Listening For God And Listening To God

Epiphany 5A 2020

Fr. Dale Matson

[This is the second in a series of how God communicates with us. The first is here: https://sanjoaquinsoundings.blogspot.com/2020/01/fr-carlos-epiphany-1.html
At the end of our Epistle Lesson from 1st Corinthians, we hear the following.

“16 for, ‘” Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.’ Here St. Paul quotes Isaiah (40:13) and also adds, “But we have the mind of Christ.” When I think of this verse, it always reminds me of a passage from Paul’s letter to the Romans. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Putting on the mind of Christ is what the life a Christian is all about.

         Just a couple of notes on my pilgrimage. I gave my heart to Jesus when I was about 8 years old. It was in my Sunday school class. When I was about age 12 I asked God to take me home if I would ever fall away from Him. Fortunately for me, God did not take me home before I did fall away at age 17. If He had taken me away at that time all the way to mid-life, I would have gone to Hell. Thankfully there is no rest, until we rest in Thee Lord.

         If you have the Holy Spirit inside of you, you are connected to God. I would like to talk about the ways God communicates with us and has communicated with me personally. These include primarily “The Still Small Voice” which was God’s great revelation to Elijah in 1^st Kings. “1 Kings 19:11-12 English Standard Version (ESV)

11 And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. The Kings James Version states “…a still small voice.”

         Fr. Carlos noted this verse in a recent sermon and it bears repeating. I believe this is the primary way God has communicated with me. I would also like to note that the voice of God does not condemn, God’s voice can convict however. I had a student tell our class once that she had always been blessed to hear the voice of Jesus. At Fresno Pacific, my students could express their faith.

I was once doing a bulldozer job for a man who had just built a new home. He was talking to me and smoking a cigarette. I had quit smoking about a year before and was feeling quite self-righteous. A thought came to me as a question, “What makes you better than him?” My response was the thought, “Forgive me Lord.” I was convicted.

         As a retired psychologist, I have worked with a lot of people who suffer from mental illness and the voices they hear are condemning and accusatory. Those voices are not of God. Satan speaks to us too and I know the difference. When I was about to be baptized as an adult, I was told, “You are throwing your life away for this Jesus.” It was a lie that was the truth from the evil one. He once told me before communion that the wine was poison. Yes, it was poison… for him. My folks lived in my grandfather’s house. His parents were Christian Scientists. My brother and I slept in the same room. I used to tell him about the demons in our room. I could see them but he could not.

         God speaks to us through circumstances. I am not naturally a compassionate person and every time I am moved to be compassionate, I know that it is God giving me this compassion.

         I was traveling home from Lacrosse WI from a failed job interview and stopped in a filling station for gas. A woman with a carload of little kids and a beat-up car with a window that had plastic on it pulled up to the pumps. She started toward the pay window with a dollar bill in her hand. I remember to this day, feeling such compassion for her that I gave her my last five-dollar bill I had in my wallet.

         *About two weeks ago a man called our home in the evening asking for help. He said that he was from Ft. Lauderdale and his deacon has given him two names and phone numbers. One was Fr. Carlos and one was me. He was here for a funeral and ran short of money. The thought immediately came to me, “Are you going to be the priest on the road or the Good Samaritan?” Sharon offered to go with me to meeting him at a CVC pharmacy parking lot. Now, I want to tell you that I was not entirely convinced and had 60 dollars in my right hand on the steering wheel and a gun in my left pocket. If he rejected the Gospel, I would offer him the Law. We met by his Dodge pickup and I instantly knew he was for real. I instantly saw how the church is the giant safety net for all it’s members. I got the big picture.

         God comes to us in dreams also. “And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.” (Acts 2:17)

         When I first came back to the Lord about 35 years ago, I had a dream that God was this brilliant light like the sun and millions of rays came from this light. One of the rays came straight into my chest and I could feel the warmth. It was comforting to wake up and know that I was one of His children.

         We can be convicted in our dreams also. Shortly after my divorce in 1993, someone said to me, “You seem very angry.” I was hurt by this but within a week, I had a dream that I was choking my former wife. I guess I was angry after all. A late friend, Morton Kelsey wrote “God, Dreams and Revelation”. It is a great book if you are interested in dreams.

