It was six days before the celebration of the Passover. Passover was a massive celebration in Jerusalem. Josephus, the Jewish historian, estimated that over two million people came to the great Passover Feast in Jerusalem. Devout Jews from all around the Mediterranean came to offer their sacrifices to God and to pay their half shekel temple tax.
It is said that 256,500 lambs were slain at one such Passover, and that each lamb represented at least 10 worshippers — so you can see what a crowd was present. Among those who came for the celebration were Romans, Persians, Syrian, Egyptians, and Greeks.
Our gospel lesson today opens with Jesus in Bethany, where Mary and Martha and Lazarus lived. Bethany was a small village about one and a half miles from Jerusalem. This was after Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead. Mary and Martha prepared a dinner in Jesus’ honor. Lazarus, of course, was there, alive.
Most likely, a large crowd of Jews was there not only to see Jesus, but also to see Lazarus. Lazarus had become somewhat of a celebrity. We can imagine the headlines in the news: Bethany Resident Raised from the Dead.
Among those who came to see Jesus were some Greeks. They approached Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee. “Sir,” they said to him, “we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went to tell Andrew; and together they told Jesus.
Jesus replied, as he often did, with a somewhat cryptic message about his coming death. He concluded his response to them by saying, “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!”
Then John tells us that a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.”
Seemingly, this was an audible voice, a voice which could be heard by anyone listening. But John tells us that the crowd that was there and heard the voice dismissed it as thunder; others said an angel had spoken to Jesus. Jesus said to them, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine . . .”
God spoke but the people who heard simply dismissed it as thunder. Mark described it like this: “The crowd that was there and heard the voice said it had thundered.”
You know, there are many people who are so disconnected with God that they cannot hear God speaking to them. All they would hear is thunder.
There is a rather obscure definition of sin in the Bible. It comes from a Hebrew word that means “a failure to listen.” When we fail to listen, we are cut off from whoever is speaking to us.
In George Bernard Shaw’s play St. Joan which is about Joan of Arc, Joan tells of hearing God’s messages. She is talking to King Charles. Charles does not appreciate this crazy lady in armor who insists on leading armies. He is threatened by her. He says, “Oh, your voices, your voices, always your voices. Why don’t the voices come to me? I am king, not you.”
Joan replies, “They do come to you, but you do not hear them. You have not sat in the field in the evening listening for them. When the Angelus rings, you cross yourself and have done with it. But if you prayed from your heart and listened to the trilling of the bells in the air after they stop ringing, you would hear the voices as well as I do.”
Joan heard the voice of God; the king, if he heard anything at all, heard only thunder.
Why? Because she was listening for that voice. Some people like King Charles are so disconnected from God that they never hear God’s voice. They are so preoccupied with their own pursuits that they cannot hear when God speaks.
There is a time-honored story about an old farmer who was invited by his nephew to visit the big city. The young man proudly took the farmer on a tour of the city. At one point as they walked down the street, the old man suddenly stopped and asked, “Did you hear that?” The young man looked at the milling pedestrians and the traffic and replied, “Hear what?” “A cricket,” the old man said as he walked toward a little tuft of grass growing out of a crack next to a tall building. Sure enough, there tucked in the crack was a cricket.
The young man was amazed. “How could you pick up the sound of a cricket in all this noise?” he asked. The old farmer did not say a word and just reached into his pocket, pulled out a couple of coins and dropped them on the sidewalk. Immediately, a number of people began to reach for their pockets or look down at the sidewalk. The old man observed, “We hear what our ears are trained to hear.”
Psychologist Ellen Langer says that many people are so preoccupied with their daily tasks that they rarely listen to those around them.
It is important to know that God does speak to those who listen. And God has many ways of speaking to his people.
To Saul of Tarsus, he spoke through a bright and shining light; to Moses, from a burning bush; and to Elijah, he spoke in a still small voice.
Maybe we do not hear God’s voice the way we hear others speak. For us, the voice of God can be an inward voice, a silent voice, a voice within the mind. God may speak through a friend. Or like Manny Pacquiao, God may speak to you in a dream. God may speak through a strong emotion. God may speak in a worship experience as we sing our hymns, say our prayers, listen to the choir, or to the Word interpreted.
Sometimes God speaks in sunrises or sunsets, in bright stars on a summer night, in towering mountains or surging seas. Some may have heard him speak in the caress of caring friends. Some may have heard him speak from the pages of the Bible, or in the holy hush of the sanctuary or the quiet time of prayer.
In one of our Bible studies in Bantayan, Dr. Alcala shared with the group about the earthquake and other calamities that are happening today. He mentioned that all these can be explained with science. It is not God who is punishing us. And some of these, like the flooding, is because of what we have done with our environment.
And I added that if we really listen through these calamities, we can also hear God speaking to us. God uses calamities to speak to us. If we do not take care of what God has given us, it will lead to calamities.
For folks who have helped those affected by the flooding and the earthquake, God is telling us to care for each other. As I see the faces of those survivors of the earthquake with hope in their eyes and with hearts full of gratitude because of the help we are giving, I can hear God speaking to me that we are part of a community of faith.
The greatest untapped source of power in this world is the unheeded voice of God in human affairs.
Broadway producer Jed Harris once became convinced he was losing his hearing. He visited a specialist, who pulled out a gold watch and asked “Can you hear this ticking?” “Of course,” Harris replied. The specialist walked to the door, and asked the question again. Harris concentrated and said, “Yes, I can hear it clearly.” Then the doctor walked into the next room, and repeated the question a third time. A third time, Harris said he could hear the ticking. “Mr. Harris,” the doctor concluded, “there is nothing wrong with your hearing. You just don’t listen.”
God is speaking to us. Do you hear God’s voice today? Or are you hearing thunder?
