Listen...

Luke 4.18-19 (CEB)
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

Learning to listen is a task that we think would come easy enough, but as with most things it takes a great deal of discipline to get better at it. A large part of the ministry we are all called to is one of listening, specifically, listening for where God is moving in our lives. Listening for the small still voice of God, who, as VBS reminds us this week, has the power to provide grace upon grace; listening for the transformation of lives of those who have encountered the risen Christ Jesus by his love; listening for the Holy Spirit’s movement that inspires, empowers, and ultimately moves us if we allow it to share the freedom we have found.

Ultimately, learning to listen means that we have to put aside many things. We have to put aside our assumptions; the things we believe are true without proof or firsthand knowledge. We have to put aside social, racial, national, or religious differences as automatic ways to distance ourselves from one another and to keep ourselves insulated from learning something from each other.
Jesus shows us time and again what it means to listen to God and live in this world positively and hopefully. Some of the things he did got him into trouble because he chose to cross the barriers that were present at the time and in some ways still present today.

So today I am inviting us to take a page from Jesus’ play book and look for ways that we too can seek the transformation of the world by ways of the kingdom of God.

Grace and peace,
Rev. Brian