         Nine years ago, in October, As I was celebrating Morning Prayer and Holy Eucharist on that feast day for Henry Martyn, it did not seem any more or less eventful than any other Wednesday morning. We had the usual handful of clergy and lay folks who attended and I am always thankful when there are at least two of us so that we can celebrate the Liturgy of the Altar. There is great symbolism in the vessels and linen used in the Liturgy of the Altar. For example, the fair linen on the Mensa or top of the altar represents the Burial Shroud of Christ.

When everyone had communed, I began to clear the liturgical vessels by handing them to Fr. Carlos standing beside me to my left to assist. He took the vessels from me and placed them on the credence table.  I had rinsed the chalice and paten, wiped them with the purificator cloth, laid the purificator on the cup and rested the paten on it. I then laid the pall on top. Clergy refer to this as doing the ablutions. It is called cleaning up after the priests by the altar guild.

Finally, I began to fold the corporal, which is a square piece of cloth, made of fine linen that is placed under the chalice and paten. A practical reason for the corporal is to contain particles of consecrated bread that may spill out.

Something caught my attention in the corner of my vision to the right. As I looked, I found myself looking into the tomb of the resurrected Christ. The boulder that covered the entrance must have been already removed since I could see directly into the tomb. Christ was standing and folding the cloth that was placed over his face when His body was put into the tomb. He then laid it down in a matter of fact fashion. I’m not sure how long I looked into the tomb and Fr. Carlos may have thought I was having a seizure as he waited from me to hand him the vessels and linen. My hands had stopped as I watched.

I then turned and finished folding the corporal and placed it on top of the Pall and handed the vessels to Fr. Carlos. Before offering the blessing and dismissal, I told those present what I had just seen. It is not customary for a priest to interrupt the rubrics of the liturgy but if you have seen the risen Christ, you must tell others.

My most recent event is an example of reconciliation. I believe God gives his children a reconciling heart not a hard heart. I am not a party person and can be quite testy when we have a house full of guests especially young children. Some might even say “grumpy”. Five grandchildren wrestling and throwing balls in the house is difficult for me to deal with. Their parents warn the kids beforehand but they forget the rules. I asked to grandson to stop throwing the football in the air and after a time, he began to throw it up in the air again. I yelled at him and upset him. A few days later his father called me after a fruitless email exchange and called me some pretty bad names.

I reached out with another email saying that we were family and I was sure we could work things out. This spirit of reconciliation was already at work in me. I know that God gave me this phrase. Jesus is the Prince of Peace.

Sharon heard it on the speaker phone and was tearful. Dissention in the family is about as bad as it gets for Sharon. A few days later he called and apologized. We have scheduled a future talk. The following day we celebrated Sharon’s birthday at his house. Wouldn’t you know it, when it came time for the prayer before the meal, I was standing next to him. As we held hands I said, “Glad you called last night.”

Finally, God is not just the still small voice, He is in the small things of daily life. He is the one who prompts the young person to offer a seat to the older person. Don’t forget, however that He is Sovereign and gives His gifts to those He selects in His time. He also offers consolations to us for our suffering if we can understand the connections.

When I lost almost all of my vision in my right eye to Glaucoma, God gave me 4 months’ worth of photography and video that has never been recorded before. I was able to watch two adult Golden Eagles at Millerton Lake raise their two chicks from two eggs to leaving the nest. However, they also raised a hawk chick which also flew from the nest. Twice a week for four months, God offered me the joy of witnessing and recording this. My video on YouTube about it has had over 21thousand views in less than 2 years.  God is good. Amen
*In fact this was a scam. Our deacon was called by an individual with a similar story. Fr. Carlos told me he was also scammed in a similar fashion. These are the consoling words of Fr. Carlos to me. "It's sad that people will sink to that level, brother.  But your work was still pure in the Lord's eyes.  They will have to give an answer to the King some day.  We only have to if they fool us twice!  I guess we all are on to those guys now."