Mount Sterling First United Methodist Church
Wisdom That Opens Eyes & Ears

  • Hearing God: Listening in a Noisy World

    Last week I asked if you ever had a problem praying to God, knowing what to say, what to think, what or who to pray for. Prayer is our ultimate deep relationship with God, so it is the best way that we can individually and collectively mature and deepen our connection with God. This week we will discuss how to hear God in a very noisy world.
    Hearing God means we are actively listening and in-tune with God’s voice, God’s prompting, God’s encouragement, God’s motivation, and God’s Spirit. Listening is an intentional act of inviting an outside force into your mind that will offer new information, new data, that could possibly change who you are, confirm who you are, and encourage your present day walk.
    Think through your life and how so much has changed, yet one force that has change, and yet remained, is the noise of life. When you are younger, you have the noise of your ever developing body, your parents/guardians, grandparents, siblings, extended family, friends from the neighborhood, friends from school, rules of school, rules of home, rules of the community you live, and the list goes on and on.
    When you get older your noise changes into adult responsibilities. You have the noise of paying bills, the noise of fixing things that are broken, the noise of family, employment, government, neighborhood, other people’s opinions, and the list goes on and on.
    In your retirement the noise changes again but is still present. You now have noises much like when you were younger and your body is doing things that you’ve never experienced before and you may not like it. You also have the noise of hoping you will have enough money to live on, wanting to be available to have fun, desiring to be with family, more medical appointments than you desire, traveling to new places, and the noise of silence as you see more friends start to leave you one by one.

    God speaks in many ways

    In all of noise of life, in every stage of your life, God still speaks. When you’re younger God speaks in a way that is relevant to a youthful age, in your busy adult years God is speaking above, in between, and beneath the cracks of life, in your maturing years of retirement God is speaking in the silence, the mundane, the unwanted, the joy, and the freedom that this life stage provides. God is always speaking but does so in many different ways so that every age and every culture will be able to hear, and hopefully listen.
    So, in the noise of your life, in whatever stage you are in, how does God speak to you? As a United Methodist Christian how does God speak to you? Looking upon our United Methodist heritage, God is said to speak to us through Scripture, Tradition, Reason, and Experience.
    God’s voice is heard through scripture as it is a collection of 66+ books/letters/poems/songs that were constructed to evidence God engaging in relationship with humanity throughout many millennia. Scripture is one of our ultimate guides for reflection of religious interaction with a holy God and humanity on the onward and upward holiness progression of love. Mark Twain said,
    Most people are bothered by those passages in Scripture which they cannot understand; but as for me, I always noticed that the passages in Scripture which trouble me most are those which I do understand.
    Mark Twain
    For non-Christians scripture can still speak to their existence but other religious or humanistic writings may play a larger role, this is to be expected but for us United Methodist Christians, scripture is still essential in our overall understanding of how God can speak through the generations.
    Tradition is another way God can speak to us. Tradition in the USA in 2024 is going to be different than Tradition in Rome in 1200 or Babylon in 300BC. God will speak through the present day culture in a way that is significant, symbolic, while emphasizing God’s holiness and illuminating human understanding through the ever-present and moving Spirit. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said,
    We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves; otherwise we harden.
    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
    Traditions can come and go depending on the nature of what is needed and necessary for the people, at the time. Some Traditions can also last too long where no one understands why we do this specific act anymore. Traditions can also be good and deepen a prayerful relationship with God. God definitely speaks through the ritualistic acts that we, as a people, choose to do.
    Reason proclaims the active and ongoing knowledge that humans gain over time. You may have heard the phrase before, “we don’t check our brains at the door of the church”, this should be true of every church that you enter. If something simply does not make sense and new knowledge or data on a certain topic proves otherwise, especially if it speaks against a traditional interpretation of scripture, then reason should be highly considered as more relevant. Francis Bacon said,
    A little philosophy inclines men’s minds to atheism, but depth in philosophy brings men’s minds about to religion.
    —Francis Bacon
    Francis Bacon (Philosopher)
    God speaks through education as we learn more about this world, we do learn more about God and can learn to hear God’s voice in new and exciting ways. Reason is good so don’t easily cast it away when you may not fully understand something new.
    Experience is not new but was an addition from Wesley to the people called Methodists. Wesley added experience to the 3-fold Scripture, Tradition, and Reason from the Church of England. Experience is the active voice of the Holy Spirit in the daily life events, activities, and ever evolving culture of humanity. Humanity must listen to God through experiencing life for the maintenance of old relationships and the establishment of new relationships all consists of new and maturing experiences of life. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin said,
    We are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience.
    Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
    God definitely speaks through experiences that are new, frightening, uncomfortable, and confirming.
    Tradition, Reason, and Experience all speak to Scripture, as Scripture also speaks to Tradition, Reason, and Experience. God throughout time has spoken when there was no Scripture, no Tradition, and very limited Reason and Experience.

