Left to Listen
Some times I am irrationally jealous of God’s leaders from Bible times. In many ways, their lot was tougher. Who would want to live in days without running water, toilets, central heating, and mobile devices? (Okay, we could live without the last one, but really, those first three are pretty big deals!) And from my experience, those Bible times folks had to deal with way more whiners, back-biters, and complainers. And way too frequently, disputes were handled with the business end of a spear or a sword.
But one thing I miss: God speaking directly about the direction His people need to go. Sure, I would get whacked from some inconsistencies in my life like they were, but there are many times in spiritual leadership where I wish I could hear a clear voice from heaven say, “Do this!”
I know there are a lot of “the Lord put it on my heart” people willing to tell me what the Lord has told them what He wants me to do, but invariably, they don’t seem to be hearing from Him on what they are to do or at least don’t seem to show the fruit of that in their lives.
And yes, I know there are bunch of folks who claim God has spoken a special word to them about something, but invariably those folks want me to send money in to them to support their ministry.
And yes, I do believe God has been clear about guiding me on some important decisions in my life — I believe in prayer and fasting and I am a bit of a “fleece checker” when making important decisions.
So here’s the deal. After my journey through some of Leviticus, Exodus, Numbers, and part of Deuteronomy I noticed a phrase occurring again and again: “… the LORD said to Moses …” There are even subtle variants of this. The phrase occurs over 135 times in those four books of the Bible. I could use that clarity. It would save time. It would save submission — I’d just have to obey a clear command from God.
But there was something unique about Moses. I am not Moses. I may have a bit of the temper, but that’s about it. And this is how God says it when he rebukes a rebellious Miriam and Aaron (Numbers 12:6-8):
“Listen to my words:
“When there are prophets of the LORD among you,
I reveal myself to them in visions,
I speak to them in dreams.
But this is not true of my servant Moses;
he is faithful in all my house.
With him I speak face to face,
clearly and not in riddles;
he sees the form of the LORD.
Why then were you not afraid
to speak against my servant Moses?”
So I guess I am left to be jealous of Moses’ conversations with God and called to pray, fast, seek Scripture, obey, and … listen.
Phil,
Several things in response:
The “great company of strugglers” otherwise known as the “great cloud of witnesses”
You are portraying the Scriptures as an exhaustive record of the life of Moses and other characters. Of course they struggled (just like me and you) with “clarity” regarding God’s will and the direction they were to take. The fact that Moses received the revelation of God’s purpose at the burning bush in Midian is a good example. Moses was clueless when he first “heard the voice of God”. It was the fact that he had NO clarity that got him in Midian in the first place! That is part of the point of the story. Moses had to be humbled by God in Midian for a number of years. He had to learn the art of tending sheep (dumb and rebellious creatures) in order to learn the basics of “tending” the Hebrew flock (dumb and rebellious). Not only that, but he was STILL a wimp (just like me, hmmm)… He makes all kinds of excuses when he DOES hear God clearly. He wasn’t “clear,” which includes being on board and willing to act on what he heard clearly, any more than we are most of the time.
And that is just Moses! What about Jeremiah? We are, fortunately, provided with a window into the prophet’s inner struggle with the issues of “clarity” and “commitment to action,” which are two sides of the same coin in my understanding of the dynamic. Perhaps Jeremiah is chosen by God (along with Abram, Jacob, Joseph to name only three) who struggled with clarity. I would submit that the Scriptural record doesn’t include much of the months and months of disciplined struggle with prayer, fasting, vigils, seeking to put the struggle in the context of the sacred narrative, seeking the counsel of trusted others, obedience with repentance when necessary, and last but not least listening/listening/listening…
But, according to your portrayal, they didn’t need to do all of that. They just magically heard with clarity. NOT!
