weeks I have absolutely nothing to say, and a sermon only comes to mind after some serious prayer.  Some weeks I get stuck, stop to pray, and then an idea suddenly pops into mind.  In each case, I believe and trust that the Holy Spirit is at work.

    Today, though, both of our readings point to the most amazing way in which God ever spoke to anybody: Jesus - God’s living Word.  The thing about Jesus is that even though he looked and walked and talked and lived and died just like any other human being, he was and is so much more.  Hebrews describes him as the Son of God, who has inherited all things and who was present and actively involved in the creation of the world.  He is also described as “the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being” (Heb. 1:3).

    We also hear today how Jesus “made purification for sins” - offering himself in suffering and death.  However, not everything about Jesus is in the past tense.  Jesus not only died, but was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven where he continues to rule “at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb. 1:3).  He also continues to sustain “all things by his powerful word” (Heb. 1:3).

    These things are mentioned in Hebrews as a reminder of who it is that we worship and serve.  The thing is that Hebrews was addressed to a congregation that was declining.  Their faith was beginning to wane, as it seemed as though Jesus’ return was taking far too long.  Some were even considering giving up the Christian faith and returning to the Jewish beliefs and practices of their ancestors.  And so, the writer of Hebrews takes great pains to make sure that they have not made Jesus too small.

    Perhaps it is good for us to be asking the same question.  Have we forgotten that Jesus is alive and not dead, and that he continues to have power over sin and evil and death?  It is also good for us to be aware of how God still speaks and shows up even today.

    Our faith, you see, is not just about the end of all things and going to heaven.  Rather, we are called to a living faith that affects everything we do from day to day.  Hearing what God has to say to us or seeing signs of God’s activity in the world around us are things that simply do not happen unless we are engaged in an ongoing relationship with God that involves worship and prayer and study.  And the more we grow in this relationship with God, the more we start to resemble Jesus in the way in which we approach the world.  This is what Romans calls being “conformed to the image of [God’s] Son” (8:29).

    This, too, is part of the journey that begins today through Hebrews.  It is a journey from death to life, from suffering to being with the Majesty on high, from an earthly life to life above the angels, and from drowning to accepting the help that is offered.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

Pentecost 11 (NL summer)                        Hebrews 1:1-4
August 9, 2015                                John 1:1-5
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

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