Lectionary 24.09                                                          Christ Church , York

It is a saying that has stuck with me over the years, although I don’t remember the author nor where or when I read it. It is a saying that continues to challenge me in my daily living, sometimes speaking as I do before I think. It is a saying that brings me up short even today and makes me take a serious look at myself and my behavior “You have been given,” said the author of this saying “two ears and one tongue and you should use them in that proportion.” Two ears and one tongue! Two ears for listening and one tongue for speaking. Two ears which are to be used first for the listening. And only then, only after the listening, is the one tongue to be engaged for speaking. Ears and tongue; listening and speaking; silence and speech! Isaiah and James, the authors of our first two lessons would perhaps have agreed with that sentiment from this other unknown author, for they too come to speak to us today of speech and silence, of tongues and ears.

It is Isaiah who begins by speaking of the tongue that he has been given by the Lord, the tongue of a teacher, so that he might “know how to sustain the weary with a word,” a fitting image as we install our teachers today and witness the icon of Christ the Teacher. Speaking is important for Isaiah since he has been called to be a speaker, a proclaimer, an announcer of God’s Word. But not content with the speaking Isaiah quickly tells us how and when he learns to speak – from the voice of God Himself who comes to the prophet’s ear every morning. Indeed it is the voice of God which wakens that ear so that it might “listen as those who are taught.” In order to speak the word of challenge, a word of sustenance or a word of hope, the prophet must first listen carefully to God who comes to speak to him.

But how are we to hear the voice of God? I’m often amazed as I listen to some of the television evangelists speak of how God has given them a word, a promise, a prediction which they then share with us. They claim, as casually as though they were speaking of a spouse or colleague, that God has come directly to them and spoken to them. But that has never happened to me! God has never used His deep bass voice to summon me, or called me on a road to somewhere, or whispered to me in the early morning hours as I lay on my bed. Yet in turn I sometimes glibly tell some of you or family or friends to listen for the voice of God, as though I assume that God will speak to you directly. And indeed I do believe that God can speak to anyone in such a manner, for God is not limited and can do whatever He so desires.

But down through the centuries people of faith have found that God does not always choose this direct, one on one form of communication. Rather God has spoken in a variety of ways and Scripture shows us that God does not always choose to speak with words proclaimed from the heavens. Instead sometimes God’s words come to us through the words of others, using their voice as His voice. Paying attention when others speak therefore may open us to hearing the very voice of God Himself. I remain convinced that I would not have discerned my call to ministry if it were not for the suggestions, the words of encouragement and sometimes the word of challenge offered to me by so many friends and colleagues along the way. God’s Spirit helped and guided them to speak to words to me and that same Spirit opened me to hear those words as if from God Himself.

But sometimes God’s word comes to us in moments of insight or even in dreams as God did of old to Joseph in the Old Testament and yet another Joseph in the New Testament. Sometimes God speaks through human creations such as the visual arts or music and sometimes through the beauty and wonder of creation itself. We are simply called to be open to hearing the voice of God through these or any other means, especially to hearing God when we least expect it. God is not like a television or radio that we can turn on when we want to hear it and turn it off when we don’t. Instead if we live our lives expecting that God will speak to us, then we will be ready to hear it when it happens.

But like Isaiah of old, once we have heard the Word of God, once we have listened with our ears then comes the speaking of that which we have heard. But like the listening this is not always easy for our tongues - oh our tongues - which can get us into trouble quicker than any other part of our bodies. James rather eloquently paints a picture most of us know only too well, a picture of how dangerous an uncontrolled tongue can be and the damage it can do. As James puts it so well, the tongue is “a restless evil full of deadly poison.” I have had the experience of hearing myself say something I know I will regret even as I speak the words. I know only too well how easy it is for the tongue to blurt out things which are spiteful, hurtful, painful, judgmental and simply wrong! Our parents and teachers were right when they regularly advised us to engage our brains before putting our mouths in gear!

Yet so often we are tempted to respond quickly in any situation, not really listening to the other person long enough to truly hear what they are saying. Many an argument between partners and friends erupts and then continues because they simply have not listened to one another. Indeed I would posit that there might be a whole lot of therapists and divorce lawyers put out of business if spouses could learn to listen more deeply to those they love. Many could become friends if we could learn to listen more empathically to those we call our enemies. Perhaps once again the old advice is truest – that we should never miss an opportunity to keep our mouths shut!

Yet there are times when we are called to let our tongues loose and speak. Isaiah says that he has been given the tongue of a teacher precisely so that he may know how to “sustain the weary with a word.” Out of our listening, we can be moved to speech which is life giving. People around us need to hear words of encouragement and hope, of life and love. Those who have gone astray need to hear words of correction. And there are the words of our stories which, when spoken, tell of who and whose we are. And there are those times, as every prophet has known, when we are called to speak for those who cannot speak – those who are powerless, those who are wronged, those to whom some injustice has been done. When we see and hear of such wrong, such injustice, such oppression we are called to speak for that which is right and true and godly. But learning to speak fearlessly in such cases can sometimes be as difficult as learning to bridle our tongues in the first place!

Yet the world remains weary. The world desperately yearns to hear a word of hope in the midst of its despair, a word of life in the midst of its culture of death and a world of love in the midst of its dissension and divisiveness. And the words of the world are not sufficient to feed these needs, wants or desires. The words of the world are empty, for they cannot speak the truth and above all they cannot bring life. Yet our God has come to speak His words to us, whispering in our ears as we wake in the morning, speaking this day so that we may “listen as those who are taught.” The words of our God are not always easy to hear for sometimes they call us into a way of living that, left to our own devices, we would not choose. Sometimes the word of God calls us into a faithfulness that we, on our own, would not seek but which we know is the way of truth and life. Isaiah knew such a call upon his life and how he sought to be faithful and so says that “The Lord has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn back.” Called into such faithfulness, Isaiah becomes a prophet, one who speaks God’s word to His people so that they might have the only word which is true and right and just and life giving.

Our baptismal calling leads us also into the role of prophet and evangelist, of speaker and proclaimer. In our baptisms we have been given the gift of new life in Christ Jesus Our Lord. And so we are also called to use our tongues to offer song and praise to our Lord and Father and to proclaim His great work for us. But each of us is also called in our baptisms to use our God given gift of the tongue, not for evil or malice, not for cursing or blame but rather for “sustaining the weary with a word;” for speaking the truth in love, for bearing witness to the faith, for proclaiming the goodness of our God. Having listened with our ears we are called now to speak with our tongues, to speak that which God has given us to speak so that the world may hear that word and live. Or in the words of our hymn “Lord speak to us that we may speak in living echoes of your tone.” For God has come this day to speak His Word to us and we have heard that Word, for it is the Christ Himself, the very Word of God who comes to us in Scripture and in Eucharist. This Word has spoken to us and with our ears we have heard it. May that Word now always be on our minds and on our lips and in our hearts. And with those lips let us proclaim God’s word to all the world until He shall come again. Amen