Listen to God as He speaks (December 13, 2009)
By Rev. Bert Thompson

I was wrong. Oh, I was trying to do the right thing; I was trying to preach the right message, but that doesn’t change the fact that I was wrong. In my sermon two weeks ago, I said this: “People [think they] can skip Communion [this week] because they took it last week.” If you heard this, you might think if you do not take Communion every time it is offered, you are sinning.
This is not true. Sometimes we can’t take Communion every time it’s offered. Sometimes we’ve not had time to first examine ourselves as God’s Word tells us to do. Sometimes, we first have to go to a person whom we have sinned against or a person who has sinned against us before we come to the Lord’s Table.
And, if you grew up like I did, with Communion offered only once a month, it’s very difficult to get used to receiving it each week. This does not mean that we do not want the Lord’s Supper; it only means that we are not always ready for it.
When I preached those words two weeks ago, I was preaching of people who don’t care about the Lord’s Supper, but the way I said it seemed to condemn everyone in the pew who does not come up each Sunday. I apologize.
Don’t look down on those who want to come up here but who are not ready right now. And do not feel pressured by others to come up here. God invites, but He does not force. Now, on to our Epistle lesson:
“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, Rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” So far our text.
“Let your requests be made known to God” – in other words, pray. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” Pray. What is prayer? You learned in Sunday School and in Confirmation class that prayer is conversation with God.
We all know what conversation is and we get angry when some people talk all the time. They never listen. Such people learn nothing because their mouth is always open and their ears are always shut. Sadly, for them, prayer is only them talking. They talk to God, but they have no time to listen to Him. How rude!
That’s not why you are here. You’re here to listen to God as He speaks to you and you are here to speak, as God listens to you.
But how do you know what to say? Imagine you are going to have a television interview with a world famous person. You will be prepped beforehand on what to say and what to do. You first listen, so when you speak, you will be saying the right things.
When we talk to God, we first listen. When Jesus’ disciples listen to Jesus pray, they discover they need to learn more on how to pray. They ask Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray.”
Jesus answers, “When you pray, say this: ‘Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name…” When you are learning, you listen. Then you repeat. For 2,000 years, the people of God have listened and repeated the actual words of God the Son. In this prayer that we call the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us how to talk to His Father and our Father in heaven.
For example, Jesus teaches us to ask for daily bread, not weekly or monthly bread. In so doing Jesus encourages us to pray His words daily.
God encourages us to pray other prayers also. Again, we listen. The Holy Spirit records in the Bible the prayers of God’s people. We hear the prayers of those in need: “Lord, have mercy!” We hear the repentant tax collector: “Lord, have mercy on me, the sinner!” We hear the father with a sick son: “Lord, I believe; help Thou my unbelief.” We hear the repentant thief on the cross: “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”
Just like a young child learning to speak, we listen. We imitate what we hear. We say back to God the words we first hear in His sacred Word. As we continue to listen to God, our prayers become fuller and richer, expanding on, but never better than that one perfect prayer: “Our Father who art in heaven…”
God wants us to listen to Him and God wants to listen to us. In the beginning, that’s the way it was. In the Garden of Eden, in the evening, the Son of God came walking, to talk with His beloved Adam and Eve. This is God’s desire, to walk and talk with us in joyous conversation. If there had been no sin, the Bible would have ended with Genesis Chapter 2. But man’s sin tore apart this conversation between God and man. Instead of desiring to listen and talk with God, man and woman ran and hid from God.
What would you do if your so-called friends ran away when you came to visit? You might leave them.
But God doesn’t leave Adam and Eve in their sin. God searches for them. He restarts the conversation. With words of holy Law, He exposes their sins. Then with glorious, undeserved Gospel, he offers them a Savior. He continues to search for us and to talk with us, even as we are tempted to run from Him.
Look at what God gives us right here. This altar sits under Christ crucified. His Blood flows out from this altar to wash away our sins. This sanctuary is almost like the Garden of Eden, where God the Son comes to us to talk with us and us with Him. In this place, we hear the voice of God, but hearing is not all there is. Think of a newlywed bride and her beloved husband. She not only wants to hear his voice, but she wants to be with him in person, in the flesh, to see him, to hold him. We hear the voice of God here and we listen to Him. We speak to Him and He listens to us.
But this is still not quite the Garden of Eden. Something is still missing. His voice is not Him in person.
This is the Season of Advent, the season of waiting for Him to come and walk among us and talk to us in person in the flesh. After God’s promise in the garden of Eden, the people of God waited an Advent that lasted 4,000 years, until Christ came, born in our flesh, born of a virgin, Son of God and son of man.
We look back to that first time He came as we look forward to the second time He will come, in the flesh, in the clouds, in glory. Then we will see Him and talk with Him face to face.
We are now in the final Advent that has already lasted 2,000 years. We wait for the fulfillment of that Benediction Pastor Bagnall will bless you with at the end of this Service: “The Lord lift up His countenance upon you (that is, look at you face to face) and give you peace.” We want to see our Savior face to face. That’s why we pray each day: “Thy kingdom come.”
But Christ has not left you alone during this long Advent. He not only speaks to you through His Word, but He has left you His flesh and His blood for you to hold in our hands and eat and drink as He keeps you ready to meet Him in the flesh on the Last Day. You are in the “now, but not yet” of this final Advent as you wait for the fulfillment of all things. Remember, in Baptism and in Holy Absolution, Christ has already come to you and forgiven you all your sins. In Christ, you are prepared to meet Him in the flesh at this altar and when He comes again. God grant you His grace through the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ.
Amen.