February 22 - 1st Sunday of Lent

Bellarmine University
“THE EYES HAVE IT:” PART 1, “Insight”
Rev. Ronald Knott
February 22, 2015

Jesus remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan.
Mark 1:12

What do you do when you are faced with an important decision? Ask the audience? Take the 50/50? Phone a friend? Do you take a poll? Flip a coin? Call Miss Cleo’s horoscope hotline? What do you do when you are faced with an important decision? Choose the least painful option, the most popular choice, the easiest route? What do you do when you have an important decision to make?

Under attack, Elijah withdrew to a cave by himself to listen to God and get clarity about what to do next. His guidance did not come out of some dramatic windstorm, thunderous earthquake or roaring fire or any other big spectacular event. His guidance came to him in a tiny whispering sound.

What do you do when you have an important decision to make? Gideon, in the Book of Judges, is more like us. When God calls him to save Israel from the incursions of Midianite terrorists, he was just an ordinary man going about his business. Feeling totally incompetent for such a big task, Gideon points out to God that he was the most insignificant son in a family of the most insignificant tribe in Israel. He asked God how could he possibly lead his people in battle against such a huge enemy. God answered him simply, “I will be with you.” Gideon was still suspicious, so he asks God for a “signs” so that he could make sure it was really God calling him to such a task. God sent a sign, but still Gideon wavered. He then asks God to send a second sign for good measure.

What do you do when you have an important decision to make? Our gospel today takes up immediately after Jesus’ baptism. Right after he came up out of the water, the clouds parted and God spoke to him saying, “You are my beloved Son. On you my favor rests” But what did that mean? Jesus immediately headed for the desert, a traditional place to go on retreat. The desert is a place unmercifully devoid of distractions, a place to hear God’s voice and get clarity. Jesus withdrew from all the noise and distractions to listen for that tiny, whispering voice that Elijah heard when he was in the desert. There he spent 40 days going over the options about what being “God’s Son” meant. Was he being called to be a liberator king? Was he being called to change the world by defying the laws of nature? Was he being called to produce amazing feats of power? All those options were tempting, but when all was said and done, when he had finished his listening, he got his answer: God’s way is not about worldly power, or changing things with supernatural tricks, its about changing minds and opening hearts, its about loving, even loving one’s enemies, its about seeing the presence of God already with us.

When he came out of the desert, Jesus preached that if people changed their hearts and open their minds they would see that they already have what they needed. A changed heart and a changed mind is the only path to a changed world. Changed people change the world. Jesus taught that if people would open their minds and hearts, they would see that they were already in heaven. Elizabeth Barrett Browning says it this way, “Earth’s crammed with heaven and every common bush afire with God; but only he who sees takes off his shoes.

What do you do when you faced with an important decision? Forget what the audience says, don’t try to guess and don’t phone a friend, just shut up and listen. If you shut up and listen, God will tell you the way to go. As Isaiah put it, “A voice shall sound in your ear, should you turn this way or that, saying, “this is the way, walk in it.” God says this to Jeremiah, “I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts.” The Book of Revelation speaks of the church in heaven as people who have “his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads.” What did Jesus learn in the desert? He learned that life’s secrets are “in here,” not “out there!”

I learned something a long time ago about counseling: most people already know what their answer is when they come in. All you have to do as a counselor is to cajole them into listening to their own hearts for that tiny whispering voice, the whispering voice of God. The reason they cannot hear it is because their heads and hearts are filled with noise: their own mind chatter, the manipulations and opinions of others and the noise of an “always-talking- and-never-listening world.” If their head was a radio, they would be picking up 50 station at once. With all the chatter in the air, pulling us this way and that, no wonder it is so hard for people today to make a decision and stick with it. There are so many things to choose from, so many competing voices, some are paralyzed by all of it, some refrain from choosing and some bite into all the chocolates in the box and never completely eat one.

Do you hear what I am saying today? I could have given you a talk about the geography of Palestinian deserts, I could have talked about the symbolism of 40 days and I could have compared this desert story with those of the other evangelists. I am more interested, however, in telling you what it means than what it says. What this story is trying to get across is simple: Jesus got direction for his life through intense listening and so do we. What should you do when you are faced with an important decision? Simply put, just shut up and listen for that small whispering voice, the voice of God’s speaking to your heart.

Lent is retreat time in the church. A time to slow down, cut back and listen. Forget about giving up candy bars! It would be better to spend ten minutes a day sitting in God’s presence. Learn how to empty your mind of chatter, let it be still and focus on the spirit of God living within you. Forget about giving up pizza! It would be much better to spend ten minutes a day asking God to give you the courage to listen to your self, your true self, not the self you try to project for the world. Forget about giving up Pepsis. It would be better to ask God to help you recognize what you are running from and what you are running toward and show you where you ought to run. Jesus got direction for his life through intense listening and so do we! If you are not clear about what to do with your life, Lent is for you. If you have strayed from the path you know you should walk, Lent is for you. If you want to intensify the life you are living, Lent is for you.