SO SILENT YOU CAN HEAR

June 19, 2016

Pentecost 5

Galatians 3:23-29

Luke 8:22-25

(prayer)

When I was in my final year at theological college in 1989, I was part of a graduating class of 17 people in the Masters of Divinity program at the Vancouver School of Theology.  As a relatively small group, we expected to be learning and working closely with each other for several months, so, getting to know and understand each other was essential.  To that end, early in that school year, we all compared our results from the Myers-Briggs [Personality] Type Indicator.

Using a "do you prefer this-or-that" questionaire, the Myers-Briggs [Personality] Type Indicator focuses on four basic aspects of how a person prefers to relate to the world.

1.    What helps you make decisions - your head or your heart; logic or emotions; Thoughts or Feelings?

2.    What do you trust most as you gather information - your Senses (see, smell, taste, hear, touch) or a sixth sense (iNtuition)?

3.    How do you like to organize your time - Judiciously plan, prepare, and think ahead or go with the flow, preferring to Perceive things as they crop up?

Perhaps the easiest of the MBTI personality traits to guess about the person, asks:

4.    To what degree are we energized by others?  Are we Introverted or Extroverted?  Outgoing or more introspective?  After a fun party, are you ready for more, or can you not wait to get home and close the door?  Everyone behaves in Introverted and Extroverted ways, but we tend to have a preference.  Myers-Briggs asks: are you an E or an I?

Now, the E-I scale is a continuum - some of us are obviously on one extreme end or another, some of us are more moderate, although most of us would lean to one side or the other.

A quick way to tell:

·         If you want to know what an introvert is thinking, you'll probably have to ask.

·         If you want to know what an extrovert is thinking, you probably just have to listen.

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Some of us think best as we are able to talk things out. 

Others think best huddled in quiet places.

The truth is... silence comes easier to some of us than others.

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I have been intrigued over about how 'silence' has been part of the conversation surrounding tragic events out of Orlando over this past week.  What a horrible week for central Florida!  The terrorism-hate crime at the Pulse Night Club came only a day after a young singer was murdered while signing autographs after a concert, followed a few days later by the tragic alligator attack of a two-year old at a Disney World hotel.

And then on Thursday, a 41 year old Labour MP was murdered - likely because she embraced diversity.

Too much senseless death to digest.

Too many opportunities for moments of silence out of respect for the victims.

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And yet, there were calls to break silences.  A legislator refused to be quiet during a moment of silence in the US Congress shouting (instead) "where is the bill?" to protest the fact that the proven pattern after mass shootings is to refuse to talk about any gun control ideas. A few others chose to protest by silently walking out as others stood there being quiet.

In the middle of the week, a Connecticut Senator filibustered the work of the US Senate by speaking for hours on end about the need for new gun legislation.

Sometimes, people think or feel that silence must be broken.

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I was disgusted by the lack of silence by religious responses of both radical Islamic and Christian thinkers who praised the nightclub murders as God's work.

I was emboldened by the courageous religious and political  voices whose words countered the rhetoric of those hatefilled extremists.

Now, normally, beyond the my own sick enjoyment of the purely saterical entertainment factor, I wish certain politicians would be silent more often when they go on (what I see as senseless, self-serving) rants, but I will give (possible future president) Donald Trump credit for challenging the US's National Rifle Association insistence that you can't have rules stopping people on terrorist "no-fly and watch" lists from purchasing guns because it will be the beginning of the end of law-abiding citizens' constitutional right to bear arms.

And yet, I will not be surprised if no laws change when votes are made early this week.

I will not be surprised if silence continues to be the order of the day.

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As on Old Testament preacher famously wrote: there is a time to keep silence and a time to speak (Ecclesiastes 3:7b).

Silence has its place.  It has deep value that is absolutely necessary.

And... there are times when silence must be broken.

There are times when the most extroverted of us needs to quietly reflect and there are times when the most introverted of us needs to shout out at the top of our lungs.

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When Elijah was inspired to venture up a mountain to experience the very presence of God, the prophet expected that encounter to be dramatic.

So, when a rock-slitting wind blew, Elijah assumed that God was in the wind.  No.

When the ground shook, God must be in the earthquake.  No.

When a fire raged, surely God was in the fire.  No.

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Then... nothing.

And yet... something.

 דקָּֽה ק֖וֹל דְּמָמָ֥ה

Qol d-ma-mah da-qah

Voice, thin, small.

What did Elijah hear?

Using an intentional oxymoron, 1st Kings 19:12 says that the prophet experienced...

^{A Silent Sound}

Almost imperceptible - but there.

A hint of a whisper.

Only perceptible when all else is set aside.  When it is so silent that we can hear.

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The disciples were frantically trying to keep the boat afloat after the storm overtook them.  They must have been screaming instructions at each other.  The non-fishermen in the boat may have been screaming in panic.

But not Jesus. 

He was surprisingly quiet.

We are going to die?

Jesus, don't you care?

Do something!

Where is God?

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Then Jesus breaks his silence.

And the wind and waves quieted.

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The traditions of the Torah and the practice of culture spoke loudly and clearly... there are divisions between people that God endorses.  And yet... the Apostle preaches against this doctrine claiming that his faith is speaking something different.

In the stories Jesus' life, Paul had heard that Jesus regularly ignored these dividing lines.

[You may have seen this image included in the announcement slides before church where Jesus is erasing the dividing lines people are drawing around others.]

This cartoon expresses what Paul was trying to say to the people of early church.

Paul did not see any authoritative voice in the traditions of culture or law to divide the followers of Jesus - regardless of their gendre or their social status or their religious or cultural background.

Paul refused to be silent on this issue.  Moreso, he seeks to silence those who benefit from a hierarchy within the family of Christ.

The Galatians heard in Pauls words: Regardless of what you may have heard before, in this emerging Community of Jesus, we - all - are one.

As I have preached several times over this past month, this was a fairly dramatic shift in thinking for the mid-first century and... continues to have dramatic implications for how we treat others in the world today.

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There is a time to keep silence,

And a time to speak.

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Today, we spoke words of promise and support for Penn, Emmett, Jack and their families and (indeed) for all of us.

Each of us is encouraged to take those words to heart and... to reflect on how that becomes holy and real in our midst.

Hymnwriter Jim Strathdee sings:

We are the hands and feet of Christ,

serving by grace each other's needs.

(see #603VU "In Loving Partnership")

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With silent prayer and obvious actions, we shine the light of Christ for each other and to the world.

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In times of silence, we shut the distractions out, so that still, small, holy voices might be heard.

With silence, we can show honour and respect.

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In times of speaking, we can drown out the voices of division, xenophobia, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, hate, greed, etc. and the violence and oppression that far too often results from those who refuse to hear that We Are One.

With speaking, we can work for a common good, where calmness and safety is truly know.

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Jesus tells us not to be afraid.

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We do not need to fear speaking and acting for an equality among the people of God's creation.

We do not need to fear the silence, when we strain to hear the holy guidance and support of our creator.

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There is a time and a purpose

for everything under heaven.

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Let us pray:

Wise God... [ ... ] ...hear our prayer. Amen.

#672VU “Take Time to Be Holy”

"The Sound of Silence"