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“Shema, Israel, Adonai eloheinu, Adonai ehad!” [Deut. 6:4] “Hear! O Israel, the Lord, our God, the Lord is One.” This is the ‘call’ to worship that Hebrew people heard for centuries, long before Jesus came on the scene.
Jesus spoke words that drew God’s sheep back into his fold. He became the shepherd who would feed shriveled souls and help them regain trust in the voice of God.
Jesus put a face on God’s word.
Jesus’ voice was the voice of God.
Jesus’ words and actions were solely directed by the Father.
Jesus absorbed the presence of God in such a way as to impart all he was given to others.
We, like sheep, may be myopic, unable to see very far in front of us but we have the capacity to hear the voice of the Shepherd.
When a baby lamb is born, the shepherd cradles that new life in his arms. The shepherd talks and sings to that little lamb and even gives it a name.
The lamb has very good hearing and can pick up the exact sound of its shepherd when called. If these sheep are mingling with another flock they will know which shepherd is theirs and come to that shepherd when called.
They know the shepherd’s voice.
Jesus knew well the verse in Isaiah that says, “We, like sheep, have gone astray, each to our own way . . . “ We sheep may stray but if we are tuned into the shepherd’s voice and attentive to that voice we will, when called, return to the fold.
The challenge has always been in the knowing the voice of The Shepherd.
Jesus spent three years with his dedicated disciples, the ones who followed him throughout his ministry.
They were not only the twelve but the seventy and the hundred and fifty.
Jesus knew exactly who he needed to visit, to remind them of his God-whispers.
Jesus knew these devout followers would take his God-whispers and share them with the world in order to draw others into the kingdom.
During this time after the resurrection and before Jesus’ ascension, it took time for our Good Shepherd to draw his sheep back into the fold.
Jesus reminded his faithful followers that they had, indeed, learned to listen to God whispers.
They, indeed, knew the shepherd’s voice.
It was now time for them to mature from being a needy little lamb to be a fully engaged sheep.
It was time for the ones dedicated to hearing God’s whispers to go into all the world and spill out words to others of God’s salvation.
It was time to trust that the Great Shepherd was calling out specific leaders to feed the lambs and the sheep who had gone astray, to help others know the Shepherd’s voice.
Too many voices can cause confusion.
The clutter of other sounds, drawing us into meaningful works may drown out the God-whispers.
Too often we dive into life forgetting to take a time out.
The words in Psalm 23 are powerful.
“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He MAKES me to lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters.. .”
Only then can he revive my soul.
Only when we separate ourselves from the clutter of life around us can we breathe in the quiet God-whispers pulsing through scripture, through worship, through prayer.
When we fully embrace the presence of our Lord are we open to God-whispers.
Only when we allow those God-whispers to penetrate our soul as we graze in his presence, can we know our Shepherd's voice and hear what action we are to take.
We see God’s action through Peter when he is called to Joppa. [Acts 9:36-43]
Someone who was with Dorcas when she died had a revelation, a God-whisper. That person knew that Peter, filled with the voice of God, filled with words and actions of the Good Shepherd, filled with all the power to heal, has the same authority to touch others with resurrected life.
Dorcas was a pillar in the community who loved Jesus, listened to God-whispers and supported widows with her gifts and talents. She was a rare gift to the community.
Peter knew the the clutter of voices must be removed from the room in order for Dorcas to hear the God-whispers that would be spoken through Peter.
God acted through Peter to bring resurrected life to Dorcas. Her body was lifeless, washed and laid out before burial.
Then Peter spoke her Aramaic name, “Tabitha, get up.” Tabitha’s soul was alive and readily responded to these words of God spoken through Peter.
God needed her gifts and talents for awhile longer.
In the same way, we are given the power, through our faith in Christ Jesus, to listen to those God whispers and pass them to the next person in prayer, in action, in drawing another into the kingdom of God.
“In the name of Jesus . . . “ we can impart the God whispers of encouragement, of healing, of resurrected life.
Yet, we can only hear those whispers when we truly know that the Lord is our Shepherd, when we are made to lie down in green pastures and chew on His word, eat his presence, drink in the living water that fills our soul.
No matter how old we are when we truly know the Lord and take time to linger with him to hear those God-whispers, we are called to share what we know with whomever is in our path.
It takes time to learn how to graze and lie down in green pastures that build the soul, restore our soul and enables our soul to build other’s lives.
It's so daily.
“Shema, Israel, Adonai eloheinu, Adonai ehad!”
Listen all you who have been brought into the sheep-fold through faith in Jesus Christ.
Listen to those God-whispers as we are called to go out and share with others what we have received from our Lord, Jesus Christ, in order to build up the kingdom of God.
Listen
Wait for those God-whispers
Learn the voice of the Good Shepherd.
Help others to learn that same voice.
