In my experience I have noticed that often it is hard to take the reading appointed for Sunday and tie them together into one cohesive message. Luckily, today is not that case, today I feel the readings all come together into one important message from God, from Jesus and even from the Holy Spirit. And that message is LISTEN. Listen. Listen to God, Listen to Jesus. Listen to the Holy Spirit. Only then will you be able to bring about the Kingdom of God right here and right now.

Let us start with the reading from Kings. Elijah is in a terrible state. People are out to kill him. He feels totally alone. So he hides in a cave, waiting to hear from the Lord.  He wants desperately to hear from the Lord. And then suddenly he does. The Lord tells him to stand on the mountain for the Lord will pass by. Suddenly there is a great wind and the mountain starts to crumble. Elisha sees nothing, for the Lord was not in the wind. Indeed, the Lord was not in the wind, or in the earthquake, or in the fire. After the fire we read there was a sound of sheer silence. And it is from the silence that God talks to Elisha. Amazing. We often think of God being so powerful, and that his voice will thunder out loudly. Yet God comes in silence. I feel this scripture is telling us clearly that we must listen, and have no preconceptions of how God will talk to us. It is not up to us to guess how God will speak to us, but just to believe that God will speak to us, and be alert to recognize when he does speak to us. I would guess that we have all been very surprised by when and how God spoke to us. So listen always.

The reading from Romans says much the same thing in a different way. The apostle Paul argues here that the LAW has everything to do with trust, and indeed that the only purpose for the LAW is so that people can have an intimate relationship with God, with Jesus Christ. Paul cries out “The word is near you”… “If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that Jesus raised him from the dead, you will be saved”  And he concludes, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved”. Paul is encouraging everyone to call on the name of the Lord. And of course, the corollary to this is that once we call on the Name of the Lord we have to listen. Listen, and share the Good News. Paul urges people to not only call on the name of the Lord, but to listen, and then go out and proclaim Jesus. For indeed, the word is near you, on your lips and in your heart. The reading ends with Paul referring to the Prophet Isaiah How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. The actual quote from Isaiah is How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says in Zion, “Your God reigns”.

Think for a moment, who brought the good news to you?  You listened and you heard, and now you bring the good news to others. Thank you Jesus.

The Gospel is the familiar story of Jesus waking on water. Of the dialogue between Jesus and Peter.  The disciples are almost drowning in a boat on the sea. Note that before anything happens, Jesus goes to pray by himself. He no doubt prays to his Father, and listens to him, to know more about how to bring about the kingdom of God on earth. Jesus first words to the disciples are Take heart, it is I, do not be afraid.  Strong words from Jesus. In so many words, Jesus is telling them he is the Lord, and they need not be afraid. Again, the subtext is listen to me.

Then we see Peter say “if it is you”.  It sounds that Peter is not convinced. He challenges Jesus to command him to come to him on the water. Impetuous Peter. Jesus simply says “Come”.  But now, an unsure Peter, doubts, and sinks a bit before Jesus rescues him. You of little faith, Jesus says, why did you doubt? Strangely enough, now all the disciples have heard and listened to Jesus, and their faith is greatly increased. They proclaim “Surely you are the Son of God”. I feel that between the feeding of the five thousand, which came just before this episode, and the disciples listening to Jesus voice who simply said “Come”, they become true faithful disciples. They are no longer just impressed by signs and wonders, but know for sure Jesus is the Son of God.  When was it that Jesus say to you “Come” ? Did he say it once to you, or many times before you became a disciple? When was it that you knew Jesus was truly the Son of God, and listened to him?

Interestingly enough, I conclude with words from our Psalm. Words I feel that tell us what the kingdom of God is really about, and that if we continue as disciples, these things could happen, because they are God’s will. Verse 8 starts with I will listen to what the Lord God is saying. Our theme again, listen to the Lord. And the Psalmist proclaims what the kingdom looks like. He writes:

mercy and truth have met together

righteousness and peace have kissed each other

truth shall spring up from the earth

and righteousness shall look down from heaven

The Lord will grant prosperity

Righteousness shall go before him

and peace shall be a pathway for his feet.

What a wonderful image. How wonderful this is God’s plan for us. And need I say, how we long for it. Particularly now.

May you continue to listen to God. May you continue, in faith, to bring about the kingdom. May you always bring the Good News to others. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.

Amen.