Our sibling denomination, the United Church of Christ (UCC), has for years if not decades, been using the slogan God is still speaking. Not being a part of the UCC I can’t comment on the ways that they have used the phrase, but I do believe it to be true. I believe this because God has spoken to me and I know others to whom God has spoken. In all likelihood God has spoken to you too.
In the scriptures God speaks to people in a multitude of ways. Sometimes God speaks directly, as God did to Moses at the burning bush and then on Mt. Sinai. People often hear from God through angels (divine messengers), including Abraham, Hagar, Zachariah, and Mary. Dreams and visions are another way in which God communicates to people, including Jacob, Joseph (the son of Jacob), and Joseph (Mary’s husband and the adoptive father of Jesus). A frequent method of divine communication, especially to groups of people is through prophets. The prophet will have a vision from God and then serve as the messenger to kings, tribes, and nations. God’s communication with people in the Bible is regular and varied, even among the methods mentioned there is variation in how God speaks.
God’s communication with people didn’t stop after Bible times, as the UCC slogan says, God is still speaking. I have “heard” God speak to me throughout my life in a variety of ways, though not audibly. God has spoken to me through scripture, through a voice heard, not by my ears, but by my spirit, and through other people. One of the most powerful ways I’ve had God speak to me was through a sense of God’s loving presence. No words spoken or written were needed, in that moment I felt the presence of God and with it came the knowledge that I was abundantly loved by my Creator. It was a powerful message and one that I needed at that time. I know of others who have had God speak to them through ways similar to my experience or that of people in the scriptures.
God is still speaking, perhaps you can tell of a time when you have had God speak to you. Communication from God is not something reserved for the pious, holy, or worthy, but is rather something that happens anytime God wishes. It can’t be forced and it doesn’t happen on our time table or in a way of our choosing. The reality that God is still speaking begs the question of us, are we still listening?
Our openness to God’s communication with us is a key component of prayer. Being open to how God may speak to us is just as important a part of our prayer life as how we speak to God. Through our worship, prayer, scripture reading, service to others, as well as our rest and recreation we place ourselves in a space to receive the word God has for us in a given moment. Sometimes the word God speaks to us is for us and sometimes it is a message to be shared with a specific person or group or everyone.
Ultimately, to be open to God’s speaking to us is to take a posture of humble and faithful openness to God, however and whenever God may speak. As we worship and proclaim a living God, so to do we worship and proclaim a God who is still speaking.
So what is God saying to you, through you, to us?
Blessed be our God and blessed be God’s people, now and forever.
-Pastor Brian
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