The “Bible folks” do not represent the “golden age of clarity without struggle.” They represent, if we take a look at the whole story, how to faithfully struggle toward “clarity” (by the way, I don’t like that word as a representation of “knowing the will of God for your life”). I prefer the word “confidence”… The word “clarity” at least hints at the concept of “certainty without struggle” which I fear like the plague! Acts of the Apostles is a record of deep and abiding struggle in the area of “clarity.” For example:
• The controversy among the apostles over inclusion of the Gentiles into the Church and whether or not the Gentile men converts need circumcision
• The controversy over to what degree the dietary laws of Judaism apply in the Church
• The need which the new convert Paul had to spend years in the desert being shaped into the kind of person who could hear and know the voice of God in terms of His will
• The initiation of the diaconate to minister to the needs of the widows within the believing community
• The whole Macedonian mission struggle
Giants of the faith – Stephen, Peter, Paul and the like were fairly “unclear” and needed the disciplines. They did not magically possess the ability to “clearly hear and know the will of God.” They acquired the ability over time with much discipline.
The disciplines as a multifaceted gift for the healthy not remedial class for the hopeless
What is more, you seem to portray the classic spiritual disciplines which, by the way, span the denominational barriers of the “tradition vs. non-tradition” debate, as if they are meant for the “remedial Christian.” I come away from your article with the distinct impression that, “If you can’t hear with clarity, like the really ‘mature’ folks, then you need to do these things.” Spiritual disciplines are the intended context of normal Christian living not the “remedial class.”
The spiritual disciplines have been instituted by God and are administered in the person of the Holy Spirit for three basic purposes:
• Purgation – removal and purification
• Maintenance – strengthen and establish
• Oblation – the shape of our offering or sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving (spirit of gratitude)
Please do not misunderstand. I list the “purgation” facet of the disciplines first for good reason. We need redemption both in our inner life and outer life. There is much in my life that hinders my access that that “confident conviction” (I use that instead of “clarity”) regarding God’s will and ways. The patriarchs and apostles are included in the company (read here “great cloud of witnesses) of all who have the same need. I like to say that the “great cloud of witnesses” might better be termed as the “great company of strugglers.” They needed the disciplines you list as much as we do and for the same reason – purgation.
But I want to add two other reasons for the disciplines. They are not just “remedial” in their function. The disciplines also serve to establish and strengthen that which is conformed to the likeness of Christ in me. Through and by them, God speaks, nourishes, and strengthens. They do not just deal with what gets in the way of hearing God, but are the very instrumentation for His speaking by which He indicates His will. Moses, Isaiah, Peter, Paul and the rest, were men in whose lives, the tradition was a dynamic vehicle through which God indicated “with clarity” His will and ways. Without that tradition, present in an appropriate and lively way, they would not have had the “clarity” you see exhibited to the degree they possessed it. It is my firm belief that much of the “lack of clarity” we experience in the Body of Christ over against the example of the patriarchs and apostles is because we have jettisoned the right and appropriate Holy Tradition. We have, in many segments of the Body of Christ “thrown the baby out with the bath water” and yet expect to hear God with “clarity.” “Clarity” is pretty difficult if most of what fosters and establishes it is missing!
Finally, the disciplines are also oblational. They are “The Way of Life” a disciple (“disciplined-one” or “one who lives under a particular discipline” is the faithful way of comprehending the word “disciple”). The spiritual disciplines resemble Jesus. They, taken as a whole, show forth the person, work, and offices of our Lord. The disciplines are The Way the One Who is The Way lived(s) His Life in us and through us by grace. Jesus embraced the Holy Tradition of Judaism and carries it forward in the Holy Tradition of the Body of Christ. He, therefore, instituted the Holy Tradition to enable Him to continue to live and minister through His people. They are His Way of Life in a literal sense. They are not “optional” therefore. Without them, the will and way of Christ we so intensely desire to know with “clarity” cannot be lived out – ministered in the world “for the life of the world.”
The disciplines, not just the skeletal observance but the content as well, are depositories for the “clarity” you seek. Sometimes, we ask for the Lord to speak regarding something about which He has already spoken. The Holy Tradition – the disciplines with redemptive content – contains many of the “answers” or way of addressing the dilemmas we face. It is like God might be saying in not giving us “clarity,” “If you had listened and treasured what I have already spoken you wouldn’t be asking me about this again and again.”
