Show Notes
In this third week of Eastertide, we recognize the importance of listening to God and following His wisdom in all that we do.
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Episode Transcript
In this third week of Easter, we pause to consider another of the ways in which Christ’s death and resurrection changes not only the way we view the world, but move in it. Embracing the Easter story is not just a matter of internal belief, but how, through the leading and empowering of the Holy Spirit, that conviction is expressed in our lives.
A reading from the book of Acts, chapter 9:
1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered.
11 The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”
13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.
Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. 20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.
It’s been well said that we live in a time when people are drowning in information and starving for wisdom. The average person consumes about as much data in a day as they would have in an entire lifetime a couple of hundred years ago. Think about that. You don’t have to look far to observe that we don’t seem to be much smarter as a result. The problem is that many of us are listening to the wrong voices. We act on what we hear without evaluating the source, and that can be especially dangerous when it’s people with whom we share the same values. They shouldn’t get a pass because they’re on our side. Look at Ananias in the passage from Acts we just read. When God tells him to go and pray for Saul, he doesn’t want to because of what he’s heard from others about his persecution of the early church. Now, you may say that you wouldn’t answer as Ananias did if God spoke to you as clearly about something. But have you paused to ask him? Think about some of the contentious people and situations in your community, maybe even in your workplace. Rather than just relying on what others say about people that causes you to hold back from them, why not take time to hear what God may have to say? He may have plans and purposes beyond what is currently evident. There are so many voices clamoring for our attention these days, but God’s promise is that His wisdom can still be heard above the clamor of the marketplace. Some 2,500 years ago, Solomon wrote in Proverbs 1:20 that, out in the open, wisdom calls aloud. She raises her voice in the public square.
Psalm 30:
I will exalt you, Lord,
for you lifted me out of the depths
and did not let my enemies gloat over me.
Lord my God, I called to you for help,
and you healed me.
You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the dead;
you spared me from going down to the pit.
Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people;
praise his holy name.
For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning.
When I felt secure, I said,
“I will never be shaken.”
Lord, when you favored me,
you made my royal mountain stand firm;
but when you hid your face,
I was dismayed.
To you, Lord, I called;
to the Lord I cried for mercy:
“What is gained if I am silenced,
if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it proclaim your faithfulness?
Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me;
Lord, be my help.”
You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.
Lord my God, I will praise you forever.
Let us pray with the words of Samuel Johnson.
Almighty God, giver of all wisdom, enlighten our understanding with knowledge of right and govern our will by your laws that no deceit may mislead us, no temptation may corrupt us, that we may always endeavor to do good and to hinder evil. Amid all the hopes and fears of this world, do not take your Holy Spirit from us, but grant that our thoughts may be fixed on you and that we may finally enter your eternal happiness. For Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.
And in closing, a reading from Revelation chapter 5, verses 11-14:
11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 12 In a loud voice they were saying:
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!”
13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!”
14 The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
