Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
January 4, 2004
Epiphany Sunday

Scripture:

Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.

They knew because they saw a star. Matthew tells us that "wise men from the East" came to Jerusalem looking for the newborn Christ because, as they said, "we have observed his star at its rising...." These so-called wise men were almost certainly astrologers. They could read the stars, or at least thought they could; and the star told them about Jesus, told them what God wanted them to know and to do. Matthew wants us to understand that they received a special revelation from God calling them to Jesus. So they followed the star. As Matthew has it: "There, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was." The star, the divine sign of revelation to them, led them. For them, it was kind of a no-brainer. Follow the star and you’ll find Jesus. That’s all there was to it-for them.

But what about for us? When was the last time a star led you anywhere? When was the last time a star told you what God wanted you to know for your life? It’s never happened for me, and I doubt that it has happened for any of you. I believe that the Holy Spirit has led me at times in my life, but figuring out that that was what was happening was never as easy as looking up and seeing a miraculous star. God doesn’t, for the most part at least, speak to us in the language of natural wonders, or supernatural ones for that matter. For most of us, God doesn’t speak to us in language at all. We’ve all heard the voice of God referred to as a “still, small voice,” but if we’re honest I think we have to admit that we don’t really hear a voice at all. Contemporary theologians almost universally recognize that God speaks primarily in and through silence. For example, although he does not deny that God may speak to us through our thoughts or “our any one of our faculties,” Father Thomas Keating, a leading Christian writer on prayer, says: “Keep in mind that God’s first language is silence.” God speaks first, and usually last, in silence.

Now, if you’re like me, the statement that God’s language is silence sounds like an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms. There are, of course, silent languages. American Sign Language, for example, is the silent language of most Deaf people in this country. But that’s not what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about true silence, which we might define as the absence of sensate communication rather than the absence of sound. How can anyone, even God, communicate in silence?

Well, I’m pretty sure there’s no rational answer to that question, but then we aren’t dealing here with rational reality. We are dealing with the reality of God, which transcends, and is not limited by, our puny human notions of rationality. All I know is this: The most respected writers on prayer in the Christian tradition-and not only in the Christian tradition but in all faith traditions-say that silence is the primary language of prayer, the primary language of God.

And so, it seems to me, that our task is not to try to understand it but to practice it. I told you in my Advent sermon on peace that all peace begins with inner peace, and I mentioned the Asian practice of meditation. I told you that I find such meditation very difficult but that I recognize its value. After that sermon, one of you approached me with a request that we look into forming a meditation group here at church. In response to that request, I have been looking into Christian meditative traditions. I have found something that I knew existed but about which I knew very little. It is the contemporary movement within Christianity called Contemplative Prayer, and Thomas Keating, whom I quoted a minute ago, it the movement’s leading light. Contemplative Prayer as Keating teaches it is a Christian version of Asian meditation. Keating says that contemplative prayer is "an experience or series of experiences leading to the abiding state of union with God." It is grounded in what Keating calls "interior silence." It is "the opening of the mind and heart, body and emotions-our whole being-to God...." It is a method of sitting in silence as a means of, and for the purpose of, connecting ourselves to God. It uses what Keating calls a "holy word" in a way that is somewhat similar but not identical to the way Buddhist meditation uses a mantra. Because I want to experience contemplative prayer myself, and because of that inquiry I received about forming a meditation group, I intend in the near future to form here at church a group to study but mostly to practice contemplative prayer. I would like to hear from any of you who are interested in such a group.

In the meantime, let’s use today’s Communion service as an opportunity to practice the language of God, to practice silence. I invite you, as you partake of the elements this morning, to quiet your minds, to release you thoughts, to stop thinking about the Sacrament, and simply to experience it in silence. Who knows what might happen. After all, Christ is truly present in the Sacrament, and if we will just be quiet, perhaps he will have something important to say to us.