The spiritual disciplines are the shape of life the disciple offers to God as a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. We are meant to pray, fast, seek the wisdom of God in the Scriptures, and all of the rest of it out of gratitude, not grim necessity because we can’t hear God! It is BECAUSE I have heard the voice of God that I embrace and live the classic disciplines. I love to fast. I am grateful for the hunger. It reminds me that God is my true bread! I offer to God my fast out of gratitude to Him for the “bread of life.” I don’t live the disciplines to “get something” only but also because I have already be “given something” – a “confident conviction” regarding His will and ways. That is what “oblation” is in the life of a disciple – an offering in gratitude of the very SHAPE of his or her life to God through which He may make Himself more known and obeyed by others.
God’s word to me is God’s word to us and vice versa
The last thing I would like to point out is that Moses’ “thus says the Lord,” is not individualistic but deeply communal. Moses heard the Lord in the context of the community’s life not isolation. Yes, he may have heard in a private setting, but that word from the Lord had to endure the community’s testing either directly and explicitly or indirectly and implicitly. Each and every person in Scripture who really heard the Lord, did so with fear and trembling – humility. The punishment for falsely proclaiming as “the word of the Lord” what was not the “word of the Lord’ was death. I am not, of course, suggesting that we adopt that tactic. However, it would be, I think, a great idea to instill in the hearts of God’s people the sobriety and accountability one must have who presumes to say, “thus says the Lord.” The Holy Tradition is a great aid in this regard. It provides a Living context in which we may listen, discern, and speak with humility. That is why is shy away from the word “clarity” and prefer the phrase “confident conviction.” The word of the Lord is for all of us if it is for any one of us. This is a beautifully ideal statement, I know. But we strive faithfully for just such an ideal to be realized grace by grace in our lives personally and communally. We CAN hear with “confident conviction” just like Moses, Peter, and Paul. There is no reason to slip into grim resignation and begin to portray the “biblical folks” as recipients of an intimacy that we cannot attain. But, let us be “confidently convicted” that God has given what is necessary to hear Him and know it is He who speaks. The question we all need to ask ourselves is, “Will I embrace the fullness of that Way of Life that makes hearing and obeying with joy possible?”
There is much more I could add but this is more than enough…
Fr. Thomas
frthomas
12 Feb 09 at 7:34 pm
Phil,
I think all of us would love to ask God directly what He wants us to do. There are so many decisions; it is BECAUSE you want to do what HE wants you question them. Thomas is correct when he says even the prophets, even the apostles struggled with decision. Paul said it was the struggle that makes us strong and brings us closer to the Lord. But remember what Jesus told His disciples (Matthew 13:16 throuch 17):
“But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”
So we participate in the struggle; yet we are MORE blessed than Moses because we are living in the days of Christ. We have seen (through scripture) what He never saw!
A young Christian man wrote on his web page recently, “If you could sit across the table from God and ask one question, what would it be?” I wrote that I would ask God about relationships, because that is my struggle; how to better reach people for Christ. But in the same post I wrote that the answers to that question are all in Jesus’ life. All I have to do is study it! So ALL answers are there (as I’m sure you already realize), as Paul told Timothy (2 Timothy 3:16-17):
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
We just want the easy way
I know I do!
Linda Hoeck
14 Feb 09 at 2:04 pm
Fr. Thomas speaks clearly from some years of practice. Another who spoke clearly on the subject was Richard Foster in his book Celebration of Discipline. Indeed, as we strive to “be like Jesus” in our daily lives and hunger for those rich moments of relationship with the Father we are guided and directed, being told to turn to the right or left on the road of life. I think confusion and what I call cluttered thinking often comes from what boils down to a weak place in our faith walk. At that point like those before us we can cry out for guidance or choose the path that will result in another trip around the mountain and out into the dessert. Seems to me in Deut. God speaks about putting before Moses..life or death and most emphatically urges that life be chosen….but the great thing is choice was still there. God did not tell Moses he would throw him into outter darkness. Jan W
Jan W.
17 Feb 09 at 8:08 pm