Listening for God

epWe are continuing our current sermon series this week where we are looking at sharing God with those around us. We have been focusing on misconceptions that might lead us into not sharing God and how God can use our stories to change lives.

You can find all of our previous sermons on our You Tube channel. This week we turn to the importance of “Listening for God.” Our scripture comes from Luke 5:1-10.

5 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.

Please pray with me…

We had this annoying beep occurring here at the church. The problem was that it was low enough in volume that we could only hear it when it was quiet. George figured out through the process of elimination that it was the battery dying for the door of the case that holds our AED machine in the hallway.

What it has brought to mind for me is am I spending the same amount of time being quiet and giving God the chance to talk to me that we did trying to figure out where that beep was coming from? Am I quieting my mind enough that God can communicate with me?

It might seem like a small difference but there is a difference between listening to God and  listening for God. It is through a willingness to listen for God that allows for us to have opportunities to listen to God. If our mind and bodies are too busy it can cause us to not hear that God is attempting to speak to us.

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God has been speaking to humanity since creation when he called humanity into being and gave orders to Adam on what he could do and what he was prohibited from doing. If you know the story of Adam this also should point out to us that humanity has often chosen not to do what God asks for them to do since the beginning.

What we discover from scripture is that it is through listening for God and responding to God that we are able to see lives changed for the better. It is when humanity has been willing to follow the will of God that lives are transformed.

Some positive examples would be Abram who will eventually become Abraham listening to God and being willing to leave his home and go to where God desired for him to go. His decision led to the formation of God’s chosen people.

Moses, not wanting to, but eventually listening and willing to do what God wants him to do which led to the Israelites being freed from captivity. The prophets who would do all that they could to get society to choose to follow God instead of the ways of the world.

This does not include the followers of Jesus who listened, responded, and changed the trajectory of the world from that moment. We are here today worshipping God because of the willingness of those before us to listen for God and respond to God.

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Our first reading offers us an example of listening for God and then seeming to not ask for what God desires for us to do. Just before our scripture we have Elijah, who is believed to be the greatest of all prophets, at a very low time in his life.

He has heard that people are trying to kill him, and he has run away but he is now tired of running so he stops and prays that God would just let him die before those trying to kill him reach him. Instead, God, in my language, tells him to quit his whining and get up and eat.

After eating, we have him traveling for forty days and nights to reach Mount Horeb. It seems that there is silence between God and Elijah during his forty-day journey. He reaches Mt Horeb, goes into a cave, and rests.

His journey to God is complete. Mt Horeb is known as the mountain of God because it is believed to be near where Moses heard from God from the burning bush. It is also the place where God gave Moses the ten commandments. It is at this place that God asks Elijah a question. He says, “why have you come here?”

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It seems that God didn’t expect or ask Elijah to take the journey. But through the question we receive our answer. He was afraid so he ran away. But he didn’t run just anywhere, he ran to the Mountain of God. You could say that he was running to God.

It may be that he was looking for answers and felt that this location was the best place for him to reconnect with God and begin to set things right again. He states that unlike those that had been around him he was still zealous for the Lord.

We are more likely to be listening for God if we are zealous for the Lord. The definition of the word “zealous” according to the Oxford Dictionary is “showing great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or objective.”

Elijah is saying, “I want to serve you Lord. I want to do what you desire for me to do.” We also should be zealous for the Lord. We need to desire to listen for God. We need to want to hear from God in order to allow God to help us know the ways that he wants us to serve him.

We need to be willing to be like Elijah and run to God. We obviously don’t have a Mt Horeb near us in Columbus, Ohio. But I did look it up and there is a Mt Orab, Ohio which is believed to be named after the mountain of God

Unless you want to make that trip, which probably won’t have the same result, we need to discover where and how we are best able to hear from God. We need to be willing to take the steps needed to allow for us to be in the best circumstances to hear what God wants to say to us.

This does not mean that God might not find another way to communicate with us, but we are more likely to hear from him when we have created the best circumstances for us to listen for him.

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The story continues with God telling Elijah to go and “stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord because the Lord is about to pass by.” Elijah listens to God and prepares to hear from God.

We have three massive and powerful events occur. We have a wind so powerful that the scriptures says it “tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks.” We have an earthquake shake the earth and this was followed by fire all while Elijah is listening for the Lord.

The Lord was not in any of these great and mighty acts. It was after the fire. It was through a “gentle whisper” or what is sometimes referred to “as a still, small voice” that Elijah was able to hear from God.

Elijah was able to hear from God because he was listening for God. God didn’t speak to him loud and boldly like he seemed to have done last week when he spoke to Saul. He spoke to Elijah in such a way that Elijah had to be listening in order to hear him.

It was through that “gentle whisper” that Elijah was able to hear what was going to happen and what he was supposed to do. Elijah listens and goes and does what he was asked by God to do. We show we are zealous for the Lord by listening for the Lord.

