Editorial for December 15, 2005
By Jim White
Have you noticed that everybody seems to feel complete freedom to speak for God? Of course there are Baptist preachers who have been gifted by the Spirit and called by the Lord and who speak enthusiastically and energetically, if not infallibly, for God by vocation. But there are multitudes of others with less stellar credentials who are also glad to lend him their voices. Even some of the preachers I wonder about.
I won't pick on him unduly, but perhaps you've noticed that Pat Robertson is a guy who has no hesitation to look into the camera and speak for God. With the fervor of an Old Testament prophet he proclaimed that a good part of Pennsylvania need not cry out to the Lord because they have already made their choice! Prophet-like? Jonah, maybe.Like Jonah, Pat may find out that God chooses to speak for himself and sometimes leaves his spokesperson in the dust.
But not just preachers-everyone gets in the act. I was sharing my faith in Christ with a man a while back. As I spoke of the “wages of sin,” he interrupted by saying “Me and God have an understanding.” Although I refrained, I felt like saying, “Is it a part of your understanding that unless you repent you cannot be saved?” Instead, I asked him about their “understanding.”
“Well, God just wants me to do the best I can, that's all. I can worship him wherever I am. I don't need to be in church. In fact, the church is filled with …” You have probably heard the rest of the story. He was sure he knew what God wanted, so he didn't hesitate to speak for him.
In our particular family of Christians we do a lot of talking. Quiet and reflective we aren't. Oh, we're not loud like pew-hoppers or snake handlers (in truth, I don't know if snake handlers are loud, but if I were one, I would be!). It seems that the only time there is silence in our services is when somebody misreads the bulletin.
Not only that, but Christmas is not a silent season! Toots, whirrs, whistles and whines combine with the pawing of reindeer hooves and the constant blare of a television somewhere to stage a secular assault on our ears. And we haven't even mentioned carols and choirs. So we have noisy people in a noisy season. Not much hope of a moment of meditative quiet.
Still, if we are really fortunate something completely unexpected will happen. Sometime during the Advent season perhaps we will be so overwhelmed by God's presence or God's goodness or God's greatness-to name just a few possibilities-that we will cease our endless talking about God and for God and kneel speechless before him.
Like the shepherds who could only peer in wide-eyed wonder at the multitude of religious heralds in the sky, we could be overtaken by a sight and a might beyond ourselves.
I suspect, however, that for most of us our encounter with the Christ Child will be more like the approach of the Magi. It requires discipline and some planning to make it happen. Like the Magi who rejected the power and authority of Herod to present themselves and their gifts to the Christ child, may we make the kind of choices that will leave us apprehended by the idea of incarnation. God with us.
Sometime before the New Year when the cycle begins all over again may we hunker down in silence and listen. Like those original visitors, may we hasten to Bethlehem where, in our minds, we once again visit the infant and kneel with our offerings extended in worship.
To be sure, it isn't by choice always that we open our mouths to speak. Church and culture sometimes demand it. At times no one is more painfully aware than the preacher that he has nothing to say. But it is amazing what we learn when we cease speaking for him and instead dwell quietly before him.
When we kneel in awe beside God incarnate, when we close our eyes and open our heads and hearts in meditation, we sometimes hear a fresh voice. Listening can be a humbling experience because we aren't center stage. We aren't in control. We are getting instructions rather than giving directions.
So pace yourself this Christmas. Seek balance. Take time to jingle your bells, but take time also to replenish your spirits. Chase those sales, but don't miss the free gift of God's presence. Read those catalogues, but read the Bible, too. String those lights, but don't miss the Light of the world. Sing your carols, but be still and listen for the voice of God's Son. Curiously, again like the shepherds, once we have listened, it is amazing how much we have to say!