    The Role of Discernment

    This bring us to discernment. We all have the ability to perceive or recognize differences to judge what is right and wrong, good and evil, the voice of God and the will of humanity. Unfortunately, we’ve all come across people who who have very little discernment. There is a quote from an unknown author that says:
    ​
    Little [people] with little minds and little imaginations go through life in little ruts, smugly resisting all changes which would jar their little worlds.
    Unknown
    In other words, there are some people who simply do not have any common sense to see life with another person’s vision or walk through this world in another person’s shoes. In our 1Kings scripture reading , we have the story of Elijah running for his life after the prophets of Baal were killed. Elijah proclaimed God’s word, held to his cultural traditions, reasoned with his real life circumstances, and experienced God anew in a relational conversation. The bookend of this experience was God questioning Elijah, “Why are you here?” God spoke with Elijah to confirm who he was, confirm his prophetic action, confirm that throughout all the noise around him that God is not in the noise of the world. God is ultimately received and heard in the thin, quiet moments of reflection, discernment, and interpretation while journeying in all the noise of this crazy world. Catherine of Siena said,
    The core of pride is impatience and its offshoot is the lack of any discernment.
    Saint Catherine of Siena
    Discerning God’s voice, while in the noisy moments of life, help us to do what the Psalmist invites the readers on multiple occasions-SELAH, to pause, to sit, to reflect, and then act. When one has a prayer life whose foundation is built upon divine discernment then you will have a pray-er who intentionally seeks God’s will as God’s ambassador not the world’s warrior. When we take time to discern we then will be able to hear the voice of God. John 10.27 says
    John 10:27 CEB
    My sheep listen to my voice. I know them and they follow me.
    In the stillness of life we are able to be attentive to the voice of our Savior, to hear, to listen, and then to follow.

    God desires genuine relationships

    The busyness of life can be so noisy that we, at times, choose to deny God the relationship of his desire. That relationship is to give and receive love with you. The God/human relationship is one of intimacy in prayer, intimacy in action, intimacy in private, and intimacy in public. God never stops pursuing you for there is not an end point to a relationship. In prayer we continue to communicate with God and time with God is needed especially when the world’s noise can be too distracting. Thomas Schreiner says,
    Love for God cannot be sustained without a relationship with him, and such a relationship is nurtured by prayer.
    Thomas Schreiner
    A deeply held prayer life does not have to be one that is outlandish where you are always the person asked to pray in public settings; don’ worry that is always reserved for the pastor, even if the pastor don’t want to do it. A deeply held prayer life can also be very subtle. A deeply held prayer life can be very private. A deeply held prayer life is true prayer. R.T. France says,
    True prayer is not a technique nor a performance, but a relationship.
    R. T. France
    A true relationship with God must have true prayer from the believer or the seeker of the divine. Prayer enters one into the presence of God. Prayer strengthens the relationship with God. Prayer emboldens the faith of the believer in a noisy world. When you are soaked in prayer then you are transformed into your prayers. Warren Wiersbe says,
    Prayer is not something that I do; prayer is something that I am.
    Warren W. Wiersbe
    As we continue to develop our prayerful skills, we develop our listening skills, which develop our divine loving skills. A prayerful heart that listens to and connects with God is an act of love. Saint Augustine said,
    What you love you worship; true prayer, real prayer, is nothing but loving: what you love, that you pray to.
    Saint Augustine of Hippo
    As we pray to that which we love, our words and our actions will unite together as one. Our relationship with God will grow, the deafening noise of the world will extinguish, the words from our tongue will be praise, and people will see a prayerful life of love in action. So whether we are asleep or awake a life of prayer will guide us and help us to hear God more. John Wesley said,
    The moment I awaked, ‘Jesus, Master,’ was in my heart and in my mouth; and I found all my strength lay in keeping my eye fixed upon Him, and my soul waiting on Him continually.
    John Wesley (Founder of the Methodist Movement)