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Our main scripture for today points out some of the ways that God communicates with us and asks for us to respond. We can find three examples. We have him ask for the disciples to help him. He orders the disciples to do what he desires. And he speaks to a group of people teaching them on how to follow the ways of God. We have God asking, ordering, and teaching.

God may at times ask for our assistance. He may say to us, “I need a favor.” A favor that I have designed for you to complete for me. This favor will often benefit God and those around us. That is the case in today’s text.

Jesus is running out of room on the shore and so for his benefit and also for the benefit of the crowd Jesus asks Simon for a favor. He asks if he can use their boat so he can be out in the water to allow him to have an easier time speaking to the crowd.

This is probably the most common way that we hear from God. Even if you don’t realize it you as a follower of Jesus may end up doing a favor for Jesus by helping out those around you. You may not realize it comes from God, but the Holy Spirit is at work. Helping to lead you into doing what Jesus needs done at that moment.

We state during our prayer time asking for God to lead us into circumstances when we can intervene on the behalf of those that may be sick or hurting. We are asking for the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to ways that we can do God a favor by helping those around us.

We had an example of this type of interaction with God during the first week of our sermon series when God asked Phillip to go to a place. It was once he went and got there that he was asked again by God to do him and this man a favor by going up and talking to him. This interaction led that man to decide that he wanted to become a follower of Jesus.

This can often be the toughest of our interactions with God. We want to do what God desires for us to do, but we become afraid of the outcome. Phillip was willing to talk to the man. If God asks us to, we should also choose to let our faith factor overcome our fear factor and give those Jesus wants us to serve or speak too, the chance to know about Jesus.

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A second way that we may hear from Jesus is him telling us to go and do something. This one will often involve us having to decide if we really want to do what God wants us to do. This type of interaction may benefit others, but it will also often benefit us.

In the text the disciples had been fishing all night with no luck. Jesus tells them to go back out into the water and try again. They are tired and probably aggravated already because of their lack of success and so they really do not want to go.

But out of respect for this Rabbi that they had heard speaking, they make the choice to listen. They are rewarded with a very large catch of fish. They were willing to respond to Jesus despite their doubts and were rewarded.

We may not always receive a reward for listening here on earth, but we will often benefit by responding to this type of interaction. Often this may involve us doing something that God knows may harm our relationship with him or others. Meaning, he asks us to stop it, so that we will be able to live happier more productive lives.

We can discover this type of interaction with the story of the woman caught in adultery. Jewish law says she should be stoned but Jesus points out that whoever is without sin should cast out the first stone. This leads the Pharisees to leave her alone. Jesus tells her to get up and sin no more.

Jesus always desires for us to do better. He doesn’t expect us to be perfect, but he likes it when he can tell that we are trying. God very seldom leaves us comfortable in our faith. We will often be told how we can be better and do better so that we can become closer to God.

We should decide to listen and become closer to God each and every day. God doesn’t make us follow him even when he orders us. We have the ability to decide we don’t want to do what he desires for us to do.

We should choose to follow the will of God not because we have too but because we want too. We should remember that God first loved us and showed that love for his creation through Jesus dying on the cross for each one of us. This should be why we decide we are following Jesus.

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The third type of interaction we see in today’s text involves Jesus speaking to a group of people He isn’t just offering individual advice; he is desiring that the people respond to him as a group. He wants to see the people become the people of God and live their lives the way that God desires for them to live.

We as a church can receive a message from God on what we are to do and how God wants us to do it. We can ask for his intervention in our situations. We can ask for his assistance in serving our community as he desires. We can seek from him ways that we can let those around us know about Jesus.

There were many times within scripture where a group of people were gathered and heard from God. The exodus is possibly the best example. God through Moses would let the people know when to go and when to stay. God would speak to Moses and have Moses convey his thoughts to the people.

Jesus, of course, would let the people know the expectations and thoughts from God but he would also sometimes leave points hidden through parables. This was so the disciples would be able to interpret his meaning after he left.

We have Peter speaking to a crowd after he and those in the upper room had received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. He tells them who Jesus is and how they had received the Holy Spirit within them, and how the Spirit was able to allow them to speak in different languages. We will have more from that story next week.

We need to be open to what the Spirit may want to say to us. We should not only ask for intervention in our own lives but also within our church on ways in which God would desire for us to serve those around us. We have a God that wants us to serve him in community with one another.

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We are spending this year preparing to enter 2026 ready to reach the people that God desires for us to reach. We are calling this year a year of traction or you could say preparation. It is important that we spend this season of the church listening for God both individually and as a church.

Let us prepare ourselves for the ways that God wants to work in us and through us. At the same time, let us ask God to let us know who we should invite to church right now. There may be people that are not yet here that are to help us become the church that we are to become.

Our God works in mysterious ways. Let us be open to the ways of God and listening for his “gentle whisper” so that we can become the people and the church that God desires for us to be.

Let us pray…