    Silent Reflection and Mindfulness

    As we enter into a new week, I encourage you to take time in silent reflection and mindfully focus upon God in prayer. Last week I invited you to pray the open-hearted disciples prayer. This week I invite you to say a prayer that has been said for many generations, The Jesus Prayer.
    Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner
    Amen.
  • When I Survey The Wondrous Cross
  • Open My Eyes That I May See

      • 1 Corinthians 2:1–12NRSVUE

  • Continuing the Conversation
    Last week, we sat with Isaiah’s challenging words about authentic worship—how God isn’t interested in our religious performances if they’re disconnected from justice and liberation. We heard God’s promise: when we align ourselves with what brings freedom and flourishing, we position ourselves to hear the divine voice saying, “Here I am.”
    Today, Paul takes us deeper into what makes this possible. How do we actually perceive God’s invitation? How do we hear that “Here I am” and recognize divine wisdom when the world around us operates by completely different values? Paul’s answer might surprise us: it’s not about being smarter, more eloquent, or more theologically sophisticated. It’s about openness to the Spirit and humility in relationship.*
    The Weakness That Reveals Strength
    Paul admits something remarkable at the beginning of this passage. When he came to Corinth, he didn’t arrive with “lofty words or wisdom.” He came “in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.” This is the apostle Paul—the great missionary, the powerful preacher—admitting he showed up feeling inadequate and uncertain.
    Why would Paul emphasize this? Because the Corinthian church was obsessed with status, eloquence, and impressive displays of knowledge. They were ranking teachers and dividing into factions based on who sounded most impressive. They had turned the gospel into another arena for competition and self-promotion.
    Paul refuses to play that game. He tells them: “I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” Notice what he’s doing here. He’s grounding everything in the ultimate expression of God’s kenotic love—Jesus emptying himself, taking the form of a servant, becoming vulnerable even unto death. This is the wisdom Paul proclaims, and it turns worldly wisdom completely upside down.
    The cross reveals a God who doesn’t dominate or coerce but enters into suffering and offers self-giving love. This is the foundation of divine wisdom: not power that forces, but love that invites. Not knowledge that inflates, but humility that illuminates. Paul’s own weakness and trembling become the perfect vessel for this message because they embody the very character of God he’s proclaiming.*
    The Spirit That Teaches and Transforms
    But here’s where Paul’s argument becomes even more profound. He doesn’t stop with saying that divine wisdom looks foolish to the world. He explains how we actually come to understand it: “These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit, for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.”
    This is about relationship, not information transfer. The Spirit isn’t delivering a divine instruction manual or downloading facts into our brains. The Spirit is drawing us into participatory knowledge—the kind of understanding that comes from intimate relationship rather than detached observation.
    Think about the difference between knowing about someone and knowing someone. You can read a biography and learn facts about a person’s life. But actually knowing them—understanding their heart, their hopes, their character—requires relationship. It requires time spent together, conversations shared, mutual vulnerability. That’s what the Spirit offers: not facts about God, but relationship with God that transforms how we understand everything else.
    Paul writes, “Now we have received not the spirit of the world but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God.” The Spirit opens our eyes to see what’s already been given. It’s not that God is withholding wisdom until we perform correctly. It’s that we’re often blind to the divine presence and invitation all around us. The Spirit illuminates what was always there, waiting for us to notice.*
    The Humility That Hears
    This brings us back to relationality and community. Paul isn’t just talking about individual spiritual enlightenment. He’s addressing how the Corinthian church relates to one another. Their obsession with impressive knowledge and eloquent speech was creating a hostile environment—dividing them into factions, inflating egos, marginalizing those who didn’t fit their standards of wisdom.
    Divine wisdom works differently. When the Spirit reveals God’s character to us—that self-giving, non-coercive, kenotic love we see in Jesus—it transforms how we treat one another. We can’t genuinely encounter God’s humility and remain arrogant. We can’t truly experience God’s non-coercive invitation and then try to dominate others.
    Paul is saying: if you’ve really received the Spirit, if you’ve actually been opened to divine wisdom, it will show up in how you relate with one another. You’ll stop competing and start collaborating. You’ll stop performing and start being authentic. You’ll stop trying to impress and start trying to serve. The proof that we’ve heard God’s “Here I am” isn’t our theological sophistication—it’s our capacity for humble, mutual relationship.
    This connects directly to Isaiah’s message. The religious leaders in Isaiah’s time had knowledge—they knew the rituals, they could perform the fasts, they understood the law. But their perceived wisdom had created a hostile environment where they ignored suffering and perpetuated injustice. They had “eyes to see” in one sense but were completely blind to what mattered to God.*
    Living Into Divine Knowledge
    So how do we make ourselves open and available to this Spirit-revealed wisdom? How do we cultivate the kind of eyes that see and ears that hear divine guidance and encouragement?
    First, we embrace humility. Not false modesty or self-deprecation, but honest recognition that we don’t have everything figured out. We remain teachable. We stay curious. We hold our certainties loosely enough that the Spirit can surprise us.
    Second, we prioritize relationship over performance. Like Paul, we stop trying to impress God or others with our eloquence or sophistication. We show up authentically, even when that means showing up “in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.” Because it’s often in our vulnerability that the Spirit’s power is most clearly revealed.
    Third, we pay attention to how our faith affects our relationships. If our theological knowledge is making us judgmental rather than compassionate, something’s wrong. If our spiritual practices are elevating us while diminishing others, we’ve missed the point. Divine wisdom always moves us toward the liberation and flourishing of others, not just our own enlightenment.
    Fourth, we create space for the Spirit to speak. This means practices of silence and listening. It means asking questions rather than always having answers. It means being willing to have our assumptions challenged and our perspectives expanded.*
    The Eyes to See and Ears to Hear
    When we live this way—with humility, authenticity, and attention to how we relate to one another—we begin to see with Spirit-illuminated eyes and hear with Spirit-attuned ears. We notice where God is already at work, inviting us to participate. We recognize the divine presence saying, “Here I am,” in unexpected places and unlikely people.
    This is what Isaiah was calling the people toward: not just performing rituals, but developing the spiritual sensitivity to perceive God’s concern for the oppressed and respond accordingly. This is what Paul is inviting the Corinthians toward, not just acquiring more knowledge, but being transformed by Spirit-revealed wisdom that changes how they see everything.
    And this is what God is inviting us toward today. Not to perform better or know more, but to be increasingly open and available to the Spirit’s transforming work in and through us. To let divine wisdom illuminate our eyes so we see our neighbors as God sees them. To let divine guidance attune our ears so we hear the cries for liberation and justice.
    God doesn’t force this transformation. God lures us toward it, inviting us to co-create flourishing in our community and world. The Spirit, my friends, is constantly at work, revealing God’s depths and drawing us into participatory knowledge of divine love. Our task is simply to remain open, humble, and attentive—making ourselves available to the wisdom that comes not through worldly power but through the way of the cross.
    When we do this, we join our voices with creation itself, responding to God’s constant presence and invitation: “Here we are.” Amen.
Mount Sterling First United Methodist Church
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